Pedalboard Reflections

Great thread. While I preferred rack mount multi-effect units when I was doing a lot of treated uke playing, mainly because I was recording so the stereo out on them was a nice feature, I have a few pedals as well. I'd list a much different set as essential:

Compression. Allows one to tweak the sound that goes into everything after
Distortion
Flanger (or 2, a double flanger sound can be incredible if done right)
Wah
Delay
Reverb (but here I would use a rack unit though the pedals now are probably much better then when I was doing this in the early 90's)

Others that could be added:

EQ ( I prefer a rack mount parametric, perfect for dialing in reverbs )
Octave pedal /harmonizer (mine are the old style, single note so not as useful as the newer ones)
Whammy pedal (loads of fun)
Phaser
A/B box. Allows for switching chains with just a single button, great for when you want the solo section to stand out

Sadly half my old rack units have died which is probably just as well since what I could get now is likely way better anyway if I ever want to get into that sound again. Not sure I'd want to go the pedal route, but maybe a pedal board and a power supply would eliminate much of what bugged me about using them.

John

bacchettadavid said:

..........

Hollis, I love your placement of the reverb and delay before the stacked overdrives. You might be getting pretty deep into fizz and feedback territory there, but I bet that sounds wicked! I can see why you're switching out the second overdrive for a looper, but I'll be sad to see it go.

Click to expand...

David, my current small board set up matches 99% of my current requirements. It’s rare that I have to plug into a desk so everything is focused on live sound at my weekly Farmers Market gig. The red dirt overdrive was an experiment to see if I could loose the larger Super Phat Mod. It was on sale but the answer is no, I like the Phat Mod best which I use on a number of specific songs every week. Same goes for the POG. I put my Baggs Para DI on my larger board and replaced it with the Sessions unit which, in my opinion, is more useful in a no desk, live gig, environment. It still gives me feedback control, some EQ and compression (although not as sophisticated as my Strymon compressor that is now also on my larger board). I just also treated myself to a ZT Lunchbox guitar amp. 200 watts, drives a separate cab(same size as the amp) but must be plugged into a power outlet. I used it today at a rehearsal that included an electric piano, saxophone, stand up bass fiddle and another ukulele. It had no problem being heard at 25% power. I am now dreading becoming an amplifier collector.

jelow1966 said:

I'd list a much different set as essential:

Compression. Allows one to tweak the sound that goes into everything after
Distortion
Flanger (or 2, a double flanger sound can be incredible if done right)
Wah
Delay
Reverb (but here I would use a rack unit though the pedals now are probably much better then when I was doing this in the early 90's)

Others that could be added:

EQ ( I prefer a rack mount parametric, perfect for dialing in reverbs )
Octave pedal /harmonizer (mine are the old style, single note so not as useful as the newer ones)
Whammy pedal (loads of fun)
Phaser
A/B box. Allows for switching chains with just a single button, great for when you want the solo section to stand out

Click to expand...

Jelow, thanks for joining in!

The main difference between our lists is your inclusion of compression, distortion, flanger, and wah as essential. I'm currently fleshing out Part II of this thread, and I will be sure to include a special note under compressors indicating that a compressor would be considered essential for a player who intends to use more heavily affected sounds. I'll also be addding a section to the boost switch section that discusses the alternatives to clean boost (compressor, overdrive, etc.).

I didn't list a wah as essential simply because my own list is inteded to address needs of live sound reinforcement rather than recording, and wah pedals can be an absolute feedback monsters at stage SPLs without a dialed-in parametric EQ or at least a notch filter. Having said that, I love a good wah myself and will definitely be treating them in Part III. As for flangers, I was split (no pun intended, honest) between whether to list chorus or flanger as a core effect. I ended up listing chorus because a subtle chorus does more to round out and reinforce the 'ukulele's natural tone.

Distortion and flanger effects both represent significant departures from the 'ukulele's acoustic tone and so will be treated in Part III. The same goes for octave effects. A/B boxes and bypass loopers will also be covered in Part III since they don't really grow into their own until a player expands into broader sonic horizons.

....Now I'm really curious to try stacking flangers myself. I've not tried *that* yet!

hollisdwyer said:

The red dirt overdrive was an experiment to see if I could loose the larger Super Phat Mod. It was on sale but the answer is no, I like the Phat Mod best which I use on a number of specific songs every week. Same goes for the POG. I put my Baggs Para DI on my larger board and replaced it with the Sessions unit which, in my opinion, is more useful in a no desk, live gig, environment.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I can understand your preference for the Phat Mod. On my own board, I tend to place a POG after my TS-9 to restore some of the low end cut by TS-style pedals.

