Wanting To Re-Create Three Effects Used By James Burton - Wah/Fuzz/Volume Swell

[tonytrout]

I posted this question recently but - I guess I posted in the incorrect part of the community:  

With a Line6 POD-XT Live, is it possible to re-create a wah/fuzz/volume swell effect (they're all one single effect)??  Legendary guitarist, James Burton, used this very effect on a recording that he did with Elvis Presley, "Where Do I Go From Here?" in March, 1972.  When I first heard the song, I of course, immediately loved the effect and when I got my POD-XT Live, I wanted to try to re-create that same effect but - can it be done?  

Also, I think that James should be listed in the section of the site with the guitarists and the gear they used.  (Just my opinion, of course). 

Here's the song:  

[pianoguyy]

Years ago, as a young lad, I discovered that the placement of the pedal is just as important as the settings used on the pedal. 

A distortion after a wah gives a different effect than a distortion before the wah -- which is why I had one before and one after.  

 

I don't know what the XT can and cannot do because I do not have one. 

But, you may not need to use a volume pedal because... the volume effect can be achieved by going guitar-->distortion-->wah

[BillBee]

The XT Live was limited in the flexibility of the signal chain. The Volume can go pre or post (same with modulation/delay). I think the wah is fixed pre.

[tonytrout]

Years ago, as a young lad, I discovered that the placement of the pedal is just as important as the settings used on the pedal. 

A distortion after a wah gives a different effect than a distortion before the wah -- which is why I had one before and one after.  

 

I don't know what the XT can and cannot do because I do not have one. 

But, you may not need to use a volume pedal because... the volume effect can be achieved by going guitar-->distortion-->wah

 

Even though I've played guitar for over thirty years, I've never quite understood what it meant to place one effect before or after the other.  Can you explain this a little further for me?   Much thanks!!

 

The XT Live was limited in the flexibility of the signal chain. The Volume can go pre or post (same with modulation/delay). I think the wah is fixed pre.

 

Bill, so basically, to get this effect, I'd have to shell out some serious cash and purchase a vintage Colorsound/Sola-Sound fuzz/wah/swell pedal??  Crap....... <_< 

[BillBee]

You will have to fool around and see how close you can get it to match in the patch as a whole. It is a cool pedal. There is a Colorsound fuzz/wah in the XTL btw. ;)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-_ty2qdXr8

[pianoguyy]

Think of standing in a line. You are before someone. You are after someone. You cannot go before the guy in front of you goes. The guy after you cannot go until you go. That is what is meant by putting something before or after something else. 

 

I think if you have a sampler (a recording device), it should be self explanatory. 

 

If you plug your guitar into a sampler and then into effects.... you are recording the dry signal. You can turn effects off, and it will playback the dry signal. 

But if you plug the effects into the sampler, you are recording the wet sound. You can turn the effects off and your playback will still sound like effects. 

 

The same applies to one effect into another. 

Do you want to distort a wah or do you want to wah a distorted tone. Do you want to echo a distorted tone, or do you want to distort an echo. 

[pianoguyy]

LOL

Watching YouTube just made me think of another, far easier to understand, example.... 

 

Where do you put your tuner in relation to your pitch shifter? 

Do you want to tune your guitar, or do you want to tune your shift. Sometimes it is both, but usually people want to tune their guitar. That means that you want to put your tuner before your PS. 

And that is the same deal with all of the other effects - which one do you want to come first depends on what you are trying to accomplish. 

 

*******

 

 

 

Of course, some of the digital units are easier to set your pitch shift because they go in digital steps which gives specific tuning points. But some of the older more analog units use a knob that allows allows for all points of tuning variation, not just a +1 and +2 type of deal. 

 

I used my PS to play along with Van Halen, who didn't use an E or Eb. It was a 1/4 step, not a 1/2 step. You couldn't use a tuner for that. But I also used it to tune with the rest of the band. I use a Floyd Rose, and can't make "on the fly" changes. So, if I walk into a situation where I am at an E, and the rest of the band is Eb, we can still play. Or if I am at 440, but they are at a 434, we can still play. And the infamous humidity changes that send your tunings into chaos day after day, venue after venue. 

[cruisinon2]

Even though I've played guitar for over thirty years, I've never quite understood what it meant to place one effect before or after the other. Can you explain this a little further for me? Much thanks!!

It's just describing the batting order. Whether you're using actual FX pedals or models thereof, something has to be first in the signal chain, and something else is last. Play with the order and see what works best for you. There's nothing mystical about it, but the order does matter and will change how things sound. It's largely personal preference.

[BillBee]

There was a video posted in the lounge sometime back. IIRC Steve Vai on pedal order. A very worthy watch.