The HeadRush Pedalboard, Gigboard, and MX5 are packed with a diverse collection of guitar effects pedal emulations ready to be called into action at any time. To help you determine which pedal will work the best for you, this article contains descriptions and functions for each pedal.
CONTENTS
- Wah Effects
- Distortion Effects
- Modulation Effects
- Reverb Effects
- Delay Effects
- EQ & Compressor Effects
- General Effects Controls
Wah Effects
Find each Wah effect under the Expression category when adding a new pedal to your rig.
Black Wah
Black Wah is a standard wah pedal effect, offering a sweepable resonant filter that lets you add animation and special timbral effects to the guitar signal. Like the Volume Pedal, wah effects (such as Black Wah) are particularly useful when controlled with an expression pedal or MIDI foot controller.
Shine Wah
Shine Wah works and sounds similar to Black Wah, but with a vintage-style filter circuit and sweep response.
Distortion Effects
Tri-Knob Fuzz
The pedal that inspired Tri-Knob Fuzz was a transistor-based unit, originally popular with lead guitarists searching for ever-higher gain in the 70s. It shone again in the 90s grunge rock scene, probably pushed further into woolly grind than its makers would have ever anticipated.
- Volume - Sets the overall output volume of the effect.
- Sustain - Sets the gain of the fuzz circuit.
- Tone - Changes the tonal balance of the effect, from deep and full of sub-bass to high and shrill.
BlackOp Distortion
Inspired by an 80s-era op-amp-based distortion pedal, BlackOp Distortion offers massive crunch and power. Its hard-clipping drive can squeeze aggressive rhythm and lead tones out of soft-sounding vintage amps, and create surprisingly hard-edged tones when paired with more modern amps.
Green JRC Overdrive
Green JRC Overdrive was inspired by a low-gain 70s overdrive pedal, loved by blues and blues-rock players the world over for its sweet, singing sting. It can be used to simply drive an amp’s input section into gentle clipping, or supply some dirty glow of its own.
DC Distortion
This distortion effect, a custom model built just for Eleven Rack, offers a range of overdriven tones, aided by its built-in Bass and Treble EQ, which help shape the response of the clipping circuit.
- Distortion - Controls clipping level
- Treble - Adds treble to the boosted signal.
- Bass - Adds bass to the boosted signal.
- Volume - Controls final output volume.
White Boost
This booster effect, based on a well-loved clean booster pedal with 20 dB of gain boost and a built-in EQ, is used for driving the preamp section of any amp model into a gentle (or not so gentle) overdrive. The EQ controls boost and cut frequencies as normal, but in this usage, they help shape the overdrive response as well.
- Gain - Controls the amount of boost added to the signal.
- Treble - Adds treble to the boosted signal
- Bass - Adds bass to the boosted signal.
- Volume - Controls final output volume.
8-Bit Crush
Our 8-Bit Crush model gives you a wide variety of grimy crushing sounds. You can even individually mute or invert any of the 8-bits.
- Drive
- Crush Gain
- Mix
- Bit Mode
- Bit Power
- Resample
- Resample Smooth
- Threshold
- Crush Comp
- Frequency
- Q
B DIST 7000
Available with update v2.4 or later, the B Dist 7000 is a bass pre-amp and distortion model giving you EQ adjustment with selectable hi-mid and lo-mid frequencies, as well as variable distortion/drive and attack adjustments.
D250 Drive
Available with update v2.4 or later, the D250 Drive model is a classic overdrive and preamp modeled after the DOD Overdrive Preamp 250.
Oct Fuzz
Available with update v2.4 or later, the Oct Fuzz model is a simple recreation of the Dunlop JHC-01 Octavio.
S1 Drive
Available with update v2.4 or later, the S1 Drive is a staple tube overdrive based on the Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive.
Modulation Effects
Flanger
Originating from the act of pressing on the flanges of tape reels, and becoming even more popular with the advent of analog pedals, the Flanger effect can be coaxed into bell-like resonant sweeps, or add a silky, shimmering sheen. This effect works well when positioned before or after the amplifier in the signal chain.
- Pre-Dl - Sets the amount of pre-delay, which changes the phase relationship between the dry signal and the delayed signal, with timbral results.
- Depth - Sets the amount of delay. The higher the setting, the more “jet-engine” artifacts will be introduced.
- Fdback - Sets the amount of signal fed back into the modulated delay. Higher settings introduce more ringing, whistling artifacts.
