Adrian Legge, whose trusty Ovation and twin Roland Cubes have taken him through more venues than most people have had hot licks, describes one musician's approach to multiple signal processing.

Piezo and other add-on pick-ups have brought simple access to fx technology to acoustic as well as electric guitarists now. The traditionalist may blanch, but once you've accepted that even just miking up an acoustic guitar changes the sound's character, then it becomes logical to use that change to broaden your scope. What follows is what I do - pick the bones over and see how it might work for you.

Often the first stage in the fx chain is an FET pre-amp that will bolster a weak signal and lower impedance. It isn't always necessary with a good pick-up, and can add noise that later compression or limiting may expose.

It is possible to put a piezo pick-up straight into a compressor, and achieve pre-amping at the same time as shaping attack and sustain characteristics. But beware, if you use a compressor, you are exposing yourself to feedback, and must use a volume pedal at the end of the chain to control it.

The next problem is Equalization. I've used a Boss GE7 for a while now, and found it perfectly adequate into my Roland Cube amps, or into a rig, but if your guitar has very specific feedback characteristics, then you may need the wider spread of a GE-10 to nail a recurring problem with less surrounding tone loss. I balance against the extra size of this type of unit the soloist's logistics: I can get all I need in a nice light BCB6 case, mains powered by a PSM-5, and fly it cabin baggage, stowing the volume pedal and leads in the checked baggage with the old socks. Along with the 13 kilo guitar and case, I usually make it just under the tourist class baggage allowance. Similarly, at a festival or any other quick on and off gig, more loose pedals means more plugs, more set up time, and more possibilities for dirty jacks and horrible noises or signal failure.

Doing the Splits

My next stage is a VB-2 vibrato, which can give a subtle, slow movement in the sound without the extra harmonics developed by a chorus. This is an in/out or latching effect which can colour a passage or soften a gentle piece. I use it before the delays, which spread it out gently, whereas I've found that a chorus before the delays can sound messy.

Before I deal with the delays, let me jump to the end of the chain to the stereo split. Here I use a CE-3, though a new DC-2 Dimension C could go here, coming off the BCB6 to the stereo volume pedal without returning to the mono PSM5, which I use simply to switch into a TU-12 for quiet tuning checks.

Frequently I use the CE-3 set at maximum depth and minimum rate with out of phase modulation in Mode A. This gives fast pieces breadth across the two Cubes with minimum confusing movement in the sound and a little tingle in the treble. Fattening up for a slower number, I just raise the rate a few notches, or I can harden the sound by splitting effect and direct in Mode B. For a while I used a CE-2 in front of this so that I could kick it in to build a piece halfway through or on a repeated theme. A flanger in the same position has been useful for harder edged pieces, and the usual bass cut could be compensated for on the GE-7, I've found phasing some use, but usually on one side only of the stereo after the CE-3 for special effects.

Currently I'm using echoes to fatten and broaden, and I believe analogue echo still has a role to play alongside digital. I've used a DD-2 for a while now, and the improvement over my previous analogue only system is just ridiculous. Whole pieces took on new dimensions as previously muffled treble sang through, and I've slower settings. The sound builds on Spector-like principles, except that this mono stack of sounds splits via the CE-3 in to the two Cube reverbs, with as much or as little movement across the stereo as I need. In a small theatre or club, I just found I've been able to use shorter, slappy echoes effectively for the first time. The DD-2's Hold function has been fun - I can play a low fifth, hit the switch and get a rhythmic drone going, and then hammer out fast melody lines over the top of it. An experimental bash in Dublin went down rather well, but in the end I preferred the straight echo all over the picking. Sampling is not for me. Yet.

The analogue delay's role now is in softening the DD-2's attack repeats at the Cubes at the audience, 60 watts a side can sound surprisingly big in good theatre acoustics. On a bigger gig, then it's two d.i. boxes out of the Cube preamps (or speaker outlets if the engineer has the appropriate boxes), a light top and bottom lift and pan wide apart on the desk. The eq in the Cube pre-amps, coupled with the GE-7, gives me pretty well the tone I want to be coming out of the rig, so sound checks are minimal. I've done BBC sessions like this too.

On the bigger gigs, then I use the Cubes as monitors, turned around to face me, and cut out the rig's onstage monitoring, and this helps reduce feedback, and cuts out a monitor soundcheck. Set-up time is thus cut to the bone, and a good stage crew will whip the Cubes on while I hook up the BCB6 to the volume pedal and the guitar. If I'm abroad without the Cubes, then I just have to find a power point for the PSM-5, hook up the guitar, BCB6 and volume pedal into d.i. boxes, and we're ready to roll once I've reset the GE-7 and got the monitor levels below feedback threshold.

The BCB6 has a useful security aspect. One a gig is over, then it's out of the socket and into the box with the a.c. adaptor, lid on, grab the volume pedal and leads, and I can get the whole lot stashed fast. There are no loose units lying around, handily pocket-sized, while I get distracted by someone who wants to talk or get an album signed.

Logistics are easy; two Cube 60s, and a traps case with pedals, albums and leads, all fit into the boot of a dented old Fiat. Ready to tour!