New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

Taz Rules

Taz Rules

New member
OK, I'm thinking of buying or building a tube amp. (Currently playing through a cheap ss Fender practice amp)
I'm thinking I might buy an amp that has good cleans, and then when I want something harder, I can dirty it up with pedals. (Though I'm still thinking a fairly low wattage amp so I can get the power tube distortion without breaking my neighbors' eardrums)

I currently own a V-Amp, so I can make some sounds. But would it sound better with individual pedals? I notice most pros don't exactly pop a V-Amp out of their case, and I'm figuring that's for a reason.

In addition to thoughts on the V-Amp and its applicability, I'd also like to check that I actually understand what the different pedals do...so I'll list some, and what I think they do, and I'll ask you guys to confirm or correct me, please...

Distortion pedal.....adds distortion, obviously. But the character of the pedal plays a large role in the output. It "overrides" the natural sound of the amp and guitar. T or F?

Overdrive pedal.....boosts signal to the amp, causing the amp's natural distortion to kick in to a greater degree or at a lower volume level. Enhances the sound of the amp and guitar rather than overriding it. T or F?

Tube Screamer..... similar to an overdrive pedal, but with a more prominent boost in the midrange. Probably the last thing you'd ever want if your guitar uses a JB. T or F?

Fuzz Box .... Basically distortion on steroids. Muddies up your sound without boosting it, leading to a 60s psychedelic sound. T or F?

Flanger ..... I've read and heard that this is absolutely necessary to do EVH sounds. But I could never really put my finger on the specific effect, even when I try the flange setting on the V-Amp. A little help here?

Phaser .... see above, without the EVH part

Noise Gate..... I have no idea what this does.

EQ ..... same as the eq on your amp. Fairly straight forward T or F?

Chorus/Reverb/Echo/Delay .... I'm not clear on the differences between these things.



The other thing I find completely overwhelming as I try to research this stuff is the sheer number of different pedals that supposedly do the same thing, only sound completely different. How many thousand distortion pedals are there? How does one even begin to choose?
I notice Crybaby wahs seem to cost a fortune. Are they really worth that much more than, say, an Ibanez wah? If so, what's the difference?

What are the "Big Name" pedals I should look at? So far I've picked up through osmosis that Crybaby makes good wahs, and Joyo makes some decent stuff, but not super high end. Good value basically, which is what I'd be looking for.

I am learning to play still, even though I'm old. I like a lot of 80s stuff...poison, EVH, Def Leppard, and of course ACDC. But I also want to play some classic stuff like Clapton/Cream, Hendrix, etc. And I also like to play bluesy rock like SRV (well, maybe I'm not there yet, but I will be one day), ZZTop, Jeff Healey, Rik Emmet. I don't want to waste money on a lot of stuff I don't need...are there one or two pedals that can get me to these places? Or should I stick with the V-Amp?

Or would I be better served skipping the pedals and tubes all together and getting a modelling amp?:omg:

(26 years of marriage has left me obviously very confused.:15:)
 
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Re: New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

I'm just going to say that pedals into the Fender SS amplifier will almost always be preferrable to the Behringer V-Amp device.

I shall step aside for the pedal fiends to answer yo' other questions.
 
Re: New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

I will say that an overdrive adds distortion too, just not as much as a distortion pedal. The idea is to create the sound of power tubes distorting, but not at a volume that would upset the neighbors on the block. No, it doesn't sound like power tube distortion, but it is a great sound on its own. People also use it as a boost to hit the front of an already distorted amp harder, which generally makes the sound 'tighter'.
 
Re: New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

noise gate just gets rid of feedback at higher volumes.

and if you are on a budget and looking for a lower wattage amp, the Blackstar series is something to look at or the H&K even.

they both take pedals extremely well and sound great! you will most likely want to use an overdrive, tube screamers also get rid of a good amount of low end and add a good amount of high end and if you are just tuning to standard or like drop d or something like that then the tube screamer will probably make your tone shrill.
 
Re: New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

in terms of joyo, I would just avoid that as they are built pretty cheap and the buffers in them are pretty poor. find what effects you want to use then hunt some stuff down in your price range :D
 
Re: New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

A EQ pedal is pretty far away from what the tone controls on tube amps do.

