Fundamental Stomp Boxes.......

  • Thread starter Thread starter ez_willis
  • Start date Start date
cephus said:
Don't you find, with the multi-effect units like the pod or whatever, that you spend all your time clicking through the patches and playing a little lick and then skipping to the next one? I find that it is more satisfying to get some old stompbox with 2 or 3 or 4 knobs on it and tweak a sweet sound out of it. The multis may be more than capable, but they just don't seem as inspiring to me.
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I understand, but I don't play out, I record. So when I'm working on a new song, I'd like the ability to access a variety of tones. When I do the rare jamming with someone, I usually have a clean and dirty channel and that's about it.

boo said:
Plus, the GAS crack reference: when you are buying stompboxes, you can pay just a bit and get your high from the new toy, and then go back again a few days later and get your fix again buying another one. But then again, how many junky warblers can you have in your signal chain before your tone starts to sound like marconi broadcast?
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The PODxt Live is $400 new, probably $300 used. How many sweet pedals can you get for that?
 
APL said:
The PODxt Live is $400 new, probably $300 used. How many sweet pedals can you get for that?
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Hell, I don't know. Some of those crappy Danelectro pedals are like $30 or something aren't they? I have heard some people say they are fun enough to quell the GAS pang.

No doubt the sweetest pedals among internet posters cost $300 easily. I just don't often agree with $$$$= :) :) :) :)
 
Most used pedal I have is the 4 button switch for my amp. Other than that my board has a Dunlop Mister Crybaby, Dunlop Orginal Crybaby, Ibanez Flanger Soundtank, MXR Dime Distortion, and a slot left open for my darn Green Ringer/Phase 90 DIY project whenever I get the time to finish it.
 
cephus said:
Don't you find, with the multi-effect units like the pod or whatever, that you spend all your time clicking through the patches and playing a little lick and then skipping to the next one? I find that it is more satisfying to get some old stompbox with 2 or 3 or 4 knobs on it and tweak a sweet sound out of it. The multis may be more than capable, but they just don't seem as inspiring to me.
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True...but it's a double-edged sword. multi-fx aren't generally as tweakable on the fly as pedals, but once a patch is set up, it's a click away....the delay, reverb, distortion etc. all in one patch.
 
jfrog said:
True...but it's a double-edged sword. multi-fx aren't generally as tweakable on the fly as pedals, but once a patch is set up, it's a click away....the delay, reverb, distortion etc. all in one patch.
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You can do that with pedals and a line selector.

Admitadly it could look as though you have a small city laid out in front of you (and there's no way I could go that route - I have just enough room for my feet and amp on stage usually!), but it is possible :D

It's funny, but for about five years I was really anti-pedals. Partly out of lazyness, partly out of some desire to 'purify' my style. It was a good thing to go through, but since I've discovered quality pedals like the TS9 and the DeuceTone RAT, and how they can help me vary my sound I'm trying desperatly to tread a middle ground between my 'no pedals ascetic' guy and the 'OMG FX FOR TEH WIN' teenager who lives in my soul and has re-appeared recently.

Unfortunatly he seems to be winning 'cos I'm looking aty buying a bigger pedal board (from http://www.diago.co.uk/) and a phaser and analogue delay. Damn!
 
I guess I was just talking from my experience. I fooled around with an old MXR flanger one afternoon for an hour making all kinds of noises with it. But if I plug into a multi FX unit, I just go <stomp> jang jang jang <stomp> jing jing jing <stomp> bloop bloop bloop.

I guess my small brain just figures that with 127 more presets to go, what's the point of changing a single setting until I've tried and hated all of them.

I'm not saying that multis are crap. I guess I was putting it out there to see if anyone else felt the way I do about them. I actually was looking into the Vox modeler pedal board thing before I bought my amp. I heard alot of good press about it. It just wasn't going to work for me.
 
cephus said:
I guess I was just talking from my experience. I fooled around with an old MXR flanger one afternoon for an hour making all kinds of noises with it. But if I plug into a multi FX unit, I just go <stomp> jang jang jang <stomp> jing jing jing <stomp> bloop bloop bloop.

I guess my small brain just figures that with 127 more presets to go, what's the point of changing a single setting until I've tried and hated all of them.

I'm not saying that multis are crap. I guess I was putting it out there to see if anyone else felt the way I do about them. I actually was looking into the Vox modeler pedal board thing before I bought my amp. I heard alot of good press about it. It just wasn't going to work for me.
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Getting the most out of a multi is a lot of work.
 
A boss TU-2 chromatic tuner is the only pedal I use, I'm hoping santa will bring me a strobostomp this year. I only play acoustic guitar these days, I don't really know what 'style', I'm not really good enough to have a style. :D

I own a marshall shredmaster, a boss flanger and a tremolo pedal which I built myself but I never use any of them.
 
cephus said:
I guess I was just talking from my experience. I fooled around with an old MXR flanger one afternoon for an hour making all kinds of noises with it. But if I plug into a multi FX unit, I just go <stomp> jang jang jang <stomp> jing jing jing <stomp> bloop bloop bloop.

