Pedals, effects pedals etc.

Orando Broom

I will in the near future be purchasing a pedal or two for my electric guitar. I really don't have a clue what to get, to be honest I am largely ignorant of the capabalities of the electric guitar. I am a relative novice on it.


I have a Gibson Les Paul Studio played through a Marshall Marshall MG100DFX Combo.

I am happy enough with what it does now to be honest but a few more experienced friends of mine say a few pedals would be great.

One pedal I was recommended was a Boss Blues driver. Basically I haven't a dickie bird what I'm doing but I got the guitar as a gift and I intend to do something with it.

Any help is, as always, greatly appreicated.

BSOM

Orando Broom wrote: »

I will in the near future be purchasing a pedal or two for my electric guitar. I really don't have a clue what to get, to be honest I am largely ignorant of the capabalities of the electric guitar. I am a relative novice on it.


I have a Gibson Les Paul Studio played through a Marshall Marshall MG100DFX Combo.

I am happy enough with what it does now to be honest but a few more experienced friends of mine say a few pedals would be great.

One pedal I was recommended was a Boss Blues driver. Basically I haven't a dickie bird what I'm doing but I got the guitar as a gift and I intend to do something with it.

Any help is, as always, greatly appreicated.

Do you want a couple of pedals or a multi effects unit ?

Boss Blues Driver +1, great little pedal. Marshall Blues Breaker is nice aswell.

The Boss OD1, OS2 and Blues Driver are nice pedals and well price (could pick up all three for under €150 or so.

There also the Marshall Echo Head, Boss DD3 or DD7 (Both delay), RAT Turbo (Try'em in XMusic), Electro Harmonix Nano pedals are sweet too (Try Dublin Guitar Centre).

J

rcaz

The Blues Driver is very like an Ibanez Tubescreamer, which I think is the circuit almost every overdrive pedal is derived from. Maybe try a few Tubescreamers (which are a very contentious issue, one of those pedals that everybody gets all hot and bothered over which version is best) as well? I have a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive, which is another TS derivative and very similar to the Blues Driver. It's pretty good, and I think with a simple mod like one capacitor being clipped out or something, it can sound even better.

But I don't think a great overdrive will sound particularly great through your MG, so bear in mind if you go into a shop to try something and they plug you into a Twin Reverb or something, the pedal won't sound quite the same when you bring it home

If it were an option, look at a better amp first? If you're looking for a nice overdrive pedal, you'd probably be a lot more satisfied with good amp overdrive.

fincollins

Les Paul Studio :eek: thats a nice one to start out on!!!

Theres hundreds of billions of pedals out there.

Best place to start is copy the bands that your into. Go to sites like http://www.guitargeek.com/ and see what pedals they use. Youtube is also really handy to give you an idea of what a particular pedals sounds like!

You'll mix and match for years...but thats all the fun of it.

Adverts.ie has an abundance of second hand ones too

Hope this helps

rcaz

BSOM wrote: »

There also the Marshall Echo Head, Boss DD3 or DD7 (Both delay), RAT Turbo (Try'em in XMusic), Electro Harmonix Nano pedals are sweet too (Try Dublin Guitar Centre).

J

Is this just a 'recommend me pedals' thread? Because that would be pointless. There are millions of pedals, and you could probably make a massive board that you'd absolutely love and someone else would find no use for any of the effects. I don't see any reason to just list effects like that. Also, the EHX nano pedals aren't exactly the same as their full-size counterparts. I know the Nano Small Stone isn't great compared to the Small Stone.

What do you want to sound like?

Orando Broom

fincollins wrote: »

Les Paul Studio :eek: thats a nice one to start out on!!!

Theres hundreds of billions of pedals out there.

Best place to start is copy the bands that your into. Go to sites like http://www.guitargeek.com/ and see what pedals they use. Youtube is also really handy to give you an idea of what a particular pedals sounds like!

You'll mix and match for years...but thats all the fun of it.

Adverts.ie has an abundance of second hand ones too

Hope this helps

I didn't really start out on it, I played acoustic guitar mainly. The missus for my 30th bought me one. I have it long enough and I want to make use of it.

Paolo_M

What ideal tone would you like?
Why do you want pedals?
Are you unhappy with your current tone? Why? What would you like to change?
Who are the guitarists and bands the you're trying to emulate?



A better amp would be a better investment for your money, IMO, no matter what the answers to the above questions are.

If you are set on buying a few pedals remember that Tubescreamers and their derivatives, Boss Blues Driver et al., are designed to push valve amplifiers and, IMO, sound aweful with SS amps.
The loop on MG is aweful so many loop based effects like delays etc. will be done a dis-service also.
Kinda seems like buying alloys and go-faster stripes for a Fiat Chiqicento.

