Nuno Bettencourt on Why He Doesn't Use Pedals | Wong Notes Podcast

[@gf301]

I always feel I'm in the presence of greatness whenever Nuno speaks. I had no idea he doesn't use pedals although i did wonder how he gets such a staggeringly good sound, you feel it in your bones. It's really all him, no 6 foot pedal board, pretty much a lead and an amp. This guy is one awesome talent.

[@ehsanhaq155]

Tube amps my friend....it's all them tube amps. Nothing more raw or more real

[@Childofbhaal]

It is great but you need pedals to explore other sounds. It works for him because all he plays is hard rock and metal sounds. Imagine trying to make a psychedelic soundscape with no delay, reverb, or modulation.

[@RyzenShine69]

His inspiration was Brian may, whose inspiration was Rory Gallagher. All three of them understand that an amp line and guitar was all it needs. The rest is in the fingers and strumming.

[@bobygap]

Same with Eric Steckel who is also a beast and he has a tone to die for !

[@gf301]

@@bobygap You're right, just watching him now...

[@JTB--]

Agree with the EVH comments. The early Eddie guitar sound is what we fell in love with

[@JTB--]

@Manley156 Absolutley. The MXR Phase 90 and MXR Flanger were all over the early VH records. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, Eruption and Atomic Punk are good examples

[@godbyone]

The echoplex was awesome

[@qtheband751]

@Manley156 I thought the same thing. Ed’s original tone was far from naked. In fact, with regards to distortion, Ed’s tone became cleaner in later years.

[@josephbusuttil3030]

If you've ever been to a Van Halen concert you will notice that Eddy's sound has more reverb than the grand canyon, that is a large part of his sound & the MXR Phase etc Not quite what Nuno is talking about here ! rip Eddy

[@user-oy7gz5bf2h]

While I don't disagree for certain genres, it's a bit like piano vs keyboards. With effects, the guitar can become something else entirely. Say what you will about The Edge. Every studio cat emulated his delay tricks afterwards. And those riffs wouldn't exist without effects, period. But yeah, I love all the nuances, articulations, micro-bends and everything that makes a guitarist sound like one.

[@MrUmandMrEr]

It's funny, when I was a kid I thought Eddie was doing everything with his fingers which made me try to emulate his sound with my fingers and pick. Turns out he was using a lot of MXR gear, but it made my guitar playing much more vocal. Ironically, I've just got a chorus pedal and it sounds great...

[@anthonyw5261]

Well said from a legendary guitar player

[@BaconIsNotBiceps]

History will write Nuno into it as one of the foremost musician/guitarists of all time. It goes beyond his obvious prowess on the instrument and into his feel, emotion and ability to build a climax to every song he gets his mind dug into. He is a clearcut genius.

[@OsLapsosBandaRock]

This is interesting... My Rig for the last 5 years as been a Charvel San Dimas, a Bugera 6262-212 and a Behringer Vintage Delay! And I'm totally fine with it! Effects can help expand your imagination and there is nothing wrong with it; it all depends on what you want... 🤘🤩

[@baybae92]

I agree to a point. I happen to absolutely love Eddie’s 90s tone, especially on the Balance record. I don’t think Eddie could ever hide his playing haha. But dynamics don’t seem to be as important these days. Everything is so heavily compressed, and while for people like The Edge, it works great, it doesn’t feel the same playing to me. I feel like I lose the guitar like Nuno was saying.

[@Guitargate]

See, a man after my own heart. Sure, effects add so many more options, but there's SO much to be gained by eliminating options.

[@NickJardine]

100%. Plug into an amp with zero effect. You’re completely on display and it’s all up to your fingers at that point. By the way, huge fan, Michael!

[@Childofbhaal]

@@NickJardine Then you literally can’t produce certain sounds or genres. Try making a psychedelic rock song with no modulation just your guitar and amp

[@NickJardine]

@@Childofbhaal completely agree. I wasn’t implying to make a record without pedals or anything. I’m saying any guitar player should hone their chops without the bells and whistles first. Add the colour to your sound after.