I used a Para DI for a while myself (and loved it), but I had similar issues with it in dimly lit, deskless venues. That's part of what drove me towards the PZ-Pre on my own board.

And with that, I'll sign out of the thread and finish Part II. The final draft of Part II and rough draft of Part III will be posted over the weekend.

Thanks for these posts, David! The options are there are truly bewildering, and your explanations here are really helpful. At the moment I'm plugging into the computer and trying make heads and tails of synthesized pedals, and you've already clarified a few pieces to experiment with. I'm looking forward to the rest of Part II and Parts III-V.

Once you get those posted, can you edit the main post to link to the individual parts? That will make it easier to find them amongst the comments.

Thank you so much for taking the time to put this tutorial together. I went through a similar journey recently and mostly fumbled my way through it because there wasn't a lot of info available that pertained to ukulele. I was able to find a lot of general info mostly related to guitar that helped. I had planned to only get a pedal or two to experiment with fattening up the uke sound or adding a little more bottom. Well, I think we all know how that goes... One leads to two, four....


I'm a woodworking hobbyist so I ended up making a small pedalboard. I bought some pedals that interested me. My choices were based on curiosity, reviews and price point. I'm not a gigging musician so I wanted to keep my investment on the low side. As far as what order to put the pedals in, I did as much research as I could and came up with an arrangement that seems to be working for me. I mounted a power supply under the pedalboard. I'm still fumbling my way through it but it's a fun learning process.

I'm eager to read the rest of your tutorial to see if I did reasonably well in my pedal choices and set up.

Some pics:



I like the Donner pedals because they're inexpensive and small. I didn't want a big pedalboard. The order of the pedals is:

Baggs Para Acoustic
Donner Tuner
Donner Compressor
DigiTech Trio+
Donner Blues Drive
MicroPog
Donner Tutti Love (chorus pedal)
Donner Yellow Fall (delay pedal)
Hall of Fame Reverb has replaced the Behringer Reverb pictured

The Donner pedals are typically in the $25-$30 dollar range. The non-Donner pedals listed were all purchased on my local Craigs List except for the Trio+.

This arrangement allows me to easily isolate the Para Acoustic or to just use the bottom row of pedals.

This is all still quite foreign to me so if David or anyone else has suggestions, criticisms, feedback it would be most welcomed.

photoshooter said:

Thank you so much for taking the time to put this tutorial together. I went through a similar journey recently and mostly fumbled my way through it because there wasn't a lot of info available that pertained to ukulele. I was able to find a lot of general info mostly related to guitar that helped. I had planned to only get a pedal or two to experiment with fattening up the uke sound or adding a little more bottom. Well, I think we all know how that goes... One leads to two, four....


I'm a woodworking hobbyist so I ended up making a small pedalboard. I bought some pedals that interested me. My choices were based on curiosity, reviews and price point. I'm not a gigging musician so I wanted to keep my investment on the low side. As far as what order to put the pedals in, I did as much research as I could and came up with an arrangement that seems to be working for me. I mounted a power supply under the pedalboard. I'm still fumbling my way through it but it's a fun learning process.

I'm eager to read the rest of your tutorial to see if I did reasonably well in my pedal choices and set up.

Some pics:

View attachment 112693View attachment 112693View attachment 112694View attachment 112695View attachment 112696View attachment 112697

I like the Donner pedals because they're inexpensive and small. I didn't want a big pedalboard. The order of the pedals is:

Baggs Para Acoustic
Donner Tuner
Donner Compressor
DigiTech Trio+
Donner Blues Drive
MicroPog
Donner Tutti Love (chorus pedal)
Donner Yellow Fall (delay pedal)
Hall of Fame Reverb has replaced the Behringer Reverb pictured

The Donner pedals are typically in the $25-$30 dollar range. The non-Donner pedals listed were all purchased on my local Craigs List except for the Trio+.

This arrangement allows me to easily isolate the Para Acoustic or to just use the bottom row of pedals.

This is all still quite foreign to me so if David or anyone else has suggestions, criticisms, feedback it would be most welcomed.

Click to expand...

