Nate Meyer's Weblog

Since getting my electric guitar back, and buying a VOX amp, it was time to decide what I would use for guitar effects. At first, I was quite content with the overdrive / distortion built into the amp. However, since I didn’t have a foot switch to turn it on and off, it stayed on constantly, which limited the variety in my sound. I also wanted to add a delay pedal to my mix, and that’s really what started my quest to build a pedal board.

So that got me thinking. Do I want an All-In-One type board, or do I want individual pedals. My previous effects always included all-in-one effects, line BOSS GT-3, Line 6 POD XTPRO, etc, etc. The problem IMO is that you / I can never master the sound of each effect, cause there are SO many of them. I don’t do well with options. I really like to keep things simple. So I decided to keep things simple, and only buy an effect if I need it for a particular song. That leads me to my first purchase, which was a MUST IMO.

BOSS TU-3 Tuner. This was a no brainer, and no need for further explanation. The second pedal.

A Boss DD-20. Let me tell you the reason I bought this pedal over a simple DD-6/DD-7 pedal. I started researching all the sounds that a delay pedal could make, and realized that this pedal does more then just repeat a note x amount of milliseconds later. You can set up the repeat to happen in 1/4 notes, 1/8 notes, dotted 1/8 notes and many more options. You can create a reverb type effect by setting the delay time a certain way, and the even create a modulation, tape and analogue delay type effects. I wanted to take advantage of these options, and wanted a pedal with a couple different presets, so I could switch between them easily. With the DD-6/DD-7 pedal, you’d have to physically change the knobs each time you wanted to switch your delay. I started looking at the DD-20, which has 5 presets where you can save your favourite delay sound. Yes, the pedal looks like it has endless options, but once you play with it for an hour it really is simple.

The overdrive / distortion on my amp (VOX AC15VR) worked great for me for a few weeks. The problem with it was without a foot switch, I couldn’t really turn it on and off. So that left me with 1 effect. I also wanted to use the clean channel on my amp more frequently and instead of buying a $30 channel switch, I decided to research overdrives / distortions, and find a relatively cheap overdrive pedal. I started researching the difference between overdrives and distortions, and I tested a couple of pedals out, and realized that I was more into the low gain type overdrive pedals. After some research, I bought the below pedal.

The Digitech Bad Monkey. This pedal does a decent job of mimicking the sound of a Ibenez TS-9, which is another overdrive pedal. I really like how you can adjust the cut on the bass and treble frequencies. I use this pedal over the clean channel on my amp, and when engaged, it gives the amp a decent boost, and with the gain set to 9:00 on the pedal, it gives it a slight overdrive sound. Also note: throughout my research, alot of people think that the modern day overdrive pedals are simple boost pedals, which are 100% transparent, and which boost a tube amp into natural overdrive. They say these pedals do not work on a solid state amp, because obviously you can’t push a SS amp into overdrive. I disagree. These pedals aren’t transparent. Meaning they aren’t just volume boost pedals. They have their own emulating sound, and IMO they are to emulate the sound of a tube amp being over-driven. If you want a completely transparent pedal, which pushes a tube amp into overdrive, buy a boost pedal, or turn up the volume on your guitar. This pedal did the trick for me. It allowed me to have a different sound when engaged and not engaged. But I was still missing a sound that I wanted. I liked this level of gain, but wanted another level of gain. Not quite like a distortion pedal, but maybe a medium to high gained overdrive pedal. I did some more research, and found that without breaking the bank, the below pedal was a real gem.

The Boss OD-3. This pedal is labelled as a overdrive pedal. But I found the range of gain is plenty. I run my bad monkey OD pedal into this pedal. So when playing rhythmic chords, I’ll use the BM, and if I need a boost of sound, or a boost in gain, I’ll flip on the OD-3. The OD-3 can also be run on it’s own, to provide decent in-between gain.

So between these 2 overdrive pedals, I can have 3 different levels of gain, and really maximizing the sounds I can produce. With the DD-20 delay pedal, I can have 5 different presets, also maximizing the variety in my sound. I also have a CryBaby WAH pedal, that I’ve modified for true by-pass, and also changed out a couple caps and resisters to give it more of a vocal sound. But I think it’s dying on me so I havn’t used it recently.