[@Childofbhaal]

@@NickJardine For sure man I’ve started to really hone in on just my clean tone and sound. When I first started all I did was use pedals and make weird noises and now most of the time I just play my electric acoustically or quietly on the clean channel to work on fundamentals

[@NickJardine]

@@Childofbhaal right on! Everyone should. I was the same when I started but have stripped back my rig to the bare minimum.

[@DougErapps]

There was a LOT going on with EVH earliest rig with pedals, EQs, load boxes and FX. In recently-released 1978-9 interview, EVH talks about Jose modding his amps that included swapping out transformers! That being said, NUNO makes perfect sense, and his tried and true methods fuckin WORK!!!! NUNO RULES!!!!!!

[@jsl21]

"Delay is different because it enhances what you've done already." Damn that's pretty deep. Guy's even a virtuoso speaking!

[@6Stringers]

spoken like a true guitar virtuoso

[@jesterlead]

Nuno just has it figured out. Good stuff!

[@neaituppi7306]

I think it is just a limitation. They said that when people started playing electric guitars, when Bob Dylan went out with the Band, they said he lost that direct connection of himself as an artist. But even an acoustic guitar, it is not direct. Even someone just singing Acapella into a mic, is not direct or more emotional. It is just limitations that people create in their mind, and then separate from and think they are real in themselves. It is, of course, a really subjective thing of what a "good, pure sound" is. I make sounds based on the song I am doing, not on making morality rules on what is a good, pure, direct sound.

[@nedim_guitar]

I love using pedals because I love the soundscapes. Then again, I'm not a virtuoso guitarist. If I were, I'd be playing acoustic jazz.

[@rocker341000]

Boom 💥

[@ricardoslhenriques]

I love pedals. To me it's like a different guitar tuning. it just boosts creativity. No right or wrong here.

[@jaymzOG]

Agreed. Swearing off pedals/effects entirely just feels like putting a chokehold on what you can create. To each their own, but I'm not getting rid of my effects lol.

[@humanactivated1017]

No way totally disagree . Pedals weaken your signal from your voice or guitar . I’d relate it to wearing a mask . You can see tre mask and it has a certain look but takes away the expression of your mouth and half your face . All the best players ever did sound for all played direct into their Amps .

[@ricardoslhenriques]

@@humanactivated1017 By your own logic, to listen to different music is to distort your purity. Being faithful to that statement, you're encapsulating yourself in a very tight space. In fact, your own current (let's say) 80s tone is derivative of using pedals. Again.. No right or wrong here.

[@endezeichengrimm]

They can be a distraction and a waste of money too.

[@ricardoslhenriques]

@@endezeichengrimm Buy an old Boss GT 3 processor for the price of one pedal... And go have fun. Having GAS has nothing to do with it. Also, and again, what you call a distraction, i call creativity. I don't struggle for better shreds, i want to have fun creating, and with a full range of motion, where with black metal, goth, funk, R&B, Retrowave or whatever you wanna call it. 😉

[@Thedesertguy75]

Completely agree...8 think he's saying just don't drown yourself of the sound in gimmicks...I personally like a few effects, they're fun....but there's a line

[@centenoscott]

Some great points made.

[@joelanza6360]

great take. i'd say that effects tend to be more useful for rymthmn or creating an ambience of some sort. lead playing or solo sections inherently have a more room for expresiveness imo. the simpler the lead, the more an effect can make sense. for what nuno is doing, the drier the better. the nuances need to be present. obv like he said, throw some delay and verb on it to create space. either way, great conversation

[@extrememike]

Totally agree. I could definitely live with a Delay and Wah.

[@reginaldperiwinkle]

All deference to Nuno -- he's great. I'm just thinking though that he uses lots of distortion, and I'd swear he uses reverb on some of his solos. He probably uses what's built into his amp, but distortion and reverb are effects.

[@jazz_grooves]

Nuno sounds great through any amp. My favourite tone was when he used the Soldano SL60 used on 3 Sides and Punchline.

[@Lennoxvrgt]

Thought he used a Fender Vibroverb. Some rhythm tracks on 3 sides were the Soldano SL60.