How does the Trio+ work? I'm not familiar with it but if it's meant to just add backing to what you are playing then I would think it should be on the end of the chain or else it all ends up going thru the same effects as your uke. Or do you send it's output separately? Other than that question your arraignment seems logical for a traditional approach. A beautiful job on the board too, very nice work! My one other piece of advice is to just experiment, that's the best thing about pedals, it's easy to put the reverb first and then run that signal thru distortion etc and see what happens.

John

Thanks for the compliment and the tips!

I've mostly be experimenting with the pedals individually or in pairs. Yes the Trio provides backing track and also has some modest looping capability. If I remember correctly the Trio performs best if it's fed a guitar/uke signal without effects so I only put the tone "shaping" pedals in front of it. I haven't really exploited all it's features yet but you can send the backing track out to the amp as a separate signal from the effects loop. Honestly it's still all a bit overwhelming but I am certainly having fun exploring the possibilities.

You've got the right idea, get a feel for what one pedal does then add another to the chain. Get a feel for what you can do with those and then add a third. Get a feel for that then switch two of them around etc. It's generally a good idea to keep the compressor first too, though I'm now wondering what would happen if it was after the distortion...hmmm.

John

I find this all very interesting, but far from my needs. At least, since I don't really understand what all effects do with a ukulele, I don't need them. If I understood what you guys are talking about, that might be different.

I like the clean sound of a uke, and all but three are strictly mic'ed to get into the system. My Donaldson, with the K&K Twinspot goes through a K&K Pure preamp, the Fluke has a B&B active pickup (although I use it very infrequently, and the Ohana has the MiSi. i generally plug my instruments and mics into a mixer with minimal reverb, and then into the amp (Currently using a JBL EON-One), and that's it.

I've been considering a looper, so I can do the backing track thing while playing solo, but that's the only other effect I've thought about.

So please, instead of just telling us "this is what I use, and the best way to use it", how about "This is what I use, and this is what it does..."


Thanks!

bacchettadavid said:

My pleaure, Etude - I'm getting at least as much out of posting this thread as anyone else is reading it. What pedals do you currently have? I might be able to give you some ideas for experimentation while you wait for the later parts that will be more closely aligned with your own needs.

Click to expand...

Thanks for asking- I've been accumulating pedals for some years, mostly tailored for acoustic guitar. In the last 3 years I'm using them for ukulele.
On the board now:

Baggs Session DI
TCE ND-1 Nova Delay
TCE Hall of Fame Reverb
TCE Ditto
the Fuel Tank power supply

On the sidelines
Xotic SP compressor
MXR carbon copy
TCE Corona chorus
BBE Sonic Stomp
Fulltone OCD



I punted and put the power supply on top. I ran into some difficulty mounting it to the bottom. Cable management leaves a lot to be desired, a work in progress. More of an example of how NOT to do it, but better than having them on the floor ala carte with no board. My focus is more towards playing solo ukulele instrumentals.


Cheers

PART II cont'd - Core effects for amplified acoustic performance

SECTION B: NON-ESSENTIAL CORE EFFECTS - COMPRESSION, DELAY, CHORUS, AND TREMOLO

B.1: Compression

Compressors either reduce volume of parts of the signal exceeding a certain threshold or increase volume of parts below a certain threshold. This has the effect of shrinking a signal's dynamic range. Most compressors offer control over at least some of the following settings:

• Threshold - the minimum and maximum volumes allowed to go uncompressed
• Ratio - the amount of compression applied to the parts of a signal outside the minimum and maximum thresholds
• Attack - the amount of time allowed to pass before an offending signal is compressed
• Release - the amount of time that must pass once a signal falls below the threshold before the compressor stops
• Knee - the profile of the compression itself. hard knee means it quickly reigns in offending parts, soft knee means it massages the signal into acceptable limits

Most compressor pedals combine many of these features into one or two simplified controls, usually labelled "sustain" or "compression". My experience has taught me to seek out simple-to-operate compressors that don't color the tone or mess with the attack in overly obvious ways.

