And here’s that Resonator Chrome G with the Holy Stain

Here’s the new Dean Resonator Chrome G, tuned to open G and played through the Electro Harmonix Holy Stain with some overdrive and some tremolo. The amp is my old Lab Series solid state L5 on a pretty clean setting. The pickups are almost 50/50 magnet/piezo with a slight bias toward the magnet to reduce high end noise and unwanted distortion. A lot of the guitar’s characteristics are lost when playing “plugged-in”, but the Holy Stain adds its own ambiance and the result, I think, is quite pleasing.

I’m (finally) finding some use for the Holy Stain

About a year ago, I got the Electro-Harmonix Holy Stain.  It is, I believe, the company’s only multi-effects pedal, and the price ($99) made it hard to resist.  I quickly learned that, although fun, this is not the most useful item for my pedal-line.  The reverb is nice and the controls give me a nice variety and range of sound, but the distortion effect is a bit too bludgeon-y and there’s a much bigger problem.  A fairly long pedal line (6 or more pedals) means that distortion and reverb can’t be right next to each other.  Reverb should be at the back (absolute last before amp) and distortion goes near the front, closer to the instrument.  In between there are modulators (phaser or flanger) and delay (I <3 LOTS of delay).  So, by smashing a distortion/overdrive ciruit right up against a reverb, there’s no way to get anything in between.  As a result, the Holy Stain has spent too much time in the box.

Fortunately, I didn’t discard the item.  Last week, I fulfilled a lifelong fantasy of getting a steel-body resonator guitar.  The Dean Resonator Chrome G sounds great unplugged, but does have magnetic and piezo pickups that can be mixed for the purpose of playing “plugged in”.  But, while the construction of the instrument is top-notch, the electronics are just not great.  So, I figure I’d just play the thing unplugged.

Enter the Holy Stain.  This guitar doesn’t want a lot of spacey effects.  It’s for playing blues and not so much Progressive Rock.  But a little dirt and a little tremolo (which can be chosen on the Holy Stain instead of ‘verb) can provide just he right amount of rootsy, Lanois-esque atmosphere to make the budget pickups come alive.  Sound samples will follow shortly.