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Qotsa question

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 12:20 am
by Matt
What effect is josh using at the begining guitar part for the song before the vocals kick in? He doesn't use the same ffect on the album but pretty much all live versions, where it sounds echo-ey and metallic,
or is that just how his rig sounds?


Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 12:30 am
by benecol
Ooh, not entirely sure, but I like that: it's somewhere between an octave fuzz with the fuzz turned right down (the French Toast will do something like this) and a cocked wah sound.

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 12:32 am
by Matt
Cool thanks man. It's been a few years since I've played guitar regularly but I want to get back in to it. I'd have been playing for 12 years this year. All my pedals from my touring days are lost or broken so I'm looking for some new stuff. I definately miss my sustain punch creamy dreamer but I used to always use the amp distortion on my 5150 before that died.

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 12:38 am
by Matt
you can hear it very clearly on this

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 12:56 am
by Matt

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 1:13 am
by Doog
Apparently it's the Dunlop Q-Zone:

Image

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 8:42 am
by benecol
Doog wrote:Apparently it's the Dunlop Q-Zone:
Mein gott, I was actually right.

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 8:45 am
by Matt
Doog wrote:Apparently it's the Dunlop Q-Zone:

Image
So what exactly does that do? Is it a form of wah?

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 9:03 am
by benecol
Yep, with the dials replacing the rocker on a wah (and a volume control, and a more easily tweakable Q control - usually a trimpot or fixed resistor value in a traditional wah) - they do amazing things to fuzzes.

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 4:17 pm
by kim
doesn't he have a fulltone ultimate octave ?

it sounds a lot like fu manchu and they were minimalist with fx i believe.

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 5:47 pm
by Freddy V-C
I can get that sound with most of my dirt pedals if I but my EHX Doctor Q in front of it. I guess the Doctor Q is kind of similar to the Q Zone thought, just not quite as good...

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 7:11 pm
by James
A wah is a sweepable filter/EQ. It only allows a narrow band of frequency through, and probably also boosts that frequency a little. Then, as you move your foot on the pedal that band moves up and down the frequency spectrum. A 'cocked wah' is just a wah left in one spot, so it has the narrow frequency band but doesn't move around the frequency spectrum. That pedal does the 'cocked wah' part, so it's really just a band pass filter.

'Q' is the term used to describe how wide the band is. A high Q value is a narrow band, low Q is wider.

In the tradition of not naming things what they are, peak probably refers to frequency rather than the amplitude of the peak (which is what it usually means)

If you have an EQ pedal you could try cutting all but one band, and boosting that band. If the bands are narrow enough it could get close to that sound but I'm guessing there'd be too much overlap and the bands too wide as a result.

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 7:28 pm
by ac88
I have recently acquired a EHX Worm pedal, one of the older bigger ones. It has a manual setting for the auto-wah to dial in that umm..stationary wah pedal sound. It instantly transforms fuzzes as mentioned, fun to fiddle around with.

I don't know if this is as common, but I frequently use the manual setting for the Worm's phaser. Like if a phaser was working with an expression pedal instead of cycling. I find dialing in the right setting with the manual phaser can add serious thickness to clean chords, works well with the distortion too.

sigh... and this is why my transparent overdrive and my worm pedal are always on.

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 8:14 pm
by benecol
James wrote:'Q' is the term used to describe how wide the band is. A high Q value is a narrow band, low Q is wider.
I did not know this - fank you.

The otherwise unlovely position 1 out of phase doohickey on a Baja tele (humbucker sound position, but tone switch button pressed down) does a similar thing to fuzzes. But it's probably cheaper and easier just to use a wah.

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 8:31 pm
by Freddy V-C
benecol wrote:The otherwise unlovely position 1 out of phase doohickey on a Baja tele (humbucker sound position, but tone switch button pressed down) does a similar thing to fuzzes.
Agreed. Being the proud owner of both a Doctor Q and a Baja Tele I can do BOTH AT ONCE. Imagine the possibilities!

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 2:58 pm
by paul_
I love using a delay in front of a doctor Q so it sounds like Freddie Kruger is about to jump out from behind my amp, or a wah pedal choking on a peanut or something.