I like true "effects" pedals like wahs, delays, flangers, phasers, tremolos, etc. Time based effects = good, except for chorus. Chorus is shit to me. I'm looking for a good used Boss flanger and tremolo as we speak. I'm familiar with them and like them. I don't like "distortion" pedals. Dirt, fuzz, distortion, whatever you wanna call it. Don't like them. Never have. I've used them with junky amps, but I've never liked one in front of a good amp that has good tone on it's own. But I do occasionally like an overdrive. A boost. A kick in the pants in front of the amp. I have a Boss SD-1 and a TS-9 on my board, and they're both set to 0 dirt and max level. I like them set that way. They very minimally "distort" the sound, but hit the front end harder, which sounds good. Marshalls like them. I think Marshalls are the most pedal friendly amps out there.
guitar pedals
- Thread starter ollie99
- Start date
I like true "effects" pedals like wahs, delays, flangers, phasers, tremolos, etc. Time based effects = good, except for chorus. Chorus is shit to me. I'm looking for a good used Boss flanger and tremolo as we speak. I'm familiar with them and like them. I don't like "distortion" pedals. Dirt, fuzz, distortion, whatever you wanna call it. Don't like them. Never have. I've used them with junky amps, but I've never liked one in front of a good amp that has good tone on it's own. But I do occasionally like an overdrive. A boost. A kick in the pants in front of the amp. I have a Boss SD-1 and a TS-9 on my board, and they're both set to 0 dirt and max level. I like them set that way. They very minimally "distort" the sound, but hit the front end harder, which sounds good. Marshalls like them. I think Marshalls are the most pedal friendly amps out there.
Lt. Bob
Spread the Daf!
I have the red Ross flanger that a lotta people consider one of the very best.
Even though it's worth some bucks and I don't use flangers ...... I've been loath to sell it because it truly does make some wonderful sounds and I can totally see me using it in the studio ............... if I ever get in the studio again.
rayc
retroreprobate
I have a few pedals only.
I had an Octaver but gave it away - sounds fun when playing it solo but it's a mess in a mix.
1. I have a Big Muff clone (Morrison Audio Big Fluff) & it's brilliant - ranges from soup to cream & ultra sustain buuut I haven't recorded it much.
I have 2 ODrive pedals the
2. Boss (SD-1) & a
3. Behringer (BO100) - different tone colour but essentially the same.
I have a strange EQ thing -
4. Ibanez Renomenter 95 - it was great but takes 2 batteries and is starting to fade - I used it for the high boost when need to cut through.
I LOVE my
5.Brownie Classic - it has a range of variations on the boost/EQ/OD/Compression thing. I bought it for a single purpose but it's VERY flexible & SUPER cheap.
The thing I use most is a
6.Behringer BDI 21. Clone of a Sansamp for bass but it does really good things for guitar & I use it almost always when recording.
& there's my
7. Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Wah. OLd thing but good - used often but now needs a pot clean.
Wow, more than I thought I had.
Of that lot only the Wah cost more than $60.
I'm a cheap, miserly, hoarding type of person.
Glad I gave away the Octaver though.
I had an Octaver but gave it away - sounds fun when playing it solo but it's a mess in a mix.
1. I have a Big Muff clone (Morrison Audio Big Fluff) & it's brilliant - ranges from soup to cream & ultra sustain buuut I haven't recorded it much.
I have 2 ODrive pedals the
2. Boss (SD-1) & a
3. Behringer (BO100) - different tone colour but essentially the same.
I have a strange EQ thing -
4. Ibanez Renomenter 95 - it was great but takes 2 batteries and is starting to fade - I used it for the high boost when need to cut through.
I LOVE my
5.Brownie Classic - it has a range of variations on the boost/EQ/OD/Compression thing. I bought it for a single purpose but it's VERY flexible & SUPER cheap.
The thing I use most is a
6.Behringer BDI 21. Clone of a Sansamp for bass but it does really good things for guitar & I use it almost always when recording.
& there's my
7. Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Wah. OLd thing but good - used often but now needs a pot clean.
Wow, more than I thought I had.
Of that lot only the Wah cost more than $60.
I'm a cheap, miserly, hoarding type of person.
Glad I gave away the Octaver though.
c7sus
Disenfranchised Member
What Lt Bob said.
Youtube is your friend for this exercise.
As has been said there are many types of FX. Dynamics, overdrives, boosts, various filters, time-based/LFO-modulated stuff like flange/chorus/some delays, harmonizers and pitch-shifters, and ring modulators/octave dividers/synthi-type filters to name a few.
Like LT Bob said compressors can really mess with your dynamics and squish everything pretty flat if overdone.
I like just about any kind of FX that can do modulations--- like slow or fast Leslie.
