Replacement for guitar pedals

Hi

Total newb here. I've been messing around with the 3 tier Moogs (Mother, Sub and DFAM). Having lots of fun! As a guitarist also I've been wiring up effects pedals to each one, a simple in and out of the jack sockets. I really like the ability to change the sound of each module whilst still having them sync'd and it makes a huge difference to my sound

It's getting quote messy with different bits of kit so how could I create a similar thing in my rack? i.e where I could route separate modules to separate effects, perhaps in one effect module or a collection of modules with a small-ish footprint. I currently also have a Maths, Marbles and Quad VCA, using the Mother 32 as the primary oscillator.

I know, I know.. my rig is missing so many things but I'm on a tight budget and just finding my way. When I see something for a good price I buy it and figure 'hey, I'll learn to use it properly at some point!'. It's taken me a good 18 months to build up to this point and the main thing for me is to get interesting results fairly quickly. I still struggle with the whole science of modular so any help is appreciated to get some more interesting ambient and musique concrete sounds

Tnx!

an aversion to cables is not going to be helped by replacing pedals with modules, is it really? - you're just shifting from one set of cables to another and probably more of them as in rack effects want modulating...

but saying that:

what pedals do you wish to replace and how much racks space do you have to house them?

EDITED Apr 27th 2022, 10:59

Yep I know about the cables and I don't have an aversion to them, however its the spread of cables that clutters everything as the pedals don't fit in the rack. So by consolidating I'm keeping everything in one place rather than here there and everywhere

I'm looking to add reverb, delay and anything else that gives a sense of depth and space. I have a 6U Rackbrute that has the bottom row free at present. That's 176 and then maybe 60 spare up top. Forgive my slight vagueness but I'm not near it atm

Perhaps even a looper of some kind

ok...

so you have 176hp - 5 for the rack wart, 20 for maths and 12 for the quad vca = 139hp spare... plenty of room... for anything...

high end big modules - take a look at the strymon magneto and starlab... magneto also includes a looper and a sampler...

mid priced small modules - happy nerding fx aid (I'd go xl for the extra modulation and slightly better ergonomics) or the newer alm fx module - or the endorphin.es milkyway or the erica pico dsp - most of these are built on the same dsp platform - I'd go for the fx aid myself as its more flexible being updatable - but may be difficult to source due to the war...

lower price modules - there's a few spring reverbs available - frequency central and doepfer come to mind - and a some bbd delays - again doepfer...

personally I think I'd try to stick with the pedals and spend the money on modulation and utilities for the rack... & maybe a different type of filter - wasp or sem (doepfer are decent, especially for the money) or go with (wait for) the fx aid xl...

have fun!

EDITED Apr 27th 2022, 12:55

HI

That's really helpful thanks. Just watched a demo on the FX Aid and it doesn't do too much more than the EHX Cathedral I'm using atm. That's actually really good to know!

I've looked at the Starlab before. Seems quite epic and quite an investment. Probably worth it though.
I also have a WASP on the way so that's given me confidence in my choice

Modulation and Utilities. Anything you could recommend?

fx aid does way more than a cathedral... there's 100ish algorithms to choose from - remember to save the pdf of what you've chosen and print it or keep it open on your computer/tablet/phone for easy reference... I updated mine and lost the pdf... so flying blind at the moment!

Modulation and utilities...

modulation:
Stages is great - grab one whilst you can (will be discontinued soon)
Batumi/nin & Zadar/poti are very good
Chaos is useful so something like the nonlinear circuits triple sloth
Random is also very useful - there are lots of random/noise sources out there

A great technique is to mix your modulations together - I like a matrix mixer for this... I;ve got a couple of smaller DIY ones, but if I was doing it again I'd go for a doepfer (or 2) and maybe a 4ms vcam... may do this in the future - either upgrade or add

utiltiies:
sequential switches - the cheap doepfer one is great

mixers of all sorts - matrix and various sorts of unity mixer, with or without voltage control, I tend towards dc-coupled ones as they can be used with modulation as well as audio, but something based on the moog cp3 might work well for you with the semis as it can add a bit of grit...

logic: you've already got a bit in maths, but the joranalogue compare 2 adds another interesting take - many more logic functions and works around windows (so you can set the comparable ranges of the signals, which is a useful feature)

rectification: always useful - I used to recommend the mutable instruments kinks module (as it had this and logic and smaple and hold) but it's been discontinued - there may be stock left, used ones available and there is a clone version - really handy

wmd/ssf toolbox is also really handy - lots of utilitiy functions in a small space (again I think discontinued, but available in stores still)

attenuators/attenuverters/offsets - these are so useful for reducing/inverting and shifting modulation signals around - happy nerding 3*mia would be my first choice these days - but happy nerding is based in the ukraine so no idea on availability

vcas - not just for audio - use them for modulation too

precision adders - want to transpose a sequence - use a precision adder - there are multi channel ones available

Hi Jim

Thanks so much for the detailed answer. I think I need to go back to the books and the tutorial videos! I've always liked the look of the Doepfer gear. Seems they offer a lot of value in simple units.

I'll also take a look out for Stages

Russ

If you're a guitarist with lots of pedals, maybe consider something like the Bastl Hendrikson (there are other brands/models) which lets you use a pedal within your modular setup. I have one and just bought the Empress Effects EchoSystem...lots of fun

If you're a guitarist with lots of pedals, maybe consider something like the Bastl Hendrikson (there are other brands/models) which lets you use a pedal within your modular setup. I have one and just bought the Empress Effects EchoSystem...lots of fun
-- jb61264

I think that's something like what the OP has been doing - and doesn't like - adding a pedal interface isn't going to make any difference - the Hendrikson seems to be a good module, but wasn't it discontinued a couple of years ago?

Personally I like both approaches - as no OCD when it comes to cables or to having everything spread out - 8 cases means cables all over the place - the more the merrier in my book!

now I really must do some hoovering and relocate my digital piano to the living room!

If you're a guitarist with lots of pedals, maybe consider something like the Bastl Hendrikson (there are other brands/models) which lets you use a pedal within your modular setup. I have one and just bought the Empress Effects EchoSystem...lots of fun
-- jb61264

I think that's something like what the OP has been doing - and doesn't like - adding a pedal interface isn't going to make any difference - the Hendrikson seems to be a good module, but wasn't it discontinued a couple of years ago?

Personally I like both approaches - as no OCD when it comes to cables or to having everything spread out - 8 cases means cables all over the place - the more the merrier in my book!

now I really must do some hoovering and relocate my digital piano to the living room!
-- JimHowell1970

My bad, I should have read OP a little closer :) I do believe Hendrikson was discontinued but I was able to find one last year. Just picked up the Echosystem as the first true pedal to interface with it. I only have three cases with cables laying across my Minibrute 2 and Hydrasynth desktop, I can't imagine what the cable spread would be with 8 cases...lol

I can't imagine what the cable spread would be with 8 cases...lol

-- jb61264

well the longest cables are 3m... bright pink ones from befaco - mostly the 4 biggest sit together on a dining table and the furthest away is video - and in between sit some video modules and some that I use for both video and audio - so mostly stretching cables between the furthest cases is not that big an issue