Orando Broom

El Pr0n wrote: »

The Blues Driver is very like an Ibanez Tubescreamer, which I think is the circuit almost every overdrive pedal is derived from. Maybe try a few Tubescreamers (which are a very contentious issue, one of those pedals that everybody gets all hot and bothered over which version is best) as well? I have a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive, which is another TS derivative and very similar to the Blues Driver. It's pretty good, and I think with a simple mod like one capacitor being clipped out or something, it can sound even better.

But I don't think a great overdrive will sound particularly great through your MG, so bear in mind if you go into a shop to try something and they plug you into a Twin Reverb or something, the pedal won't sound quite the same when you bring it home

If it were an option, look at a better amp first? If you're looking for a nice overdrive pedal, you'd probably be a lot more satisfied with good amp overdrive.

Cheers thanks for the advice, the amp stay's though, haha!!

Incidentally why is it so reviled. The shop in Dublin sold it to me as the best thing since slice bread. I was led to believe that solid state technology had come to within a whisker of matching valve sound. I would not have noticed myself only that it is mentioned here regularly.

Realistically I was on a tight budget, the Marshall was at the upper reaches and slightly beyond what I wanted to spend. I was not gigging, not going to be and it was goign to be a house amp. I could not have one of those big JCM jobs (though god knows they'd be sweet) as I did not have the physical room for it or at the time the money.

I am annoyed now because I feel like I was sold a pup!

Paolo_M

Orando Broom wrote: »

Cheers thanks for the advice, the amp stay's though, haha!!

Incidentally why is it so reviled. The shop in Dublin sold it to me as the best thing since slice bread. I was led to believe that solid state technology had come to within a whisker of matching valve sound. I would not have noticed myself only that it is mentioned here regularly.

Realistically I was on a tight budget, the Marshall was at the upper reaches and slightly beyond what I wanted to spend. I was not gigging, not going to be and it was goign to be a house amp. I could not have one of those big JCM jobs (though god knows they'd be sweet) as I did not have the physical room for it or at the time the money.

I am annoyed now because I feel like I was sold a pup!

Personally I think it's reviled so much because there are equivalent quality SS amps available without a Marshall logo for much less money and far superior SS amps available for the same money.
The logo is what costs the money and unfortunatley many beginners see the logo and assume quality.

Orando Broom

El Pr0n wrote: »

Is this just a 'recommend me pedals' thread? Because that would be pointless. There are millions of pedals, and you could probably make a massive board that you'd absolutely love and someone else would find no use for any of the effects. I don't see any reason to just list effects like that. Also, the EHX nano pedals aren't exactly the same as their full-size counterparts. I know the Nano Small Stone isn't great compared to the Small Stone.

What do you want to sound like?

I love the classic rock sound. I love that Journey, Boston, Rainbow sound.

I want a real throwback sound, but I want it to have a bit of punch.

Bits of songs

Crazy Train - Randy Rhodes Guitar
The solo in Take It On The Run by REO Speedwagon.
Unchained -Van Halen




<<Stupid section: I am intending on recording an album, I intend to write a classic rock album and I am going to attempt to DIY reocrd it. I have friends who can help with some of the trickier stuff but I want them to be under my autocratic iron fist when it comes to how I want it to sound>>

Orando Broom

BSOM wrote: »

Do you want a couple of pedals or a multi effects unit ?
Boss Blues Driver +1, great little pedal. Marshall Blues Breaker is nice aswell.

The Boss OD1, OS2 and Blues Driver are nice pedals and well price (could pick up all three for under €150 or so.

There also the Marshall Echo Head, Boss DD3 or DD7 (Both delay), RAT Turbo (Try'em in XMusic), Electro Harmonix Nano pedals are sweet too (Try Dublin Guitar Centre).

J

This I don't know. Advice on this would be appreciated.

Please bear in mind when answering - the amp stays!!!!

Dublin Guitar

Thanks BSOM. One seriously underrated pedal we have here is the EHX Pocket Metal Muff. Fantastic straight up distortion, by no means a one trick pony. Lots of the EHX nano stuff is great, and not awful money. +1 on the Blues Driver and trying the RAT stuff in X Music too.

Dublin Guitar Centre

BSOM

Orando Broom wrote: »

Cheers thanks for the advice, the amp stay's though, haha!!

Incidentally why is it so reviled. The shop in Dublin sold it to me as the best thing since slice bread. I was led to believe that solid state technology had come to within a whisker of matching valve sound. I would not have noticed myself only that it is mentioned here regularly.

