I miss the days of these pedalboard-centric videos. These were pretty unique in the RU-vid space as far as the DIY stuff was concerned. Would love to see these back periodically whenever possible!
Thank you! We're trying to add more of these in, in addition to our interview content and be sure to keep this rolling in parallel! Thanks for watching!
mason!!! not trying to be rude...we appreciate you...but i for one miss these kinda videos...love the interviews too...but could you mix more of these in here??? we want more rig doc content!!! thanks for you all you do...no disrespect!!!
I've been feeling the same. I love doing interviews too and we have a bunch of great ones coming, but I agree, we need to do more here around rigs, pedals, etc. I've got several cooking as I write this! Stay tuned and thanks!
Did you ever interview Jerry T Corenflos before his untimely passing? Who played lead guitar in my band in the late 80s and was one of the sweetest A-listers minute. The last time we spoke, he reminded me of the story about the nobles, OD… I have been out of town for a few years, and he filled me in on the “secret weapon“. He was a secret weapon and could play Rock/Brit pop rock with the best of them - though he was known for his extraordinary country and jazz playing. would love to hear anything. You can find out about his session years to share with others. Keep up the great work. 🎸👨🏼⚕️🫶✌️♾️. 🇬🇧🏴🇺🇸
the good news is I just got to listen to extremely delicious guitar tones in stereo. as a bonus I learned that the pedal sequences I've used over the years have been pretty well in line with what you're showing. I don't have as extensive of a rig, but the general principles you're talking about were fun to see and say "oh yeah that's what I do." and stereo guitar tones are so beautiful. I like to pair a totally dry amp that is already dialed in for a hint of dirt, with an amp that has a little reverb and a very clean tone. It's fun to hear how the different amps respond to the pedals and it certainly takes some time to dial it in to where it feels like all the pedal combinations sound great, but once you're there you wonder how you ever enjoyed life before.
Something about the Greer Light Speed just sounds so brilliant and beautiful. It's my favorite overdrive I don't own. "I don't have this pedal. Am I gonna survive?" ❤
That M9 is a sleeper man! I’m playing a fractal these days but still have my pedals and the M9 served as my delays. With expression pedals it was outstanding. Kept it for small acoustic board.
Great video, as always. Learning the value of a boost into a good overdrive was a big moment for me. I tried (and subsequently bought) a Fulldrive 2. It took me 30 seconds to get it! On my small board I have a two stage boost into a Klon clone and love that I can set a core drive tone and vary the amount. I still do a lot with my guitar's volume too but it all goes back to my rack days. I realised setting a few core tones on my JMP 1 meant I had MY tone and could add effects as needed.
Awesome demo and THANK YOU for playing the same riff while changing overdrives. It’s frustrating when someone demos pedals then changes what they’re playing when they switch to a different pedal. Great guitar playing too!
This was super interesting! I currently have an EP boost at the end of all pedals, which I only occasionally use. Now I think I’ll switch that out for the RC at the beginning as you did. 👈🏼🙏🏼
Great video! I get a little burnt seeing vids with guys demonstrating equipment. They overplay, sounding like they're auditioning. You play what's needed to present the gear. Great job! By the way, I recently picked up the SRV Slight Return pedal, and it is one hell of a nice sounding pedal! Thanks!!😊
Here's one you can try. I've got a nice selection of Walrus pedals and put some together as a unit. Lillian(phaser) Polychrome (flanger) Julia(chorus) Monuments (vibrato) and Slo(reverb/delay). It makes some sweet, sweet sounds.
