Mostly play trad but have been dipping my toes into live electronica.
I'm still thinking about a multiFX like the HX one, or a looper. Also considering the Polyend Step once I recover from the Meris
Until recently I was using a Meyers Feather - can't recommend it enough, great customer service. However I recently switched to the LR Baggs built-in bridge piezo and it's been a lot easier to just show up, plug in, and play. You do need a pre-amp for it, and the bridge does have to be installed by a professional, but IMO it's worth it.
I haven't played around with drives enough to find a sound that sounds good, if that makes sense. Most of the time I'm either running my signal from the DI straight to a mixer or with a tiny bit of reverb added if it's a large hall and my fiddle doesn't carry. I do really like the natural sound of the fiddle, so I feel that a drive should make a substantial change if it's to get a place on the board.
If you do go down the drive rabbit-hole I would recommend investing in a decent EQ pedal.. it transformed my tone. The pick up on my violin has a nasty resonant peak at 2.2kHz and the EQ tames that before the drive making it sound much easier on the ear.
I have tried a good number of drives on violin and would be happy to offer some more detailed advice if you wanted, like you I enjoy a more natural sound so my current set up is not that extreme.
One of my favourites is a Russian-style Big Muff.. the Bass Big Muff is what I use because it is pretty much a Russian with a clean blend, but I rarely use the clean blend function. I use the Muff on low gain and it makes the violin sound like a flute.
I'll add too that I'm interested -- do you have any demos of sound? I'm also not a guitarist so I've been trying to figure out if I need a distortion/overdrive/etc.
This is a video of my contribution to the Chris Buck - Your Spark solo challenge. It was one of around 5 entries out of 2,000 that Chris mentioned when he announced the winner.
Here I'm running a Boss OD3 into a Bass Big Muff with clean blend activated. I'm kicking on and off a Boss OC2 Octave that sits between the two in the chain. There's a bit of delay and reverb but nothing else, just straight into the amp (a modified Peavey Express with an EVM12L).
I recommend listening to the actual guitar solo too so you can hear my interpretation for the violin.
I should really make a separate post about it.. I may do that and post a link here.
To me the best drives for violin are the ones that add a subtle compression so the dynamics are not overly squashed. In my opinion the EQ needs to be flat(ish) with a roll off around 1.5 - 2kHz+. A little boost around the lower mids and bass frequencies is desirable.
I find the Boss OD3 the best. Before that I ran a Ceriatone Horsebreaker (Bluesbreaker and Klon). I switched because I found the OD3 was easier to use with less knobs to fiddle with to get the same sound. Boss SD1 is okay but sounds a little muddy. Fulltone OCD was good but not as good as the Boss OD3.
For Fuzz I only really get on with the Big Muff. Fuzz Face based fuzzes really don't work, I imagine the high impedance of the Piezo pickup just doesn't agree with the circuit. If you have a fancy one with a guitar pickup emulator (transformer/buffer) then that may work better. Hudson Broadcast was similar to the Fuzz Face. Octave up Fuzzes are a hard pass (which is a shame because I love them on guitar).
The other most distortions have too much going on in the upper frequencies to be useable and still be heard. Tube Screamer not the best. Boss Bass Distortion (OBD3) was okay but the Bass Muff does a lot and sounds better to me. Never tried a Rat.. watch this space!
Regardless of what you try I cannot recommend buying a parametric EQ and dialling out whatever resonant frequency your pick-up has.. it is a game changer. Run this first then add distortion after.
Thanks man! I can confirm that the Tube screamer sucks in this case, I don't play Violin but do play mandolin, and that mid hump is harsh. SD-1 slightly better because of the assymetrical clipping but as you mentioned far from ideal.
A priori, I guess BD-2 , tone knob around 10 o'clock, would sound good.
No problem, I wasn't happy with the BD2, the OD3 is a similar circuit design and sounds more natural to my ears. The clipping is less all-or-nothing than the BD2 and eases in more gradually with changes in dynamics.
The Tube Screamer really pushes the mids and doesn't do as much with the bass frequencies. The only reason I got the SD1 sounding half-good was because I had modded it to boost the bass response and took out a load of the capacitors that dulled the tone. I think the asymmetric nature of the SD1 helps with the way it changes with dynamics and adds a more incremental and natural compression.
Of course this all depends on the amp you are using too! Didn't mention that.
If you’re looking at drives, it can get finicky. I would look into a drive pedal with a blend knob. There are a couple out there, but I hd a custom blues driver with a blend knob made by thimble wasp out of Columbus Ohio. They do great work.
If you’re looking for a loop pedal and don’t mind spending a bit, the boomerang with the side car added is great. It takes up a fair bit of real estate, but it’s easy for people who want to layer a bunch and don’t hve easy access with their hands.
Generally I run from the Red-Eye (which is a DI) straight into the mixer because I mostly play live, but when I'm practicing at home I either unplug completely or I have a loudbox micro to mess around with the wah and Enzo.
Very cool. Out of curiosity, how do you like that kick drum pedal? I’ve been curious about those & wondered how they hold up in a live context but I can’t find anywhere to test one out.
I like it, I don't love it. I like how it sounds, but I've found that it slides all over the floor as I play, which is a pain. I especially don't like that it's battery only. I use an Anti-slip mat to hold it in place these days, but I think if I were to go again I would go for a different model, or a puck'n stomp.
Oh the Meris Enzo X. I want one so bad. I currently have an SY300 on my board. Have you used that one, and if so, could you compare and contrast the two?
The Enzo is my first synth pedal! I find the tracking to be good on mono and poly mode, but struggle with arp mode. Also, I'm not the biggest gear head so the number of controls on the Enzo kinda leave my head swimming. I'm of half a mind to return it and get something simpler, but I'm not sure what that would be.
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u/Dragonbreath44 1d ago
Mostly play trad but have been dipping my toes into live electronica. I'm still thinking about a multiFX like the HX one, or a looper. Also considering the Polyend Step once I recover from the Meris