I guess my small brain just figures that with 127 more presets to go, what's the point of changing a single setting until I've tried and hated all of them.

I'm not saying that multis are crap. I guess I was putting it out there to see if anyone else felt the way I do about them. I actually was looking into the Vox modeler pedal board thing before I bought my amp. I heard alot of good press about it. It just wasn't going to work for me.
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You and I have WAY too many things in common. I've got rack gear up the wazoo and two modelers, probably sixteen stomp boxes. You're right. Whenever I grab some patch that I think is "dialed in", I can't wait to click on the next one, hoping it'll sound even better. Every time I buy a new piece of rack gear I have to go through every preset on it hoping there will be something usable, but there never is. Then I'm left with trying to tweak something that I just paid big bucks for. The allure of the modelers is obvious. What companies need to do is advertise patches like "Angus on Back in Black" and "David Gilmore on Time" and "Ted Nugent on Cat Scratch Fever", then we might know what to expect.

Oh, and In reference to this thread, I play mostly contemporary country and my main setup is Asat Bluesboy > Ibanez SD9 > Ross Clone Comp > Bad Bob Booster > Dano Delay > Fulltone Supratrem > Ernie Ball Volume/TU-2 tuner >
(1) Blues Deville 2/12 > (1) Hot Rod Deville 2/12
 
Multi-fx are great in some ways because you can get tons of different effects without having tons of pedals, but the time it takes to figure it all out is a nightmare IMHO. I had a RP200 at one time and just didn't have the time to mess with it, now I have the RP50 just because I still wanted to use some of the patches it offers, but I haven't made any of mine own really.

I play mostly classic rock and now I have a Dunlop Cry Baby 95Q, a TS7 (modded), and a DOD Icebox Chorus. Looking to get a Ernie Ball Vol. pedal. I think that's about all I will need...well maybe delay...who knows?
 
I've got an RP50, too, and have done most of my recordings with it.
 
I used to think my boss MT2 (metalzone) was the end-all pedal, and for a couple of applications it is.
That being said, I have not been able to improve upon my single rectifiers tone. Everything I've added in the parallel effects loop has smeared/weakened the tone SIGNIFICANTLY.
Of the three OD/distortion boxes I own/have access to, all only succeed in making it sound god-awful terrible through the front of the amp.

I've not wanted to venture the $160 to try out the TS9 Keely mod that everyone speaks so highly of... or the TS808 mod for that matter....
 
Alright, now this:

I need an overdrive or distortion pedal. I don't play live. I'm using a Gretsch hollowbody through a Peavey Classic 30.

I'm recording mostly rock stuff.

The only requirement for the pedal is that it should kick ass.

Any advice? I realize that it's up to me, and that I should try out....blah blah blah. I can't take my guitar and amp to GC, so throw some names out there.
 
Find a vintage Tube Screamer. Carlos used that in his simple setup, and he's got tone.
 
apl said:
Find a vintage Tube Screamer. Carlos used that in his simple setup, and he's got tone.
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I just got three of those Vintage Tube screamers in my store the ts808 to be exact and they sure do some serious kicking.

Pherhaps some of the vox cooltron stompboxes could be of value to you as well.

I also just tried the chandler tubedriver and it was kinda soft but wiht lots of gain and warmth.

Btw see if you can get a hold of a mesa stomp box as well they also give a huge amount of ompf.
 
ez_willis said:
I need an overdrive or distortion pedal. I don't play live. I'm using a Gretsch hollowbody through a Peavey Classic 30.

I'm recording mostly rock stuff.

The only requirement for the pedal is that it should kick ass.
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What sound are you trying to get? The PV classics have a pretty wide range of potential fuzz just by themsleves. If you feel it sounds thin, I wouldn't recommend sticking a tube screamer in front of it, because that'll make it sound even scratchier. I'd be more inclined to put a stomp compressor in front. A simple compressor like a dyna comp (I know. I'm old school). It'll fatten it up and round it off and add sustain (and a bunch of noise).

I have a classic 20 that I have recorded alot with. It gets a really convincing rock sound with the gain at about 9 o'clock. Up any higher and it just sounds like tearing a sheet of loose-leaf. It actually sounds better to me (even for harder stuff) to keep it cleaner. Like gain at 6 o'clock. This is generally using my strat with a duncan quarter pounder in the lead position.

The only reason I use a fuzz stomp is for being able to switch it off or put delay after it in the signal chain, neither of which I do when I record, especially through a tube amp that gets distortion the honest way.
 
cephus said:
What sound are you trying to get? The PV classics have a pretty wide range of potential fuzz just by themsleves. If you feel it sounds thin, I wouldn't recommend sticking a tube screamer in front of it, because that'll make it sound even scratchier. I'd be more inclined to put a stomp compressor in front. A simple compressor like a dyna comp (I know. I'm old school). It'll fatten it up and round it off and add sustain (and a bunch of noise).
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I'm not going for any one particular sound.

The Classic 30 has been retubed and all that crap, it sounds killer. I'm just looking for something to notch it up a bit without having to dial it in at the amp. A compressor might not be a bad idea.

Thanks all!
 
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