C1 Chorus/Vibrato
Based on a heavyweight late-70s analog chorus/vibrato pedal, CI Chorus/Vibrato offers warm, liquid modulation effects. In Chorus mode, the signal is routed through a modulated short delay, which is mixed with the dry signal, creating a washy, doubled sound. In Vibrato mode, the dry signal is absent and there is more control over the depth of pitch modulation, allowing for everything from an understated “wobble” to wacky, synth-like pitch modulation.
- Chorus - Sets the intensity and speed of the Chorus effect, only when the Chorus/Vibrato switch is set to Chorus.
- Depth - Sets the depth of the Vibrato effect, only when the Chorus/Vibrato switch is set to Vibrato.
- Rate - Controls the Vibrato rate, only when the Chorus/Vibrato switch is set to on.
- Chorus/Vibrato - Toggles the effect between Chorus and Vibrato.
When set to CHORUS, the Vibrato’s Rate and Depth controls are inactive. Inversely, when set to VIBRATO, the Chorus control will not function.
Multi-Chorus
This modulation effect is based on the Air Multi-Chorus plug-in that comes with Avid’s Pro Tools recording software. It offers the ability to stack multiple layers of chorusing, for thick, swirling sound.
- Rate - Controls the rate of the internal modulating LFO.
- Sync - Controls synchronization of the internal LFO to Rig or Pro Tools Session tempo. Ranges from OFF (no sync, set rate with Rate control) to a variety of rhythmic note values.
- Depth - Controls the amount of delay time modulation caused by the internal LFO.
- Pre-Delay - Sets the amount of time between an incoming transient signal and the start of modulation.
- Mix - Sets the wet/dry balance of the effect. Tri/Sine Switch Sets the waveform of the internal LFO to either a triangle or sine wave.
- Voices - Sets the number of layered chorus voices in the effect.
- Width - Controls the stereo width of the effect.
Vibe Phaser
The psychedelic-era phaser that inspired our Vibe Phaser effect was traditionally paired with an expression pedal that could be used to vary the rate of pitch modulation over time. Like the C1, you can choose to run it as a Chorus, with the modulated and dry signals mixed together, or in Vibrato mode, which leaves the pitch-modulated signal alone, with rippling, disorienting effects.
- Chorus/Vibrato - Toggles the dry signal on (Chorus) and off (Vibrato).
Orange Phaser
Don’t let that single knob fool you! Inspired by a ubiquitous 70s analog phaser pedal, Orange Phaser offers a deep, warm phasing effect that ranges from a slow harmonic sweep to out-of-control wobbles.
- Speed - Controls the Phaser effect’s rate of modulation.
- Sync - Synchronizes the modulation rate to the Rig tempo by a specific rhythmic subdivision.
Rotary
Inspired by the rotating speaker cabinets that made classic tonewheel organs roar, Roto Speaker offers added motion and vintage grit.
- Speed - Sets the speed of the rotating speaker effect in three increments: Slow, Fast, and Brake.
- Balance - Sets the blend between the upper and lower rotors of the rotating speaker.
- Type - Chooses between various types of rotary speakers.
Reverb Effects
Blackpanel Spring Reverb
Blackpanel Spring Reverb was inspired by a classic outboard tube-driven spring reverb. It can add a surfy twang and dark, warm ambiance to your signal.
- Mix - Controls the blend between dry and reverbed signal.
- Decay - Controls the length of the reverb’s decay.
- Tone - Applies a high-cut EQ, making the reverb tone darker.
Eleven SR (Stereo Reverb)
A smooth, clean digital reverb, Eleven SR is based on the popular Reverb One Pro Tools plug-in from Avid.
- Pre-Dly - Sets the amount of pre-delay, which changes the time relationship between the dry signal and the reverbed signal. As this setting is turned higher, the apparent size of the synthesized reverb “room” grows larger.
- Type - Selects from a variety of different reverb types.
Delay Effects
Tape Echo
Inspired by the ultimate vintage solid-state tape echo unit, Tape Echo supplies supple, crunchy echoes, and can, with a flick of the wrist, can be pushed into swells of wild self-oscillation, each repeat more murky, dusty, and gritty than the next. A classic.
- Rec Lev - Controls the signal level running to the tape circuitry. Higher settings create a more distorted tone color.
- Head - Simulates the alignment (or misalignment) of the tape head with the tape, which affects the tone of the delay.
- Wow - Controls the amount of wow and flutter in the tape mechanism. Lower settings minimize fluctuations of pitch and tone color, and higher settings accentuate it.