Did you ever interview J T Corenflos before his untimely passing? He played lead guitar in my band in the late 80s and was one of the sweetest A-listers I ever met. The last time we spoke, he reminded me of the story about the Nobel’s OD… I had been out of town for a few years, and he filled me in on the “secret weapon“. He was a secret weapon and could play Rock/Brit pop rock with the best of them - though he was known for his extraordinary country and jazz playing. Would love to hear anything you can find out about his session years to share with others. Keep up the great work. 🎸👨🏼⚕️🫶✌️♾️. 🇬🇧🏴🇺🇸
BTW, very nicely done and explained demo/vid. And you are no “amateur” … You at least know the rig and volumes about the pedals aboard.😊 Cheers/ Slainte. 🎸👨🏼⚕️🫶✌️♾️. 🇬🇧🏴🇺🇸
@@VertexEffectsInc I am bummed because I miss him… I know what you mean. There was only one JT. You should hear the 3-song instrumental tape he brought to town … we turned one of them into a song when I was a staff writer and recorded it on an Akai 12-track at the publisher’s. Note for note recollection And tripled the solo at the drop of a hat when I said “add a harmony”.😳🤔. “Add another harmony?” And these were 120 bpm 8th notes! Sweetheart and so gifted. 🎸👨🏼⚕️🫶✌️♾️.
Yes! The different gain structure of each OD circuit was easy to distinguish. I have an HX Stomp XL which I precede with a Germanium SunFace fuzz, King of Tone, Keeley Oxblood, and L.A. Lady for the same reason. Sometimes its fun to stack a couple of them. Also placed a flanger in front of the Stomp because it's nice to have the physical knobs, and running it in series with emulated flangers makes for a deeper swirly tone. I can see that a compressor would be nice after the fuzz. I have an unused MXR 10 band EQ that I should add too!
I use the G3 from Gigrig and it is the most amazing piece of kit I’ve ever used , my board consists of a schmit array board ,the pedals i use are cali 76 compressor ,a bb-exotics Andy Timmons drive ,a ODR-1 .a chase blis automatone , a timeline and möbius , a UA astra , UA Golden and a UA Starlight occasionally I’ll swap the bb and the ODR-1 for a protein by Browneand i have just added the Halo which is now always on and of course the Ge-7 to taste It’s a lot of fun [ expensive ] but a lot of fun ,love the videos that you put out very informative and your guitar collection is pretty spec as well. Keep up the great work .
Mason, thanks for this video I just build a studio board and your content help me get an amazing sound and yes using two eq pedals gave me the best clean sound ever, anyway loved your channel! Fan For Life.
Ten years later, I’m still stuck on the king of tone. I just haven’t found anything that does exactly what that pedal does for me. I need to have one on each board to feel 100% comfortable. People always suggest this and that and I’ve tried several “KOT Killers” but none of them really stuck. It sounds great in every environment, every time, no questions asked…clubs, theaters, small stadiums, tents, doesn’t matter. The only other compression/drive pedals that have stuck around that long for me are the cali76, the ts mini and the EQD Palisades.
I’m still struggling a bit with it, sometimes I like it in a mix but hate it in a room. I’m not sure I’ve cracked the code yet but I’m trusting the process.
This is great. I already learned so much from your prior 80s W/D/W rig advice. I've tried that with only pedals and again with only plugins. I still use that advice all the time. Also: fantastic interview with Simon Jarrett recently with the chairmen! thx for that too!
I would love if for videos like this, you could add a special set of subtitles that translate the sound talk for people not familiar. "Dial out a bit of the mid range, and bring a bit of the sparkle on the top" for example
midrange = frequencies in the middle of the sound spectrum (i.e. between bass and treble) sparkle = ultra high treble range that gives a sound more "clarity"
Very cool although after a few years or more of gas syndrome disease. I have gone back to basics for what just works. Wah, tuner, cs2 boss compressor, Nobel and Friedman beod. boss pitch shifter, dd3 delay and hall of fame reverb in the loop
Awesome video. Super informative. Thank you! Your playing is good, man. You are NOT a hack. Why is nobody using the Source Audio EQ2? Is it a workflow thing, because it's more fiddly than just sliders?
Yet another great video, thanks! Just curious,, here’s a low tech question… What are you using to make the labels, for instance, the ones that tell you which loop switch is affecting which pedal. Are you using a Brother P Touch? Curious because the labels look great and it looks like you can do them in different sizes.
@@VertexEffectsInc thanks for that! I already own a vertex buffer, of my takeaways from this video is I need to use the stereo out rather than running my STRYMON stuff in mono.. I’ve learned so much from you, thanks!
