Pedals That Emulate Classic Rack Gear

Many of our favorite effects pedals are inspired by rack units from the 80s, and 90s. But do our modern guitar pedals (designed to emulate vintage rack gear) REALLY sound like those iconic pieces we've heard on countless Pop records?
Today, I'm walking you through 5 guitar pedals that were heavily inspired by famous rack gear and my take on how close they resemble the "real deal". If we missed any great rack-inspired effects pedals, tell us in the comments below!
Table of Contents:
00:00 Legendary Rack Tones?
00:35 Our Objective
01:21 Signal Path
02:01 Free the Tone Flightime (2290 clone)
03:23 Flighttime Demo
04:21 RAF Mirage Comp (LA-2A Comp)
05:37 Mirage Demo
06:25 Micropitch (h3000)
08:40 Micropitch Demo
09:26 The Lil’wave (TSC)
11:12 Lil’wave Demo
12:30 Hardwire RV-7 Reverb (Lexicon PCM91)
14:25 RV-7 Demo
15:25 Final Thoughts
16:48 How to Support Us
Pedals Mentioned in this Video:
RAF Mirage Compressor - bit.ly/3ycvACw
Eventide Micropitch - bit.ly/38Q1f1J
RedSeven Lil'Wave Chorus - bit.ly/3KUxwCt
Free the Tone Flight Time Delay - bit.ly/3FerFGT
Hardwire RV-7 Reverb - bit.ly/3OZ6qgr
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CREDITS:
Host/Co-Production: Mason Marangella
Video: Nico Sotomayor
Video Editing: Victor San Pedro
Co-Production/Design: Mason Mejia
Audio Engineering: Hunter Harrison
#guitarpedals #guitarrack #rigdoctor

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Did we miss any great rack-inspired effects pedals? Tell us in the comments below!

[@federicokemp6109]

a 1176 style compressor, that sound is getting popular in pedal builders

[@cchavez248]

Dimension Pedal is a nice nod to the rack unit!

[@extansegura]

amazing video, what do you think about the ADA pre?

[@zoomzoom3950]

Back in the day I used a full ADA guitar stack (MP-1, MQ-1, B200S, and 4 x 2x12 Split Stacks) eventually replacing the MP-1 and MQ-1 with an MP-2 (which I still have). I also used an Alesis Quadraverb. Before my ADA rig, I was using an ART SGX 2000. I recall the Alesis Quadraverb was quite popular in the club circuit at the time, seems everyone had one or a Lexicon.

[@cchavez248]

@@zoomzoom3950 man, this rig rundown takes me back!

[@matthewmcclure3181]

Great job Mason, and kudos for choosing a topic that is addressed so infrequently. I got started as a guitarist in the early 80s and by the early 90s graduated to playing legitimate gigs, as well as my first experiences in recording studios. I was infatuated by the refrigerator racks of digital signal processors, although the expense of most of these units was beyond what part-time musicians could afford back then. It was the same feeling I had when synth technology made a major leap around 1983-84. In addition to pedal options, there are also quality plugin options available for some of the old rack units. I think most guitarists who are also into home recording are using a combination of pedals and plugins, so I'm commenting from this angle. I still feel it's critical to initially record through outboard gear to provide weight to a track, but I can't find a reason do anything outside the box once you've captured the track (other than Mastering). One of the downsides to the original rack units was using the interface to tweak settings, but this isn't the case when using a computer. Some of my favorite rack emulations are: 1) Eventide - too many to list, Eventide offers versions of most of their classic rack units 2) Korg SDD-3000 (delay) -> Acustica Audio Lemon 3) Bricasti M7 (reverb) -> Liquidsonics 7th Heaven 4) Aphex Exciter (awesome on piano) -> Waves Aphex Aural Exciter 5) Ursa Major Space Station -> Audiority Space Station UM-282 * I didn't include any plugin examples for Pre-amps, EQs, or Compressors simply because there are countless options available. A few plugin companies that specialize in high quality emulations classic hardware are: Acustica Audio, Arturia, Audiority, Eventide, Nembrini Audio, Plugin Alliance, and Softube. There are many others but these companies are my preferences. My exposure in the 90s to actual Eventide and Korg units was too brief to speak authoritatively on how closely the plugins match. However, I do find the quality of the plugins I use emulating rack units more than good enough and they're easy to use. I'll end on a hardware note by calling attention to the Grace Designs Felix, which is a derivative of their rack units. I think it provides something unique and elusive, but it tends to fly a bit under the radar. The Felix is a transparent preamp/blender/EQ. I hate the word "transparent" but people know what it means. The primary reason I think it's special is because it's extremely well suited for improving the tone of an acoustic guitar pickup and offers a lot of flexibility. A second reason is it's form factor is essentially a large guitar pedal, about the size of 1.5 Strymons.