Before you ignore compressors because they undermine the 'ukulele's already limited dynamic range, consider the following:

• a compressor can prevent the wolf notes from popping out of the mix
• you can make your 'ukulele a bit louder in the mix without worrying about occasionally covering up your bandmates
• a compressor can bring the volume of hammer-ons to the same volume as picked notes
• placing a compressor before overdrive or distortion will go a long way toward getting a more even response out of the pedal
• at higher sound pressure levels, a compressor can help you eke more sustain out of certain notes or induce musical feedback

Special note: running the signal from a piezo pickup into a compressor can have unintended consequences. Because the pickup turns any "extraneous" vibration into a signal (including transient sounds such as the sound of nails on strings or background sounds such as skin brushing across the soundboard), these vibrations can be further amplified by the compressor. Compressors can also induce quite a bit of feedback. The more resonant your pickup, the more apparent these side effects will be.

B.2: Delay

Records the input in a buffer then recalls it after a certain interval of time to create an "echo" of an incoming signal. Common controls include:

• time - time between the attack and delay; also the time between each repeat thereafter
• level - the level of the first repeats in relation to the original signal
• repeats - the number of repeats across which the initial level fades. In analog delays (see below), this is accomplished by feeding the delays themselves back into the unit, resulting in rapidly decaying tails and a certain amount of feedback within the delay unit itself

Delays can be classified into three major categories:

• Analog - short maximum delay times, each repeat of the echo is more decayed than the previous one, giving a dark tone to the delays. Low fidelity, generally unobtrusive but very obvious in more extreme settings
• Tape - uses a looping tape and recording and playback heads to reproduce delays recorded to a strip of magnetic tape. The repeats degrade more slowly than with analog delays, and various modulation effects become increasingly prevalant in the repeats as the tape ages
• Digital - abritrarily long maximum delay times, echoes can be pristine or processed in a variety of ways, including assigning the echoes to various rhythmic pattern

Some delays include additional features such as tap tempo (tap a momentary switch a few times to set the length of the delay), and the most powerful digital delay pedals offer convincing emulations of both analog and tape delay types.

With the possible exception of EQ, compression and delay are probably the most versatile effects in all of Part II. Compressors can be used to even out dynamics when chicken picking or playing rhythm parts, bring the 'ukulele forward in a mix, change the responsiveness of later pedals in the chain, or even provide a slight boost to the instrument's sustain. Delays can be set short with with one or two repeats to get more of a slapback kind of effect, set short with many repeats to emulate reverb, set long with one or two repeats to tastefully gird up your tone for a solo, or set long with many repeats for some crazy spacey sound effects.

B.3: Chorus

Copies your signal, delays the copy by some amount of time, then modulates the delay (changes the delay by an amount which varies over time) before mixing it back into your signal. The modulation of delay in the copy results in a modulation of pitch per the Doppler effect, and when the two signals are combined, the net result is a sound reminiscent of multiple musicians playing roughly in unison.

When played on a reentrant-tuned 'ukulele, many chords already possess a chorus-like quality due to differences in pitch and phase between the 1st and 4th strings. A chorus pedal broadens this effect to encompass more of your signal.

Chorus pedals generally provide the following controls:

• Delay - sets the minimum delay time
• Depth - controls the amount of pitch and delay modulation
• Rate - sets the rate at which the pitch and delay times sweep through their range

A subtle chorus can be used to thicken the sound of the 'ukulele whereas a wetter chorus will interfere with the perception of accurate intonation. Both are useful.

B.4: Tremolo

Modulates the amplitude of your signal, resulting in a cycling of volume over time. This causes your sound to pulse in a manner similar to the diaphragm vibrato often used by flutists. The exact profile of this pulsing effect varies hugely, both in general waveform and in precise properties of the volume swing.

The general waveform for the modulation can fall into one of three categories (keep in mind that this waveform will usually be somewhat lopsided rather than symmetrical; in other words, the waves themselves will be steeper on one side than the other):

• triangle - very defined peaks and valleys, with very clear difference between the rises and falls in volume
• sinusoidal - a smoother undulation
• square - a very forward, "hard" dip and rise in volume. can sound like a helicopter at high speeds

Tremolo as an effect was popularized in guitar amplifiers, where it was accomplished by several means. In addition to cycling the volume, each means produced particular side effects in the overall tone. The methods most commonly emulated by pedals (in the case of photocells, many pedals actually contain a photocell circuit in them) and their effects on tone are summarized below:

• photocell - the overall EQ contour of the signal changes subtly as the volume shifts. generally more square than triangle
• tube bias - the quiet parts see a slight cut to the fundamental and a boost to the 3rd and 5th partials while the loud parts exhibit more obvious harmonic distortion
• harmonic tremolo - not so much a shift in volume as a shift between a bright high band of EQ and a dark low band of EQ