I've been using an EQ at the front and the end of my chain for 15 years. If you have five or six ODs, distortion and boost pedals but no EQ, odds are you have redundant pedals and don't even know it. You can do more with a transparent Timmy/klons, a tube screamer and a big muff or Rat if you have an EQ and compressor than you could ever hope to do with a dozen overdrives without them.
There are some people that are born tone deaf and are unable to make distinctions in timbre or tonality. I'm very sorry this happened to you. Godspeed in recovering your hearing! Get well soon!
@@VertexEffectsInc Don't be such a wanker. Nashville is full of clones. Thats why the music industry is so bereft of any creativity. It all just filler for commercials. You can't hear that because of your commercial interest in sucking up to it.
Great pedals, I also like that you can thin out tones if you take away the bass - it's a great tool for finding your place in a mix like a front end EQ in its own right.
No, no analog dry path after the M9, but most people that give the words "analog dry" don't really understand it, or hear it. Unless you have a version of your signal that's not running through the effect (in this case M9), you'll have no reference for the analog dry to compare against to hear phasing or any artifact of the latency. For this reason, pretty much every studio great in Nashville uses the M9 and doesn't care that it's not an analog dry thru. If they had wet/dry/wet rigs, you could make a case for the mixer, but since it's in series with everything, and likely going to a digital interface and DAW, there's no threat from using the DSP here.
Personally I thought when you stomped off the M9 it sounded better. I have no problem with digital effects from any era as long as there’s an analog dry thru.
Mainly drive pedals and no tap tempo... this was my board when i freshly started buying pedals! Now i reduced my board to the stuff i actually use: Tuner>Wah>Comp>Amp Input/FX send>Flanger>Tap-Tremolo>Tap-Delay>FX-return, and i use EXP to control Delay mix. As you can probably tell, i'm european who does not know a single person from Nashville.
The M9 has tap tempo and that's where most of the effects are in the rig. Remember, the session guys are usually dialing to a song so they don't need to have a quick BPM change like they might in a live context.
@@VertexEffectsInc I have to admit, i never tried that myself but it looks like a practical unit! I also do lots of Jams where i have to reach down and adjust something on the fly and there's not many multi-fx which allow that properly. So i basically went the other way and try to get the most out of just a handful of pedals and my amp... but i had to buy a huge pedal collection to be satisfied with a small board.
I’ve always thought the Nashville sound, that I hear the old pros using, is more lofi. It has that upper mid and lower character shining through, with lows and presence cut off. Those flatter overdrives pair well with the older time and modulation effects.
Who can't identify the sound of a vintage Boss vibrato, certainly ain't in the market for it. Seriously, using a whammy bar is so typical for that kind of swell chord playing. Would sound just wrong not to do it!
Lol You had a moment there where you were showing off the memory man. It reminded me of that pixar movie surfs up. Where the Reigning champ. was showing off his...He called them his ladies, and they were his trophies. LOL.
beautiful board! im currently using full helix and wah with a mesa boogie mark channel swtiching amp....i think often about building another board like i used to have with analog pedals and maybe the HX effects, clean amp board but would love to have ability to use the channel switching amp too...great video!
Great board and great tones. I agree on mostly everything in your expertise except I'm still on the "low gain to high gain" side with the exception of fuzz which comes first. I tried it many times, but low to high gain sounds better to my ears when stacked while I'm still able to play the drives individually without having to tweak around in between. I wasn't able to do that when playing high to low gain, always had to readjust. When it sounded good individually, I didn't like the stacked sound and visa versa...
For the most part, what I see, and I've heard from the studio guys, is the main gain pedal used is the main gain pedal, and their either using the RC to boost saturation, or the Vertex Boost (or clean boost) to boost level/output. They typically aren't stacking the OD/Distortion pedals together, but using predictable pre-gain boosts or post-gain boosts to add on.
Regarding the VB-2 and Michael Thompson, did he run the pedal after the line out of his amps or did he use it in front of the amps, for those huge recordings in his classic days during the '90s?
