#$%%!+, every time I come on this forum I end up buying pedals I don't need!

[Dave Locher]

Two years ago it was clean boosts and compressors. Bought and sold several of each. Didn't need them in the first place, got rid of them all. Then it was overdrives. Same deal, except I kept one. This year I have bought and sold two wah pedals and a delay, and just acquired 4 different distortion pedals and a fuzz. Will be dumping all of those soon, maybe keep one.

I know the solution is to stay out of here, but I like learning things and pedals are kinda fascinating. So I lurk for a while, then the next thing I know I am posting questions, which leads to YouTube, which leads to eBay and Reverb and the whole cycle starts repeats. Again.
Stoopid internet...

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: #$%%!+, every time I come on this forum I end up buying pedals I don't need!

I know how you feel. So... ...what distortion pedals you got?

 

[Coma]

Re: #$%%!+, every time I come on this forum I end up buying pedals I don't need!

Heeeh, I know that feeling, man. I keep looking at overdrive/distortion pedals, even though I see absolutely no use for them.
I've ended up keeping two on my board, for solo boost and pushing a slightly dirty channel, but I see no point in relying on them for flat out distortion when you have a tube amp.
Still, I can't look away

 

[PS412]

Re: #$%%!+, every time I come on this forum I end up buying pedals I don't need!

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: #$%%!+, every time I come on this forum I end up buying pedals I don't need!

I know how you feel. So... ...what distortion pedals you got?

Ha! A fellow addict...

I already got rid of a Joyo Ultimate Drive. Right now I have a handbuilt Marshall Guv'nor clone, a handbuilt clean boost (WHY do I keep thinking I might want one of those??), a Joyo US Dream, and a Danelectro Fab Fuzz. An MXR Super Badass Distortion is on its way to my house right now.

The Guv'nor clone does a nice job boosting my drive channel, but so does the hand built Tube Screamer variant I bought last year AND the graphic EQ pedal I've owned since 1992 or so. The Ultimate Drive and the US Dream both do nice into my amp clean, but not better than my amp's own drive. I'm guessing it will be the same with the MXR, although I can imagine a world where I end up keeping the MXR to use strictly for the eq and get rid of all the others.

It's like I start reading about pedals, then I hit YouTube, and then I think "Gosh, maybe I should try some new pedals?" and I live in a small town so I have to buy to try. I saw a friend's band play a while back and he had a huge sound and it turned out he was just running an OCD into a clean amp, so that started this latest quest.

UPDATE: Honest to G0d, I just spent some time surfing YouTube looking at videos for the AMT Legend2 pedals, thinking "Hm, maybe I should try one of THOSE." I am Charlie Brown trying to kick that football every year, and YouTube is Lucy saying "THIS time it really WILL sound great. I promise!"

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: #$%%!+, every time I come on this forum I end up buying pedals I don't need!

There's a subscription pedal rental service you might want to look into. PedalGenie i think? You pay a monthly fee and get to try all the pedals you want.

That or abuse the hell out of store return periods. Guitarcenter.com has a 45 day money back guarantee.

 

[Mincer]

Re: #$%%!+, every time I come on this forum I end up buying pedals I don't need!

...and we just came out with a new fuzz pedal....

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: #$%%!+, every time I come on this forum I end up buying pedals I don't need!

The best advice I ever got for tone and overdrive pedals was right here from Gearjonser.

Find the pedal that works with your amp.

I now take it one step further, find the pedal(s) that work with your guitar/pickups and amp.

I've tried tons of pedals with my Strats and Princeton Reverb, the combos that really work with it are:
-Clean: EP + Ego compressor
-Overdrive: Fulldrive 2
-Crunch: Wampler Pinnacle
-Lead: FD2-> Pinnacle

I'm experimenting with others, but right now those do it for me. A new pedal has to be better than those existing ones. In fact I just started selling a bunch on Reverb. I'm not saying that any of those pedals will work for anyone else, but for me they are perfect.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: #$%%!+, every time I come on this forum I end up buying pedals I don't need!

We are nothing. If not pedal fiends.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: #$%%!+, every time I come on this forum I end up buying pedals I don't need!

I still have my rack effects. Don't make me start using them.

 

[dave74]

Re: #$%%!+, every time I come on this forum I end up buying pedals I don't need!

Original Flashbacks are on sale for $99 at SW while they last. I had to bite on this one to serve as delay, modulation, and looper. (have none of these atm)

I seen the same deal at MF awhile back, tried to order (said it was in-stock) and it redirected me to other delays, then literally an hour later it was listed as out-of-stock, so I was apparently just minutes late. Oh well, got it this time!

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: #$%%!+, every time I come on this forum I end up buying pedals I don't need!

There's a subscription pedal rental service you might want to look into. PedalGenie i think? You pay a monthly fee and get to try all the pedals you want.

That's a total ripoff. $14 shipping for each pedal and $240 per year ($20 per month) OR free shipping but $480 ($40 per month)?
I usually manage to break even on the pedals I buy and sell, and sometimes make a little money because I am a bargain hunter. I have yet to lose more than $30 or so on a pedal, and they were both the more high-end ones. I buy used or closeout, which takes patience but at least I'm not throwing money down the drain. Just time.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: #$%%!+, every time I come on this forum I end up buying pedals I don't need!

The best advice I ever got for tone and overdrive pedals was right here from Gearjonser.

Find the pedal that works with your amp.

I now take it one step further, find the pedal(s) that work with your guitar/pickups and amp.

Yeah, that is the problem. I thought I was just crazy (or EVERYONE on the internet was) until I saw the episode of That Pedal Show where they ran the same pedals into different amps so we could all hear how very, very different they sound. So I guess I will just continue the buy/try/sell cycle until I find the one or two that really hit all the marks for me. But getting on this forum always gets the cycle started again, because someone says how great a pedal is and I think "I've got to try that" and the next thing you know, little boxes start arriving in the mail.
The one decent music store in town carries a lot more variety of pedals than they used to so I might be able to try some out there, but they still typically only have a couple in any given category. (A couple years ago I walked in to try out some compressors and they had ZERO in stock!)

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: #$%%!+, every time I come on this forum I end up buying pedals I don't need!

Don't regret it. It's ******* fun!

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: #$%%!+, every time I come on this forum I end up buying pedals I don't need!

Don't regret it. It's ******* fun!

Yeah, it kinda is, isn't it? The hunt, the purchase, the giddy wait for that little box. Unfortunately, for me it's always followed by the letdown of "oh, that doesn't do anything for me that I can't already to without it."
Re: Super Badass Distortion arrived yesterday. GREAT little box, very versatile, and I don't need it because it doesn't do anything for me that I can't already do without it. So I will be reselling it.