Electro harmonix organ pedals--opinions?

[Chicken Man]

I've got a guitar playing pal who uses the (I think) B-9 pedal as a foundation of his life rig, and having added a second guitarist to my own group, I'm considering the same. Had anyone played through this series? I don't think I could fit the synth-based pedal into my Americana group, and the electric piano pedal seems to run out of ideas halfway through its circuit, and starts adding steel drums and other Casio-esque patches. So I'm down to the two organ pedals. Thoughts?

 

[BlockInlay]

I’ve never played through an EH pedal that didn’t sound kinda shitty and noisy. But, I haven’t tried the organ pedals.

 

[bsman]

I’ve never played through an EH pedal that didn’t sound kinda shitty and noisy. But, I haven’t tried the organ pedals.

Apparently there's quite the market for shitty & noisy!

 

[Peen Simmons]

I use the Mel9 pretty extensively. Obviously a Mellotron emulation is different than an Organ simulation, but it does a nice job of providing stuff in the Mellotron vein without being exactly spot on. You’ve got to spend some time fussing with the attack and decay on these—plus figuring out how much dry/wet blend works for a given thing. Plus tinkering with your playing and making sure you “play” the pedal has a lot to do with how good it’ll sound. The tracking is pretty good, but you’ve got to actively avoid bends and too much vibrato lest it sound unappealingly seasick.

I use the Mel9 a lot with a synth to create combined voices for pads and parts. But it can also do some fun stuff on guitar if you’re patient and spend time dialing in. I’ve never used it in a live situation but then again blowing through a setlist is where I tend to use a “less is more” approach to gadgets. But for a recording thing it’s a fun tool and can be a great help when building soundscapes.

If you’re interested in the whole organ guitar thing there’s a ton of options in the polyphonic up/down octaver world that can get you into organ synthesis territory without directly doing a Hammond emulation. I might be inclined to go that route for guitar as organ. Something like the EQD Organizer or the various POGs might be a place to start looking.

 

[Chicken Man]

That's great info, P.S. the mellotron pedal looks awesome, but would be a bit gimmicky in my current salt-of-the-Earth setting, and I can manage keys enough to get the sounds I want recording.

My goal is to have more textural options now that we have a person who plays very traditional guitar in the group, but I don't want to drag out an entire keyboard rig.

 

[sleewell]

i love the EQD organizer, havent played the EH one.

 

[Motorik]

I've never tried one, so I have nothing useful to add. But I will say I've often thought I'd like to use one for the solo in Del Shannon's 'Runaway'.

 

[shoeless]

Get a Miku while you're at it.

 

[Chad]

I played through one at guitar heel’s once. One of his friends brought it over. I thought it sounded cool, not noisy like other EHX pedals I’ve played. If I thought I’d actually use one more, I’d grab one. But for me, it would be a novelty thing and probably not worth the cash.

 

[dodgechargerfan]

I have a Mel9 that’s a lot of fun.

My friend uses a C9 regularly to fill in the keyboard tones on some cover songs.
Some Cars songs. Heroes by David Bowie. Stuff like that.

It sounds good enough to make some people ask where the keyboard player is.

 

[Chicken Man]

If I thought I’d actually use one more, I’d grab one. But for me, it would be a novelty thing and probably not worth the cash.

That'sa risk with any pedal I buy, since I'm mostly an acoustic player. But it's good to hear it's not noisy.

 

[Flatspotter]

You need to play like the guitar is an organ for it to sound convincing. No bending notes, and plucking with your fingers sounds the best.

 

[Aahzz]

I had a C9 for a bit. Sounded great, and wasn't noisy when on its own, isolated power supply. Noisy as hell powered by a daisy chain. It was big fun to mess around with, but ultimately I had no real use for it and sold it.

 

[aliensporebomb]

My experience with these is that you have to have very precise fingerings to get it to sound "organ like". It's definitely got the sound but some people finger chords in a very guitaristic way so you might have to practice to get it to sound good (specifically using voicings not commonly fingered on guitar). I have to say it's amazing what they've been producing in the last 7 years or so. Try it out and see what works for you. I kind of think a splitter cable where you have a conventional guitar fx / amp chain and a second chain specifically like a keyboard amp with a reverb might make this more interesting and viable especially if you have conventional guitar along side it.