Effects pedals for suitcase piano

[cfishel15]

Hello everyone! I'm new to the world of Rhodes pianos and this Forum, and I'm trying to learn as much as I can as quickly as possible! I'm completing restoration of a 1978 suitcase piano and would like to ask the Forum their opinions about effects pedals. I'm overwhelmed by the number of pedals available, both vintage and modern. I've listened to audio clips from fenderrhodes.com of some classic wah, phase, delay, and chorus pedals. However, I've been listening to some of the newer multi-effects pedals, like the Boss ME-70. Would these newer multi-effects pedals be suitable for my '78 suitcase, or should I just be interested in getting several traditional single-effect pedals?

Thanks so much for any assistance provided!

[Rhythmicons]

Hello,
I hope your restoration efforts are going well.
I personally wouldn't run my Rhodes through any digital effects, but I'm not going to discount them either. I own one hand-me-down digitech effects processor but all of my others are strictly analog and mostly the Moogerfooger line.

My tremelo Osc circuit on my '71 Suitcase is burned up, so to remedy the problem, I bought a Moog MF-102 Ring Modulator, and it works great from super slow tremelo to cosmic chaos. If you are into the Jan Hammer style of Rhodes playing or just need tremelo tom compensate for a faulty preamp, that is one way to go.

I'm a huge Moog enthusiast, and I can't help but recommend some of the MoogerFooger pedals. The 103 Phaser on the Rhodes is a dream. It is simply one of the richest sounding phasers I have heard. I would recommend this pedal first and foremost for a Rhodes (or anyone looking for a great phaser). They sit nicely on a roundtop also, though on the expensive side.

I'm not with Moog or anything but here are a few things to maybe give you an idea:

Herbie on Miles and Chick on the Moog Ringmod:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX4nQvHr4Is

Heres a demo of the New Moog Chorus Flanger (skip directly to 9:00)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TubMlGstNWA

I hope this helps. I'm exceedingly happy with the ones I have.


If you aren't looking to spend that kind of money, then one of the MXR phasers would do nicely, the carbon copy analog delay perhaps, or the Aqua Puss, or any of the great classic effects from Electro-Harmonix would do. All these are analog and can be quite inexpensive in comparison with the Moog stuff.


Eric

[cfishel15]

Thanks for your advice, Eric -- exactly what I'm looking for! I've seen the Moog pedals mentioned on the Web, and the YouTube link is great as that pedal is attached to a Rhodes similar to mine! Do you have the new Chorus Flanger? It looks sweet!!

Charlie

[Iamkellen]

I dig an old Q tron and Bassballs too. Esspecially the Q tron. The low register can get so fat sounding with it

[Rhythmicons]

I actually plan on getting the Chorus/Flange in September.
Shooting you a pm.

Eric

[The Real MC]

I have the new Moog chorus/flanger pedal.  It sounds AWESOME on the Rhodes.

[zoooombiex]

I regularly gig a Rhodes.  It's a 54, so no on-board effects, but I have been through a number of effects boxes.  I currently only use 4-5 pedals due to pedalboard space, but here's what I use and some notable ones I've tried

Wah

I use a Teese RMC8 (Eqwahlyzer).  It's a very flexible wah, and the on-board eq is a nice touch.

The RMC3-FL is also a great wah, though it takes a little more tweaking.

A Q-tron sounds nice on the rhodes, though I didn't use it enough to justify the pedalboard space.  I like the Q-tron+ for the extra tweakability.

Overdrive:

BJF Honey Bee.  This is a really great overdrive.  It's not fizzy at all.  It's very thick and crunch, and very responsive to playing dynamics.  The original BJF is a bit expensive nowadays, but there is a virtually identical version made by BearfootFX and a similar one made by Mad Professor.  There are also a few "unofficial" clones by Zink and others.  I've been through a lot of overdrives and this is by far my favorite.

Chorus/Trem:

BearfootFX MGMV (Mint Green Mini-Vibe).  This is also based on a BJF pedal, but it's smaller.  It's somewhere between a tremolo, chorus, and uni-vibe.  I almost always leave it on, as it adds a nice presence to the sound, and I just turn down the amplitude when I don't want the pulsing sound.

Some other good chorus/phaser type pedals are: Sweet Sound Ultra Vibe (or Mojo Vibe), Mad Professor Tiny Orange Phaser, Red Witch Moon Phaser (very flexible and great sounding).

Some good tremolo pedals are: Mad Professor Mellow Yellow Trem, Red Witch Pentavocal Trem, Moog Ring Mod, GigFX Chopper (it can either do tremolo or a great choppy, stuttering sound).

Delay:

Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay.  Has a very tape-ish quality.  Very compact.  Will self-oscillate at extreme settings for crazy feedback.

The Skreddy Echo is another very good tape-like delay.

Reverb:

I use a Neunaber Wet for reverb.  You can get a touch of feedback or thick virtually endless walls of shimmering sound.

The T-Rex Roommate is also a great sounding reverb pedal, though it won't do the crazy extreme sounds.

[jean-papa]

charlie,
if you're new to all this, i think you don't want to spend too much money on something you don't exactly know what it sounds like.
some effect pedals mentionned here are really excellent but are almost the price of your piano.
on the other hand, buying too cheap stuff won't bring you anything but bad sound.
i am myself the happy owner of a 76 stage73, but only for two years, and had the same questions about effects.
i began with cheap stompboxes and it was a bad thing because it sounds not good, and they're hard to get rid of.
now i have mostly "middle price" stompboxes(here in europe, about 200 euros each), and am very happy with them.
it's mainly ehx and mxr stuff, except the overdrive (fulltone ocd v4)and the wha (voodoo lab whazoo).
good search!
jean-pascal

[cfishel15]

MANY thanks to all who have replied! You have given me much "food for thought"! This is a terrific forum!

[zoooombiex]

I agree that it can be tempting to grab some of the really cheap fx that are out today.  Some of them are quite good, but a lot are junk that you'll be hard pressed to sell if you don't like it.  So you have to be careful with that.

The moog stuff is great but pretty expensive for the most part.

Most of the stuff I mentioned is mid-level price-wise but is honestly the best stuff I've found for my tastes.  The Mad Professor pedals I mentioned can be had for under $150 if you buy used and get the PCB versions rather than the hand-wired ones.  The BearfootFX pedals run about $200 or a little less used, and the Neunaber pedals are under $200 used.  The Teese Wah's run a little over $200.

Most can be found over on The Gear Page emporiums pretty regularly.

[Iamkellen]

One good cheap effect that's out today is the Dan-echo! Compared to A Boss DD-20, and a Cusack Tap-a-delay (boutique pedal makers, check cusack out!) The Dan holds its own with tone!


I would say stay away from cheap overdrives! It takes a nice overdrive stomp-box to handle the register range of a rhodes (even a 54).  Then again, the best overdrive is always from cranking an old fender anyway!