Most Important Pieces after Guitar and Amp

RealtyViking

RealtyViking

New member
Have a friend who has only played for about 6-8 months ask what additional basic equipment he should get now that he has settled on his guitar and amp. He is getting lessons and is practicing so that is not an issue.

Off the top of my head I said:

1. Tuner (duh)
2. OD (tube screamer type)
3. Distortion (this would depend on guitar and amp)
4. Wah (Cry Baby)
5. Volume Pedal (I like the Ernie Ball Jr.)

Made me think about a basic set up and putting it out for others thoughts. I also think a delay, phaser and chorus could be put into this list, but was attempting to keep it simple. I am not limiting to five, but order of importance would be helpful.
 
Re: Most Important Pieces after Guitar and Amp

I'd put a compressor or delay instead of a volume pedal.
 
Re: Most Important Pieces after Guitar and Amp

Nope I like the VP where it's at

but a reverb is the only other thing I could think of. That's my entire board though, tuner wah ts vp verb
 
Re: Most Important Pieces after Guitar and Amp

What is he intending on playing though? That would surely affect his decision.
 
Re: Most Important Pieces after Guitar and Amp

One can buy tuners that mute the audio so as to not drive everyone around you crazy. I'd skip a volume pedal and go for something much cooler IMHO.
 
Re: Most Important Pieces after Guitar and Amp

Gr8Scott said:
One can buy tuners that mute the audio so as to not drive everyone around you crazy. I'd skip a volume pedal and go for something much cooler IMHO.
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Psh, what's cooler than violin swells, tremolo, and the ability to control how much gain you're playing with at any given time?
 
Re: Most Important Pieces after Guitar and Amp

If he's using a head for his amp, then next most important thing would be good speakers/a good cabinet.

if he's using a good combo already, then it's likely a nonissue.

after that, the only things you have left are practice, and pedals/effects to personal taste.
 
Re: Most Important Pieces after Guitar and Amp

Good cables. Aside of tuner and single drive pedal (be it overdrive or distortion) he shouldnt buy any effects if he doesnt need them. Maybe reverb if he lacks one in amp or delay, but thats it.

So check out what he wants to play, what exactly are his guitar and amp, show or lend him some of your effects, and let him make his own decisions.
 
Re: Most Important Pieces after Guitar and Amp

Gr8Scott said:
One can buy tuners that mute the audio so as to not drive everyone around you crazy. I'd skip a volume pedal and go for something much cooler IMHO.
Click to expand...

Yep. Or you can get a 20$ headstock tuner and just turn your volume down with the volume knob rather than buy a volume pedal. You can also do volume swells and control the gain that you're playing with with your volume knob on most guitars.
 
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Yeah, but you can't do it as fast, and you have to stop whatever you're doing to adjust it rather than just move it with your foot

If you're playin blues it doesn't really matter, but anything more structurally diverse it's a really nice thing to have
 
Re: Most Important Pieces after Guitar and Amp

drew_half_empty said:
Psh, what's cooler than violin swells, tremolo, and the ability to control how much gain you're playing with at any given time?
Click to expand...

Don't guitars come with those on them?

If your talking about building up a pedal board, I don't think I'd buy a second dirt pedal before buying some kind of modulation or even delay. But above all things, this guy really shouldn't be all about getting gear. He should learn how to play and realize the need for those pedals to help him get the sound he wants, not just "I need pedals, what pedals should I have?" I'm a firm believer that people should learn on an acoustic, but I guess that's not always practical for people.
 
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Re: Most Important Pieces after Guitar and Amp

drew_half_empty said:
Yeah, but you can't do it as fast, and you have to stop whatever you're doing to adjust it rather than just move it with your foot

If you're playin blues it doesn't really matter, but anything more structurally diverse it's a really nice thing to have
Click to expand...

Agreement.

Anyways, this is the vaguest thread ever. Without knowing what other gear he has and what he wants to actually do with it, we can't offer advice. Does he have a one channel amp? I'll recommend an overdrive, a distortion and, depending on his style, possibly a fuzz. Does he have a three channel amp? Then I won't.

Give us something to work with here.
 
Re: Most Important Pieces after Guitar and Amp

I'd just get a tuner, a delay and worry more about playing a lot and squeezing the most out of his gear, that trying to find extra gizmos to buy.

If he's not thinking about it, he probably doesn't really need it.
 
Re: Most Important Pieces after Guitar and Amp

drew_half_empty said:
Psh, what's cooler than violin swells, tremolo, and the ability to control how much gain you're playing with at any given time?
Click to expand...

LOL. Watch Ty Tabor do some pinky swells on youtube and then get back to me with that one. :dance:

I like Diego's thoughts on this. If he's not jonesing for something and is enjoying playing, don't infect the poor guy with our disease just yet. Let him be happy with his gear until he isn't happy with it any more.
 
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Re: Most Important Pieces after Guitar and Amp

Gr8Scott said:
Let him be happy with his gear until he isn't happy with it any more.
Click to expand...

Yup. I've played guitar for almost 10 years and I've never had a volume pedal, a wah or even a tuner pedal.

Have I missed much? I don't think so, unless I actually felt I'm missing them. I'm not saying they're useless, I just don't see the need to cram a newbie with tons of pedals if he's just getting around his first pentatonics.
 
Re: Most Important Pieces after Guitar and Amp

I believe a nice piece of ASH with a good old solid WOOD mounted to it!


Does the TRICK every time!
 
Re: Most Important Pieces after Guitar and Amp

Some of the greatest guitarists in history developed their talent and their style without any pedals at all. It was discipline, practice, desire, and talent that got them great.

Music has changed and nowadays I agree that there is some need for more electronics than just a guitar can provide. But it's still a good idea to develope and learn without the aid OR hinderance of extra devices. We tend to rely too much on effects and less on ability/talent.

That being said.....

A good tuner is essential, not only for keeping the guitar in tune, but also for ear training. You need to know what the correct note is before you can hear it in your mind.

An OD pedal can do so much for your tone and is so easy to learn how to use that I think this is a no-brainer addition to his arsenal.

Reverb is nice but not essential. I played in bands for 5 - 10 years without reverb and I did just fine. You don't say what amp he is using, but most beginner amps have this built-in so I'm going to assume that this is a non-issue.

A wah pedal is not necessary at all, especially when first starting out. But mostly because it takes a lot of practice to get good sounds from a wah and I think his time is better spent learning the guitar rather than learning to use a pedal with very limited application.

A volume pedal was one of my first pedals and it got used alot. Constantly. Is it important? Necessary? Probably not. Useful? Maybe. It is an indespensible part of my rig because I use it mainly to balance my amps in a stereo rig with each amp having different settings and effects. Complicated, but the tone is worth it. I use the volume knob on my guitar to adjust the gain or to clean up the sound.

Encourage him to keep it simple. Become a master of the instrument, then all else falls into place. Effects can be gradually added as the need arises.

Just my two cents worth from an old-timer.
 
Re: Most Important Pieces after Guitar and Amp

I was re-born on the day I bought a delay pedal. But that's just me.

My first amp had everything built-in (Roland Cube 20X) so I got to fumble around with all the different things. If his amp already features enough drive/distortion, go for :

Tuner
Chorus
Wah
Delay
Reverb (if not featured in the amp)
 
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