Pedal coupling: Pedals that work together amazingly well

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:21 pm

Inspired by Mike's Dream Box and British invasion pedals, I got to wondering: what are other pedals that work brilliantly when coupled with another pedal. Specifically, is there pedal couplings that, when combined together, transcend the individual pedals in some way or another?

I actually don't have any suggestions as I'm relatively limited in pedal experience. The only example I could give is slightly outside of the thread scope but maybe folks can suggest a way to achieve the same effect within the context of a single pedal housing:

I once ran a two amp set up with a Big Muff dialled for the low end into one amp, and a Harmonic Perc to give the mids and highs some definition. The result was the huge expansive low end grunt of the big Muff with the cutting and defined mid/highs of the perc. Running the pedals together into one amp did not in anyway achieve this. I wonder if there is any way to achieve a similar tonal effect in one pedal housing into one amp?

The only other thing, which is nominally a combination of pedals: I want more than anything to have Timhulios Weasal stomp/Harmonic Energiser housed in a wah pedal (as I don't get on with EXP pedals and want to be able to switch it on and off with a usual treadle/switch set up).

As I say these aren't really examples of what I'm getting at but hey.

cobascis · Post by **cobascis** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:26 pm

Klon + Rat

DS1 SMALL CLONE!@@

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:31 pm

[quote="cobascis"]Klon + Rat

DS1 SMALL CLONE!@@[/quote]

EXPLAN PLS!

cobascis · Post by **cobascis** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:33 pm

I have a timhulio klon and a 90s big box rat. I tend to have the Klon on all the time to add a little grit and sparkle to the tone, and the Rat seems to like getting a boosted signal. Just makes the Rat sound bigger.

louis · Post by **louis** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 2:11 pm

I've taken to using my Behringer reverb machine and my whammy pedal together.

From my amp have an output from the effects loop into the reverb machine, then have one side of the stereo output go through the whammy while the other one goes straight back into the loop. This means that 2 of the speakers on my cab are whammy'd while the other 2 are normal. You can get some good churning feedback sounds with it set 1 or 2 octaves down and using the expression pedal, while retaining an overall base sound.

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 2:48 pm

The Weasel in a wah enclosure would be aces, but there are few wahs with two switches I could cannibalise, so the cost of production would be pretty excessive and maybe better suited to one-off builds.

I always like a Harmonic Percolator paired with a Muff. The Dist+ circuit goes nicely with loads of things too. I've got a EH Electric Mistress with a D+ and a Green Ringer filling-out all that unused space. In filter matrix mode it's proper nice.

damienblair17 · Post by **damienblair17** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 3:05 pm

I've got a Black Russian Muff going into a MBM Saltbooster. It's a great way to some fuzz to your sound and then up the gain whenever you want. Sounds tits as well.

My other favorite is a bass combo with a Bass overdrive (like the ODB-3) going through a wah pedal (I'm using an Ibanez Weeping Demon right now, but have used the original Crybaby Bass Wah too).

lorez · Post by **lorez** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 3:08 pm

mike made me a rams head muff/formula no5 dual pedal and it sounds amazing. muff tones into a breaking up fender sound. pretty classic really.

Post by **Mike** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 3:17 pm

I have an OCD/DLS I made myself around 4 years ago which I still use to this day every band practise/recording session.

Tonnes of drive pedals seem to love each other, I've made all sorts of flavours of Dual Drive based around these that always knocked my socks off:

- Saltbooster
- Treble Booster
- OCD
- DLS
- Formula 5
- Ram's Head Muff
- Green Muff
- '78 IC Muf
- Modded TS-808
- Crunch Box
- Box Of Rock
- Super Hard On
- Dist²

The best thing about being a builder is slapping these things together on breadbox, tweaking a bit and saying "yup, that's a doozy".

Concretebadger · Post by **Concretebadger** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 5:10 pm

I've tried running a RAT into a Muff with the RAT's volume maxed and the gain of both set quite low. For bass, I've cascaded an OD-3 into a RAT with crazy results.