I play mostly clean tones and have been messing around a lot lately with a Moog MIDI MuRF set to slow LFO rate of sweep for the filters into a Moog phaser with stereo outs doing modulations approaching the fast setting of a Leslie i.e. 4-6Hz. The result is a light auto-wah sound that is rotating---- sounds like a carousel when it is dialed in just right. Has great articulation.
I also have a Moog MF-108M flanger/chorus but to my ears it is kinda mushy with a guitar. For a more in-your-face chorus and excellent Univibe and trem FX look into a Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe. Lots of great sounds in that piece of kit.
For straight up wah wah check out Geoffrey Teese.
For tuners check out Peterson virtual strobes. They are the shit.
For clean boost and some compression/overdrive I went with a KLON Centaur many years ago. Take or leave the hype, it's solid and does what it does really well. I wish I had bought two so I could put them each on a loop and switch back and forth between a clean boost and an overdrive setting. It's one of those boxes you turn on and just don't want to turn off.
Also notice all the gear named above is analog, except for the Peterson tuner.
Youtube is your friend for this exercise.
As has been said there are many types of FX. Dynamics, overdrives, boosts, various filters, time-based/LFO-modulated stuff like flange/chorus/some delays, harmonizers and pitch-shifters, and ring modulators/octave dividers/synthi-type filters to name a few.
Like LT Bob said compressors can really mess with your dynamics and squish everything pretty flat if overdone.
I like just about any kind of FX that can do modulations--- like slow or fast Leslie.
I play mostly clean tones and have been messing around a lot lately with a Moog MIDI MuRF set to slow LFO rate of sweep for the filters into a Moog phaser with stereo outs doing modulations approaching the fast setting of a Leslie i.e. 4-6Hz. The result is a light auto-wah sound that is rotating---- sounds like a carousel when it is dialed in just right. Has great articulation.
I also have a Moog MF-108M flanger/chorus but to my ears it is kinda mushy with a guitar. For a more in-your-face chorus and excellent Univibe and trem FX look into a Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe. Lots of great sounds in that piece of kit.
For straight up wah wah check out Geoffrey Teese.
For tuners check out Peterson virtual strobes. They are the shit.
For clean boost and some compression/overdrive I went with a KLON Centaur many years ago. Take or leave the hype, it's solid and does what it does really well. I wish I had bought two so I could put them each on a loop and switch back and forth between a clean boost and an overdrive setting. It's one of those boxes you turn on and just don't want to turn off.
Also notice all the gear named above is analog, except for the Peterson tuner.
rustman
Member
I agree youtube is a good source for sound samples. One other important thing you must concider is the amp if the amp is poor, any pedal might sound bad, too. Pedal in your signal chain makes you play differently. It also adds noise to you singnal chain; more pedals, more noise. In recording environment I try to keep my signal chain as clean as possible. One option is to use pedals with true bypass. Commercial pedals don't have true bypass. I have way over thirty pedals, but eventually I'm in a situation my main effects board consists only DIY clone pedals and a tuner. I stay away from multieffects and digital, because my opinion is they sound quite weak compared with analog. Also, as a fan of distorted sounds I have four different od and fuzz pedals and I have a loop pedal on my board(s) which ables me to add more effect if needed. After I switched to true bypass pedals I could throw away the noise suppressor from my rig 
Check out General Guitar Gadgets. They are selling kits, but there are also loads of projects to build. The prices are reasonable and pedals easy to build (if you can solder). Almost all of the pedals are true bypass. Best of all, these pedals sound awesome. My favourite DIY pedals at the moment are Orange Squeezer comp (for lapsteel and slide), Marshall Blues Breaker, ITS8 (tube screamer clone), Dallas Rangeblaster (treble boost, Brian May type), Red Fuzz, EA-tremolo (incredibly good tremolo with good sounding pre), Tycobrahe Octavia (fuzz with octave down), P45 (MXR phase45 clone) and Reverb. Pedals I also use a lot are also 60's Boutique Fuzz Face, Big Muff, Schaller tremolo, DOD FX-909 analog delay, Yamaha E1005 analog delay and Ibanez Auto-Wah. Not a pedal, but otherwise a great effect is the E-bow.
Still, everything starts from the combination of guitar, amp and what you play. There is no point buying pedals if you don't know how they react with your rig, on the other hand if you don't have have the pedal it is impossible to try it out. Borrow pedals from your friends to try out with you guitar and amp, or take your guitar to the music shop and try to find an amp that you use.
Still, I would stay away from chorus even though I do have Boss CE-300 Super Chorus and a C-2 in my home studio.
Check out General Guitar Gadgets. They are selling kits, but there are also loads of projects to build. The prices are reasonable and pedals easy to build (if you can solder). Almost all of the pedals are true bypass. Best of all, these pedals sound awesome. My favourite DIY pedals at the moment are Orange Squeezer comp (for lapsteel and slide), Marshall Blues Breaker, ITS8 (tube screamer clone), Dallas Rangeblaster (treble boost, Brian May type), Red Fuzz, EA-tremolo (incredibly good tremolo with good sounding pre), Tycobrahe Octavia (fuzz with octave down), P45 (MXR phase45 clone) and Reverb. Pedals I also use a lot are also 60's Boutique Fuzz Face, Big Muff, Schaller tremolo, DOD FX-909 analog delay, Yamaha E1005 analog delay and Ibanez Auto-Wah. Not a pedal, but otherwise a great effect is the E-bow.