[@dwarkanathpramanik8545]

​@@Lennoxvrgt you're right. 3 Sides was pretty much the SL-60 (with a Boss Turbo Overdrive) for rhythm and most of the solos. The notable exception being the solo for Stop the World, which was a Marshall MS-2 (true story). And a GK250ML for most if not all of the cleans. Punchline was pretty much the Vibroverb with everything turned up to 10. I think he went straight into the amp with no pedals. Part of the reason for the unique sound was a microphonic tube that late in the process failed. The amp never sounded the same when they replaced it. And according their engineer Bob St John, Nuno also used the SL-60 on Evilangelist.

[@martinkonig5726]

I totaly agree with him. A cranked amp is my only effect - the rest - you have to do with your fingers! And Nuno surely knows what to do with his fingers!💪🤘

[@jasonl1942]

You play and use what you like. It's as simple as that.

[@guitarandotherthings6090]

This guy has been around forever, but didnt get recognition until his latest solo was hyped up by every major guitar influencer on youtube.

[@shredacuda]

Not true. He's been well known and respected since Pornographitti

[@TomCTHC]

lol. you new here?

[@AstorSkywalker]

I think what happen is that ending the 80s Extreme was just coming out in a time were alternative and grunge music was popular and hard rock was ending. But I have respect for Nuno for keeping it real playing guitar solos and if they were to do something different, it was a jazzy tune or an orchestra score. True great musicianship all around! Nuno one of the BEST!

[@darrelladams4886]

I like pedals. They can provide you with a color and inspiration you can’t get from guitar and amp alone. But I can also get what he’s saying about an effect overtaking your town. Modulation effects can be a love it or hate it thing. And there are some great pedals out there that can give you wide ranges when it comes to those effects, from subtle to extreme. I love a great clear chorus sound with as little warble as I can get. Flangers and phasers feel a bit too strong for me but have their uses. There are some amazing overdrives and distortions out there as well. They will change your tone but in my case with my amps make it far better than anything I can get with amp alone

[@TheWeekendYogurt]

Yeah dude last year a Boss DS1 took over my town too. Killed all the villagers. It was devastating.

[@darrelladams4886]

@@TheWeekendYogurt I rediscovered my boss DS1x

[@4dmind]

I could not agree more, and for all the reasons Nuno lists. And if you play with just your fingers, you'll make the creativity, tonal changes, rhythm and picking techniques right there on the fretboard. Delay is the exception as it is a very specific effect. And I agree - not an absolute. Just works for me.

[@pomod]

I use a handful of pedals - (a fuzz, a wah, a delay) but even that feels pretty minimal these days. Sometimes I see a young band and the guitar player is dancing on a dozen different pedals and the bassist is dancing on a half dozen but every tune sounds different like a different band, its really hard to pin down a "sound". -- Vs a Brian May, or a Angus Young, Billy Gibbins or whoever; their tone is unmistakable - its their hands on their instrument almost straight into their amps. Roll up a bit for solos roll down for rhythm; maybe switch pickups but that's kind of it. Old School.

[@jasonyltan7672]

Extreme’s Waiting for the Punchline album has the greatest “plug and play” guitar amp tone of all time, and really well recorded. Superb stuff.

[@trento777]

Totally agree.

[@aufeuer]

Agreed. Pornograffiti and III Sides had that big, fat ADA MP-1 pre-amp tone, but Waiting for the Punchline shifted towards that more raw and dynamic sound with the treble bite. I especially like Naked in how transparently it showcases Nuno's playing from clean-ish to crunch. And you know he's just rocking the volume knob there and not stepping on any pedals!

[@runebuck1348]

I could not possibly agree more ith this :) IMHO the absolute best guitar album ever!

[@paulmayon8821]

100% agree with him.and heres the hard part Without pedals,you dont get ,Pinkfloyd,zeppelin, and The police.but hes rught,imho. Your hands should dictate whats coming out of your amp. Dire straits and Metallica proved that. But then we wouldnt have U2.

[@GerryBlue]

Tell that to Gilmour, The Edge, Alex Lifeson, etc. There a place for effects

[@escapist502]

What an interesting clip! Piano player here. I resonated with this in a different area. Whenever I play a keyboard or a keys/piano plug-in, no matter how good it is, it’s simply not the same as an actual, beautiful tuned and regulated grand piano ( or Rhodes or clav or organ…) what Nuno said about pedals, somehow, getting in the way, of your sound, is how I feel whenever I play, using a keyboard or a plug-in instead of the real thing. Any other keyboard players feel that way? Thanks Nuno for your amazing musicianship and thanks Cory for this podcast:).