Special note: many ring modulators and certain pitch shifters (see Part III) can emulate this form of modulation.

photoshooter said:

I'm a woodworking hobbyist so I ended up making a small pedalboard. I bought some pedals that interested me. . . . The order of the pedals is:

Baggs Para Acoustic
Donner Tuner
Donner Compressor
DigiTech Trio+
Donner Blues Drive
MicroPog
Donner Tutti Love (chorus pedal)
Donner Yellow Fall (delay pedal)
Hall of Fame Reverb has replaced the Behringer Reverb pictured

. . . This is all still quite foreign to me so if David or anyone else has suggestions, criticisms, feedback it would be most welcomed.

Click to expand...

Photoshooter, what a beautiful board! If you're willing to build a board to my own specs, I would gladly pay you. Mind if I shoot you a PM?

Try the following signal chain modification: move everything after the Trio+ into its effects loop. I'd actually recommend the following chain:
Instrument -> Para DI -> effects loop send (requires stereo Y cable to 2 mono plugs) -> tuner -> compressor -> effects loop return on Para DI -> Blues Drive -> Trio+ -> effects loop send on Trio+ -> Everything else -> Trio+ effects loop return -> amp.

With this chain, you can EQ after the compressor (useful) and keep the compressor from interacting with changes to the level controls on the Para DI. It will also allow you to shape the blues driver with the Para DI's eq settings and leave the reverb and delay on while training the Trio+.

Alternatively, if you were going out to a PA or needed a balanced signal, I'd nest the above chain inside the Para DI's effects loop.

jelow1966 said:

It's generally a good idea to keep the compressor first too, though I'm now wondering what would happen if it was after the distortion...hmmm.

Click to expand...

I've tried it; the exact effect will depend on the particular distortion and compressor, but you will generally get a lot of noise from the piezo pickups. Interestingly, running a compressor that affects the attack after a more dynamically responsive overdrive really allows you to shape the amount of distortion without affecting the overall level too much.

ksiegel said:

I find this all very interesting, but far from my needs. At least, since I don't really understand what all effects do with a ukulele, I don't need them. If I understood what you guys are talking about, that might be different.
. . .
So please, instead of just telling us "this is what I use, and the best way to use it", how about "This is what I use, and this is what it does..."

-Kurt​

Click to expand...

Kurt, now that Part II is up, let me know if it provides enough "this is what it does" for your needs. Your input is very much appreciated as I craft Part III.

etudes said:

Thanks for asking- I've been accumulating pedals for some years, mostly tailored for acoustic guitar. . . . My focus is more towards playing solo ukulele instrumentals.

Click to expand...

Etudes, I'm digging that delay pedal. As an experiment, try the following: kick the reverb or looper off the board, (if the reverb, set the Nova for a short delay time to emulate a reverb or a longer delay when you want something more like an echo), then stick the OCD after the Sessions (that way you can control the OCD a bit more with the saturation and compression settings on the DI). That would give you a broader array of tones to experiment with.

Alternatively, replace the delay pedal with the OCD, and stick the reverb before the OCD. The result won't be clean, but it might inspire some new ideas for how to use the looper. You might also be able to cram the SP comp on the board and use it as a boost.

P.S. Nothing wrong with the power supply on top. I'm actually going to be moving mine to the top of my board for its Mk. II iteration. Also, my own cable management leaves a lot to be desired.

And with that, I'm off to draft Part III.

Woo hoo! Lots to digest here. And yes, some of it just a tad over my head. But that keeps it fun. Thanks for the feedback David and thanks for all the effort you put into this thread. I sent you a PM

@ bacchettadavid

Thanks for the nod!

I am glad my contributions here on the forum were helpful.

This thread is a great idea, and your detailed presentation on this topic is wonderful.

I will admit that I've not had time to read it all, but will come back and do so later on, as well as share how I use effects and how I have them set up.

This is a great start, and I am eagerly looking forward to seeing this thread evolve...

Part III - Auxiliary and expressive effects and signal chain considerations

INTRODUCTION

Whereas Part II of this guide focuses on the subtler applications of effects, Part III directs its gaze towards more overtly affected sounds.

Part III is broken into two parts: the first is on effects themselves while the second is on how their order in the signal chain affects how they work. Please note that the taxonomy below (filter, gain, modulation, time, etc.) is somewhat arbitrary as many effects in Part III operate in multiple domains of the signal.

