help me blow a grand on guitar pedals

[Geissler]

So, yeah. I'll be getting my hands on some money soon and as all I have right now is a dunlop wah; I want expand on that a little. I play in a surf/rockabilly band and produce mellow folktronic stuff on the side. Here's the basket I've put together so far. Comments and suggestions appreciated, as well as chaining tips!

Harley Benton powerplant (power box)
Digitech Digiverb (for short delays, but I want it for the reverse reverb effect)
Danelectro Tuna Melt (tremolo)
E-Bow (because I secretly hate attack)
EHX White Finger (compressor)
EHX Memory Boy (because I can't afford a DMM... expression pedal input is nice though for those wild effects)
EHX Small Clone (Chorus)
Boss OS2 (distorsion and overdrive... also considering a danelectro cool cat or a big muff pi)
Boss NS2 (noise gate - I'm using single coils)
Akai E2 Headrush (loops. It's a fun addition but not really essential)
Expression pedal
Case

[bigdoghat]

I'd put in a big vote for a used Dunlop TS-1 Tremolo - it's gorgeous - here's the newer version, I can't vouch for this new one but IMHO the TS-1 is really fantastic sounding - mono or stereo out so you can split it between two different amps for a kind of a cool recording effect. A friend of mine picked up a used TS-1 on my rec and she loves it - she paid $50 - I paid I think about $180 at the time for mine new

Dunlop - TREMELO STEREO

[badmark]

The Harley Benton power plant that our guitarist ended up giving away was not as reliable as he'd hoped.

A better choice would be:

DUNLOP DC BRICK POWER SUPPLY EU - U.K. International Cyberstore

[Dean Roddey]

Fulltone TTE. And you are done.

[Unclenny]

Originally Posted by Randall

.. stay away from digital pedals.. analog pedals of good quality are what you want..

Yep.

I gave all my digital pedals away....just plugging in to the amps now.

Oh, alright! I do still go through my old DynaComp now and again.

Then again, pedals can be great fun.....just so long as you protect that raw tone that you have so carefully crafted. I would think hard about that NS2 on your list.

[PEImatrix]

Sunface, CAE Wah, Micro POG, Turbo Tuner, Eternity, Screwdriver, AM Clone Chorus, EHX DMM

Okay, okay, it's more than $1000.

[monkeyxx]

good choices so far. I would be happy with the list in the first post

I don't know what kind of effects you want to include and/or focus on, there are too many good pedals to mention without a specific angle

random wishlist/lovelist:

Demeter Tremulator
Fulltone Ultimate Octave
Boss RE-20 Space Echo
Digitech Whammy IV
MXR Micro Amp
Turbo Rat
Vox Clyde McCoy wah
Deltalab Rock Distortion
Boss DS-2
Boss SD-1
Boss Blues Driver
Fender FRV-1
Line 6 Verbzilla
SOS Defibrillator (or other Shredmaster clone)
Reverend Drivetrain II
EH Small Stone and Small Clone
Boss DD-20 Giga Delay
Fulldrive 2
a good fuzzface or tone bender clone
Ampeg Scrambler
Danelectro mini delay, tremolo, and univibe
Boss LS-2 and/or Morley ABY
Petersen strobe tuners
DOD envelope filter clone
Tube Screamer
DS-1 to mod
crazy vintage fuzz circuits, germanium, etc
real tape echo unit
real spring reverb
EH Double Muff
Big Muff if you must, or one of its variants. fun stuff
Moogerfoogers
old Boss chorus
anything by 4ms
anything on tonepad.com

can't really go wrong with any of those. of course there are tons of way crazier, prettier, uglier, stupider, more specificly featured, more/less expensive/esoteric pedals out there

[monkeyxx]

I like digital delays and digital reverbs and loopers...I wouldn't stay away from digital these. some of them sound better than some of the analog comparables, and generally provide extra features or functionality. I think there's some knee jerk bias/snobbery going on here. Or maybe some folks just can't warm up to digital stuff, I dunno. That's kind of hard to believe in an age of digital recording. Hell I even like a couple solid state amps

[j2dafo]

Originally Posted by Dean Roddey

Fulltone TTE. And you are done.

Amen. If you are playing rockabilly it's a no brainer, even if it is your whole budget.

[Ragan]

+1 for less pedals of higher quality vs. more of lower quality. I've bought and replaced so much mediocre crap. It's a waste of sound and money. Just buy good stuff from the start.

