what should i upgrade/sell/change/look out for

[bigmack209]

So this is my pedalboard, and I guess I'm looking for advice on what needs work.
If you can't see the pictures well enough, the pedals are as follows:
Boss TU-3, MXR Boost/Line Driver, Vox time machine delay, Boss CS-3, vox big bad wah, boss MT-2, boss NS-2, boss RC-2, and MI audio Crunch box. The wah and metal zone aren't connected at the moment. The patch cables are ibanez gold tip, and the power supply is a gator that came with the board. The individual 9v cords also came with the board.

I want some modulation, a volume pedal, reverb pedal, and maybe fuzz, but that's about it. I want to know what's sub-par on the board (like the metal zone or power supply, maybe the 9v cables??) so I know what needs work and what can help improve my sound (in YOUR opinion). I also want to know if there's a different chain i should consider with what i have. IE: different order, or take something off/put something else on. Anyway, thanks in advance for the tips.

Also, would you consider the MXR boost more of a "volume pedal" or an "overdrive"? As a volume pedal i'd put it near the end of the chain but as an overdrive it should be next to the crunch box.

Lastly, the boost/line driver is connected to the vox time machine. is there a better way to do this? i did it with a 10 foot cable. I guess i could get a 1.5 ft cable or something.
EDIT: last pic is the most updated version of pedalboard

[drpietrzak]

Re: what should i upgrade/sell/change/look out for

Stomp Under Foot Civil War Fuzz. Skeddy ScrewDriver/Lunar Module. DD-7 (not reveb so much).

[Chickenwings]

Re: what should i upgrade/sell/change/look out for

its a strange coincidence that they are all the same manufacturer, but id get rid of all the boss pedals. Mainly to get rid of a chain of low quality buffers that subtly affect your tone, but combined are not good at all. One really good buffer and a chain of true bypass pedals is the best in my experience. Here is a list of not expensive but great sounding pedals as an alternative.

Here is the chain order that id go for too:

TU-3 swap for a korg or TC (both are true bypass) - or cheaper is the guitarfetish one. Headstock tuners are cheaper still and are not even in your signal chain. They work fine at gigs in my experience.

wah is fine, but seeing as you want a volume pedal you can try combining wah and volume with one of these:
http://www.morleypedals.com/dpwov.html that way you have a nice buffer at the start of your chain and have the rest of your pedals true bypass. I like morley wahs, but the purists dont always like them - go to a shop and see what your ears tell you. Morleys work particularly well with high gain - and given that you have an MT-2 as well as a crunchbox im guessing thats what you like.

CS-3 swap for an mxr or something sexy like a keeley

CAE cleanboost...nice! great as a clean boost, or use it to kick your dirt pedals in the pants.

Kill the MT2 with fire. If you want high gain, try using the crunch box at lower gain, then boost it with the CAE. You could also look at maybe a maxon 808 so you have lower gain sounds or an MXR GTOD (lead boostable with the CAE) or higher gain with the crunch box (lead boostable with either the 808 or the CAE). That gives you a myriad of tones.

Crunch box - nice!

Ditch the noise supressor entirely.

loop station is okay i guess if you absolutely need a looper in you chain but again its nothing special and you signal still has to go thru a complex circuit when the pedal is off. If its not something you use all the time i reckon ditch it. If you base your style on looping, then get a really good one like the Electro harmonix.

Time machine - nice.

reverb? no verb on your amp?

so heres the chain id recommend using as much of what you already have as possible:

wah-mxr comp-cae boost-maxon 808-crunch box-vox delay



if you sell the pedals you are not using on ebay then this will be a sweet sounding and inexpensive board.

[Aceman]

Re: what should i upgrade/sell/change/look out for

What don't you like about your sound?
What modulation do you want/need?
What amp? Reverb???? Guess not...FX loop????

In order...

Boss TU-3,
MXR Boost/Line Driver (I'm gonna use it as a line driver - on all the time.)
Boss CS-3
MI audio Crunch Box ** Very nice
Boss MT-2
Vox big bad wah (Before/after is a matter of taste. I like after. That's me)
>>>Put these below in an fx loop if possible
boss NS-2
[Boss CS-1, Digitech CF7 Chorus factory, Visual sound H2O, or Flanger or Trem, or whatever]
Vox time machine delay ** Cool
[Verbzilla, Nano Grail, or verb of choice]
Boss RC-2

Nothing wrong with the MZ, it can absolutely make decent metal noise. Use the eq, don't go overboard on the gain. Feed lesser gain into more gain. But I understand if you want something else. I dig the Metal Muff. But you can absolutely get a decent sound out of the MZ. It's just a sound that EVERYBODY Had 10-15 years ago. This is the one pedal I'd lose if i were ditching stuff. 175 has a good idea about this.