There's a lot of ground to cover here, so let's get started.

A. GAIN - OVERDRIVE AND DISTORTION, FUZZ, AND VOLUME

A.1: Clean/gain boost and compression - see Part II

A.2: Overdrive and Distortion

When a clean/gain boost is put in front of a tube amp, that boost can be used to push the amp to the point that the power tubes begin to distort. As the output volume of a tube amp increases, the power tubes begin to compress the signal. Once this compression reaches a certain point, the power tubes begin to distort the signal in the following ways:

• the dynamics become noticeably compressed
• peaks begin to form at the even-numbered harmonics
• the most prominent peaks and valleys of the waveform are sheared off, resulting in clipping

Together, these features "saturate" the sound and create a type of distortion many listeners find pleasing; however, this sort of tube amp distortion is usually achieved only in an amp's upper volume tiers.

Overdrive and distortion are both attempts to recreate this effect at somewhat lower volumes. Overdrive pedals combine a focused EQ boost designed to push a tube amp into distortion at lower volumes with a harsh level-dependent distortion coming from "soft" clipping diodes in its circuit. In contrast to overdrive pedals, distortion pedals rely less on a gain boost to the amp and instead saturate the signal themselves.

Most overdrive and distortion pedals feature the following controls:

• Gain/Distortion - alters the amount of distortion applied by the pedal
• Tone - functions as an EQ. The exact behavior of this knob varies with the type of overdrive
• Level - level of the output signal

In addition to these controls, some overdrive and distortion pedals provide 2- or 3-band EQ controls (whether these controls affect the signal before or after the distortion is applied varies with the model).

Neither of these effects will work as intended in most amplified 'ukulele contexts. The focused EQ boost of overdrive pedals will not push most PA or monitor speakers into distortion but will instead function as a signal coloration, and the nail noise and harmonic complexity picked up by piezo transducers will make many distortion pedals sound harsh and fizzy. A pseudo-solution to the former problem exists in the form of either guitar amps or amp modellers (see section E), but the latter problem is inherent to the design of the offending distortion pedals themselves.

Special note: anti-feedback tools are often necessary to render overdrive or distortion usable at anything above bedroom sound levels.

A.3: Fuzz

Fuzz represents an attempt to reproduce the sound of a fundamentally broken amplifier (usually punctured or torn speaker cones or misaligned tubes). First pedals to make tubes distort, then pedals to replace distorted tubes, and now pedals to reproduce the sound of broken speaker cones and misaligned tubes; what is up with people and malfunctioning tube amps?

Anyways, fuzz pedals press the signal into a square waveform, resulting in a sonic texture that is fuzzy or wooly. This adds a harsh squelch to your tone that almost completely destroys any hint of 'ukulele, but it's a loveable sound nonetheless. Unfortunately, WILL BE DEVELOPED IN A REVISION.

Special note: fuzz is a *very* feedback-inducing effect, with many fuzz pedals creating spontaneous feedback in certain settings. Anti-feedback tools are strongly recommended here.

A.4: Volume

Volume pedals are probably the least interesting of all the pedals in Part III, and because I love you all so much, I'm going to spare you the details and get to the point.

Just kidding. I am going to microscopically analyze volume pedals with a level of detail so precise you're almost guaranteed to find it literally excruciating.

Volume pedals come in several physical form factors: rocker pedals, knobs, and rollers. Rockers are the most common and are useful for swells, maintaining constant volume across a decay, or for dynamically phrasing in; knobs take up less space on a crowded pedalboard and are good for "set and forget" operation (typically to keep levels in check towards the end of a signal chain), and rollers (at least the single model I know to exist) offer a compromise between the two form factors.

Different rocker pedals also feature differing amounts of travel. Since most volume pedals use the rocker format, I feel it necessary to discuss the two most prominent rocker designs: potentiometer, or "pot", and electro-optical. In an pot-based design, a drum connected to logarithmic potentiometer mounted to the base of the enclosure is connected to the enclosure lid via a string. Rotational movement of the lid is transferred to the potentiometer via the string and drum in one of two ways:

• Spring method - in this method, a spring takes up any slack in the string. The string makes several loops around the drum and passes through a ring on the underside of the lid and a shaft located along the posterior margin of the base. Both ends of the string are affixed to hooks on either end of a spring that takes up any slack in the system
• Set screw method - the necessary friction comes from a small loop around a set screw screwed into the drum. Both ends of the string are affixed to mounting plates located on the underside of the lid on either side of the potentiometer. The length of the string is wrapped around the drum in two partial loops connected by a perpendicular loop around a set screw. Any undue slack in the system resulting is easily removed by pulling more of the working ends into the mounting brackets

In contrast, electro-optical designs are mechanically simple. A light mounted to the underside of the lid moves either closer to or further away from a photoresistor, thereby controlling the output signal level.

