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Post subject: Can O' Worms: What are the essential pedals?
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 3:24 pm
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Hi Guys! I figure I am indeed opening a can of worms... but I have my first little tube combo on the way and, as an intermediate player, I am interested in everyone's thoughts on some essential pedals.

By next Wednesday I should have my Ibanez TSA-15 combo delivered. It was a recent flip as I had planned for a year to pick up a Blues Jr. but I particularly like some of the TSA's features and it has received positive reviews and comparisons. Had to order on online as I can't find them in stores and so I didn't get to try it out first. The TSA is not a "one-trick-pony I believe; but it will not have the diversity of my Mustang stack and little G-DEC (which is going bye-bye to make room for the TSA.) I have never used real stomps or pedals before!

The TSA has a Ibanez TS808 (I believe?) Tubescreamer built-in... so a Blues pedal is probably far down on my list. But I am particularly interested in picking up a good but reasonably-priced Reverb pedal since the major pro of the Blues Jr. against the TSA was that it had reverb and the TSA doesn't. Have heard that the BOSS Fender-licensed Reverb pedals are an obvious start; and that the TC Electronic Corona, Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail and Digitech HardWire Reverbs are very good. Any thoughts?

I would also like to have some other essential effects: chorus, delay and maybe a heavier distortion than the built-in Tubescreamer for a little hard rock.

Any advice/suggestions appreciated! Oh, and for those of you with pedalboards full of pedals... do you tend to find a brand and stick to them or is your board a mixed bag?

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Post subject: Re: Can O' Worms: What are the essential pedals?
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 4:01 pm
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Personally I think the styles you play generally determine the range of pedals you use. I play a pretty wide range of styles, but even so there are only a limited number of effects I don't think I could live without such as a reverb, delay (typically used together), chorus, overdrive, booster, and compressor. I also use a harmonizer occasionally, but I don't use it very often. I'd suspect if you get into more spacy type things like Pink Floyd you might end up with more odd (esoteric) types of pedals.

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Post subject: Re: Can O' Worms: What are the essential pedals?
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 4:44 pm
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Your amp has a modified TS9 circuit built into it so I'd assume you covered for overdrive. I would consider a good Wah pedal and a reverb/ delay pedal then reassess my needs after you've acclimated to them.

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Post subject: Re: Can O' Worms: What are the essential pedals?
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 5:54 pm
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Tiger J wrote:
... do you tend to find a brand and stick to them or is your board a mixed bag?

Other than an Ibanez Tube Screamer, I have all Boss stomp boxes. Not because I think they're all the best thing ever, but more because they are incredibly reliable, and they consistently put out good products. So most of my suggestions would come from the Boss camp. Here are my "must have's":

Boss TR-2 (Tremolo)

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Note: The tremolo pedal is extremely useful across many genres. It's not just for Doo Wop!

Boss TU-3 (Tuner)

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Other than these, if I didn't have a Fender Mustang amp with an expression pedal (provides a Wah), I would be looking at one of these:

Vox V847 Wah

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Post subject: Re: Can O' Worms: What are the essential pedals?
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 7:28 pm
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Reverb, sure, but find out what kind of reverb you like first. Many love spring reverbs; personally I can't stand it, because it sounds so artificial. It's the one effect where a decent digital sounds more natural than any analog or mechanical implementation.

A (polyphonic, non-octave) fuzz is useful if you want more distortion at lower volume. But there are a lot of crappy fuzzes out there.

Some can't live without a delay. I have never found a use for them, but you might. At some settings a good delay might substitute for a simpler reverb, and at other settings it may substitute for a looper. The Moog Minifooger delay pedal seems to have caught a lot of traction lately.

Phasers and flangers? I guess it depends on what you play. If you want to go Crazy Eddie, there's no way around them.

Chorus? It can sound nice, but there aren't a lot of songs most people would use one. I'm sure someone will step in and say they use one all the time, but I think those would be exceptions.

Wahs too can sound nice and do things no other effects can, but again, it's more of a one trick pony in my opinion.

That leaves ... ring modulators, pitch shifters, talk boxes and special effects (like Korg Miku Stomp). Not something you'd start out with.

So my recommendation is to start with a reverb pedal, then a good fuzz pedal. The TC Electronic T2 (Trinity v2) seem to be a popular and reasonably priced reverb. For a fuzz, I'd go with something that isn't a clone. When using a fuzz, the point is usually to not sound like everybody else.


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Post subject: Re: Can O' Worms: What are the essential pedals?
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 11:17 pm
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Good luck with the reverb pedal search. I've spent the last couple months trying them out. One thing I've noticed about the moderate priced ones is they tend to add a presence to the amp's natural sound. Something that turned me off to a few that are fairly popular.

Nothing in the $100 price range was really doing it for me. This is one area where I can be picky. At some point, I might pick up one of the higher priced pedals or tube units.