CS-3 is just fine. Don't let Boss haters poo-poo that or the Loop Station, or the recommended CH-1.

You can absolutely get a great sound with everyday workman pedals. WHen stringing that many together, it's about the knobs and how you use them more than the pedal itself. Your sound is going to be colored. Don't even fool yourself into thinking after five pedals it's transparent. Paint a good picture. Don't worry about how much, how little, or how expensive the paint is.

[James Rock]

Re: what should i upgrade/sell/change/look out for

Get your Metal Zone modded if you think it needs a tad improving. If you dont like it then get something else. Change your compressor or mod it depending on how close it is to what you want. Fuzz well there are alot of flavours of fuzz. For cool retroish fuzz with more noise stuff like th Fuzz Factory or BOSS FZ-2 I like or for more natural fuzz obviously the tonebender and fuzz face families.

[bigmack209]

Re: what should i upgrade/sell/change/look out for

yeah I'm already selling the MT-2, NS-2, and big bad wah in the trading post so i know I'm getting rid of those.
The amp is an epiphone galaxie 25 with a weber signature 12 speaker and all JJ tubes. It has reverb but it doesn't sound great.
The modulation I'm looking for is chorus probably... but basically just something frilly for some spacey music.

Honestly I'm not sure about the CS-3, I used to basically use it as a boost but now i have an actual transparent boost. What do you guys use compression for?

[Chickenwings]

Re: what should i upgrade/sell/change/look out for

i dont use compression at all, but a lot of guys like it.
The simpler your signal chain the better your sound, so if you find you dont need it then dump that too!
if you do get a chorus, the old boss ones i have used seem to have a greater effect on your tone when "off" than most overdrives and dirt boxes. Dont know why. the boss phasers and flangers do too. ANyways....try to get a chorus with true bypass when you do - unless its one of those really expensive sexy ones with a dedicated buffer or something.

[PRSfan nym 1985]

Re: what should i upgrade/sell/change/look out for

compression can be used for a lot of different purposes you can squash your tone, get more sustain, use it as a boost, etc.

I think a lot of what you want to do is just going to depend on you. Where do you feel the weak links are (I think you've pointed out several). But this gear has to satisfy you.

If I were you I'd sell everything but the CAE boost, MI Audio Crunch Box, Vox Delay and Vox Wah. Those pedals seem like they'd be worth keeping around in case you wanted to throw in a wah (you're not going to get a better wah with what you sell that for), delay (again you prob wont get a better delay pedal with what you'd sell that pedal for), and the crunch box is a nice pedal.

I really like the Fulltone Deja Vibe it'd be a great trippy modulation pedal for you. I'd suggest a TC Electronic Hall of Fame reverb it's inexpensive and sounds great (plus you have a ton of different reverb types), for fuzzies I love my Fulltone 69 mk II (I also like the Voodoo Lab Superfuzz and the Fulltone Soulbender), volume pedals (I usually just like an Ernie Ball). I like having simple setups but I also like having other pedals around to keep my options open.

I honestly use a OneSpot power supply and it works fine, I do agree that the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power + is better but it's also like many times the price of my onespot with 8 pedal daisy chain. So unless you are noticing noise, interference, etc and you've isolated it to your power supply I'd say keep it if it works.

I'd focus your money on whatever gear it is you truly want and whatever you don't like/don't use sell it.

[Agileguy_101]

Re: what should i upgrade/sell/change/look out for

TC Electronic Corona Chorus would be cool.

I'd look into a Rat of some kind, and if it suits your playing style, a fuzz.

[playas]

Re: what should i upgrade/sell/change/look out for

Ask yourself what does each pedal give you that you need?

You´ve also already got the pedals...have fun and experiment!


Plug straight into the amp. Get a sound you like. Don´t change it.


From there you can play around...

Eg. Plug one pedal in get it set up as you like, then replace that with another pedal and repeat.

When you´ve gone through all your pedals (or all the ones you´re going to keep) plug back into the amp directly for reference. Plug all your pedals in and leave them switched off. Is that close enough to the basic sound you want?
If it is you know you´re on the right track and things like cables & whether pedals are true bypass etc isn´t having a big influence.
If it isn´t you may want to look at improvements in those areas to help you tweak to sounds you like more easily.

With all the pedals still plugged in, think of the scenario (or various) in which you´ll have most pedals switched on at a go. Switch them all on and see do you like the sound / is it similar to what you´re after (adjusting the pedals if necessary but still bearing in mind the orginal sound and the sound you´re looking for)...or at least can you get it there?

I´d imagine you want to be able to make minor adjustments rather than big changes in the pedal settings to get where you want at this point, no?

What pedals do you like most / do you feel you want to keep most?

See do they play well together in the same way - can you easily get from the basic amp tone to effected tone you´re after?

If you are still missing some ingredient have fun checking out other pedals etc. that may suit better than what you have.