Realistically I was on a tight budget, the Marshall was at the upper reaches and slightly beyond what I wanted to spend. I was not gigging, not going to be and it was goign to be a house amp. I could not have one of those big JCM jobs (though god knows they'd be sweet) as I did not have the physical room for it or at the time the money.

I am annoyed now because I feel like I was sold a pup!

IMHO, the Marshall MG's are a great amp for starting out. You can always work with pedals and a nice clean sound.

Nick Dolan

The thing about distortion is they all do different things so you need to bit a bit of thinking. Tube Screamers and the Boss ODs work best to boost or thicken up a solo making it sound better as well as louder . they re also used to add crunch and grind to a clean chanell but Les Paul through a marshall doesnt usually need this. At the other end of the scale is the likes of the boss Metal Zone, lots and lots of gain which can very easily turn your sound to mush and the likes of the Big Muff whose sole purpose is mushness. If you put up a few quid you can get a nifty multi effects unit and play around with the different types of distortions although it will require a ton of button pushing, scrolling, spilt tea and hair pulling, but worth it as the quality of the modeling software has gone from good to fantastic. But remember youll always need less gain than you think, especially once you turn up to full volume. If i was to give just one recommendation id say the Boss OS2 as it has a blend knob allowing you to go from chunky drive to hard distortion and mix the two.

rcaz

Hmm... Classic rock rhythm stuff would have crunchy tube overdrive, and lead stuff would have full-on high gain screaming madness, wouldn't it?

If you want that full-on high gain screaming madness stuff, you could try something like a big muff or equivalent fuzz pedal. I think a lot of those guys use tube amps up full (I don't listen to that kind of stuff, so I'm not certain), and a fuzz pedal might be more Hendrix/Jack White-ish, but it might also work for you. The guy in The Black Keys plays into a Big Muff IIRC, to get the less-heavy crunchy tones for 'rhythm' parts, he turns down the volume knob on his guitar, which is a trick worth trying to go from clean to dirty without touching a pedal.

rcaz

Nick Dolan wrote: »

If you put up a few quid you can get a nifty multi effects unit and play around with the different types of distortions although it will require a ton of button pushing, scrolling, spilt tea and hair pulling, but worth it as the quality of the modeling software has gone from good to fantastic.

But why bother spending so much money for a sophisticated multi effect pedal that can model an overdrive pedal when a proper overdrive pedal would be much much cheaper, and sound much better? Also, you'd learn a lot more about how to get your gear to work for you with an SD-1 than you would with a GT-10 or whatever.

BSOM

Classic Rock sound to me says Big Muff, OS2, Jackhammer (Marshall).

If you want to look at different pedals being tried out check out this guy:

http://www.youtube.com/user/gearmanndude

Nick Dolan

El Pr0n wrote: »

But why bother spending so much money for a sophisticated multi effect pedal that can model an overdrive pedal when a proper overdrive pedal would be much much cheaper, and sound much better? Also, you'd learn a lot more about how to get your gear to work for you with an SD-1 than you would with a GT-10 or whatever.

With the multi effects you get a dozen or so different distortions for the price of one or two of the real thing. not to mention delays, choruses all the bags of tricks they come with, obviously depending on the price. So you can try all the distortion types and realise whether your after a classic rock sound, a huge fuzzy sound or both combined . For a beginer this is more important than difference in tone quality which will lost on the budget gear anyway. When hes out three night a week belting out status quo songs (the horror!) with a 60s tele through a all valve Orange , its a different story.

rcaz

Nick Dolan wrote: »

With the multi effects you get a dozen or so different distortions for the price of one or two of the real thing. not to mention delays, choruses all the bags of tricks they come with, obviously depending on the price. So you can try all the distortion types and realise whether your after a classic rock sound, a huge fuzzy sound or both combined . For a beginer this is more important than difference in tone quality which will lost on the budget gear anyway. When hes out three night a week belting out status quo songs (the horror!) with a 60s tele through a all valve Orange , its a different story.

I think all the options are too much though. You wouldn't get to really know any particular sound because there are so many to play around, and you wouldn't really test out all the parameters for the same reason. I know my RAT can cover a ton of ground, from really light overdrive up to almost fuzz, and I know that from spending hours with just those three knobs.

As for money, there's a RAT on adverts.ie for €50. You could buy that, play with it for a while, see how you like it, if it's not just right, sell it and buy another pedal, see how you like that, repeat until you know what you're like. You make a €50 investment, get to know your tones much more intimately, learn a ton more about how your gear works with different variables (which is invaluable if you start playing with more experienced guys or playing gigs), and have much better quality gear the whole time.