Leaving apart the fact that tube preamps might put the tone control either before or after the clipping stage they also have very odd properties and are very far from a controlled boost or depression in well-known frequencies. A EQ pedal is more like a pro audio EQ, except of course that it usually sits before all gain stages, or between different gain stages.

Changing frequency distribution before clipping is, obviously, a completely different thing from doing it afterwards.
 
Re: New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

Taz Rules said:
The other thing I find completely overwhelming as I try to research this stuff is the sheer number of different pedals that supposedly do the same thing, only sound completely different. How many thousand distortion pedals are there? How does one even begin to choose?
Click to expand...

Wrong attitude. The journey is half the fun. The "problem" is, try not to fall in love with every pedal you try. :headbang:
 
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Re: New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

Taz Rules said:
OK, I'm thinking of buying or building a tube amp. (Currently playing through a cheap ss Fender practice amp)
I'm thinking I might buy an amp that has good cleans, and then when I want something harder, I can dirty it up with pedals. (Though I'm still thinking a fairly low wattage amp so I can get the power tube distortion without breaking my neighbors' eardrums)

I currently own a V-Amp, so I can make some sounds. But would it sound better with individual pedals? I notice most pros don't exactly pop a V-Amp out of their case, and I'm figuring that's for a reason.

In addition to thoughts on the V-Amp and its applicability, I'd also like to check that I actually understand what the different pedals do...so I'll list some, and what I think they do, and I'll ask you guys to confirm or correct me, please...

Distortion pedal.....adds distortion, obviously. But the character of the pedal plays a large role in the output. It "overrides" the natural sound of the amp and guitar. T or F?

Overdrive pedal.....boosts signal to the amp, causing the amp's natural distortion to kick in to a greater degree or at a lower volume level. Enhances the sound of the amp and guitar rather than overriding it. T or F?

Tube Screamer..... similar to an overdrive pedal, but with a more prominent boost in the midrange. Probably the last thing you'd ever want if your guitar uses a JB. T or F?

Fuzz Box .... Basically distortion on steroids. Muddies up your sound without boosting it, leading to a 60s psychedelic sound. T or F?

Flanger ..... I've read and heard that this is absolutely necessary to do EVH sounds. But I could never really put my finger on the specific effect, even when I try the flange setting on the V-Amp. A little help here?

Phaser .... see above, without the EVH part

Noise Gate..... I have no idea what this does.

EQ ..... same as the eq on your amp. Fairly straight forward T or F?

Chorus/Reverb/Echo/Delay .... I'm not clear on the differences between these things.



The other thing I find completely overwhelming as I try to research this stuff is the sheer number of different pedals that supposedly do the same thing, only sound completely different. How many thousand distortion pedals are there? How does one even begin to choose?
I notice Crybaby wahs seem to cost a fortune. Are they really worth that much more than, say, an Ibanez wah? If so, what's the difference?

What are the "Big Name" pedals I should look at? So far I've picked up through osmosis that Crybaby makes good wahs, and Joyo makes some decent stuff, but not super high end. Good value basically, which is what I'd be looking for.

I am learning to play still, even though I'm old. I like a lot of 80s stuff...poison, EVH, Def Leppard, and of course ACDC. But I also want to play some classic stuff like Clapton/Cream, Hendrix, etc. And I also like to play bluesy rock like SRV (well, maybe I'm not there yet, but I will be one day), ZZTop, Jeff Healey, Rik Emmet. I don't want to waste money on a lot of stuff I don't need...are there one or two pedals that can get me to these places? Or should I stick with the V-Amp?

Or would I be better served skipping the pedals and tubes all together and getting a modelling amp?:omg:

(26 years of marriage has left me obviously very confused.:15:)
Click to expand...

For overdrive/distortion/fuzz:

read this

For chorus/flanger/phaser:

read this

Echo/delay/reverb:

read this
 
Re: New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

I don't think boost, overdrive, distortion or fuzz necessarily overrides the tone of the guitar and amp, I think they all work with the combo of guitar/pickup, other pedals and amp...

Boosts may or may not color the tone, with the majority of the clipping coming from the amp.
Overdrives may or may not color the tone of the amp, and introduce some clipping, usually in the form of "soft clipping". (When you look at the guitar signal on an oscilloscope the clipping of the signal is more "rounded". This is meant to simulate tube amp style clipping) The clipping in an overdrive is in the feedback loop so a good portion of the amplified signal is not clipped by the pedal.
Distortions color your tone and add hard clipping to the tone. All of the signal is clipped by the diodes in the pedal. There are usually EQ options that do really shape the tone.
Fuzz uses transistors to square clip the signal. This creates very harsh overtones and a stereotypical "fuzzy" tone.


