guitar pedal to mixer

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Member Since: Mar 04, 2009

hey i like to use lotsa reverb on my vocals and sometimes i play a place with no effects on the mixer, i was thinking to just carry a guitar pedal with the effect i like and connect the mic to the pedal then the pedal to the mixer.
how can i do this?
i know there are xlr to1/4 adapters but should i use the kind that is just an adapter or the kind that has a hi z to low z transformer?

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Typo Szar
Member
Since: Jul 04, 2002


Jan 05, 2011 10:48 am

u can if ur just using it for fun (the adapter), a transformer would be the more serious option. But really ur degrading ur signal from the beginning by plugging a mic directly into a guitar pedal and then again with the pedal to the mixer.

Pigtronix, an effect company, just came out with something they call the Keymaster which is a solutino for mic users who want to also use guitar pedals and other things. It seems like a very useful tool and it would allow u to hook up literally anything to ur mixer and preserve the integrity of ur signal

The Czar of BS
Member
Since: Dec 31, 2007


Jan 05, 2011 11:09 am

The thing to remember about Guitar effect pedals, is that they are unbalanced. And a mic is a balanced piece. Meaning that only half of the information will reach the mixer. And if your using a condenser mic, phantom power will not pass.

Your better off trying the unit crux is talking about, or trying the pedal as a regular effect loop. Meaning to take an aux send to the effect pedal, and returning it to a channel on your mixer. You can still turn on and off the reverb by stepping on the pedal. But, you need to make sure that it does not cause any buzzes when in the off position. Which it has the potential to do. Being that you will need long runs of unbalanced cable to make it to the pedal, and back to the board.

I will have a few effect units up for sale here soon. Such as an Yamaha SPX90II. And this unit has a foot switch option for turning on and off the effect. If you are interested, let me know.

Ninjaman
Member
Since: Jan 02, 2011


Jan 07, 2011 09:08 am

Agree with the above.

There are also plenty of cheapish Digital reverb rack units going on Ebay, Digitech (All the Quads and the newer models) tend to be reliable and the Yamaha SPX90 is a good bit of kit too.

Once you have a unit one option would be to play around with the reverb you like in rehearsal and and assuming the desk without effects has Aux send/ return and the sound engineer is friendly ask them to tweek to suit the room.


http://www.reverbnation.com/2ndg
Member
Since: Nov 27, 2007


Jan 07, 2011 08:02 pm

if yer thinking of buying a guitar pedal then why not just buy a small rackmount? can get em just as cheap these days.

Member
Since: Mar 04, 2009


Jan 14, 2011 08:57 am

thanks for the info, i did not know about effects units and rackmounts, i will research em a bit.
thanks again.

Member
Since: Mar 04, 2009


Jan 24, 2011 09:16 am

ok lets say i go with the pedal because i already own one and can;t buy a rackmount just yet and i don't need to turn it of or on with the pedal, i just need to leave it on for the entire set, how do i connect it, do i just connect the output on the redal to the aux return on the mixer or to the line in on the channel i have my mic plugged in with an xlr cable?
thanks.

Uh, at least one more time . . .
Member
Since: Feb 07, 2007


Jan 24, 2011 12:19 pm

One thing to do is insert it in your mic channel's line via the insert send/return jack. You need a send/return type cable, a fairly common thing--also known as a "Y" cable. If you dont have one, go to Guitar Center or some such place and tell them what you need and what you're trying to do. It might be best to use the AUX sends on the desk--that way you can send out your voice to the pedal via the one of the AUX sends in the strip that's for your mic and adjust the levels from the AUX buss, and return the signal to the AUX return buss or an unused channel strip. A very flexible thing indeed. You'll need that cable in either situation. What was said above is absolutely right, though--don't plug a mic into anything other than a mic pre, especially a condenser, though I'm assuming you're using a dynamic mic live. It's still a balanced line, though, and strictly speaking, mics always and only go into mic pre-amps. Any half-way decent desk at a joint is going to have AUX busses, (and Stereo AUX returns to boot) so you should have no trouble with your set-up.

www.TheLondonProject.ca
Member
Since: Feb 07, 2005


Jan 24, 2011 04:12 pm

like others have said, hook the pedal up to the AUX sends/returns on the mixer. This will allow you to control how wet/dry the effect is as well.

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