Nord User Forum

Evening all, brand new to Nord and keyboard playing. Just starting to venture out from guitar to keyboard, what fun

Is there a resource that can explain / show how to connect a guitar pedal ( strymon el capistan for example )?

For example, is the pedal connected directly to the keyboard or do i need some sort of mixer?

Sorry for such a basic question.

Morning Boogerbooger,

just as if your keyboard was the guitar: one output of your nord into the strymon‘s input, and then the outs to the mixer or amp. You only need to make sure that you set up your nord to give a mono signal to one output and you put your cable in there.

The manual, downloadable at nord website, is your friend:

https://www.nordkeyboards.com/downloads ... rd-stage-3

Cheers from Germany

Adding to Tasten-Bert's post, page 53 of the manual covers the output options you have available for the organ, piano, and synth - even capability to split them. Using the default CH1 and CH2 covering the Stage 3 stereo output, you have the option with the Strymon of running mono as noted above, or getting a cable with two 1/4" mono jacks going to a single 1/4" TRS (stereo) jack to plug into the Strymon to maintain the stereo output of the Stage 3. Good luck to you.

Most Strymon pedals have left and right 1/4 both in and out, so no reason to use TRS cables.

Bjosko wrote:Most Strymon pedals have left and right 1/4 both in and out, so no reason to use TRS cables.

Not in this case as he is using a Strymon El Capistan from what I gather which I guess is different than typical Strymons as you noted.

WannitBBBad wrote:

Bjosko wrote:Most Strymon pedals have left and right 1/4 both in and out, so no reason to use TRS cables.

Not in this case as he is using a Strymon El Capistan from what I gather which I guess is different than typical Strymons as you noted.

Actually according to the manual, the input is only Mono. A TRS cable won't help with that.

cgrafx wrote:

WannitBBBad wrote:

Bjosko wrote:Most Strymon pedals have left and right 1/4 both in and out, so no reason to use TRS cables.

Not in this case as he is using a Strymon El Capistan from what I gather which I guess is different than typical Strymons as you noted.

Actually according to the manual, the input is only Mono. A TRS cable won't help with that.

Easy to miss, you have to dig for it. According to the Strymon website it's selectable but may not allow swapping back and forth between mono and stereo (not sure): "High impedance mono input (internal jumper enables selectable TRS stereo input)." I wouldn't use the pedal myself if that meant needing to play my Stage 3 in mono.

Ups, my bad, I didn’t seen the Strymon variant, i was just thinking Blue Sky or Big Sky and similar pedals.
Most often, if I see a Strymon in use on a keyboard, it is used on a Big or Blue Sky pedal to make more dreamy pads.

But to OP, the NS have excellent effects already built in, but perhaps not up in the Strymon class. Try them out first, they might satisfy your need.

Basically to add an effect pedal, you use the main left and right output through the pedal end then to your mixer or amplifier just like on a guitar, but it is possible in the system setup on your Nord to route signals to only output 3 or 4 And then through a pedal, buth then often only as mono.

Beware that many pedals are made most for guitars, so not all of them would work so well on a keyboard, that can be because the output are to hot, or the frequency of the sound don’t match well with the pedal, but The Strymon pedals are often shown in use with keyboards.