[@grazzhoodbackingtracks-ft1wl]

Guitar player here who can play a little bit of piano. I can relate to what you saying and actually I was going to write something similiar to what you've said. So happen I got to play yamaha piano last week after so long of only play plug ins and wow.. it is world apart.

[@DandyOh]

Always loved this philosophy, I wanna sound like me on any amp and any guitar. Only use a wah and a gain pedal for some live stuff. Really makes your playing cleaner as well, no pedals to muddy up your sound and cover up mistakes.

[@ascension6699]

nuno literally has a pedal board with a GT10 for delay. a fuzz face, octaver and some other stuff. but his gain comes from his signature amp.

[@microwavedsoda]

I love a proper use of an octavia and leslie speaker

[@Telorchid]

The key thing in his comments is ‘when you use them wrong.’ He is not against effects full stop. The difference between chorus and delay is really just some milliseconds…modulated delay is really just long form chorus. I think there is arguably more immediacy straight in, but there is still plenty going on EQ wise and as regards transients when it comes to pickups, preamps, amp tone stacks, phase inverter, power section, speaker cabs. ‘I don’t use any EQ.’ Yeah, but you double mic…that’s EQ. (And FWIW I love double miking and that particular combo.)

[@jessehutchings]

I've only seen a few clips of Nuno playing live but he's obviously a very knowledgeable and skilled player. Guitarists like him have philosophical ideas worth hearing. 1:55 His attitude on delay

[@charleschasmo]

Jimi Hendrix used pedals that’s good enough for me👍🎸

[@MoreMeRecording]

Eric Johnson would have some thoughts as well. Not to take away anything from Nuno and what he's saying! There was a period there after I got my first "real" amp, that I was in love with just Guitar > 6' cord > amp. There was a purity and immediacy that even my mates noticed and I stuck with that for at least 4 yrs but now that im much older (and bored maybe?) I've been playing with more pedals on the front end and in the loop. As to EVH, I know Matt Bruck is a very respected tech but as someone who grew up on EVH, I really think his influence on Ed watered down the tone some.

[@godbyone]

But Nuno has a cranked Cherry picked Marshal. That s what pedal try to emulate. 99.99 percent of us can’t play that loud at home. So. Pedal get you 95 percent there with out blasting the neighbor s and most of don’t have that holy grail plexi. I have a killer amp it’s a red plate. And it doesn’t need pedal s except little delay. I understand what he mean s but if you have a normal amp under 1,000 You might not get that Eddie Van Halen marshal sound in your bedroom level

[@hugomartinho2555]

I get the idea, but Eddie was a bad example - even Van Halen I was drenched in reverb, echoplex and phase90. He talks a lot about chorus so I'm inclined to think he is referring to the fact that everybody used chorus to death back in the 80s and also the micropitch delay to copy the "steve lukather bradshaw rig tone". HM

[@riniones]

I think he means that the use of harmonizer, splitting, creating a type of chorusing effect in 90s VH took away from the immediacy of his early sound. The phasing used in the first record is very sparse. And also, it's going into the amp. Not a post processing of the preamplified signal before hitting the power amps like he did later. I see his point. It's not just pedals what takes away this immediacy, but it's how and where you use them.

[@TheSonsofHorusx]

Agreed! Same with organic sounding drums too!

[@Jon.......]

As a non-musician, I find this very interesting!

[@dananthony6258]

I definitely get what he’s saying. I thing engineers and sound guy like things that compress our tone.

[@Martell276]

He spent 2 minutes knocking pedals, processing, and modulation effects, but then clearly contradicted his entire rant by stating that he uses delay, and then stated that modulation can be beautiful sounding. Take it with a grain of salt guys. Chase whatever tone appeals to your ears. Nuno is great but this is just a humble brag about him not relying on drenched guitar tones to sound objectively good.

[@rocker341000]

Actually no. He’s right. Pedals can be a distraction from the connection between the player, the instrument and the amplifier….

[@xxdrzombiexx]

My Ibanez es 175 straight into the Marshall combo. Rock Candy.

