Shoegaze Pedals setup from scratch

[tune_link]

The fascinating thing about coming into shoegaze now is there are tons of YouTube videos aiming to help get you “that sound” via pedals. In particular I’d scope out the Pedal Partners YouTube stuff as the two of them that run it their whole aesthetic is shoegaze and dream pop and you’ll literally never hear someone from a blues rock background wanking on there.

They show how to use some of the pedals we’ve been mentioning in this thread to approximate different aspects of shoegaze and dream pop tones. It kind of floors me that it took this long for someone to finally start going hard on that specific thing since shoegaze has been separated from the stigma that was attached to it in the mid to late 90s for quite some time now.

[burntumber]

all you need to do is go on craigslist and score a billion of the cheapest pedals.
then turn them all on at the same time and make sure your guitar is slightly out of tune.
if guitar is not slightly out of tune, dive bomb with the tremolo arm until it is.
turn amp up loud for that plangent sound.
record to cassette on some cheap ghetto blaster you found at value village.
vocals along with album art must be blurry.
dub copies, and sell to kids that dress like mac de marco.

[sunburster]

all you need to do is go on craigslist and score a billion of the cheapest pedals.
then turn them all on at the same time and make sure your guitar is slightly out of tune.
if guitar is not slightly out of tune, dive bomb with the tremolo arm until it is.
turn amp up loud for that plangent sound.
record to cassette on some cheap ghetto blaster you found at value village.
vocals along with album art must be blurry.
dub copies, and sell to kids that dress like mac de marco.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

Apparently the Soft Focus patch on the Yamaha FX500 is the sound of Slowdive. I picked one up a couple of years ago fairly cheap on eBay (not for Slowdive-related reasons); you probably could too, if you're patient.

Otherwise, as someone else said, those cheap mini-pedals labelled Mooer, Donner, Mosky, etc. are a cheap way into shoegaze tones, though any three of those might cost as much as a bargain FX500.

[jorri]

FX500 would be a short cut for sure.
The soft focus patch is basically close to "modechoverb" on eventide space but obviously its own verb and chorus.

Aside from the particilar yamaha rack, yamaha actually attached all these effects to various products. Presumably algorhythms are slightly updated, and certainly i/o varies...
But my experiene has been with a yamaha aw1600 recorder and an a4000 sampler (never used as a sampler - who would these days!)

That aside i dont think slowdive use that NOW, they replaced with pedals, presumably because they were 'better options available now' I heard in an interview.

[ElephantDNA]

Polara would be a great option, it sounds excellent from what I've heard in demos and it can do the shoegazey reverse/gated.

I have it on my board right now. Both the reverse and "halo" settings are very good for this type of sound.

The digitech "distortion factory" is a very cheap old pedal that has a 90's distortion sound. Big muff also a classic that sounds good in this application. If you are looking more for the "lighter" side of this type of music, boss overdrive is probably one to look at.

Personally, I would suggest: a high gain pedal, a reverb that has modulation and reverse settings, a digital delay, and a modulation pedal. You could go with just like a straight chorus/flanger or you could go with one of earthquaker or other builders' reverb/delay/modulation mashup pedals. It's effectively the same slot but a little more interesting if you have the more complex pedal in that spot.

If you can have a board of those four pedals + ideally a volume pedal for swells, you're right there.

For bedroom playing/budget look at the TC HOF Mini. There are some pretty wild Toneprint options. It will only store one at a time though.

I also have this on my board. You guys are just building my board!

[Singlebladepickup]

...The Neunaber Immerse MKII will sound closer to the rack units they used back in the day, but costs a bit more...

Just wanted to add that I used to have this one on my board and it sounded really good. It has a "detune" mode, which basically adds chorus to the reverb, and "echo" mode, which adds delay.

[manwithtitties]

I LOVE the OBNE Minim for Slowdive-y stuff, especially when I stack it after an MXR reverb on 'pad' mode.

I own the predecessor of that pedal, the rêver, and it really nails slowdive sounds. it has a very 90s rack effect reverb/delay quality to it.

The rever is pretty expensive at around 200 euros, but cheaping out on dirt pedals is fine. I think with a eno/mooer/whatever rat clone and muff clone, whatever chorus and maybe an extra (analog) delay, you’ll be set for a long time.

[shoule79]

Get the Loomer, it’s focus patch is based off Slowdive, and it has a great muff fuzz built in. You then also have a hall and reverse reverb. If you want a more normal reverb too pretty much any of the Boss RV series will work.

Slowdive has lots of two delays Set to different speeds at once sounds going on. Boss makes good delays if your getting started. To save space and simplify my life I went with a Strymon Dig, which is two delays with the second being at a set subdivision. I got interested in seeing it on Neal or Christians board. It can get some decent Lofi digital delay sounds too, and replaced my Boss PS-2 (the Souvlaki Space Station delay).

Dirt wise a Rat will take you far. I’d also point you at a Boss Blues Driver. It’s a good distortion as well as overdrive. It and a decent reverb pedal can do most of MBV’s loveless and a lot more.

[krossfader]

If you don't want to get into rack units a used Yamaha Magicstomp has a some of the same reverb sounds as the units OP mentioned. I have one for that and it's "the sound." But I had read that Christian from Slowdive wrote or tweaked a lot of their patches and they use completely different gear now while still nailing the sound. So I think anything that gets that lo-fi digital verb will make you happy. RV-3 is certainly a good choice. Don't get too hung up on reverse reverb - it's a niche sound and only used on a MBV track or two.

[Unicorn Warrior]

Speaking currently:

Neil uses more delays..specifically two eventide timefactors in addition to I think a small box boss..and maybe even a boss re/201 pedal. The only Verb on neils board is the Neunaber Wet. He also uses an OD3. Can’t remember the other drive

Christian uses Big Sky Reverb and a Neunaber Wet. He also uses a rat and some Ibanez dirt box (not a TS), he uses the boss Re/201 as well.

To me, the simplest and common denominator is the Neunaber Wet. That’s where I would start with verb. Then, perhaps the timefactor as it allows for dual delay with separate adjustment parameters. They key is getting the mix wet enough and the delays cascading to make those huge build sounds.

They’re old stuff is great but it’s kinda muddy. I like their new sound better

[mazzjaster]

There’s a TON of gear but I have, had, played or heard most of these in person. I think they’re pretty close to their sounds while being able to shape your own.

Reverb:
Meris Mercury 7 (I love that reverb)
Neunaber Immerse (has the newest “W3t” algorithm and more)

Delay:
Walrus Audio D1(mega) or Arp87 - versatility
Strymon Volante (my favorite), El Capistan or DiG (think Neil has or had one)
Boss DD 200,TC Electronic Triple Delay, Caroline Guitar Kilobyte


Modulation:
Phaser- EHX Small Stone Nano (dead simple, sounds great and cheap!)

Chorus- Boss CE-2w for the CE-1 setting. Neil and Rachel have Roland JC amps...that’s the same chorus sound. Walrus Audio Julia or Julianna for stereo and the lag knob. You can blur the line between chorus and flange. It’s fascinating.

Flange - SolidGoldFx Oblivion. It’s the only flange I’ve ever owned. Lol

Multi-modulation - Strymon Mobius or the Boss offerings

Compressor: People forget these especially for even clean tones. You can also dial them into add more gain to your drives. MXR Dynacomp, Cali76 Compact Deluxe, Wampler Ego, Keeley, Walrus Audio Deep 6, Strymon Compadre, etc

Drive:
Pick one. Sounds like a cop out but I find drive to be the most subjective pedal there is. Play all the ones you can until one or a few hit you the right way.