Thanks again for sharing. Invaluable info. Curious why still go with the M9 instead of HX EFFECTS considering the HX EFFECTS has access to the Legacy Effects (the effects on the M9). I never really understood why, except for the face if you already had an M9. Appreciate your insight.
You might not have got there in the video yet, it comes a little bit later on when we get to that part of the signal path, but it becomes about workflow, and honestly because of how antiquated the digital technology is, I feel like it sounds a little bit more lo-fi and analog to my ear compared to the HX
@@VertexEffectsInc I saw but was always curious as ive never seen a head to head. Gear can be funny as when great players use a type of gear and or we become accustomed sometimes our disposition is biased. Not saying you're not right ive just never seen a head to head. But alas thanks for getting back
Most of the guys in NYC that were using the M9 had it modded to make it quieter (I think that’s what it was, but def modded) many have moved on but it was super useful.
I'm using the same, however on the newer ones you can use their software via USB and custom print the lengths, etc. so you don't eat up unnecessary tape.
You may not make your living as a session player, however, you are anything but an amateur. You play well and you are THE RIG DOCTOR!! Another great and informative video!🙏🎸
Running each pedal in its own loop on the Quartermaster allows you to get rid of all the cabling, buffering, and switching of unused pedals. That allows your rig to get the best signal-to-noise ratio possible at all times.
Great tones brother. Love the new pedalboard. You've gotta get your hands on a Barber Gain Changer SR ( it's tone-heaven with a Strat > Clean amp ) = Trust me !!!
@@VertexEffectsInc yeah, on the bottom tone knob. I’m into the 80’s sounds, going for the ‘one guitar does all’ cliché!😁 maybe it’s time to look at a Klon on my board? I’m mostly different choruses and reverbs now
Another great video, thanks Mason! Well timed, as I've been planning my 'Uncle Larry Inspired' pedalboard. Please let me know if you ever plan to sell the Novo Serus J - she's an absoluite beauty.
They're great, I prefer the workflow on these. I got this one on Craigslist for $150. I find them on Sweetwater Gear Exchange, Ebay, and Facebook Marketplace for around $200 or less all the time.
Hmm.., When I try to arrange this board on Pedal Playground, the QX10 and Volume pedal are already too wide for the vertex tour elite, is there any reason why this may not be aligning?
If you were doing it as just a static thing, then (of course) you could do that, but you get a little bit of the clean signal before you get the vibrato signal when you do it in this fashion because there is a short time delay between when the actual effect is engaged in when the effect gets bypassed.
NGL I have had a boost after my gain pedals for forever.... it doesn't just add more volume cause even with just a tiny bit of boost added, the top end opens up.
That would have more to do with how it's hitting the front end of your amp. If the source that it's hitting has a lot of headroom, you'll just get volume increase, no EQ change. You can also put it after your FX Send if you have an FX Loop in your amplifiers to prevent the boost from overdriving your preamp section.
Makes tons of sense the Nashville studio guys would have similar effects on their boards so that say a Brent Mason vibe is on speed dial. What surprises me is that the trend towards a Brian May style tone isn't more popular in Nashville due to May having had to find an EQ range that could complement not compete with a busy piano. Maybe I'm only showing ignorance here as you do have an EQ pedal on your board for one, but for both overdriven solo & chord tones May & his gear muse in Rory Gallagher seemed to have a great option there.
Nashville seems to be getting more divorced from Brent Mason's sensibilities as we get further into the 2010's and most of the session guitarists, although they can play anything, seem more like 80s Rock 'n Roll guitarists in terms of what's being asked for. Don't get me wrong, there is still plenty of legacy acts that want Brent or someone to do his sound, but I think the baseline has morphed to heavier effects and processing overall.
@@VertexEffectsInc Great point & Dann Huff -- another guitarist who can seemingly play anything -- might be a great example for what you mean there. And both he & Tom Bukovac have confessed to using Matchless amps for some of their Nashville session work, so maybe they HAVE leveraged May's EQ strategy to some degree & I'm just failing to recognize it. Anyway, thanks! It's always great to get your learned perspective on pro level gear choices & setups not to mention your interviews with the studio guitar legends.