[@bastianogr4960]

Gary Moore was so great at this. He really played with his hands an heart. No fuss, no gadgets. Just a high quality guitar, a decent sounding amp and his unparalleled craftsmanship. It's archaic, organic, and goes right under the audience's skin. Same with Angus Young.

[@Childofbhaal]

All he played was blues or rock that’s why he doesn’t need effects. For players who play across all genres you literally need pedals

[@ChiselledK1990]

He made the Marshall Guvnor pedal famous though.

[@J.C...]

Uh no. You better do some reading. Gary always used pedals. He had a BAD MONKEY on his pedalboard 🤣🤣

[@MikaelLV]

Not to mention Gary Moore used phasers, flangers, delays and reverbs. So this is completely false. I can agree about Angus however.

[@RayFromLUCKYSHADOW]

What is the album he is saying he played for Steve Via?

[@tristanrl1940]

Brilliant players such Andy summers and Trevor Rabin, make use of effects so as to add textures with intent to create a particular mood.

[@soysaucehairdye7869]

yeah I can't imagine Will Swan without the use of interesting pedals.

[@jamesbrister562]

I have a few pedals on my board but 9 times out of 10 I have no pedals on. it's basic guitar to tuner to noise gate to amp. Some guitar players get so wrapped up in pedals and gear. At some point you have to play. I agree with Nuno about Eddie's sound but, I love the sound of carnal knowledge and balance. Nuno has always been in my top 5 guitar players.

[@tymanngruter1808]

He is Just right, when the amp is good its you and your guitar!

[@shawn.m.schmidt]

Tell that to The Edge. Everyone is entitled to an opinion.

[@soysaucehairdye7869]

I have always dug Will Swan's creative use of pedals, but I do generally agree with Nuno's overall sentiment.

[@ducamuk]

I agree with Nuno. There comes a point when the tone becomes over saturated from too many effects. Basic effects are still cool though.

[@789utopian]

I recorded a song for a music library and they said wow the production is really great in this song, good job. Which I replied, I didn't do anything, no reverb or effects of any kind, funny how that works sometimes.

[@TheMasonator777]

I dunno. If you use them right, you get Steve Stevens. I think it’s a skill like anything else.

[@steviec67]

Sweet validation 👍🏻🤘🏻

[@darcy_blackthorn]

So, he doesn't use any od pedals or distortion pedals? No reverb?

[@SteveJones379]

This is exactly why AI created music will never replace music emotion created by human hands.

[@JBCavern]

Unfortunately, synths have already taken so much of the craft and soul from music and it doesn't seem that it'll stop. I expect the same from AI, especially if pop music is all about singers with musicians being relegated to backing up the singer. 😢

[@kane6529]

Got it, don’t use pedals unless you want an effect 😂

[@matejcevnik7362]

Lmao my guy the days of guitar music are long behind us, the past 10 years of pop music can be made without any expressive instruments

[@Fast2Whls]

Amen. The Tone Gods know that everything is in your fingers. Nuno, EVH and many others just "feel their guitar and amp". I agree that delay is useful; we'd never have "Cathedrals" without it. Go back and listen to Blues Saraceno's "Hairpick" album; best tone ever recorded IMHO. No effects except for delay in one song.

[@misterknightowlandco]

I agree. Guitar straight into amp and just f’n rock n roll it. I know most use pedals but I’m a straight in kinda guy cuz it’s less headaches. The amp and the guitar more than enough knobs on them already

[@AmiliaCaraMia]

That's one way to look at it. If you have been in a wide variety of recording scenarios, which you probably haven't, pedals can be really useful in terms of allowing for more space in a studio (compared to lots of tube amps) and being able to alter a single guitar's tone. This could be more straight forward in some ways compared to multiple guitars / amps. The headache could also be maintenance on multiple guitars or amps. One thing I might suggest as you seem passionate and teetering on angry, I'd start looking at gear specifically as tools that fit a specific musical context. Some tools are outside of your personal idea of music, so they seem strange and unnecessary. But to other people they might get the job done easier and more efficient. If you haven't worked in that specific area of music, you'd have no experience. For tools, let's say a screw driver vs a driver vs an electric screw driver. Different shades of the same thing, useful in different scenarios. Cheers ✌️

[@adgreyx]

Nuno still uses the BOSS GT-8.