- Hiss - For some serious authenticity in your tape echo tone, this switch Toggles modeled analog tape hiss in or out of the signal. With high feedback settings, the tape hiss can push the echo into self-oscillating mayhem.
BBD Delay
When “bucket brigade” analog delays arrived in the mid-70s, their relatively small size and solid-state reliability made them a godsend to tape loop-addled guitarists. It went on to become a classic of its own, with a smooth, round delay sound and a Chorus-Vibrato mode that let it double as a modulation effect.
- Input - Sets the input level to the delay effect. Cranked up, it can push the signal into useful distortion.
- Mod - Switches the modulation effect between Vibrato (only the delayed signal is passed) and Chorus (both the dry and delayed signal are passed.)
- Depth - Controls the level of modulation of the delayed signal.
- Noise - Toggles modeled analog hiss in or out of the signal.
When Hiss or Noise is turned on in one of the delay effects and the feedback level is sufficiently high, the delay will self-oscillate and make a sound of its own, even when bypassed. If this effect is not desired, turn down the feedback control.
Dyn Delay
This stereo delay effect is based on the Air Dynamic Delay plug-in that comes with Avid’s Pro Tools recording software. A powerful effect, Dyn delay can be synchronized to Rig or Session tempo and offers an envelope follower, that lets you modulate various parameters, based on the amplitude envelope of the incoming signal. This effect includes the following controls:
- Delay - Sets the length of the delay, in milliseconds.
- Sync - Controls synchronization of the delay time to Rig or Session tempo. Ranges from OFF (no sync, set delay time with the Delay control) to a variety of rhythmic note values.
- Feedback - Sets the amount of delay feedback. Ranges from just one repeat, to a long-lasting cascade of repeats.
- Mix - Sets the wet/dry balance of the effect.
- Fine - Toggles finer control of delay time in or out. Toggled by SW2 in page one of the controls.
- Mode- Switches between the following four feedback routing options:
- Mono: Sums the incoming stereo signal to mono, then offers separate left and right delay output taps from that signal.
- Stereo: Processes the left and right channels of the incoming stereo signal independently and outputs the processed signal on the corresponding left and right channels.
- Cross: Processes the left and right channels of the incoming stereo signal independently, and feeds each side’s delayed signal back to the opposite channel.
- Pong: Acts much like Cross, but the incoming left and right signals are summed and output from the left channel only. Due to the cross-channel feedback, the signal moves back and forth across the stereo spectrum.
- Ratio - Sets the ratio of left to right delay times. Move the control all the way down, and the left channel delay time is half the right channel delay time. Move the control all the way to the up, and the right channel delay time is half the left channel delay time.
- Hi-Cut - Adjusts the frequency for the High Cut filter. For less treble, lower the frequency.
- Lo-Cut - Adjusts the frequency for the Low-Cut filter. For less bass, raise the frequency.
- Width - Adjusts the width of the delay effect in the stereo field.
- Em Rate - Sets how quickly the Feedback and Mix parameters respond to input from the Envelope Follower.
- Em Feedback - Sets how much the Envelope follower affects the Feedback amount.
- Em Mix - Sets how much the Envelope follower affects the wet/dry mix.
EQ & Compressor Effects
Graphic EQ
Useful for simple frequency sculpting, a good Graphic EQ can find a place in almost any pedalboard. Graphic EQ can wring a variety of tones out of other pedals (such as when placed before Distortion effects). The EQ can also be used as a signal booster when positioned in front of amps.
Para EQ
This effect provides a high-quality 4-band EQ, with adjustable gain, frequency, Q (bandwidth), and output for each band. The Low and High bands let you switch between the following functions:
- Shelf - Boost or cut of all frequencies below (in the Low band) or above (in the High band) the chosen frequency.
- Peak - Boost or cut of a band of frequencies centered on the chosen band frequency, the width of which is controlled by the Q control.
- Low-Pass (High band) or High-Pass (Low band) - Cuts frequencies above (Low-Pass) or below (High-Pass) the selected frequency, with a choice between 6 dB, 12 dB, or 24 dB- per-octave curves.
- Notch - Rejects frequencies around the chosen EQ frequency, with bandwidth control via the Q control.
This effect includes the following controls:
- L Gain - Sets the gain of the low-frequency EQ band.
- L Frequency - Sets the center frequency of the low EQ band.
- L Q - Sets the bandwidth of the low EQ band.