That said, not all quality pedals are crazy expensive. And not all crazy expensive pedals are that great. I've had good experience with most Fulltone stuff, which isn't super pricy. A lot of Electro-Harmonix stuff is good, although it can be finicky. Lots of good little boutique pedals out there. I like SubDecay pedals, particularly the Liquid Sunshine OD.

Good luck!

[rack gear]

Overdrive/Distortion:
- Fulltone OCD
- Ibanez TS808 Re-Issue

Fuzz:
- Zvex Fuzzfactory
- Analog Man Dark Peppermint Fuzz

Compressor:
- MXR Dynacomp Script Re-Issue
- Keeley Compressor

Delay:
- MXR Carbon Copy (Analog Delay)
- Boss DD7 (Digital Delay)

Chorus:
- Red Witch Empress

Tremolo:
- Voodoo Labs Tremolo (Modern & Vintage Adjustable)

[rack gear]

Originally Posted by Dean Roddey

Fulltone TTE. And you are done.

lust. I hear the input drive on them is insane, even without the delay.

Fulltone | Tube Tape Echo

[Geissler]

Guys, I love drooling over gear as much as the next guy but it's not practical to spend my entire budget on a single effect

To the analog lovers: what exactly needs to be swapped out from my original post? I can swap the NS for the ISP pedal... but the digiverb must stay, I need it for the reverse verb!

Are the Zvezz Fuzzfactory and Analog Man Dark Peppermint Fuzz better than the Big Muff Pi? I'm not a fan of really nasty sounds, I prefer clean and pretty when shoegazing... although some fuzz is necessary when rocking out.

I'll swap the power plant, thanks badmark!

Keep 'em coming :D

[monkeyxx]

Originally Posted by Geissler

Are the Zvezz Fuzzfactory and Analog Man Dark Peppermint Fuzz better than the Big Muff Pi? I'm not a fan of really nasty sounds, I prefer clean and pretty when shoegazing... although some fuzz is necessary when rocking out.

oh man, well, you pretty much have to get a Big Muff for that. they're pretty cheap and abundant anyway, so no big deal.

the Z Vex is really "glithcy" sounding at most settings. my friend bought one and didn't end up liking it. I think he was hoping for more useable rhythm tones.

[jlaugh87]

Z Vex is king.

[Slikjmuzik]

In my studio when someone wants something different other than going straight into the head, they get these:

Distortion:
Jekyll & Hyde
Proco Rat
Tonebone

Delay/Flange/Vibrato/Chorus:
Fulltone CFV-2

Tremolo:
Fulltone Supa-Trem

Tuner:
Boss TU-3

Also, some high caliber guitar guys will have a problem with this, but a lot of the effects in my Super Champ are darn usable. Love it.

[evangelista]

Well, if it were me -

Distortion/gain/OD

tube screamer
rat
big muff
fuzz factory
micro amp
dynacomp


Delay
line6 dl4 (or the eventide one)
something analog


Other

Crybaby
Whammy
Some kind of auto wah (mutron, drQ)
seek wah/tremolo
ebow


I know that's way over a grand, but I'd start chipping away at that sort of list. Covers a lot of ground.

[evangelista]

Originally Posted by monkeyxx

the Z Vex is really "glithcy" sounding at most settings. my friend bought one and didn't end up liking it. I think he was hoping for more useable rhythm tones.

He's not using it correctly. While it does the glitch thing like no other, the gate and comp controls allow it to also be one of the most controllable/tight fuzzes around. Granted, it doesn't like very complex chords, but kills on bar/power chords.

[3waytie4last]

You appear to want every possible pedal effect all at once. You would be much better off to buy 5 good $200 pedals than just about any 10 $100 pedals.

Slowly build up what you have and save your money to buy quality stuff and it will make all the difference.

OTOH, if you can't hear the difference between pedals of different quality it doesn't really matter what you buy.

[Geissler]

Compressors, compressors... It seems the choiced is reduced to EHX white finger, EHX black finger, vintage dyna comp or reissue dyna comp. EHX has more settings for less, but which is the better pedal?

monkeyxx, can you explain a little more about the Z Vex? What sort of stuff is it good for? I kinda like the idea of an untameable analog fuzz, but it might not work too well on the pedalboard...

Do I need a distortion pedal as well as a fuzz? Do I need an overdrive as well as a distortion as well as a fuzz?

More importantly: why are we buying all these pedals? In other words: it would really help if you say what each pedal is good for, and why you love it! cheers!