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Thanks so much for this share and look up table for other plug in derivatives.

[@CarlosKTCosta]

I love pedals but I'm still a sucker for rack gear... The dream for me is top of the line multi-fx like QuadCortex for live and rack gear + pedals for studio.

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Nice!

[@scottpeters4401]

The 2290 had the delay output phase inverted which created a psychoacoustic,super wide sound..The Free the Tone Future Factory gives you the ability to invert the phase on one of the outputs..and a panning feature that really gets as close to the 2290 as anything I have tried….The Strymon Dig is also great,especially in ADM mode….Great video..I really enjoyed this one..I too am obsessed with 80’s rack tones…awesome playing too!!

[@VertexEffectsInc]

The DIG is good too for sure.

[@Andyanddiana467]

What a time to be alive. I remember the rack era, when that was the only way to get studio quality tones! Amazing how technology has caught up. Now...some rack units and plug-ins try to emulate pedals!!!

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Crazy!

[@got2rock4]

The Eventide tricerachorus would also play nice with the micropitch delay😎🎸 Cool video😎

[@dannybrymer6630]

Great video Mason! I'm a sucker for those LA studio session tones. How about a pedal tri stereo chorus comparison video ranking different takes on it?

[@VertexEffectsInc]

That would be fun!

[@user-ok3po8gz4w]

3:56 Just want to mention that you are way above the average.. I love to hear you playing!!

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Wow, thanks!

[@arkistriph1]

Thanks Dr.

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Most welcome!

[@waynegram8907]

Origin Effects makes a studio LA-2A stacking compression series/parallel options to get those littlefeet sliding guitar sustaining tones. Also metal bands used outboard studio parametric like furman parametric PQ3 and PQ4 but there was other parametric EQ brands outboard gear they would use in the amplifiers effects loops. This makes a very big difference for getting those metal chords to sound like that console recorded sound. Carl Verheyen uses two Lexicon MPX 100 delays setting each delay time differently so when switching channels the spin over can transfer smooth from 450mS ping pong to 500mS ping pong. If you only use One Delay to switch over the spill over will have the same repeats compared to Carl Verheyen he will set each delay to have different repeats for his wet/dry/wet so that the spill overs have different repeats instead of the spill overs having the same repeats. This is a nice studio trick to do because you get a different overlapping effect. You would make more video lessons about stacking compressors and ping ponging compressors because Aerosmith walk this way used stereo guitars into both LA-2A inputs which created a ping pong compressor effect it was a side effect from the poor input design that caused this stereo input effect. Look up PettyJohns pedals because they operate at 36vdc high headroom and are designed like studio outboard gear the EQ sections are EE designed calculations. The Op amps are studio type op amps that operate at 36vdc instead of 24vdc max.

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Thanks for sharing!

[@waynegram8907]

@@VertexEffectsInc Check out Pettyjohns SHIFT pedal because its a Buffer with an Audio Transformer on the output to make it sound more like studio outboard gear. The Audio Transformer can be upgraded to Jensen transformers. Vertex should make audio transformers for buffers or for, preamps, EQ and Compressor pedals because it cleans up the guitars pickups buzzing, hum, noises but also adds even harmonics and saturation when driving them harder. Watch this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/fIXKdKaLapeSetU

[@waynegram8907]

@@VertexEffectsInc This boss buffer pedal video shows the differences of each type of buffer type JFET, Transistor, Op amp, Pre Emphasis and De-Emphasis. They all compress and keep the high end differently but unloaded the input signal. Its different types of "Unloading" the input signal when using JFET, Transistor, Op amp, Emphasis circuits. You should make a video lesson about this Unloading the input signal because it changes the top end range and compression. Watch the video when you have time kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnTTp2lqi6mWr6M

[@vadlasletta]

Did not know that the 2290 was mono. I’m using my korg dl 8000r for both Lexicon And Tc style delay. One thing that is hard to replicate is the headroom you get when playing a proper rack units. For me it is either -or. I dig my vintage fender and marshall amps but sometimes only the rack will do: cae se3+, mesa quad, dbx comp, lex pcm 80 and 81, eventide eclipse and h3500, 1210 and terc chorus and the korg dl8000r. Oh the origin effects are cool for those 1176 vomp sounds. To me most pedal compressors works for those processed rack tones. I often use prdal compressors with the rack: mxr bass comp and carl martin comp/limiter is cool. The tc compressor sustai+ para eq is a strange box that packs the transients pretty flat. I never use it, but keep it as part of my collection.