As for the modulation effects you mentioned, the OP didn't express any interest in using effects like those, and they'd just be another thing to overwhelm and confuse the 'beginner' you're talking about. From my experience, people don't get to know how their stuff works because they're spending all their time listening to 'how mental' the presets sound.

How many times have you played with musicians who haven't a clue how to work their gear? When you suggest adjusting the feedback of a delay or the boost of a distortion, they don't know how to do it or don't understand why it'd make a difference?

[Edit: That post sounded very negative and condemning. The point I had in mind but failed to make was that almost everyone gets too much too soon. I started with a multi effect and I was one of the people I described in the last paragraph. Then I stopped using it and started getting proper pedals very slowly. So while I was waiting to afford a fuzz pedal, I really got to know my delay pedal, then when I was waiting to afford the next one, I really got to know how the delay and fuzz pedals worked with each other. I know use 12 pedals, and I have 'my own' setup, and I know exactly how it works, what sounds it's capable of making, and how to make them. When I play a gig or something, knowing exactly how everything works helps sound checking go smoothly and keeps sound engineers on my side. People rush into things like this and don't learn as much as they could if they took their time.]

darrenw5094

Keeley refuse to mod any current Rat pedals becaue of low quality parts inside.

The OP mentioned classic rock. EVH Unchained uses heavey flanger. There is a EVH sig flanger available. Chorus, Delay and maybe a wah would be on my classic list first.

For overdrive, the key would be Marshall crunch from a valve amp. Not solid state buzzsaw. The Blackstar HT Dual overdrive pedal has 2 channels from the internal preamp valve.

rcaz

darrenw5094 wrote: »

Keeley refuse to mod any current Rat pedals becaue of low quality parts inside.

Another reason to suggest buying second hand, a RAT with a serial number under 3,000,000 doesn't have that problem, IIRC.

Orando Broom

El Pr0n wrote: »

I think all the options are too much though. You wouldn't get to really know any particular sound because there are so many to play around, and you wouldn't really test out all the parameters for the same reason. I know my RAT can cover a ton of ground, from really light overdrive up to almost fuzz, and I know that from spending hours with just those three knobs.

As for money, there's a RAT on adverts.ie for €50. You could buy that, play with it for a while, see how you like it, if it's not just right, sell it and buy another pedal, see how you like that, repeat until you know what you're like. You make a €50 investment, get to know your tones much more intimately, learn a ton more about how your gear works with different variables (which is invaluable if you start playing with more experienced guys or playing gigs), and have much better quality gear the whole time.

As for the modulation effects you mentioned, the OP didn't express any interest in using effects like those, and they'd just be another thing to overwhelm and confuse the 'beginner' you're talking about. From my experience, people don't get to know how their stuff works because they're spending all their time listening to 'how mental' the presets sound.

How many times have you played with musicians who haven't a clue how to work their gear? When you suggest adjusting the feedback of a delay or the boost of a distortion, they don't know how to do it or don't understand why it'd make a difference?

[Edit: That post sounded very negative and condemning. The point I had in mind but failed to make was that almost everyone gets too much too soon. I started with a multi effect and I was one of the people I described in the last paragraph. Then I stopped using it and started getting proper pedals very slowly. So while I was waiting to afford a fuzz pedal, I really got to know my delay pedal, then when I was waiting to afford the next one, I really got to know how the delay and fuzz pedals worked with each other. I know use 12 pedals, and I have 'my own' setup, and I know exactly how it works, what sounds it's capable of making, and how to make them. When I play a gig or something, knowing exactly how everything works helps sound checking go smoothly and keeps sound engineers on my side. People rush into things like this and don't learn as much as they could if they took their time.]

Cheers to everyone here, the debate itself is brilliant for getting the pros and cons of all this.

I think I need to start simple, I need to accept that a bit of trial and error will be the order of the day too. Somebody back there mentioned Jack White's sound. What would that entail exactly?

rcaz

Orando Broom wrote: »

Somebody back there mentioned Jack White's sound. What would that entail exactly?

For Elephant-era stuff, I think it's just an Electro Harmonix Big Muff and a Digitech Whammy. Mostly one octave up on the Whammy, for solos like Ball and Biscuit. I've seen some pictures of him with MXR Micro Amps and EH POGs, but I think the 'core' of his sound is Big Muff and Whammy.

Dublin Guitar

OP. Best thing to do is bring your own guitar into stores and try out as many pedals as you can. We have 19 different distortion/overdrive pedals here, and I'm sure that's the case for all other stores, brands varying of course.

You'll find each pedal you try has a different feel and will respond differently to your own instrument and style of playing.

Dublin Guitar Centre - Exchequer St.