by C-String at electricuke.com
Saturdays are louder so break out a guitar multi-effects pedal or a footfull of stomp boxes! Many of those dayglow electric guitar effects that just may be lying around will do nicely for your electric uke as well when tuned in to your instrument. Don't search for an exit from the odyssey you’ll take through the cosmos of processed electricity, electric ukulele style. None exists.
Be sure that you've tweaked your rig (or amp) to arrive at your Basic Electric Ukulele Sound first. Now let's get effected with those potent thing-a-whose. We assertively can all justify our urge to go freak and to indulge ourselves with some way over-processing. Today, however, our mission is to set up our entire rig as a solid platform capable of launching us far into the FX zone.
Overdrive-distortion, compression, delay-reverb-chorus-flanger, and filtering effects can be placed into the processor chain in combinations or individually to subtly or radically transform your sound. I've just named the processors that are widely used.
First to last, what order in which an electric uke's signal's individual processors appear is important. I have my ukulele processors in line just as I would if I where mixing down a uke track which has been recorded "dry" (with only minimal or no processing).
I'll start my processor chain with compression if any or any more is wanted in the signal. Next, I'll put in the overdrive-distortion. Next filtering effects or time-based effects (delay-reverb-chorus-flanger). Also, all of the while that I am adding FX into my chain, I will be continually checking right back to the beginning of the chain to readjust the EQ (tone) that I have already set up. Some of the processors that I'm are adding may have some useful EQ or tone controls as well which can be tweaked.
I might also lighten up a touch on the compression and overdrive as other FX are added to my electric ukulele’s signal. Combinations of processors can easily add up sounding mushy. The dynamics and presence can usually be restored by dialing back down one or more of the processors in the chain.
All of the FX processors interact with each other. That is an important fact because it means that you must consider whether each processor that’s already in the chain can be favorably tweaked when a new processor is added to the signal of your ukulele.
If you are really going to be a high flyer, you must also manage your level (volume) as your signal passes in then out of each processor in FX chain. This will give you the maximum headroom and dynamics as well as the lowest unwanted noise through you system. Your electric ukulele's signal will leave each processor that it goes through at a higher or lower level than it was at as it entered the processor. So it is necessary, if possible, to adjust the input and output level (volume) of each effect in the chain to keep the signal at an optimal and constant level.
We love our powerful gadgets.