I've read numerous articles suggesting higher gain pedals go before lower gain ones, but to me that doesn't allow you to do the really neat trick of using a milder distortion to push a more extreme one over the edge.

That said, putting an OD-3 after a Danelectro Fab Tone works wonders...the Boss lops off the fizzly top end of the Dano's shriek, but leaves the monstrous bottom end intact.

jumbledupthinking · Post by **jumbledupthinking** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 5:40 pm

cobascis wrote:I have a timhulio klon and a 90s big box rat. I tend to have the Klon on all the time to add a little grit and sparkle to the tone, and the Rat seems to like getting a boosted signal. Just makes the Rat sound bigger.

^ Pretty much the same experience here, except with a Black Russian muff rather than a Rat. Love what my Fredric Klon does when it's giving either this or my OCD clone a boost.

On a non-dirt tip, I love combining my inexpensive Belcat tremolo pedal & Holy Grail plus on a spring setting for instant surf tones aplenty.

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 7:53 pm

Tube Screamer / Harmonic Percolator / MXR Distortion + into a Way Huge Red Llama

Modded Boss TR2 into a Boss Hi Band Flanger

Anything into a Maxon AD999

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 8:17 pm

Delay ---> Autowah/envelope filter

Basically the decaying repeats of the delay trigger less of the Q each time as they run through the envelope filter, which gives it this real melty sound if you set the filter right.
I sometimes like to do this with an '80s Ibanez DML10 Modulating Delay, which can slow down the repeats (like a tape player's batteries giving out) which adds an extra twisted element to the effect.
Also I always do it with my tweaked EHX Doctor Q which is more of a quack sound than most envelope filters. The autowah settings on my XP100 and the more straighforward DD3 delay of my Behringer copy account for the more typical usage, the ehx/ibanez version is more wacky.

Note that the delay has to be before the autowah in the chain, otherwise it'll just repeat your autowah'd guitar. This is repeating the delayed guitar and sending it through an autowah, ideally with the repeats set to diminish in volume/be quieter than the dry signal in the first place. It's similar to a frequency dampening effect on some analogue echo simulations, but less lo-fi.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 8:44 pm

Tubescreamer>(Black) Russian Big Muff.
What one lacks the other has in spades so together they sound great.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 8:54 pm

Fran wrote:Tubescreamer>(Black) Russian Big Muff.
What one lacks the other has in spades so together they sound great.

I've got a ruski muff at the moment, would love to try that out. Kmow nowt about TSers, except they seem like marmite around here, so is there a decent clone for pittance out there? Cheap enough to buy on a whim?

James · Post by **James** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 8:55 pm

Saltboost + OCD

Nothing outlandish about a boost + drive combination but the dirtier end of its range still amazes me even though I'm fully used to it and there's a large range of awesome right down to the cleaner tones. I keep toying with the idea of asking Mike to build me a pedal with both in one box but it'd be a bit of an extravagant purchase considering I already own the individual parts so wouldn't gain anything other than convenience and neatness.

George · Post by **George** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 9:29 pm

French Toast into a Boss OD3 for the clipped Neil Young Zuma tones

OCD into a Fender Blender for fat middy synth fuzz

h8mtv · Post by **h8mtv** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 1:37 am

I have a violet rams head with LED's for clipping into an opamp muff. Sounds amazing and huge thru my Ampegs.

Thom · Post by **Thom** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 1:57 am

I have had a Formula 5 -> DLS on my board since I got them, really love the sound. The DLS for a bit of grit, and the FN5 with the gain way up high sounds wicked.

lorez · Post by **lorez** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 8:48 am

Dave wrote:
Fran wrote:Tubescreamer>(Black) Russian Big Muff.
What one lacks the other has in spades so together they sound great.
I've got a ruski muff at the moment, would love to try that out. Kmow nowt about TSers, except they seem like marmite around here, so is there a decent clone for pittance out there? Cheap enough to buy on a whim?

bad monkeys are a good cheap alternative