With regard to running 2 power supplies - is it ok/safe to a single power chord that splits to send power to each supply (in this case 2xTrueTone CS6's). The cord is manufactured as a y-cable, I didn't DIY it. I haven't wired the board up yet and I am just worried that there will be issues since both PSU's would be powered by essentially the same single power source. I run a multitude of pedals with a "clock" in them as Mason puts it - multiple delays and reverbs.
@@VertexEffectsInc awesome. I wasn’t 100% sure so I figured what the heck since you brought up dual PSU’s. Tyvm. Btw I’m building this rig on your Tour Elite MkII :) Appreciate y’all
The low voltage DC supply is where some (usually digital) pedals tend to send transients which can be amplified by high gain OD pedals on the same supply. The AC side should not have any such problems.
I've always had at least 13 to 16 pedals on my boards. From delays, reverbs chorus and so on. But nothing over the top. I do play with a double delay pedals and together they sound incredible! I use the Nemesis and the BOSS DD3 together and man , its something else when you do it just right with slight echo from each one. I have also been using a pre amp pedal in my effects loop which really changes the sound of your amp and cabinet to an all new level of smooth beautiful sound. Thats with an EQ pedal and now my TONEX pedal. Hot damn!
I've been trying to get my hands on a quartermaster 10 just like that one. They're impossible to find in the states, and nobody else has jumped on that hole in the market *clears throat.
@@vocalion9519 While it isn’t usually the case, yes there are two right now. However one is local pickup only, half a continent away; the other comes as part of a package I don’t want or need. So while it does currently APPEAR as if they can be found, it actually isn’t that simple.
Yes, I think of them more like an EQ pedal than a buffer, I also think they're impractical to use a buffers in your system since you'd need to buy separate versions for input and output (and that's only if you run a mono rig in front of an amp), and I think they color the sound (by design) too much to be a buffer for me. I know people enjoy the color of them, and that's fine, but that's sorta the antithesis of what a buffer is supposed to do.
Thank you for those videos... learn a lot with power suply and such more issues on pedalboards.... I really have a noiseless pedalbord nowadays because of your videos..... thank you
There are many more that could be mentioned, you’ll have to draw the line somewhere. You should still be able to enjoy despite this if you’re genuinely interested in this sort of content.
@@VertexEffectsIncoh I enjoy it, my family has been involved in the session scene for about 40 years here in Nashville so it is interesting to now all of a sudden see this obsession everyone has with guitar players here. Quite comical considering we’ve had great players here since the 50’s lol, love the videos!
But I do madly respect Bukovac, him and my father used to work together a lot back in the 90’s. All these guys are great, I just find the obsession people have suddenly with all these guys is funny, but they deserve it, they’ve payed their dues to have the reverence they’re receiving, but there are some other cats who deserve it too. Like James Mitchell, Hemby, Cleveland, Kelly Back, Joel Key, and plenty others. We need a real session player appreciation for all the guys who work their tails off to not only work steadily but provide for their families
Most guys seem to put them after overdrive in Nashville. I have an insert Send/Return on the Vertex Buffer Interface that I considered wiring a POG into should I want to use one that would go after the QMX output but before the Vertex Boost, Memory Man, and M9.
I really appreciate this video, all of them really, but the delay kinda killed this for me. The highs were almost painful. Obviously when you're in a mix with a band, guitar is eq'd with highs pushed but stand-alone, it's tough. Would've been great either no delay or a very modest delay. Regardless, thanks for doing what you do
That Deluxe MM reminded me that I need to hit up someone to swap out my switch on my Q-Tron from the same era. Serious "pop" when I hit the switch. Needs to be swapped out
Please darken up the rat about an eighth turn. Your highs wont go bye-bye and it will sound amazing slamming it with a ts or other od or boost. Love your videos, ty, sir!
I like this cat. The memory man is the only one I would keep. Imho most distortion pedals sound like bees in a bottle. The less pedal dancing I have to do the better. Thanks. Nice video.
