Building up a good line of pedals...advice???

[steelprostate]

I don't have a lot of experience with stompboxes, but I want to build up an awesome line of pedals. Basically I want to include all the typical things...a good wah, delay, phaser, flanger, chorus, noise gate, etc.

No limits here, just wanna know what's good to have, and what are the best of the best for specific effects.

Any other not so typical effect pedals that are good too? (I was looking at a Digitech Whammy, anything else cool like that?)

Any advice welcome and greatly appreciated!

 

[MartinSixStringCustoms]

Re: Building up a good line of pedals...advice???

I reduced my pedalboard significantly, but some of the pedals I like are:

Teese Wizard Wah
Ernie Ball Volume Pedal (Keeper)
Homebrew Big D Distortion
Homebrew Uno Mos (Keeper)
Thunder Tomate Analog Chorus (Keeper)
ISP Decimator Noise Gate (Keeper)
Duncan SFX-03 Twin Tube
Line 6 Modulator

 

[CaptainCrunch]

Re: Building up a good line of pedals...advice???

I'll chime in here, tough question and with no limits, kind of like asking what's a good amp or guitar with a whole lot more possible answers. The kind of music you play, tones and players you like, etc. are worth asking about, but for a starting point I'd recommend spending some time over on The Gear Page - http://www.thegearpage.net/board/ and reading through a bunch of the threads in the Effects, Pedals, Strings & Things section to begin to educate yourself as to what is out there, what to expect out of what pedals, etc.

As I did this, I began to get a feel for what I wanted to try, and I'd go through the pedals for sale page to get a good idea of used market values, and look for good buys on what I was interested in. I'm still at tail the end (hopefully) of the process of buying and selling, pretty much making sure I break even on stuff. This has given me the opportunity to try out a bunch of stuff I could've/would've never bought at retail. Most of it you can't find at a local shop unless you're in a big city, and there is no substitute for playing pedals through your amp with your guitar outside of a store environment.

Personally, some of my favorites are - chorus: TC Electronics SCF, analog delay: the Deluxe Memory Man, tuner: Peterson Strobostomp,
so far I'm really liking to MI Audio and Xotic OD/distortion pedals, and I love the Barber Tone Press for some subtle compression. There are a million more out there as well, in any price range you desire.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Building up a good line of pedals...advice???

The only advice I can give is to get your ass down to a store, and plug into anything possible. Also, don't overlook the cheap stuff.

 

[drpietrzak]

Re: Building up a good line of pedals...advice???

One person's great is another person's sux. I would say for me - today -

SFX-03, 535Q, Keeley Fuzz Head, DD6, Reflector, ED1, and Waves Tuner (last in chain to get past buzz - but it is true bypass and accurate). You may want a strobo tuner for the tuner. I would consider adding a chorus perhaps, and a second lower gain (or higher if a metal player) fuzz.

 

[steelprostate]

Re: Building up a good line of pedals...advice???

Ok well I play mostly metal, but as of lately I've been playing a lot more blues and getting into just about every style, as I want to be a very versatile player in general. I just got an account for the gear page, so I'll be checking into that quite a bit, thanks. So far, I'm looking at a Crybaby 535Q and an MXR Phase 90 for purchases in the very near future.

 

[baritone]

Re: Building up a good line of pedals...advice???

One of the cool factors of buying individual stomp boxes is that you have to opportunity to create a totally unique sound. Since there are thousands and thousands of pedals out there to choose from, every effect chain should be slightly different. The first step to building and effect chain is to choose which effect is most important to have first. Then, as you are acquiring pedals one at a time, your preferences may change, and you will find yourself adding new unexpected pedals which are specific to your desires.

 

[krall]

Re: Building up a good line of pedals...advice???

I strongly advise you to check out pedals made by Solid Gold Soundlabs out of Montreal, Canada Link: http://www.solidgoldfx.com/home.html

Each pedal is handmade to order, and the pedal builder (Greg) will go though with you along with the build to make sure it's exactly the way you want it. I got the "High Octane" TS-9 based overdrive and it's absolutely killer! I highly recommend you check this company out.

 

[steelprostate]

Re: Building up a good line of pedals...advice???

Those solid gold sound pedals are really intriguing. Thanks a lot man, I'm definitely gonna look more into them, and at least perhaps get some mods.

 

[krall]

Re: Building up a good line of pedals...advice???

Those solid gold sound pedals are really intriguing. Thanks a lot man, I'm definitely gonna look more into them, and at least perhaps get some mods.

Can't go wrong with this company my friend!

Here's a link to reviews of his work (Harmony Central):

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Effects/brand/Solid+Gold+Sound+Labs