- L Type - Sets the mode of the low EQ band. Choose between Shelf, Peak, High-Pass (in 6, 12, and 24 dB curves), or Notch.
- Output (Accessible from every page) - Sets the final output level of the EQ’d signal.
- LM Gain - Sets the gain of the low-midrange frequency EQ band.
- LM Frequency - Sets the center frequency of the low-midrange EQ band.
- LM Q - Sets the bandwidth of the low-midrange EQ band.
- HM Gain - Sets the gain of the upper-midrange frequency EQ band.
- HM Frequency - Sets the center frequency of the upper-midrange EQ band.
- HM Q - Sets the bandwidth of the upper-midrange EQ band.
- H Gain - Sets the gain of the high-frequency EQ band.
- H Frequency - Sets the center frequency of the high-frequency EQ band.
- H Q - Sets the bandwidth of the high-frequency EQ band.
- H Type - Sets the mode of the high-frequency EQ band. Choose between Shelf, Peak, Low-Pass (in 6, 12, and 24 dB curves), or Notch.
Gray Comp
Inspired by a well-loved solid-state 70s compressor pedal, Gray Comp can add singing sustain to leads or lend power and girth to chunky rhythm guitar parts.
- Sustain - Sets the threshold, and thus, the amount of compression, in the Compressor effect.
- Level - Sets the overall output volume of the effect.
Eleven Rack is not affiliated with, sponsored, or endorsed by the makers of the effects that are emulated by this product.
Dyn III Compressor
This effect is based on the Compressor plug-in from the Dynamics III plug-in set that comes with Pro Tools. It lets you control the dynamics of your guitar signal, much like Gray Comp. However, while Gray Comp emulates a classic guitar-specific compressor pedal with a smooth, liquid tone, Dyn3 Comp is more versatile, acting more like an outboard compressor used in recording situations. This effect includes the following controls:
- Threshold - Sets the level that your signal must exceed to trigger compression or limiting. Signals that go above this level will be compressed. Signals that are below it, will not.
- Attack - Sets the attack time or the rate at which gain is reduced after the input signal crosses the threshold you’ve set. The smaller the value, the faster the attack. The faster the attack, the more rapidly the Compressor reduces the signal’s volume. If you use fast attack times, you should generally use a proportionally longer release time, particularly when the material contains many fast peaks, (such as a staccato palm-muted guitar part). Very fast attack times (especially below 1 ms) can produce undesirable distortion on guitar.
- Release - Sets the length of time it takes for the Compressor/Limiter to be fully deactivated after the input signal drops below the threshold you’ve set. Release times should be set long enough that if signal levels repeatedly rise above the threshold, the gain reduction “recovers” smoothly. If the release time is too short, the gain can rapidly fluctuate as the compressor repeatedly tries to recover from the gain reduction. If the release time is too long, a loud section of the audio material could cause an effect called “pumping and breathing” in which quieter parts of the signal are affected in ways that may or may not be desirable.
- Gain - Boosts overall output gain to compensate for heavily compressed or limited signals.
- Ratio - Sets the compression ratio, or the amount of compression applied as your signal goes above the threshold. For example, a 2:1 compression ratio means that a 2 dB increase of level above the threshold produces a 1 dB increase in output.
- Knee - Sets the sharpness of the gain curve the compressor follows when reducing gain. As you increase this control, it goes from applying “hard-knee” compression to “soft-knee” compression:
- With hard-knee compression, compression begins when the input signal exceeds the threshold. This can sound abrupt and is ideal for limiting.
- With soft-knee compression, gentle compression begins and increases gradually as the input signal approaches the threshold, and reaches full compression after exceeding the threshold. This creates smoother compression.
General Effects Controls
Sync
The time-based effects in Eleven Rack (such as Chorus, Delay, and Flanger) can be set to synchronize with Rig or Session tempo (including tempos set with the Tap Tempo button). Most Rigs are not set up to sync to Rig or Session tempo by default. You may need to turn on the Sync parameter in the effect you want to sync. When the Sync control on these effects is set to a rhythmic subdivision of the incoming tempo, the effect locks to it. When Sync is set to Off, or the Rate or Delay control is moved, the control takes over, and the rate of modulation or delay can be set by hand.
Delay+ and Fine
You’ll see these two controls when working with some delay effects. Delay+ quadruples the available delay time, for when longer echoes are needed. Fine switches the delay’s Rate control into a fine-adjust mode, where the delay time can be set by the millisecond with the Scroll wheel. Press Fine again to return the Scroll wheel to normal operation.