All 4 types can be used with a clean amp or with an amp that is breaking up. For example, you can use a Tube Screamer (which is an overdrive) into a clean amp for a little breakup. Or, you can use it into an already distorting amp to add additional distortion and shape the tone. By the same token, fuzz can be used into a clean amp for that nasty breakup, or you can use it into a distorting amp a la Hendrix.

Our friendly forum member GearJonser made a post a few years ago that sticks with me. You need to choose your boost, OD, Distortion and Fuzz to compliment your guitar, pickups and amp. Try lots, you'll love some!

I could write a dissertation on each of Chorus, Flanger, Phase Shifter, Uni-Vibe, Delay and Reverb, but I think multi effects are a great way to explore various effects and see what you like. On that topic, I find individual pedals for boost, Overdrive, Distortion and Fuzz FAR preferable to anything in a digital pedal or modeler. The modulation and delay effects are really great in the digital sims and modelers now.
 
Re: New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

If you have some cash that you can use for a while before recovering it I recommend that you troll the usual guitar forms for somebody dumping an entire box of pedals. Great way to get them at prices that you can recover later, and to learn a lot, really fast.

Make sure you record all your noodling. You never have to show it to anybody else, just for your own record before you sell off a piece of gear.
 
Re: New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

I have the Fender Mustang II modeling amp, which is the 40 watt item. I can get some good tones out of it with the presets and the fender fuse software. But it still sounds a little too "digital" for me. So I have been thinking of upgrading in the way you describe: a small tube amp, about 15 watts, with some good pedals. I'm a bedroom player too. I'm even thinking a single channel like the blues junior would work well. That way I can get some good clean tones and just use pedals for my overdrive. I would suggest that over a modeling amp


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

This is great stuff! I just read all the links that Dahla posted, plus the accompanying articles that linked from those.

Thanks everyone for your feedback thus far. It's really helpful. Keep it coming!
 
Re: New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

Some good stuff here so far, so I'll just add my two cents on Joyo vs. big names.

Personally, I think Joyo is a great place to start, the pedals are cheap, so it's not a huge expenditure to get a bunch of different types to try out. It's a great way to get your feet wet with a bunch of different circuits. As far as quality, they aren't as bad as everyone seems to think. I've successfully gigged with multiple Joyo pedals over the last four years, one of them (the Sweet Baby Overdrive) didn't leave my board in that time. I never had any problems with any of them breaking, and I constantly get compliments on my tone while using them.

That being said, there are definitely more expensive pedals out there that do sound better. I've upgraded all of my Joyo stuff in the last few months, but I don't regret buying them when I did. They were well worth the small amount of money I spent on them.
 
Re: New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

There is so much I don't know about pedals. I've taken it upon myself in 2016 to get rather intimate with several.
 
Re: New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

Mincer said:
I will say that an overdrive adds distortion too, just not as much as a distortion pedal. The idea is to create the sound of power tubes distorting, but not at a volume that would upset the neighbors on the block. No, it doesn't sound like power tube distortion, but it is a great sound on its own. People also use it as a boost to hit the front of an already distorted amp harder, which generally makes the sound 'tighter'.
Click to expand...

I disagree. I always though the purpose of an overdrive was to push add more gain to the signal going into the boosted preamp which causes amp distortion.
 
Re: New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

I have a stomp box addiction especially OD pedals and low gain dirt boxes.
I like the ability to experiment with all the different flavors of OD and classic dirt.
 
Re: New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

Don't lose too much sleep over the fabled "power tube distortion" thing.
There is no perfect recipe for amps and a rewarding tone.
Also, the boutique pedals and stuff are not always better sounding than boss or ibanez.
Go to a few shops and try a few amps. Get the one you enjoy the best.
Pick up a collection of a couple of second hand dirt boxes and mix and match. Buy/swap/sell until you are happy enough for the time being and repeat.
 
Re: New to pedals...just confirming what I don't know

Do yourself a favour and check out That Pedal Show on Youtube. All of your questions will be covered there.
 
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