Good FX pedals for my synths?

Headphones.40 · Post by **Headphones.40** » Thu Sep 26, 2013 2:46 pm

It's not always easy to know what are the best pedals to go with a synth, and most the time, you can't ask to use guitar pedals on a synth at your local Guitar Center. Pawn stores don't ever have a proper setup to use either, so most of the time, you're just going to have a lot of trial and error. If possible, buy cheap, buy used, and have plenty of 9volt batteries. It seems lately, that there's more choice than ever from Boss, ElectroHarmonix, Line 6, Eventide, etc, and there's plenty of new companies, that although are lesser known, are making plenty of pedals to keep the guitarists happy, but might just make a few synth players feel the same joy.

If you're out for industrial sounds, then any distortion, fuzz, or other pedals are sure to mess with your synths. But to make boring sounds more interesting, try to find good pedals that go well with the synths that need a bit of polish. Chorus, reverb, phase/flange, etc.

Wish I could tell you more, but I haven't had the budget to explore this so much. But it is one thing I want to get around to trying.

Nistegmos · Post by **Nistegmos** » Sat Oct 05, 2013 12:56 am

Digitech Synth Bass. It can't do a lot, but what it does, it does great! Revivify crappy keyboards with that!

xanadu97 · Post by **xanadu97** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 3:09 am

The Rogue Analog Delay sounds great and it's only $50. I also have a Behringer FX600, it has a few (mostly terrible) effects including a delay with infinite feedback that can get weird and glitchy if you're into that, and the tremolo sounds like a tremolo so I guess that's good too.

Mooger5 · Post by **Mooger5** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 10:57 pm

I just got a brand new Boss DS-1 for my guitars and the MicroKorg sounds great through it. I managed to get a convincing bass sound like the one in Kometenmelodie and Antenna. I just keep the distortion low, set around 10 o´clock to adds lots of overtones without sounding grungey.

bhrama · Post by **bhrama** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 6:32 pm

I spent way too much time with this very scenario. Tried many pedals, racks etc. My guitar pal even told me I had fallen victim to the preverbal "tone cross" he so claimed many guitarists find themselves in, i.e. the search is never over, the quest for THE sound, etc. In the end, as previously stated here, it will really come down to personal choice. I ended up with the following, by either budget restraints, interface and/or portability/access points.

Strymon; El Capistan (tried too many delays to mention) = delay
Eventide; Space - so amazing, and gave me solid access to Eventide's bigger rack FX units = reverb + much more
Diminsion D - bit of a guilty pleasure, but classic chorus/tone enhancer/movement = chorus
Hot Cake - overdrive (I found it better for mid to high) = overdrive
Big Muff Bass - distortion/overdrive (good for....bass) = OD/Dist

I'm still looking for a trem fx that will do what I want. Really interested in the Lightfoot Lab's Goat Keeper....

hyphen nation · Post by **hyphen nation** » Wed Oct 30, 2013 5:50 am

i've only been using it with guitar, but the lo-fi loop junky is pretty amazing… looking forward to trying it with synths soon enough.

Bhrama, have you tried the Moog Ring Mod? You get some nice tremolo, plus all the other goodness in that pedal. Also, I have the Eventide Mod Factor…pretty amazing for tremolo there too...

bhrama · Post by **bhrama** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 4:30 pm

H-Nation,
I have tried the ModFactor, and while it is a great stomper (almost a crime calling it that!), I really didn't like the OS/Workflow. Same with TimeFactor, huge digi delay box, just didn't mesh with me. I'm weird like that I guess.

I'll scope out the MF-102 for sure, but I wasn't sure how choppy, trem-like it could get. I'm talking helicopters!

pfarvour · Post by **pfarvour** » Mon Mar 03, 2014 1:48 am

I have an Arp Omni II and was thinking of picking up an EHX Electric Mistress Pedal for it. Which one would sound better? The Stereo Electric Mistress or The Deluxe Electric Mistress?

ninjastarstruck · Post by **ninjastarstruck** » Tue Feb 24, 2015 6:50 pm

GoodwillFalcon wrote:So what are you guys using compression pedals for? Just to keep the volumes consistant between patches? I use an MXR Dynacomp on my guitar rig, but I dont think the attack that thing creates would work well with synth.

I'd like to know this, too.

ryryoftokyo · Post by **ryryoftokyo** » Wed Feb 25, 2015 9:59 pm

Hey, zombie thread! Let me lay out where I ended up, and have been VERY satisfied with:

Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi
Electro Harmonix Electric Mistress Deluxe
Electro Harmonix Small Clone
Electro Harmonix Small Stone "Black Russian"
Eventine Pitch Factor
Korg Kaoss Pad KP3
Korg Kaoss Pad Quad
Lexicon MX200
Mastro Phase Shifter PS-1A
Moog MF-102 Ring Modulator
Moog MF-103 Phaser
Musitronics Phasor MK1
MXR Bass Octave
MXR Phase 90

I have two things in the works that I'm picking up sooner rather than later: First is an Eventide Space and the second is a clone build of the Gerd Schulte Compact Phasing A.

ryryoftokyo · Post by **ryryoftokyo** » Wed Feb 25, 2015 10:00 pm

pfarvour wrote:I have an Arp Omni II and was thinking of picking up an EHX Electric Mistress Pedal for it. Which one would sound better? The Stereo Electric Mistress or The Deluxe Electric Mistress?

Deluxe every time.

Percivale · Post by **Percivale** » Thu Feb 26, 2015 4:14 am

I think Strymon pedals, most of them go well with synths. I think I might be getting a BigSky soon

Good FX pedals for my synths?

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Re: Good FX pedals for my synths?

Re: Good FX pedals for my synths?

Re: Good FX pedals for my synths?

Re: Good FX pedals for my synths?

Re: Good FX pedals for my synths?

Re: Good FX pedals for my synths?

Re: Good FX pedals for my synths?

Re: Good FX pedals for my synths?

Re: Good FX pedals for my synths?

Re: Good FX pedals for my synths?

Re: Good FX pedals for my synths?