But I ended up choosing the Marshall Reflector, and so far I'm pretty satisfied with it. The one thing it doesn't do is disturb the natural amp sound. I liked it more than the others I tried out.

The Hardwire might be ok. I won't consider buying one though until Digitech redesigns their stomp design. I've had my share of X-Series and the design is horrid. The side pins get stuck, the knobs come off, that stupid rubber piece they use to engage the tiny crappy button falls out and wears out. I don't care how it sounds, I won't buy it.

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Post subject: Re: Can O' Worms: What are the essential pedals?
Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 2:07 am
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I couldn't live w/o reverb and/or delay on the TSA15. Here is an excellent sounding, very inexpensive ($49) 'must have' effect: http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i- ... 7AodfUoATQ I place it on the amp inserted between the TS circuitry and the amp portion and always leave it on, so it is never stomped. It's probably not as durable as many other brands since it is plastic, but used in this manner, should last forever.

If you're concerned about plastic, I find Boss pedals to be very good sounding, rugged, and reliable.

With the TSA15 and the type of music I do, that's about all I feel is mandatory. It already has a TS and Boost built in.

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Post subject: Re: Can O' Worms: What are the essential pedals?
Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 4:28 am
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I just got a used, Digitech RP-50 effects processor in the other day from Guitar Center , which only cost me 30 bucks. That included tax and shipping and it also came with the power supply as well. This lil' gadget is quite amazing and does everything I need without the hassle of having several pedals laid out across the floor. I'm quite happy with this purchase. :D


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Post subject: Re: Can O' Worms: What are the essential pedals?
Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 5:27 am
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I went the other way: I sold all my pedals (I agree, the Boss ones are quite good - had Compressor, Overdrive and a Chorus of some kind or other) the minute I got my first Mustang.


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Post subject: Re: Can O' Worms: What are the essential pedals?
Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 6:11 am
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I used effects quite a bit. Here's my essential list (other lists may vary) in order from first to last.

Dyna Comp Compressor
Zacke Wilde OD
DS-1 Distortion
Chorus
Echo Park Delay


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Post subject: Re: Can O' Worms: What are the essential pedals?
Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 8:50 am
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For the first time in a long time I agree with arth1 in that I find digital reverb sounds better than spring and also like him, reverb is one of the few things in which I prefer digital. I have a Strymon Blue Sky which never ceases to blow my mind. Not cheap, though.

As for the OP, my pedalboard changes as pedals come and go and particularly OD/Dist pedals but there are certain pedals that take up permanent residence on my board and I don't remove them.

No longer made, the Emma Discumbobulator is the warmest and most natural sounding envelope filter I've run across. Pricey in the used market and a little rare.

Also no longer made, the BOSS Digital Dimension (knob version, not the button version) is a very unique chorus pedal in that it fattens without the warble which is wonderful when you're searching for a little thickness but still wanting it to be more open and organic than a highly processed sound. Also a tad pricey and rare in the used market.

I don't know how I ever got along without my Fulltone Mini Déjà-Vibe. It's one of the most versatile and useful pedals I've had.

I know Derek disagrees with me but IMO the Strymon Lex is hands down the finest Leslie simulator ever.

As for Flangers, Phasers, Delays, ODs, Distortions, etc. I swap those in and out as my mood dictates.

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Post subject: Re: Can O' Worms: What are the essential pedals?
Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 9:20 am
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The one single important thingy that is often overlooked is a good power source to juice up the present and future pedals.


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Post subject: Re: Can O' Worms: What are the essential pedals?
Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 9:32 am
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jmattis wrote:
The one single important thingy that is often overlooked is a good power source to juice up the present and future pedals.


Quite right.
The other item that never leaves my board is my Dunlop DC Brick.

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Post subject: Re: Can O' Worms: What are the essential pedals?
Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 12:45 pm
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jmattis wrote:
The one single important thingy that is often overlooked is a good power source to juice up the present and future pedals.

Yes, instead of a cheap wart with a long string of daisy-chained plugs, do spend the extra money on a real pedal power brick with separate outputs. Not only does this ensure that one power hungry pedal (delay pedals are generally the worst) won't impact the others, but isolated outputs also greatly reduce the amount of EM noise that jumps from pedal to pedal through the power cable.

Voodoo Lab has some good affordable power bricks with isolated outputs.


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Post subject: Re: Can O' Worms: What are the essential pedals?
Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 4:26 pm
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Depending on how many pedals you are going to buy, it could end up costing you a lot on money. You may want to look into at Line 6 effects, or Boss effects units. A few years back I purchased a Line 6 JM4 looper that has all kinds of different effects, and you can record yourself or play along with pre-recorded songs. A great practice tool. I also have various pedals. You need to go to a Sam Ash or Guitar Center to try out your options. Good luck.
Kenny V


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