Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 6:24 pm
This is great, I've been wanting to get into this kind of discussion for a while...
After much experimentation, here's my setup:
360/12v64 into a Guyatone ST2 compressor--this is the best squash comp to get THE SOUND (and beyond) I've used, and I've put it up against Keeley, HBE, MXR and others. It's VERY transparent (on & off) and can be very aggressive or laid back; it also makes a great clean boost with no compression.
That feeds a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, which is hands down the best mild OD I've used with my 12. The name says it all. It also makes a very good clean boost, and combined with the Guyatone, I can get a FULL range of distortion/sustain tones without losing any of the sparkle the guitar is famous for. [I also have to give very high marks to the Durham Sex Drive-it's designed as a clean boost with compression options to drive a class A amp like a Vox AC30. Though I haven't wanted to pony up the 2 bills to buy one, I love the sound they produce.]
From there we go to modulation, which is a Fulltone Mini Deja Vibe and/or a Motion Sound rotating horn speaker. I can't say enough good things about either of them: rich, creamy and beautiful, but they are not for everyone.
Which brings me to my favorite pedal of all time: the HomeBrew Mimic Mock I. This is the ultimate in reasonably priced analog delay for me: juicy, midrange-heavy repeats with tons of mojo and very little high end, but the original dry tone is absolutely unchanged (on or off). That said, it is a little noisy: it has a fair amount of clock noise which comes across as a high pitched squeal. This is below unity, so you can't really hear it when you're playing, but it is present nonetheless. A small sacrifice for such beauty. I had the good fortune to also own its brother, the Mock II, but in the end I preferred the more colorful (and noisy) Mock I.
And finally we reach the amp: a mid-90s reissue Vox AC15. The tone is the best I've heard for my taste, plus it has a nice tube vibrato and spring reverb (NOT as good as Fender, but it works for me). If anyone wants to know more about it, I'll elaborate, but the question was effects so I'll stop here.
This is more than most wanted to read, I'm sure, but I've spent a lot of time and money on pedals that did nothing for this finnicky guitar and I would have loved to have someone give me this many clues years ago when I started this quest!
I invite everyone to please keep this thread going, I love to hear about cool effects that work with Ricks. They are not the easiest things work with since their tone is so uniquely brilliant.
Now if anyone cares to hear some of the sounds, check my band's myspace page at myspace.com/greatercalifornia. We're finishing a new record and will be putting new songs up soon. (What's there now is older and much has changed since then.)
Also check out myspace.com/rockfour for some serious 12-string jangle. They are THE best modern band using THE SOUND!
After much experimentation, here's my setup:
360/12v64 into a Guyatone ST2 compressor--this is the best squash comp to get THE SOUND (and beyond) I've used, and I've put it up against Keeley, HBE, MXR and others. It's VERY transparent (on & off) and can be very aggressive or laid back; it also makes a great clean boost with no compression.
That feeds a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, which is hands down the best mild OD I've used with my 12. The name says it all. It also makes a very good clean boost, and combined with the Guyatone, I can get a FULL range of distortion/sustain tones without losing any of the sparkle the guitar is famous for. [I also have to give very high marks to the Durham Sex Drive-it's designed as a clean boost with compression options to drive a class A amp like a Vox AC30. Though I haven't wanted to pony up the 2 bills to buy one, I love the sound they produce.]
From there we go to modulation, which is a Fulltone Mini Deja Vibe and/or a Motion Sound rotating horn speaker. I can't say enough good things about either of them: rich, creamy and beautiful, but they are not for everyone.
Which brings me to my favorite pedal of all time: the HomeBrew Mimic Mock I. This is the ultimate in reasonably priced analog delay for me: juicy, midrange-heavy repeats with tons of mojo and very little high end, but the original dry tone is absolutely unchanged (on or off). That said, it is a little noisy: it has a fair amount of clock noise which comes across as a high pitched squeal. This is below unity, so you can't really hear it when you're playing, but it is present nonetheless. A small sacrifice for such beauty. I had the good fortune to also own its brother, the Mock II, but in the end I preferred the more colorful (and noisy) Mock I.
And finally we reach the amp: a mid-90s reissue Vox AC15. The tone is the best I've heard for my taste, plus it has a nice tube vibrato and spring reverb (NOT as good as Fender, but it works for me). If anyone wants to know more about it, I'll elaborate, but the question was effects so I'll stop here.
This is more than most wanted to read, I'm sure, but I've spent a lot of time and money on pedals that did nothing for this finnicky guitar and I would have loved to have someone give me this many clues years ago when I started this quest!
I invite everyone to please keep this thread going, I love to hear about cool effects that work with Ricks. They are not the easiest things work with since their tone is so uniquely brilliant.
Now if anyone cares to hear some of the sounds, check my band's myspace page at myspace.com/greatercalifornia. We're finishing a new record and will be putting new songs up soon. (What's there now is older and much has changed since then.)
Also check out myspace.com/rockfour for some serious 12-string jangle. They are THE best modern band using THE SOUND!