In addition to these differences in construction, the following functional differences persist between the two designs:

• Maintenance - pots, strings, and springs all wear out and require periodic replacement (a simple operation). The only moving part in an electro-optical design is the lid itself
• Smoothness of swell - since a potentiometer cannot be "half-on", pot-based design always exhibit a bump in volume when the rocker is moved from "fully off" to "slightly on". Electro-optical designs provide continuously variable output all the way down to completely off
• Passive vs. active - pot-based designs come in both passive and active variants. Electro-optical designs, requiring current for the aforementioned light, are always active

As noted in the list above, volume pedals can be either passive or active. Passive volume pedals don't require external power and are basically guitar volume knobs in rocker pedal format. When they feature a tuner out, the output is usually split between the tuner out and amp out, and this can create high-end rolloff in the signal due to the tuner loading the signal when powered up (a true bypass tuner can solve some of this problem when turned off alhough this defeats the point of a tuner out). Active volume pedals require a power supply and usually provide a buffer (see section E) or low-gain preamp and isolated tuner output.

Passive volume pedals also come in varying input impedance. The most common values are 25 kOhm, 50 kOhm, 250 kOhm, 500 kOhm, 1 MOhm, and 10 MOhm. If you are using a passive pickup with no preamp and intend to use a volume pedal, you should seek a volume pedal with an input impedance of no less than 1 MOhm (10 MOhm wwould probably be preferable). Alternatively, a buffered pedal (not true bypass) placed between your instrument and volume pedal will allow you to use a 25 kOhm passive volume pedal, but you'll still have to worry about loading from the buffered pedal itself.

And in the end, all a volume pedal does is place a volume fader at your foot, usually in a rocker pedal format. Roll forward to increase volume or roll back to reduce volume.

Simple, ain't it?

Ready to tar and feather me yet? I promise I won't do that to you again, so stay tuned for the rest of Part III.

Thanks for another installment.. might be the weekend before I have time to give it a proper reading!

I'm still playing catch up. Good section on compressors (and taming wolf notes) you've got me thinking of re-introducing my xotic compressor back to the board..

David, I’m glad that you are constantly addressing the uniqueness of ukulele’s with piezoelectric pickup. I learned the hard way that EFX pedals that are great for guitars can be quite mediocre for a ukulele.

Although hardly at a tipping point, multi source pickups are now becoming available for Ukes. Anuenue have just come out with an “Air” model that combines a microphone and a piezo under saddle pickup. MiSi has a similar model. These allow you to send the signal from either or blend them.

I wonder if these will make a wider range of EFX pedals more viable for Ukes?

PART III continued

B. FILTERS - WAH AND PITCH

B.1: Equalization - see Part II

B.2: Wah

Applies an EQ filter with a high Q to your signal, creating a steep peak in the middle frequency response (see the Equalization section in Part II for a more thorough explanation). This peak of tightly grouped boosted middle frequencies can then be translated across the spectrum using a rocker pedal. This sounds similar to a person saying "ooh-wah-ooh-wah" and gives the overall impression of you moving forward and backward in the mix.

Interestingly, you can simulate this effect by picking and strumming the strings at different locations along their lengths or by applying varying amounts of pressure to the soundboard with your strumming forearm. Either of these methods will serve to limit the amount of upper harmonic information in your 'ukulele's tone, and this will roughly approximate the sweeping Q of the wah effect.

Special note: at high sound pressure levels, sweeping the peak around will induce feedback as it moves through your instrument's resonances unless you can filter those frequencies out with a notch filter.

B.3: Octavers, Pitch Shifters and Harmonizers

Thus far, this guide has focused on delays in or filtering of the signal. In this section, our focus shifts toward frequency and/or pitch manipulation.

