shoegaze on a budget?

[charles]

Alright. I LOVE shoegaze. I love the huge massive fat dreamy whooshy guitar sound it has. I want that sound. Unfortunately I don't have much money, and barely any pedals to start with. I've got a new band put together, but we can't really be a "shoegaze" band unless I get a nice board together. Help?

Also, any advice for shoegazing in general would be helpful, I'm REALLY new to it.

[GardenoftheDead]

First tell us what your pedal collection looks like to begin with. Then you should keep in mind that sometimes you don't need a whole lot of gear to get in the ballpark you're looking for.

That said, "huge massive fat dreamy whooshy," could be done with a Big Muff, a Flanger, and a Reverb.

[hazelwould]

Big muff and Stereo Memory Man w/ hazarai.

Check local CL you can sometimes you can find the SMMH for pretty cheap. They've recently shot up in price though.

[charles]

All I've got is a bass big muff and a memory boy deluxe. It's pretty sad, but until very recently I only played bass and didn't need many pedals.

EDIT:haha

Big muff and Stereo Memory Man w/ hazarai.

[kbit]

Yeah, really if you add a verb to your chain you would be set, and you wouldn't even really need a verb.

Try out your delay before and after your big muff, add some subtle modulation. Little tweaks.
Then just work on your playing.

[Ancient Astronaught]

Pickup a rat pedal or a danelectro fab tone (if you want those mogwai tones) and a boss rv series reverb and you'll be more then set.

Where in VA are you at? I'm a NOVA boy myself.

As far as tips for the style, practice minor scales and speed picking for leads, keep rythmn tracks simple and layers are everything. (this is by no means a perfect recommendation, but for just starting out it's a good guideline, mature your music with your playing especially if you just switched to guitar)

[dubkitty]

for shoegaze you definitely want some kind of modulation: flanger, phaser, or chorus. ideally something that does more than one type of modulation so you have different options...if you listen to MBV or Slowdive you'll hear phasing, flanging, chorus, and various combinations thereof.

[charles]

Pickup a rat pedal or a danelectro fab tone (if you want those mogwai tones) and a boss rv series reverb and you'll be more then set.

Where in VA are you at? I'm a NOVA boy myself.

As far as tips for the style, practice minor scales and speed picking for leads, keep rythmn tracks simple and layers are everything. (this is by no means a perfect recommendation, but for just starting out it's a good guideline, mature your music with your playing especially if you just switched to guitar)

Southwest

Thanks for the advice, I've been playing around with guitar for a while, but this is the first time I've played guitar in a band.

[charles]

for shoegaze you definitely want some kind of modulation: flanger, phaser, or chorus. ideally something that does more than one type of modulation so you have different options...if you listen to MBV or Slowdive you'll hear phasing, flanging, chorus, and various combinations thereof.

That's what I'm looking for. All I ever hear about shoegaze is soak everything in reverb, I didn't really know what else was going on. Any recommendations for some cheap modulation?

[Ancient Astronaught]

Ahhh gotcha. :wave:

No problem! If your ever up near DC and trying to get a gig I can help point you in the right direction. Check out my band http://dropelectric.bandcamp.com

[Ancient Astronaught]

for shoegaze you definitely want some kind of modulation: flanger, phaser, or chorus. ideally something that does more than one type of modulation so you have different options...if you listen to MBV or Slowdive you'll hear phasing, flanging, chorus, and various combinations thereof.

That's what I'm looking for. All I ever hear about shoegaze is soak everything in reverb, I didn't really know what else was going on. Any recommendations for some cheap modulation?

Don't soak everything in reverb, just lead guitar lines, light reverb on rythmn tracks and keep the bass clean for the most part. 100% Wet Reverb on everything unless done correctly sounds like a wall of mud, been there done that. As far as modulation there's infinite options, depending on your budget. Earthquaker Devices, and Dr. Scientist make some fantastic modulation effects, but if your just starting out and want alot of versatility check out a line6 M5, i've heard good things but havent tried one myself and their relatively inexpensive for the variety and options you get.

[Chankgeez]

I'm still pretty much a fan of the TC Electronic Vortex Flanger. Not super cheap, but it's not gonna break the bank either.

I kinda like how cheap analog delays sound in that kinda music. The cheaper the better. Get a few of 'em actually.

[madmax1012]

big muff and a digiverb set to reverse reverb. BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE

[charles]

Ahhh gotcha. :wave:

No problem! If your ever up near DC and trying to get a gig I can help point you in the right direction. Check out my band http://dropelectric.bandcamp.com

Thanks, I'll check it out

[skullservant]

Holy Grail in Hall before a Big Muff. BOOM