bang for buck pedals

[iwantdigimon]

Hi guys,

have never bought a single pedal in my life.

Just like to know what pedals are really good for me to start out with? I used to own a G2.1u from a friend but cant stand it; and now have an ibanez smashbox from a friend also, hardly use them as u normally use amp overdrive instead.

I'd like to get a reasonably good wah/delay, etc

any suggestion guys?

 

[Pedal-itis]

depending on the budget. the Digidelay is the best damn delay in that price range. the DE-7 is pretty good too. Dano PBnJ's nice too..... hmmm... so many many man!

 

[iwantdigimon]

wow! from what i hear the daneletro units are pretty cheap! what about performance for them? wonder if i can still find tubescreamer nowadays..

 

[j_m_s]

budget delays- DE7, DD3, Artec Analog Delay, DD7(200+ tho)

Not so budget delays- Analogman Analogdelay (im selling., HAH!), DM2, Carbon copy.

Budget wahs - GCB95, Vox V847

Not so budget Wahs - RMC Wizard, RMC Picture, RMC 2, RMC 3, RMC wheels of fire, Budda Wah

and alot more

What music dya play?

 

[j_m_s]

and yes you can still find tubescreamers. Ibanez has a few to offer. TS7, TS9, TS808.

Also, there are the boutique variants of tubescreamers, which to some people sound better. Some examples are the Lovepedal Eternity, Fulltone Fulldrive. I personally own a Lovepedal Eternity and for my needs, its eons away from a TS808, much much better. The price on the other hand is a little more. (or alot)

 

[ShredCow]

wow! from what i hear the daneletro units are pretty cheap! what about performance for them?

plastic casing... for the units like the Corned Beef, PB&J - the footswitch is plastic and the switch is a joke - you should google for a gut shot. They have a recent range of models that have true bypass switching on them, not bad, not bad at all... but plastic casing.

However, most people don't really thrash their pedals - not like if you stomped harder, you'd get more distortion out of the unit right? - so the plastic thing might not be a problem for you.

 

[iwantdigimon]

i see i see. I play according to mood, so overdrives etc are a must i guess! haha. I have a question. i think i might sound quite stupid, but im gg to say it anyway

connecting pedals together is for convenience sake or does it actually combine two or more effects together?

 

[ShredCow]

connecting pedals together is for convenience sake or does it actually combine two or more effects together?

Think about it.

If I don't connect 2 pedals together... how can I use... say... either effect in the same song, thru just one amp? Disconnect then reconnect during the pre-chorus section? Doesn't make sense right?

So...... yeah!

 

[iwantdigimon]

hahah okay yes yes, damn, i knew i sounded a little stupid! XD eh! wait a minute! what i mean is, can i use wah + delay/chorus/whammy tgt?

 

[tubescreamer]

You could try the Danelectro Cool Cat Series (Metal cases, true bypass), the Korean-made Artec Pedals (same features).

If your budget is slightly higher, go for BYOC pedals.

With regard to a delay, do you need a Tap Tempo? If so, get either the Marshall Echohead or Line6 Echo Park.

 

[tubescreamer]

hahah okay yes yes, damn, i knew i sounded a little stupid! XD eh! wait a minute! what i mean is, can i use wah + delay/chorus/whammy tgt?

Yes, this is electronically possible, but certain combinations may not sound good.

Most guitarists use pedals in a linear chain and combine effects depending on the song. E.g. for a U2 tune I would use delay, a little bit of chorus, and very slight compression.

 

[Ized]

Also, there are the boutique variants of tubescreamers, which to some people sound better. (or alot)

this is rather subjective.... still find that tubescreamer pedals in general (booteek or not) are too amp dependent....if you got a crappy amp, don expect even the landgraff dynamic od to work miracles on it. however as a booster to drive the amp or preamp before drives TS-style pedals get my vote.

 

[Ized]

budget delays- DE7, DD3, Artec Analog Delay, DD7(200+ tho)

Not so budget delays- Analogman Analogdelay (im selling., HAH!), DM2, Carbon copy.

There's a discrepancy there.....sorry to point out to you bro...how can a Boss DD7 (which costs 260 after discount at swee lee) and a MXR Carbon Copy (which cost 199 at davis) be more budget than the other?

Otherwise, good recommendations there....for budget delays try the guyatone MD-2 also..gives very warm repeats for a digital delay. Small in size and i remember quite a few guys who had higher end delays were pretty impressed with it after trying it out at Blackwood.

 

[gsonique]

he he he ...

 

[iwantdigimon]

cool! the black kopi! is it overdrive or what? anyways, wld u guys recommend the orange microcrush amp? sorry off track, but wanting to get a good mini amp..

 

[ShredCow]

Black Coffee?

Here's a clip - judge for yourself...

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=641337&songID=4806290

 

[Danelectrico]

I'm assuming that price consciousness is the main factor here right?

I still maintain the Digitech Digidelay is one of the best delay pedals you'll find for the price - or any price for that matter! If you do prefer analog delay repeats and are willing to forgo that the diversity and flexibility of a Digidelay for that, the MXR Carbon Copy is a bit more expensive but really good. As a beginner, a Digidelay will probably provide you with more fun and be a better introduction to the world of delay by sheer virtue of the sounds and options under the hood.

My experience with the Guyatone MD-2 seemed different from Ized's - rather than finding the repeats warm, I just thought they seemed near exact duplicates of the original signal. This gave the impression of the repeats being too cluttered and a little too crispy for my liking. Didn't really sit well in the mix, and even with the Delay level knob set low, it just felt like the delayed signal was too in your face still, somehow. although I could see fans of prominent delay repeats / playing alongside with dotted eights (aka U2) liking this.

For overdrives - stock, you could do worse than a Boss OD-3 overdrive. A nicely modded Boss BD-2 Blues Driver also makes for a really good medium to high gain drive pedal. A Digitech Bad Monkey has been said to be the poor man's version of a boutique TS9 type drive pedal, although the smoothness and lack of grit arguably lacks some edge and depth, and some have complained about the buffered bypass (never was an issue for me). I think it makes a pretty decent booster / drive pedal for the price.

Definitely also take a look at some of the Danelectro Cool Cat pedals as tubescreamer suggested - their Chorus was alot nicer than I thought it'd be, and I've heard good things about their other pedals as well - their CM-1 Metal and CTO-1 Transparent Overdrive in particular.

Good luck!

PS for a good mini amp - a Roland Micro Cube is tough to beat.

 

[j_m_s]

Ized, my bad then, i remembered that the CC retailed at 280 for some reason.

 

[iwantdigimon]

im actually thinking more of a.. say.. portable amp. below $100 for simple use. I was deciding between a danelectro honeytone and a orange microcrush!

I guess i'l give boss blues driver a try!

 

[Danelectrico]

The orange microcrush is probably similar in size and output to the Roland microcube or Vox DA5. You could possibly find either of those alternatives used for just over $100? I think the microcrush has a smaller speaker. The smaller the speaker the more limited in range and boxy the sound will be, but if you just want something to plug into and hear yourself, why not...

Any smaller and you're looking at those tiny portable amps as in those mini marshall stack things like the MS-2 or MS-4 - good for a laugh or as an office desk ornament...and maybe to test your pedalboard / patch cables backstage before a show I suppose!

and yeah a Blues Driver isn't a bad pedal at all stock, just a bit fizzy - a well-modded one (eg Keeley or Goose) will rival boutique pedals twice the price.