[Geissler]

Originally Posted by 3waytie4last

You appear to want every possible pedal effect all at once. You would be much better off to buy 5 good $200 pedals than just about any 10 $100 pedals.

Slowly build up what you have and save your money to buy quality stuff and it will make all the difference.

OTOH, if you can't hear the difference between pedals of different quality it doesn't really matter what you buy.

Yes. OK. I will cool my jets. I do believe in saving for quality stuff - right now I'm just trying to get a feel for the market, and scoping out these quality pedals. IMHO, hunting for gear is almost as fun as using it.


edit: might as well post the updated list, which is still under 1000:


EHX memory boy
ISP decimator
EHX small clone (or höfner analog chorus?)
MXR dyna comp (or EHX white finger?)
digitech digiverb
dano tuna melt tremolo
Z Vex fuzz vexter

[velvetgeorge]

If not the TTE, consider the El Capistan. It has a splashy spring reverb too!

george

[Geissler]

Originally Posted by velvetgeorge

If not the TTE, consider the El Capistan. It has a splashy spring reverb too!

george

Looks tasty but for now the memory boy has the delay department covered I'd love to go for the deluxe memory man but leaving aside the price, the memory boy's expression pedal input is too tempting to give up...

[drbob1]

For shoegaze I don't think a TTE is essential. If I were starting out again I'd like to buy stuff that I won't want to replace in a year or two, that's just expensive. So, for shoegaze, you need a few high gain distortions, delay of a couple of types, some warbly effects, and power. I really don't think a noise gate is a "first pedalboard" kind of thing. So, what's a good bang for the buck?

Distortion: EH builds a bunch of different Big Muffs and the price is right. Try a few to find the one you like, or learn to solder and build your own BYOC Large Beaver pedal.
I'd consider a Hermida Zendrive or Mosferatu for smooth crunch to moderately high gain (less than $200, hand built).
I'd look into a Timmy (it'll take a couple of months on the list but it's THE most transparent overdrive anywhere and the price is very right plus he's a great guy).

Delay: can't argue with the Headrush, great little looper and cool delay. Reverse delay really doesn't do much for me, but if you've got to have it another digital delay would work. For an analog delay which I recommend, the Carbon Copy sounds great.

Warbly stuff: this is where you can spend a lot more money than you want to, there's so many cool sounds. I'd go with a used chorus from Analogman or Fulltone. Tremelo I like the Guyatone Flip if you can find one (it also does Pan). A decent flanger is the MXR (like the Van Halen one) which I recently found for $65 used.

Next I'd look into a fuzz, an over the top fuzz is a musc have for shoegaze. 4ms builds some cool stuff (I'm selling my Atoner on Ebay now) but Devi Ever also builds cost effective and cool fuzzes...

[monkeyxx]

Originally Posted by Geissler

Compressors, compressors... It seems the choiced is reduced to EHX white finger, EHX black finger, vintage dyna comp or reissue dyna comp. EHX has more settings for less, but which is the better pedal?

monkeyxx, can you explain a little more about the Z Vex? What sort of stuff is it good for? I kinda like the idea of an untameable analog fuzz, but it might not work too well on the pedalboard...

Do I need a distortion pedal as well as a fuzz? Do I need an overdrive as well as a distortion as well as a fuzz?

More importantly: why are we buying all these pedals? In other words: it would really help if you say what each pedal is good for, and why you love it! cheers!

I PERSONALLY don't get a whole lot of mileage out of fuzz, but I still like it. it's a must for certain styles. the scrambler can be fairly tame or WAY wacky, z vex even moreso. the only band I ever asked about their Fuzz Factory said, "we use this for the insano freakout noise part at the end of our set." even the big muff has a bit of a wild feel, pumpy compression--listen to Jack White. of course you need a distortion pedal as well as a fuzz, if you play distortion songs instead of just fuzztone songs. if you play overdriven parts or songs you will need an overdrive pedal. If you play country try the MXR Classic Overdrive. there's a little bit of overlap, but I tend to hear and use these things in those three distinct categories. Distortion is my favorite and most used, personally, followed by the other two. you can turn your amp all the way up, but, usually that's too loud and perhaps not ideal except for recording (where it can totally kick a pedal's ass), unless you've got a smaller amp and can mic it up through an appropriate PA for volume, but then you've kinda got a find a way to get your clean tone, 'suming you need one.