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Nice! Thanks for watching!

[@raqueljacobs1542]

It’s not mono. if you get in depth, it has panning features. Mono effects don’t pan.

[@vadlasletta]

@@raqueljacobs1542lacks stereo inputs.

[@0megalul309]

My dl8000r is sooo hard to use vs my 2290/lexicon/eventide cos of the single line scrolling display lol

[@thomasbelmonte1464]

I use racks effect i bought 25 ago for a wdw rig Mark V slave output to a behringer composer ,then a ehx tri parallel feeding a digitech dhp 33 for detune and harmonizing, a studio quad for dual delay , a tsr 12 for reverb All stéréo output go to a small mixer and then stereo power amp and 2 1x12

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Nice!

[@BigMikeGuitar]

Any thoughts on the stereo TC Electronics pedals? Coming from the makers of the 2290 delay and 1210 chorus/flanger; featuring tone prints, and deep computer interface tweakability.

[@VertexEffectsInc]

They are good but not on the level of the Free The Tone.

[@YetiOnGuitar]

Cool video, Mason. Should the Neunaber Inspire chorus be considered? Tri-chorus, detune, and even some echo. Great pedal.

[@dannybrymer6630]

I have used that and it is fantastic. I paired it with the Boss PS6 Harmonist and it nearly nails the LA studio session tones. Now I'm using the Line 6 Helix Trinity Chorus for their TSC recreation and it sounds great as well.

[@VertexEffectsInc]

It's good, and has both in the same unit, but not really the way it is in a rack. Most racks would have the chorus in stereo in series with the H3000 in a parallel mixer. It's not really the same signal path in the Neunaber.

[@36mariomolina]

hello, do you use side I or II of the lil wave, for the TSC sound? side II is not activated in the video, regards

[@TommyFedak]

Always on pedal is the H9 70’s chorus on my board.

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Nice!

[@JakeBisognin]

I love that RAF compressor, but do you know of a good pedal version of the DBX160 compressor? That’s what I think is the typical compressor for these kind of tones 🕺🏼

[@VertexEffectsInc]

The Keeley GC-2 is a DBX replica.

[@josephdow9205]

Im obsessed with Eventides. Never played through one but my research says that the Eventides are the best for harmonizing leads.

[@leohernandezcolonful]

Effectrode PC-2A is a good example with the LA-1A being a bit better. Both based on the LA-2A and both are tube based like the original. There are a couple of pedas out there that recreate the TSC like the threeway. Delays are hard to replicate the rack versions. Free the tone does a good job but still falls very short of the TC2290. Sonically it is close. Strymon Timeline, when programmed properly, can get some killer 80s delays. For reverb, the hardwire will work or the CXM 1978. Micro pitch I think you got it right although some of the racks, you had multiple voices for detune which creates amazing tones.

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Thanks for watching and adding these suggestions!

[@xPanDaemonx]

Free the Tone Flight Time and Future Factory are incredible delays

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Yes!

[@zx454]

Hi Mason - another big user of the TC 2290 was Alex Lifeson/RUSH. Recreating his delays from the 80s with help of the Free the Tone would also be a great comparison.

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Thanks for the info!

[@PorchBass]

Active pa speakers i imagine would be ace for a full response from the mod and reverb fx? Just for the wet side! Anyone tried that?

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Some do, but still use speaker sims to make the EQ and speaker distortion present and the mic coloration.

[@charlemagne5931]

Not a rack unit, but i'm waiting for Eventide to releases the Eventide Band Labs delay plugin in pedal form .

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Nice!

[@X3X1X3X]

The Free the Tone Tri Avatar is the best Trichorus imo.

[@VertexEffectsInc]

It’s not if you’ve actually compared to a Tri stereo chorus.

[@X3X1X3X]

@@VertexEffectsInc The one that costs thousands of dollars? No, I haven't.......