[@charleschasmo]

Pedals are kool very inspirational 👍🎸

[@dogsavethequeen7689]

I played out for over 20 years. I never used pedals. I'd like to give the same excuse as Nuno. But mostly I just didn't like dealing with extra gear.

[@IsaacLausell]

While it might not be my choice of words I get what he is saying. One of the strange things about guitarists, specially electric ones is that they don’t work on tone production. Trumpet players play long tones and work on it, violinists work on their sound and so do woodwind players. Electric guitarists nowadays want to approach it by buying the new pedal or magic gizmo that will make it better, and there is the next thing and the next. Sound starts with the guitarist. Where you pluck the string, the angle, the preparation or no preparation of the attack, the direction, angle. Is it played with a pick? What kind of pick? Is it fingerstyle? With nails or without? Is the fretting hand relaxed or over pressing? Are you muting the notes unrelated to the chord changes? My point is that there is much to do from the side of technique alone to produce a sound. Of course if we are talking electric guitar then which guitar into which amp? How is it set? I am not personally against effects but to me they are just that. Unless one is going for a synth or heavily modulated sound the rest of the processing I view the rest of signal processing as enhancement.

[@Ottophil]

I used to feel that way. But i got bored of only having two sounds. I need pedals or I’m bored

Long time ago a real musician told me if you can get a good sound with the most basic equipment, you have talent

[@Spoohkybooh666]

Hmm 😅

[@marcblum5348]

Way too ideological way of thinking. There's this idea of purity, simplicity. But purity and simplicity doesn't buy you anything. What counts is to create music that is a projection of your personality and has an emotional impact on the listener. That's all. By any mean mecessary. What you use to achieve your musical goals is completely free and at your disposal. Any restriction defined by others is just pure crap. Ignore it. If the sound in your head asks for a phase, then use a phaser. If not, don't use it. Your talent is to get your ideas across. Everything else (technical abilities, versatility, guitars, amps, stompboxes) are just tools to achieve that.

[@CaptainRaab]

Brian May's signature tones involve pedals....

[@hanten10]

Nuno's was right about that two person he'd mentioned, Page and May. That two persons guitar tone is incomparable. But always don't get it wrong we do need a help of the guitar pedal/effects sometimes

[@morizanova]

Curious what kind pedal he's really talking about in here ? I guess he was talking about conpressor or pre processor stuff not post fx.

[@marshallohio5512]

Depends on style music !! If I play clean melodies, then a pedal or two is nice !! However, if I'm playing classic 70s rock, then just an amp and guitar !!! My JTM45s in conjunction with my guitar volume usage is all needed !! I once had an impressive rack system in the 80s, and while on stage, the system just died !! Me and my drummer was troubleshooting all over the place while the comments were flying around in the auditorium of like 1k plus !! Oh Brother !! The band switched over to all acoustic, which surprisingly went extremely well !! Ever since that night , I went with two of the same amp heads and guitars !! I'm a prolific guitar player , but if the sound system dies, then I'm just another person standing around on stage !! 😢

[@NickWsGuitarCandy]

I agree, pedals suck tone. I experiment with wood types in cabs, pine cabs, different speakers. Different guitars, even premium cables. The most articulate sound has no pedals. Modulation effects it's almost like turning a guitar into a keyboard. It has it's place and time for some songs but 90% of the time i do not want any pedals.

[@vectorhold6489]

Plug and play musician. I love that.

[@PhpGtr]

This is silly. He literally says in several magazines, and in the big Beato interview, he's got a Rat in front of the Marshall. Which you kind of need, because Marshalls sound terrible for this style of music.

[@guywhoisaguy67676]

I use one RAT I got in early 80's and that's it. I like to go from distorted to clean without going to the amp. Nothing against pedal boards but I dopn't want them.

[@docdaytona108]

Shots fired, Josh! (Kidding! Kind of.)

[@dananthony6258]

I’ve always loved anything raw. I love simple.

[@douglaswhalen7065]

it's kind of a weird statement though considering the Ratt pedal was such a staple of his sound for the earlier Extreme stuff.