I just want to say, kurt cobain did everything Nirvana with a DS-1, DS-2, Rat, Big Muff, and SansAmp. Jack white relies on the Big Muff. Radiohead uses a lot of Turbo Rat, Shredmaster, SD-1, Rat. Billy corgan relied a lot on preamps and amp heads, but also used the Muff, Superfuzz, Fender Blender, Vox Valvetone, MXR Distortion II, SIB Varidrive, etc for some albums. I see a whole lot of bands with the Fulltone pedals. The Tonebone mentioned sounds really great. The Strokes used the Jeckyl&Hyde. Fugazi's mostly JCM-800, but Guy would throw in a Distortion+ sometimes. There's a million and a half tube screamers or similar circuits at blues guys' feet. Wilco uses funky botique stuff. Them Crooked Vultures--lots of fuzzes and octave effects.

Just some illustrations from easily identifiable reference points. If you're using pedals to get your distortion, IE, not playing Marshalls, Diezels, 5150s, or stricly clean toned stuff, these are some of the kind of bands that do that, that have taken part in defining these sounds, or finding success with them. Use whatever you want, but knowing what works can sometimes be helpful, unless you're a diehard go against the grain type and/or can afford lots of fancy boutique pedals/ are willing to try lots of things out. YouTube is really great for getting an idea of the character of a pedal before you buy it if you can't try it for yourself first. Written review archives can be fun to read, but, are ultimately useless and I wish I hadn't wasted so much time in my life reading them. they may have a minor use as a supplement to listening, and for finding out functional type things about a pedal, or checking if something just flat out sucks. If you're going to read reviews i'd just skim/speed read.

finding a good od/dist/fuzz pedal shouldn't be that hard...try demoing a few at a local music shop. I own a lot of them because I like to switch around for variation. they really are all quite different in their own ways in feel and tonal response. one can be just the ticket for a certain song or studio client or amp/guitar combination. and for me, they really, truly don't need to cost $200 to be awesome

[Dean Roddey]

Originally Posted by Geissler

Guys, I love drooling over gear as much as the next guy but it's not practical to spend my entire budget on a single effect

Wasn't it Socrates who said, judge not a man by the number of his effects, but by the sweetness of the tone produced thereby?

[buddachile]

Maxon AD-900 is a great analog delay. I love mine. It should suit your surf stuff and beyond.

You might want to consider posting at Effects, Pedals, Strings & Things - The Gear Page . They're all about pedals there.

[monkeyxx]

Originally Posted by Dean Roddey

Wasn't it Socrates who said, judge not a man by the number of his effects, but by the sweetness of the tone produced thereby?

yeah if you want to be Jimmy Page, just get the tape echo, a wah, and that pretty much covers it

[dry]

Tremelo LOVEPEDAL babyface 150 bucks...really doubt youll top the tone of this one.

Delay Malekko 616 150 bucks....really good analogue delay

you still have 700 to play with and if you ever need to sell these the resell value is about 85-95 prcnt.

fuzz...i use a fulltone soulbender...unfortunately these are not created equal and are really tough to find....but it is a gorgeuos and broaduse fuzz....keely's are nice too. Ampeg scrambler reisuue if you need to assault your audience

If your really want badaXX tone double amp your rig...split your signal to two different setups...keep a fairly clean even tone on one and go over board effects wise on the other amp and blend teh signals as needed

[Dr.Poon]

I have used/owned 100's of pedals.

Best Compressor hands down is the Diamond Compressor imo

Best marshally distortion box is the Box of Rock by Zvex

Catalinbread makes excellent pedals, anything really by them is a safe bet. Same goes with Diamond and Zvex.

Diamond memory lane is the best sounding analog delay imo, I own the memory lane2 which costs a ton but is worth every penny imo when it comes to delay control and overall tone and headroom.

If you are into soldering, B.Y.O.C. (build your own clone) has some sweet pedals for cheap if your willing to put them together

tape echos are awesome, but pricey and fragile, the fulltone one is great, but a good substitute would be a korg se-500

On that note fulltone makes great pedals, but they are not all built equally.

The theory that everything digital sounds crappy is a lie, I LOVE analog pedals and 90% of my board is analog, but there are some excellent digital pedals out there. The cathedral by Electro Harmonix is one of the most versatile and lush reverbs I have ever used.

Stay AWAY from digital dirt boxes, unless you want digital clipping as an effect.

If wanting a dirt box on a budget a digitech bad monkey and a danalectro cool cat overdrive are excellent OD boxes that you can get for like $30.