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Thread: Preferred effects for 8 string electric mando

  1. #1

    Default Preferred effects for 8 string electric mando

    I have an Epiphone Mandobird VIII, a recent purchase. I'm eager to hear what the rest of you use when playing electric mando. My personal preference is for digital delay. Reverb sounds mushy, the 8 strings already have their own chimey chorus thing going on so chorus and flanger are out. Distortion may work ok on a 4 string electric but to my ears it is useless for an instrument with paired strings. Any remarks or discussion are welcome

  2. #2

    Default Re: Preferred effects for 8 string electric mando

    I use a lot of different effects - though my experience is with a standard mandolin equipped with either a fishman saddle transducer or a Schertler pup.... I run my rig through an '86 Mesa Boogie Mark III which at this point you could consider vintage. It is an extremely powerful tube amp and can be switched from 60 to 100 Watts. Playing a mandolin through this is sort of like shooting a pea through a Howitzer...

    My typical mando rig is:
    Ernie Ball Volume Pedal > Overdrive (Ibanez Tube Screamer) > Chorus (TC Electronics Chorus/Flange/RingMod) > Phaser (Subdecay Quazar Phaser) > Octave (Boss OC-3) > Reverb (either Alesis Nanoverb or EH Cathedral Reverb - set to Hall) > Boogie Amp.

    I use this rig to play swing, jump blues and boogie music. If I am asked to sit in with a funkier group I add either a vintage Mutron III or Ibanez Autofilter for fun prior to the Reverb.

    I tend to use chorus the most because the TC is particularly lush sounding - the rest of this stuff, short of the volume pedal is used sparingly and for specific moments in songs that are arranged. In the long run this is for fun and I'm not trying to run away from the natural sound of my mandolin, it's just more fun to play with tonal color and to use things like phasing to makes chordal passages sound watery or overdrive late in a gig to really step up the drama of a break.

    Treblemaker

  3. #3
    Mandol'Aisne Daniel Nestlerode's Avatar
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    Default Re: Preferred effects for 8 string electric mando

    Red Dawg,
    You just described my set up!
    I have a Fender FM-988 and I use series of Boss effects
    Signal goes in to a 23 year old TU-12h tuner --> SuperOverdrive SD-1--> Chorus CE-3 --> Flanger FB-3. If I'm feeling loopy I'll plug in the Loop Station. That goes into either an Ampeg J-12T or a Marshall GR-15CD depending on volume needs (the Ampeg is full tube and louder, the Marshal is all solid state and lighter).

    If you ask me, you should try chorus and overdrive on an 8 string before you reject it. Just just need to be in tune for the overdrive to sound good, and the chorus can add a bit of depth and warmth to your tone if you keep the rate low and turn up the depth a bit.

    With the flanger I can get a fake wah sound or create a tremolo effect.

    Daniel

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