[@jottieman]

We can’t all record cranked amp tones on a daily basis

[@gokhanersan8561]

I “like” chicken, “love” it with Frank’s red hot on it. That being said…my next purchase will be an EVH chorus.

[@BrandOdyssey]

He does not use effects. Period. Except all the electronics that exist in amps plus a delay pedal. But apart from the electric guitar the amp the quad boxes the delays, compression and probably reverb on the final mix he doesn’t use effects.

[@pramesh.gurung]

david gilmour uses lot of pedal and still sound musical.

[@peppers776]

to each their own 🍀

[@sarcasticmizo1068]

his music is depending on the pedal without the pedal hes just david

[@paplays5468]

2:35 Cleary says "for me"

[@bobandblackeyfanclubsucks]

David Gilmore doesn't use ungodly amounts of gain that can hide your fingertone

[@zzzz-sf5lr]

@bobandblackeyfanclubsucks David Gilmour has the best feel of any guitarist. He is a true master...

[@peterschaefer1665]

100% agree!!

[@davidwilson6577]

He's mostly talking about using modulation effects for riffs and solo breaks, guys. At least, from the context of his own use of pedals that has to be what he's talking about.

[@lindalvaartesa9595]

Lindo voz maravilhosa te amo meu eterno rei te amo pra sempre amor da minha vida ❤ ❤ ❤

[@endtyme1345]

I read some years ago about his gear on Guitar Mag and he mentioned an effects pedal that he was using for a lot of years so i´m not sure about the veracity of what he´s declaring here. The only album i hear more "raw" or "plug & play" is definitely "Waiting For The Punchline".

[@Scott__C]

But Ed had a bunch of pedals in front of his Marshall the whole time.

[@ericwhite2830]

Yes. But they were situational effects. Punched in at moments in the song. Not like the later years when his sound was saturated with effects.

[@Scott__C]

@@ericwhite2830 No, I get that, but the Echoplex and EQs he used really helped shape what Ed's actual tone was, It wouldn't have sounded like that without that board in front of the amp. His more recent tone with the EVH amps (not the Peavey ones) I thought was way too fizzy. The Van Hagar tone was wide but dark. I thought his best tone was on Fair Warning.

[@Ben_the_Ignorant]

I have very few pedals and when I use one I use only one at a time, they're not always patched together on a permanent pedal board. And when I don't need it I don't leave it in the circuit relying on the true bypass, I plug the guitar straight into the amp with the shortest possible cable, 1.5m or 3m. And with a pedal it's always 1.5m plus 1.5m to keep losses to a minimum. Yeah, the raw sound of bare guitar and distortion is what feels best.

[@puffybuns2311]

Yeah totally!!Amp distortion is greater than any pedal. Any overdrive,distortion pedal just ruins the amps organic sound or I haven’t yet tried a good overdrive or distortion pedal yet.

[@LucidLiquidity]

Obviously very subjective, but I have to wholeheartedly disagree on this one. Some of my favorite players are the ones who can creatively use pedals and fx. They’re like colors on a palette and can create moods otherwise not possible and lead to some really cool spontaneous moments that can’t be easily recreated, if at all. Not to mention, the end of his “Rise” solo is entirely processed to sound more like a synth lol.

[@KISEwun]

When I got a nice amp, pedals took the back burner. I prefer it's drive by a long shot and the reverb has more depth. Delay is what mostly gets used as far as pedals.

[@andrewtate8303]

Yep hes bang on

[@Rick5150]

I like Nuno but there is some really personal and over thought particularity in his opinion. He even goes full circle and eventually throws in the caveats that lead people to use tone shaping effects like chorus, flange, etc. He's not complaining about eds phase 90. Again, im a fan, nuno is great. He just sounds like a dumbass in this case. If you purely followed his train of thought then his caveats for guitar, cable, amp, sm57, recording- signal chain etc. could be dismantled by his own logic. But thats not what this is about. He's not articulating the actual problem he has with effects. The whole steve vai thing is completely anecdotal.