Pitch is a perception rooted in the ratio relationships of frequencies contained within a given tone. True pitch shifting requires the preservation of these ratio relationships and is usually accomplished through altered playback rates of a recording. Even chorus, which can detune a signal somewhat, depends upon first recording the signal into a buffer. Manipulating pitch in real time is difficult, so most "pitch-shifting" effects resort to trickery to create the general impression of a pitch shift.

Octavers represent the simplest form of pitch alteration. The octave's simple 2:1 harmonic ratio makes it a prime candidate for pitch manipulation, and several analog options exist for creating octaves above or below the signal. Popular methods of achieving octave up include:

• Full-wave rectification: clone the signal, invert the clone, then mix both waves together and filter out any troughs. This results in the creation of many harmonics absent from the original signal and results in a fuzz-like timbre.
• Multiply a signal by itself using a ring modulator. This will boost peaks originally present in the signal as well as produce the sums and differences of all the individual frequencies within the signal. Because ukuleles produce harmonically complex signals, this method will generally produce many extraneous peaks, resulting in a metallic timbre.

Common octave down options include:

• Use a flip-flop circuit to convert the signal into a square wave with approximately 1/2 the overall frequency. This turns the signal into either on or off, so don't expect any subtle variations in dynamics due to harmonics, and note that the signal must be loud enough relative to the noise to trigger the flip-flop for it to work. Your bottom octave might cut in and out and will definitely sound fuzzy of the signal.

Note that none of these methods is clean though digital methods can achieve cleaner results. Digital octavers partially sample a signal then repeat that very short sample in either double- or half-time while filling in the missing pieces with more repeated cycles or synthesis. This can preserve roughly the same timbre as the original tone, but it still isn't a perfect representation of an actual octave above or below the note played on the instrument since actual notes in different registers of the same instrument have different timbres.

Octavers can add a touch of low frequency to 'ukulele's tone, and they can emulate steel drums, synth pads, etc. Settings for the number of octaves and whether those octaves are above and/or below the fundamental vary between models, with some digital octavers even providing polyphonic options. As a general rule, digital models track the 'ukulele more consistently than analog offerings which are often "confused" by the complex harmonics in an 'ukulele signal.

Pitch shifters and harmonizers represent the more complex pitch effects. Pitch shifters can shift pitch by intervals other than an octave, and many pitch shifters provide additional features such as detuning and pitch bend modulations. These effects are almost always digital and work in a manner similar to the digital octavers outlined above. Harmonizers are subset of pitch shifters that allow you to blend the signal between the original and pitch shifted versions. Many harmonizers can also harmonize diatonically within a specific key. These pedals come in a variety of form factors, but almost all of them are digital.

C. MODULATION - FLANGER AND PHASER

Every effect in this category relies on a cyclically changing value. Being partially time-based effects, modulation effects all pair especially well with reverb and delay.

C.1: Chorus and Tremolo - see Part II

C.2: Phaser and Flanger

Phasers clone the signal then alter the phase of the clone before mixing the clone back into the original. The amount of phase shift applied to the clone is frequency-dependent, and this results in phase cancelling, forming a notch at the frequencies effected. In a phaser, several phase shifts are applied simultaneously, forming a series of notches across the frequency spectrum, and these phase shifts are then modulated so that the cancelled out frequencies (notches) are swept across the frequency spectrum in tandem with one another.

Because the notches are each created independently of one another, they need not be harmonically related. This means that they can be evenly spaced and swept in parallel motion, minimizing their timbral impact on the tone of the signal and lending to phasers a soft "whooshing" quality.

By bringing these notches into definite harmonic relationships, a much more overt form of modulation can be arrived at: flanging. Flangers work in one of two ways:

• Similarly to the phasers outlined above (except with many more stages) but combined with a very short version of the delay modulation found in chorus effects. In this type, the sweeping notches are then attuned to one another electronically
• Through the use of an extremely brief delay that is then modulated. In this type, the delay is so brief that the clone and original signal phase cancel at specific harmonically related frequencies, and the modulation in the delay causes the notches to sweep

In either method, the harmonic relationships between the notches and the original signal content drastically affect the timbre of the signal as the notches sweep through the spectrum, resulting in a uniquely obvious jet plane-like "swoosh".

Flangers exist in the middle ground between chorus (delay modulation resulting in pitch modulation with some phase modulation at lower frequencies) and phasers (phase modulation), and can emulate either in more moderate settings. If you only invest in one modulation effect and want options, a flanger is your best best.

Love for the Digitech Droptune octave-down pedal. Best tracking I've heard.