What’s next? No idea. I havn’t really came across something that I need yet, so havn’t done any more research. However, I do need a pedal board to put my effects in, and a decent power supply to power them. So I guess that’s next!

This is a story about a guitar.  A guitar that has been passed around, and could have had many owners.  I don’t know all that this guitar has been through.  This guitar has come, and gone, and come again.  This guitar is Auburn, and here is her story.

The story starts with Paula.  Ryan Penfound and I drove to the Guitar Centre in Michigan, to purchase my first decent guitar.  The date is unknown, but to make an educated guess, it would be sometime in or around 2004.  I bought  a brand new Gibson Les Paul.  This guitar was Cherri red, and gold hardware.  It was my baby, and I named her Paula!

Pauly did me WELL!  Even though she was the heaviest guitar i’ve owned.  I used this guitar for a number of years without any incidents.  I eventually decided to buy strap locks for it, so the guitar never came dislodged from it’s strap, and crash to the ground.  Little did I know, and would soon find out, I put the hardware on upside down.

So our band “Deeper” took a trip to little Auburn, Indiana.  A small little town where we were playing at a coffee shop. We setup our gear on the street in front of the building, and started our sound check.  Everything was going great, until the upside-down strap lock finally let go, and the head of the guitar crashed to the concrete, following quickly by the body of the guitar, then as the she struggled to balance on her side, she fell over and landed on the cherry red finish.  I was mortified, and Paula was in pain.  I picked her up, unplugged her, and placed her in her resting place, and went for a long walk.

There so happened to be a home grown guitar shop on that same street, and the owner came and found me and asked if he could try and fix the guitar in his basement.  So we went to his house, and he straightened the tuner pegs, but said he couldn’t fix the gashes / dents / scrapes in the finish.  So I turned around, and walked out with wounded Paula.  Then I look to my left, and notice an open case, with a beautiful red Gibson SG inside.  I made the trade + $400 on the spot.  Paula stayed at the repair shop to be fixed, and probably re-sold, and the now ‘Auburn’ came with me!  Meet Auburn!

And so that end of the story!  Auburn stays safe, and warm with me!  NOT!

After a few years of playing in the band, things eventually came to an end.  The only guitar playing I was doing, was at home in the basement, and eventually played less and less.  I decided to sell my equipment, and use some of the money to buy an acoustic guitar.  So I sold Auburn to a friend of mine, who continued it’s legacy!  I havn’t seen Auburn for over 3 years.  The End!  NOT!

On Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010, 3 years after I last saw Auburn, she was delivered again into my lap!

That’s right.., Tessa, my now fiance, convinced my friend to sell it back to us.  How could he say no to a surprise like that!  And now Auburn is back, and is receiving the very best of treatment!  I’m very excited to get back into playing electric guitar, and couldn’t be happier with the guitar (and fiance) I have!  Auburn – 2001 Gibson SG Standard

I used to play Lead guitar in a couple bands as I was growing up. It all lasted for about 10-12 years, and I loved it! It was really apart of my life. Well, things change and I stopped playing for a few years. During those years I really missed it, but continued on with my other interests. I sold all my electric gear, and bought a decent acoustic guitar, and would play it at home, once in a while.

Recently, I was invited to play Sunday mornings at church. I was a little scepticle at first, as I wasn’t used to leading with the rythym guitar at all. But the first practise went pretty well, as did the first Sunday morning. I’ve done it 3-4 times now, and LOVE it! Playing guitar in a band / worship team really allows me to improve my skills, and meet alot of new people. It really gives me something to look forward to throughout the week. It’s definitly something that I’m supposed to be doing, I can feel it!

Recently, I was borrowing an amp. The person I was borrowing it from, decided he wanted to sell it, as he wasn’t using it that much. Well, I needed an amp, and really liked the one I was borrowing, so I bought it from him.

I love it, the sound is so crisp, and clear, with tons of adjustment. The 10″, 80 Watt speaker is plently loud for what I need it for.

Only problem is.. now i’m back to lugging gear around. I guess it’s not as much gear as I had before.