[@docevans5971]

Totally agree with this aprouch. I had been playing years when I finally broke down and bought and ART 2000 rack and pedal system. I spent two years exploring and chasing a sound. I end up getting rid of it spending to much time on the box and not on my hands and fingers. You can create almost any FX you want out side of few extremes. Pun

[@Childofbhaal]

You can’t play shoegaze, post rock, psychedelic rock or anything like that without some form of modulation

[@docevans5971]

@@Childofbhaal I beleive in pedals and FX. Gilmore and VH used plenty of FX. You cant produce echo delay without one. I just feel if you spend some time on an acousitc or dry setting it builds finger dexterity and allows you to play with more precision (vibrato, staccato, muffled sluring, etc.). Use the FX to enhance what you are already playing; not control what you play.

[@-MyNameHere-]

I mostly agree with what he’s saying especially when it comes to less skilled less technical players who tend to rely on the effect for their emotion rather than the emotion itself. However, there’s plenty of caveats… Zakk Wylde for instance, his use of chorus, wah, or roto, has NEVER gotten in the way of his expressiveness or became the sole tonal element. His performance of Junkie on Budokan is practically drowned in chorus and doesn’t take away 1 bit of in your face tone or expression.

[@walterevans2118]

Ed always maintained that people put too much emphasis on pedals. Your sound is more in your fingers and your brain. Ed as a young player couldn't even AFFORD pedals so he would try to sound different with just his hands on the instrument. Lack of economic resources caused him to be more inventive, indeed even to the point of becoming revolutionary...Necessity becoming the Mother of invention. Ted Nugent in 1978 found out in Maryland very quickly that if he played thru Edward's gear he was still going to sound like Ted....Even in the early days though I believe Donn Landee (engineer) was panning Ed's guitar like a breathy studio reverb to the right & if your stereo blew a channel you lost the guitar...lol....What's REALLY interesting to listen to are these old taped interviews with Ed from the 1970s (with Jas Obrecht and Steven Rosen) where ED is playing the Frankenstrat UNAMPLIFIED so you can hear sonically what his hands are articulating on the strings BEFORE A SIGNAL EVEN GOES TO THE AMPLIFIER ....His Hands could SUSTAIN STRINGS and make them sing like a bell in ways OTHER PLAYERS COULDN'T ...They would need more Pre-Amp to get the same sustain.....& Eds RHYTHM playing & solo noodling without missing a beat would sound EXTRAORDINARY. When describing this years later in 2009 promoting the Fender Wolfgang Ed described this as 'BEING ABLE TO MAKE THE INSTRUMENT TALK' on the neck before amplification, let alone pedal toys in between to reduce the purity. Ed always emphasized this. It also connected to this BROWN sound which was a term his brother Alex originated for Snare Tone.....Ed said - Brown tone & no tone is like the difference between hitting a piece of WOOD which goes TOOONK ....and hitting a piece of CINDERBLOCK which goes CLANK....The wood sound is PLEASANT to the ear but the cinderblock sound HURTS the ear. Even though the actual Decibel level is irrelevant. You can get a loud home stereo which is PLEASING to the ear but a quieter tinny Car Radio which sounds Grating to the ear. & ED'S TOUCH ON THE FRETBOARD Before the amp may have even had something to do with the creation of this.

[@RJ-go3sn]

Nuno, always humble, says it's just not for him! No judgement of others. But he is the guitar master. Period.

[@Dolores5000]

Nuno Shreddin’Court

[@robbynaumann439]

This is a tough one because there’s an argument that pedals take out emotion, but I’d argue Andy Timmons is an immensely emotional player and his lush reverb and delay really add to that emotion.

[@ron3676]

Without those Mesa amps with that great big Deep Raw tone,,,those pedals would not sound as good,,,it's the AMPS.

[@robbynaumann439]

@@ron3676 Well, yeah of course the amp is the most important part, but the argument was pedals vs no pedals. You HAVE to have the amp. I'm just saying that pedals are a big part of someone like AT's sound.

[@ron3676]

Andy Timmons,,,he now has a signature sound, amps have to sound good first. The pedals give him that signature tone.

[@ron3676]

@robbynaumann439 no doubt it's his signature tone.

[@tagacale1733]

I thought i was weird lol. Im a plug straight in the head ,turn the gain to 4.5, add a little compression and im good to go.

[@riverstone5994]

“Except delay” lol

[@tysonatkins2236]

When someone like Joe Satriani is impressed with your guitar playing, that's when you know that you've made a name for yourself in the rock and roll industry!