I play a lot of Jazz when I am practicing. Mostly standards to work on my improvisation and voice leading. I do a lot of work on lap steel and ukulele as well. Other than that I compose and record electronic music away from the guitar to help keep things fresh.

Rev

Canadian Surf

http://www.urbansurfkings.com/

Last edited: Mar 07, 2025 07:42:31

I play a variety of genres. I love Jazz, and Fusion, but I enjoy Rock, Country, Country Rock etc. If I have Sirius XM available, I usually have it tuned to the Yacht Rock channel. I’ve loved Surf since I was a kid, and the sound of clean guitar with reverb resonates deeply, with me.

I have several pedalboards, but all of them are well suited for Surf. I’m not into heavy distortion, or fuzz, but have various modulation effects, mild overdrives and every board has a Blossom Point, which I use for all genres.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

chiba wrote:

I've been mostly a rock player since I was 15. Have only started really playing surf seriously in the last five years, though I was always a listener. I just couldn't find anybody else interested in playing it beyond the occasional iteration of Wipe Out.

What I've gravitated to lately is two smaller boards. One is my "surf board" - boost, chorus, phaser, tremolo, reverb and a small amp. The other is my "drive board" - fuzz, OD and distortion. I leave one spot on my surf board open to drop in a drive pedal as needed. That gives me the most versatility for whatever I need to do.

This is my everyday board, which sits next to my favorite chair, and gets the most use, by far. Basically, it allows me to experiment with a lot of different sounds. The two overdrives and the boost are an elaborate solution to buffering. The Earthquakee Plumes is a great front end pedal with a 10 megohm input impedance and can be switched between two different types of clipping diodes, or just the FET preamp, but it is not buffered bypass, so when it’s off, that great front end impedance is not available.

For more of an edge, I use the Wampler Triumph, which is basically a Bad Monkey or a Boss SD-1 style of circuit, but with a three band EQ, which prevents Tube Screamer hump syndrome. The Triumph has very low input impedance, so it doesn’t make for a good front end pedal, which is where the Fulltone 2B comes into the picture.

Basically the Fulltone, which is buffered bypass, acts as a buffer when the Plumes is not in use, and makes for a better, more crisp sound when using the Triumph, and allows me to set it as a modest boost. Basically, the Fulltone 2B and the Plumes are never on at the same time. All of this elaboration (and cost) up front, allow me to use a 15’ cable without loss of highs.

The Boss analog delay is self explanatory, and then we get to the Source Audio Mercury Flanger, which can be configured as a Flanger, Phase Shifter or Chorus, so many of my modulation needs are addressed by that.

Next are two tap tempo switches, the upper one for the flanger and the lower one for the tremolo built into the True Spring reverb.

Before I discuss the True Spring pedal, I need to state that if you want a truly true spring reverb sound, either buy a vintage 6G15 or a Surfy Bear. I think that the Surfy Bear Compact Deluxe is the best idea since sliced bread. I’d buy one myself, but I need a new vehicle, and all my discretionary cash is headed in that direction for the foreseeable future.

That having been said, I have used several digital reverb pedals, over the years. None of them sound exactly like a tank, but the True Spring is my favorite among the digital pedals. It has simulations of a 9” pan, a 17” pan (as part of a Fender amp) or a 17” pan in an external tank. It also has tremolo. Not the best solution for reverb, but it is a good sound for a solid state, DSP based pedal.

Next is a reissue of a Ross Compressor. The first pedal I ever played through was a Ross Compressor, and I had thought about buying a vintage one, but JHS attempted to bring the Ross line back to life, and I bit on it. These are a somewhat over the top compressor, which make their presence known, but comes in handy for certain things.

Finally, is the Blossom Point, of which I own three, one for every board. IMO, this is the most useful pedal I’ve ever owned. Simply stated, it gives you the amplifier response you would expect from an early Fender Showman. It’s subtle, and doesn’t really color your sound like an overdrive etc, but it gives the response of a Showman cranked to near the top of the clean range, which Dick Dale referred to as the “blossom point”. I don’t play a note, be it Surf, Country, Rock, Fusion or Jazz, or even my electric Classical, which doesn’t pass through a Blossom Point pedal. The only thing better would be the new Surfy Man, which covers the same ground, but adds more functions.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

"Folk Progressive" ... I guess you could call it that anyway.
Also, make Electronic Ambient and Experimental Synth stuff.

I like to watch movies – ones never viewed - with the sound turned off, then attempt to create a soundtrack to it. This exersize forces me to stay out of a "melodic rut".

Pedal minimalism:
The Strymon BigSky I use for guitars and keyboards.
The Boss ME-80 gives me everything else I need.

Last edited: Mar 10, 2025 17:21:44

synchro wrote:

Signal_Music wrote:

synchro wrote:

I’ve loved Surf since I was a kid, and the sound of clean guitar with reverb resonates deeply, with me.

Yep, same here...

I’m not into heavy distortion...

Me neither...Subtleties and tonal nuance gets lost. I call it "Electric Guitar Sonic Clutter"

But for me, no matter who the artist is, what matters most is the character of the guitar coming through.

Exactly...

I have one board that covers everything. Not pictured is my homemade Surfy Bear.