Still, everything starts from the combination of guitar, amp and what you play. There is no point buying pedals if you don't know how they react with your rig, on the other hand if you don't have have the pedal it is impossible to try it out. Borrow pedals from your friends to try out with you guitar and amp, or take your guitar to the music shop and try to find an amp that you use.
Still, I would stay away from chorus even though I do have Boss CE-300 Super Chorus and a C-2 in my home studio.
Lt. Bob
Spread the Daf!
don't pay any attention to those who don't like chorus if you like it.
I like a good chorus and I'm indifferent as to other's opinions on the matter.
As you should be ...... quit looking for other people to tell you what you should like and get to listening to demos and figure out what you want and get it without regard to anyone else's preferences.
These pedals are for you ......not them.
I'm not telling you to get a chorus either ..... I'm just saying that everyone else's preferences are meaningless except for them.
I like a good chorus and I'm indifferent as to other's opinions on the matter.
As you should be ...... quit looking for other people to tell you what you should like and get to listening to demos and figure out what you want and get it without regard to anyone else's preferences.
These pedals are for you ......not them.
I'm not telling you to get a chorus either ..... I'm just saying that everyone else's preferences are meaningless except for them.
Lt. Bob
Spread the Daf!
I'm getting rid of mine immediately!!Chorus is poo poo!
Actually ..... I AM pretty picky about choruses. Because of how they work most of them add an out-of-tune element to the sound and I freakin' HATE that!
But some don't ....... I'm not sure why since the detuning is kinda how they work. But the ones that don't make it sound out of tune are the only ones I use.
Currently on my board is an E.H. Electric Mistress stereo chorus/flanger. It's pretty cool
diggy_dude
Now 169% diggier!
Are you wanting a fatter sound? You can get that with double-tracking and avoid the artifacts of chorus altogether.
Lt. Bob
Spread the Daf!
not live he can't
you studio monkeys sometimes forget some of us are live players.
I do 500 times more live stuff than studio.
Actually to be mathematically correct I do an infinite amount more live work than studio since I don't record squat anymore ......... shame on me!
diggy_dude
Now 169% diggier!
I used to have that Boss tremolo/pan that everyone is shelling out big bucks for nowadays. It's really nothing special. You can hear the LFO in it, which ruins the effect. Check out the Line 6 Tap Tremolo.
I'm getting rid of mine immediately!!
Actually ..... I AM pretty picky about choruses. Because of how they work most of them add an out-of-tune element to the sound and I freakin' HATE that!
But some don't ....... I'm not sure why since the detuning is kinda how they work. But the ones that don't make it sound out of tune are the only ones I use.
Currently on my board is an E.H. Electric Mistress stereo chorus/flanger. It's pretty cool
Right, that warbly out-of-tune sound is what I really hate about chorus, not to mention that it sounds cheesy and very dated. IMO a chorus that doesn't sound bad is simply called a flanger/phaser.
diggy_dude
Now 169% diggier!
not live he can't
you studio monkeys sometimes forget some of us are live players.
I do 500 times more live stuff than studio.
I didn't catch the part where the OP said he needed it for gigging. This being a home recording site, it seemed reasonable to assume he needs it for recording.
OK. My use of a tremolo would be minimal and sporadic for occasional surf/rockabilly kinds of sounds. One of my bandmates has a Boss Trem (the green one) and it sounds pretty cool. I'm gonna borrow it to see what I can get out of it.
Lt. Bob
Spread the Daf!
first it was totally reasonable and I wasn't ragging on ya'. ......... just pointing out that it's possible he also wants to use it live.
I don't even know that he does ...... I was just pointing out that IF he does then double tracking won't work for that.
But even though this is a recording site I do see quite a few git players in the git playing section that mention live work so it's not unknown for people here to gig.
Sure ....... I'm insane and do it far more than seems normal but some gigging seems reasonable to expect from many gitterists.
diggy_dude
Now 169% diggier!
No offense taken, Bob. I sometimes toss shit out there without reading the whole thread. I'll gladly take my lumps if something I wrote proves to be irrelevant to the discussion in those cases.
muttley600
Banned
I'm one of those. On the rare occasions that I do record stuff these days I want it to sound live and be reproducible live. I also gig way more than record. Always have.
diggy_dude
Now 169% diggier!
The Voodoo Lab tremolo is very subtle if that's what you're looking for. It doesn't have a square wave LFO, so you can't get the drastic range of effects from it that you can get from the Boss.