Modulation

ennspek

After delay and reverb how many modulation effects do people generally need their board to be capable of?
One at a time? Two? Etc

NorthernStomps

I don’t actually have any modulation on my board. Had a few modulation pedals over the years but just never end up using chorus, phaser etc etc

kennedydream1980

I only use Chorus and Flanger in moderation. Never at the same time, it's always one or the other.

TheMarlin

I keep buying modulation, but it always gets moved on.  I'm and OD, delay, and reverb guy - that's about it.

Jonathanthomas83

I tried having just chorus, but then I wanted a flanger and then I wanted a phaser and now I have all three. I'm bloody mental, I am. 

Thought I'd share that cool story.

viz

If you’re playing your own music then you probably don’t need it if you don’t need it, if you see what I mean. If you play a variety of covers you’re bound to need chorus and phaser at some point. My recommendation is to get really light transparent ones that don’t crush the natural sound. 

Jonathanthomas83

People rarely use more than one at a time. But I'll admit, it's nice to have the different flavours when inspiration kicks in. 

menamestom

Phase 45, covers vibe and phase sounds
Chorus for clean, funky chops 

vasselmeyer

I'm in a covers band so I tend to use modulation where it's fairly obvious in the original track. At some point or another in the night I'll use chorus, tremolo, phaser and a rotary effect. Never at the same time though.

Also, I suppose wah is modulation and I always have a wah on my board.

p90fool

Buy the modulation pedals you like, there is nothing you "need".

We have around 90 songs in our covers set and I don't have a modulation pedal on my gig board.

I don't have a piano or a brass section on it either, and nobody cares, or stops dancing. 

I have pedals I like and record with, but I can't be arsed to have a big board onstage, I hate being tied to one spot. 

kennedydream1980

p90fool said:

Buy the modulation pedals you like, there is nothing you "need".

We have around 90 songs in our covers set and I don't have a modulation pedal on my gig board.

I don't have a piano or a brass section on it either, and nobody cares, or stops dancing. 

I have pedals I like and record with, but I can't be arsed to have a big board onstage, I hate being tied to one spot. 

I just like to have access to something that widens and wobbles the guitar signal around, even if it's subtle. I know the average punter won't care one jot but it keeps things a bit more interesting for me. I use a Fractal AX8 so I have access to all manor of things but I don't use them. A subtle flanger (Early Andy Summers style) or Chorus used on a handful of songs is enough.

stickyfiddle

I've always tended to stick with one "swirly" when gigging. Just something to add colour. These days that's a Strymon Deco, which isn't quite any of the trad modulations but is a phenomenal thing in its own right. 

Then, because I'm only play at home, I also added a Walrus Monuments, which is a gorgeous tremolo. Might swap that for the smaller v2 version at some point, but if gigging I'd be unlikely to use that and the Deco on the same board (and would want a smaller board anyway), just something simple depending on the setlist.

menamestom

menamestom said:

Phase 45, covers vibe and phase sounds
Chorus for clean, funky chops 

Forgot about the Flint!  The harmonic trem is like a subtle phaser and very nice.

Fenderish

It's fun to experiment but 99% of the time, you'll use ONE mod at a time. I can think of very little exceptions including phaser or flanger with "chop-chop" square tremolo which can be cool when well sync'ed, multiple out of phase choruses, and rotary + tremolo. I have an MD-500 that allows two mods at once but very very rarely play with this use-case

BeardyAndy

I reckon I could live with just reverb and tape echo. I bought a Fender Mirror Image because it had digital and analogue delay but after a few days playing with it I tend to use tape all the time now!

digitalkettle

menamestom said:

Forgot about the Flint!  The harmonic trem is like a subtle phaser and very nice.

Yep, I’ve got one on a board with Vibe Machine...can be quite a bit of overlap there.

Jonathanthomas83

digitalkettle said:

menamestom said:

Forgot about the Flint!  The harmonic trem is like a subtle phaser and very nice.

Yep, I’ve got one on a board with Vibe Machine...can be quite a bit of overlap there.

The Flint after the Vibe Machine is one of my favourite sounds ever.

AntonHunter

I stayed clear of wobbly sounds for years, but right now there's a Subdecay Vagabond trem (also does a gorgeous harmonic trem) that I use a bunch, and a LocoBox flanger on my main board. I do use them together sometimes, but flanger is usually set quite slow and subtle.

Since I "accidentally" won an eBay auction for an EQD Sea Machine chorus a couple of years back, that's been on and off my board. I tend to have it set so subtly that you can't really tell it's on, so then I realise it's pointless, take it off the board, wait a month or so and try again. Handy to have for recording though, some people want to hear chorus!

sgosden

for live stuff, either a phaser or flanger, both subtle for adding a bit of movement/interesting at various places, both hitting the front of the amp.

at home I've started adding light trem to because I can. and sometime loads of it all stacked because I can.

lincolnblue

I currently have tremolo and chorus but really fancy a Univibe too. Tempted by another tremolo as well!

LastMantra

I like having something I can basically use as another instrument and get down and freaky from time to time. John Frusciante style.