[@bwm5150]

Love that one

[@anthonyjacob6252]

Hi doc ! Is the TSC before the micro pitch in that signal chain ?

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Both are after the line out.

[@anthonyjacob6252]

@@VertexEffectsInc Thanks ! So are they in parallel ? Really great vid, I love 80's tones

[@raqueljacobs1542]

They should be in parallel.

[@normanwaller2924]

Hey doc, I was watching one of your videos were you mentioned a guy that makes a great blues breaker, I think hes overseas. I can't find that video to save my life. Can you give me that guy's name please.. love your work!

[@tomasorrtiz]

The jhs morning glory is a blues breaker type pedal

[@tomasorrtiz]

Or the Wampler pantheon

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Not sure...a Bluesbreaker???

[@pjansenmusic]

Could be the Analog.man King of Tone, but that’s like a blues breaker in spirit only

[@normanwaller2924]

@@pjansenmusic No It wasn't him, I'm hip to king a tone. I think this guy was in Germany or something

[@ronrobins3513]

Any chance for a “Nyle” 2 pedal. Why was this discontinued 🙄🤔

[@VertexEffectsInc]

No plans for that.

[@ezequielguerra8110]

Aguante Baglietto! Es de Rosario, pero también de la gloriosa Paternal.

[@ramon2008]

Rosario es bellísimo, más bello en mi opinión que Buenos Aires. Saludos desde Los Angeles!

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Baglietto all day!

[@daanfischer9816]

I have a lil wave and i think it phases a bit, do you have that problem as well?

[@VertexEffectsInc]

What do you mean?

[@badfaithnomination]

Should talk about the Eventide Tricerachorus. It was inspired by the Dytronics CS-5 Tri-Stereo Chorus rack unit. Would argue that it is equal, but if we’re being honest, it’s superior.

[@VertexEffectsInc]

It's also in the H9. It's a good digital attempt to go after this sound, however sounds nowhere near as good as the Lil Wave unfortunately in relativity to an actual Tri Stereo Chorus. The closest I've heard in the digital realm is the Neunaber.

[@badfaithnomination]

@@VertexEffectsInc Good enough for me 🤘 Doesn’t matter to me whether it’s analog or digital either, but I tend to prefer the latter because you get more control over your sound. Don’t see a Mix or Rate Envelope on those other effects.

[@wiscodavid]

Is there anything that is comparable to the ADA-MP1 for that classic 80s hair metal sound??

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Didn't A/DA do some re-issue of this that was the distortion section?

[@wiscodavid]

@@VertexEffectsInc I thought so but not sure they've come out with anything lately. I thought for sure another company would have made some kind of clone of the MP1 by now.

[@raqueljacobs1542]

Not a pedal, but the Mesa triaxis is a monster. An absolute classic.

[@elliotbradley]

I likes me some plate reverb :)

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Don't we all!

[@peterschaefer1665]

This needed to be in stereo though.

[@VertexEffectsInc]

It is.

[@alexgordonepic]

wow i would never think of guitar sounds from selena records... mostly 80s/90s synths with synthetic drum and bass. heck i think there is more guitar in whitney houston's albums.

[@godbyone]

Love the hardwire. I have pcm 70 but just use hardwire. But it seems like pcm only like s 2 amps. If I use with one. It’s ok but stereo. Great

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Thanks for sharing

[@ProfVonW]

Need a TC 1210 recommendation please! My inner Alex Lifeson is begging to be released! 😉

[@VertexEffectsInc]

For a pedal, probably the TC SCF pedal

[@raqueljacobs1542]

Two tc SCF’s in parallel. Almost the same thing?

[@bobbykotick2642]

Other pedals that sound like the '80 - early '90s studio sound.. Boss DC-2 (chorus) Diamond CPR-1 (compressor) Ibanez DS10 (distortion) Line 6 M9 (various)

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Yes indeed!

[@raymondforbes4295]

Prince must have used the crap out of some of this stuff.

[@VertexEffectsInc]

Probably a bunch of them!

[@bmwm3cs]

Do the pedals compare? No....if you have the real thing then you know why the old and unrealible racks are still super expensive.

[@VertexEffectsInc]

I think it depends on what rack unit...there are some now that are pretty damn close.

[@bmwm3cs]

@@VertexEffectsInc yeah, that's true. I wish someone would have a circular delay like the PCM. That's a cool one. I'm not familiar with anything that nails it.