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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Managing a Surfybear, Surfytrem, and other pedals. where do you put your Surfybear?

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I'm trying to sort out how to wire things up without making it too complicated.
Here's the chain...
Boss BP-1w (booster/preamp ->
Line 6 HX Stomp (dirt, delays, etc) ->
Surfybear Metal ->
Surfytrem ->
Boss RC-5 looper (one shots, samples)

I want to have the Surfytrem after the Surfybear, so I've been keeping the Surfybear on my Pedaltrain Classic Jr. But everything listed does NOT fit on there. If I put the Surfybear up on my amp (which I've done in the past), then putting my tremolo after it gets tricky. If I want the trem on the floor (and I do), I need to have a bunch of cables running back and forth. Quick setup on and off stage is important with multiple bands as many of you know. Don't want be to cabling up all sorts of stuff. Much better doing guitar -> pedalboard -> amp.

I'm leaning toward just getting a bigger pedalboard, because it it what it is I suppose. I'd rather keep things small, but convenience and simplicity win that fight, for me.

Basically comes down to...

1.) Put the trem before the spring tank even though that's not my preference and put the Surfybear on top of the amp. (down size is one more thing to plug in).

2.) Get a bigger board, and just put it all on there and be done with it. Just adjust from a 17.5" board to a 24" one.

Wondering what your setups are like and how you handle it?

Guitarist for Northern Tides from Hudson Valley, NY.
Northern Tides on FB

I have Classic and it sits after my pedalboard and before the Blossom Point and amp in live situations. It’s a little more hassle but I got used to it. As for me it’s better than having a giant pedalboard. My pedalboard is small (Gator mini bone) and has just three pedals, so it’s smaller than the the whole SurfyBear. Blossom Point should be after the reverb so I don’t keep it on pedalboard.

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

Last edited: Mar 12, 2024 09:24:54

My thought is whatever you need to do to get the tremolo after the reverb is worth it. It can be pretty ungainly unless you have killer tremolo on the amp, then you can just go through the reverb into it. My set up is beyond ridiculous and part of that is because the tremolo has to come last before the amps. (Also it's a wet/dry rig.)

Daniel Deathtide

Thanks... I do have tremolo on the amp (Quilter Mach 3) but I don't like it that much, and no Harmonic Tremolo which I use often. Surfytrem nails it for me tone-wise. So yeah, you're right, job #1 is keep that trem after the spring tank because otherwise it's just not the same effect, especially when it comes to surf.

I'm down to either taking the Surfybear off the board and just leaving it on the stage floor, or bringing my other Pedaltrain Nano with me and throwing the Trem and Looper on it, and everything else can live on the PT-Jr.
This is likely the least messy thing I could do. Only requires me to connect them with 1 patch cable and plug in one more power plug to the power strip that's right there anyway. And I've got a little wiggle room on the Nano if I ever feel the need to add something else. And best of all, nothing else to buy. Just using what I've already got.

image

Guitarist for Northern Tides from Hudson Valley, NY.
Northern Tides on FB

Last edited: Mar 12, 2024 12:19:47

I have the classic, which I just put on the floor. it does mean a couple longer cables back & forth, but having it on the board never worked for me. plus, in a rush situation, you can cable it up and just set it on top of the board while you walk on/off stage, then deal with it later.

I am, however, a tremolo before reverb guy! Smile

Matt Heaton & the Electric Heaters
Boston's Premier Surf/Noir Combo
http://www.heatonsurf.com

Wish I could be happy with trem first, it would solve a bunch of my problems. lol. Listening to some of your Electric Heaters stuff on YT. Very cool. Your trem into verb sounds real good to me in "Bowling Green Massacre" that's playing now.

Guitarist for Northern Tides from Hudson Valley, NY.
Northern Tides on FB

Another option is putting the Surfybear in the loop of the helix. Then you can use the tremolo and looper within the hx. It uses a block, but you can work it into your snapshots then.

Exactly this was my consideration when I built my „Dynamic Duo“ (Surfy Bear & Trem) a few years back. First the position was switchable - but I always used it as Reverb into the trem (like Reverb into Amp with onboard Trem) - felt more natural.
It sits on my main Pedalboard with the spring tank mounted below.

If your Pedaltrain/Board was high enough (or had two levels… and you always keep the Reverb always on and in the same settings) you could put it below - shorter cables, less space - (semi-) permanent solution).
My board has rubber feet and sits in a case‘s bottom with another set of rubber feet and stage vibrations have never been an issue!

TENTACULA: Garage-Psych-Heavy-Surf-Rock
Tentacula @ Bandcamp Tentacula @ Instagram Tentacula @ Facebook my gear collection @ instagram

Can't you just use the Surfybear Metal itself as pedalboard? In your drawing you seem to have your Polytune on top of it, so why not your Surfytrem and looper?

Surfin’ Europe – Surf gigs in Europe
The Malbehavers – Instrumental Surf Music from Tilburg (NL)
Tout Tilburg Surft – Malbehavers’ debut EP

A short vid with Surfy Bear on my pedal board
Enjoy !
https://youtu.be/MDtCCjvstTA?si=YCHfhzcefIV_jXn3

Jerome wrote:

A short vid with Surfy Bear on my pedal board
Enjoy !
https://youtu.be/MDtCCjvstTA?si=YCHfhzcefIV_jXn3

Sounds great. And I see you did put the cupcake knobs on your Surfybear Metal, as you mentioned you would do in that other thread - they really look good.

Jerome wrote:

A short vid with Surfy Bear on my pedal board
Enjoy !
https://youtu.be/MDtCCjvstTA?si=YCHfhzcefIV_jXn3

great sound!

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

Thank you so much @ Samurai and Edwardsand.
Cupkakes knobs are so cool, not a perfect fit but no issues so far.

SabedLeepski wrote:

Can't you just use the Surfybear Metal itself as pedalboard? In your drawing you seem to have your Polytune on top of it, so why not your Surfytrem and looper?

If you're actively clicking pedals on/off, putting things on the surfybear could end up introducing spring noise from the vibrations. I'd also worry about denting/scratching the housing. Perhaps less of a realistic concern, but I'd also worry about accidentally nudging a knob with my foot and changing the verb settings.

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