As far as distortion pedals go, i swear by my
1984 BOSS Made In Japan HM-2 Heavy Metal.

Imo, it is by far the best dirt box BOSS ever made
& it has a warmth i've not heard in any other pedal.
It's soooo vintage Marshall sounding.. it's ridiculous.

Don't be fooled or put off by it's 'Heavy Metal' name, it's a
remarkably versatile box w/ a very rewarding sweet spot.

There is a Made In Taiwan version too, which people say
is not as good as it's Japanese predecessor, but i can't say
how much of that is true & how much is 'older is better'-ism.
I can say that my MIJ version IS my favorite distortion box.

Although they stopped making them years ago, & despite
the fact that people are hip to them & do know how good
they are, these pedals can still be had for relatively cheap.

I scored mine on Craigslist during the Summer.. for $20.

Highly recommended.

Wrong RK, haha. I was talkin' about Richie Kotzen in the video.

_________________
-Kc
"Payin' dues."

I'm going to toss my $.02 in here for what it's worth...please know that these are -ONLY- my opinions so PLEASE take them as such. Also please know that I haven't read the other responses here so if I add anything terribly rhetorical or redundant, please forgive me.

Effects pedals...wow...where to begin? The truth of the matter is that pedals, like a guitar or amp are strictly and completely a personal choice...what's "perfect" for one person my be totally wrong for someone else. Some folks like vintage or "boutique" effects, some like modern stomp boxes, other's (such as myself) tend to favor multi-effects pedals for their convenience, some folks like those Roland VS guitar MIDI systems and other people still are perfectly happy with one good guitar and one decent amp. There is no real "right" or "wrong" here and the possibilities are only limited by your own imagination.

Now, most people who start playing guitar usually do so with some idea of how...or rather who they want to sound like. I'm sure this doesn't apply to everyone here but I think the greatest majority of us heard something or someone in our youth that really inspired us...and that's -why- we picked up a guitar in the first place. For me, I was really blown away by the sounds of people like Pete Townsend, Eric Clapton, David Gilmore, BB King, Richie Blackmore and then later guys like Jeff Beck, SRV, Robin Trower and many MANY others. I guess in my early days though, Eric Clapton was probably the single biggest influence on me. For that, all I really needed was a good guitar, a decent amp and a distortion pedal. Later as I started to get more and more in to folks like David Gilmore (Pink Floyd) I started getting more in to stuff like delay and flange pedals of course.

Personally I'm not going to go in to "brands" here...Boss, DOD, POD, Behringer, Electro-Harmonix, Dunlap...it's all -REALLY- subjective. Personally I've used everything from Ross and Arion to DOD to Digitech...at this stage, a brand probably isn't really going to make that much of a difference to your ears (particularly through that little Fender Frontman). My Ross distortion for example...it was a "cheap" pedal when it was new...something like $20. No serious guitar player used these pedals back then because everyone thought they were "cheap"...I happened to like the sound of it. Now a days it's considered a "classic" and "vintage" and they go upwards of $80 or more. In other words, don't sweat brands or models...just get what ever you can afford that sounds good to your own ears.

Multi-effects pedals such as the Digitech RP series are wonderful for their convenience and affordability and with a bit of "tweaking" you -can- get some fairly decent sounds out of them -but-...it's A LOT to get a handle on all at once for any beginner. I use one of these because they are indeed convenient...instead of having to carry around a couple of distortions, my flange/chorus, a delay pedal and a compressor etc (along with either power chords or batteries for all of them), I have -1- pedal that I can just toss in the back of my amp with a couple of chords. Now a days I'm set up and sucking down a beer while most of the band is still unpacking, LOL! That said however, I've been playing for well over 25 years now and I -KNOW- what kind of sound I want and I -KNOW- how all of those individual pedals work so when I sit down with a multi-effects unit, I have a fair idea of how to dial in the sound(s) I'm after. If you're just learning however, this may not be the best place to start...yea...they're economical but there's A LOT there to learn all at once and it can be VERY confusing to say the least. I would really recommend a beginner to start out with individual pedals...even if it is more expensive...just so you can properly learn how the individual effects actually work.

Now there is one more small thing I would add to this...when you go to start looking around, take your own guitar (and amp if possible) with you. Remember that a pedal....ANY pedal is part of your "sound chain". Very simply here if you're sitting in a store such as Guitar Center and your checking out pedals, if your sitting there playing them through a $1200 American Standard and a nice new tube amp such as a Fender Deluxe or something, this is -NOT- going to tell you how that pedal (or pedals) are going to sound through your sister's Squier and your Frontman 15G. The pedal may have sounded "cool as h@ll" in the store but then leaves something to be desired when you get it home. The problem isn't really the pedal...it's just that your guitar or amp isn't going to sound -anything- like you were playing at the store. Until you can learn to tell the subjective differences, it's best to take your own gear with you and "demo" thru that so you know exactly what you're getting.

So with that, my advice to you would be to pick out a couple of your favorite tunes/artists...people who you like the sound of and would like to emulate, and ask some more experience people (such as those here on Fender.com or even a music teacher or something) just what effects that person or persons used and start from there. Some of the more famous "legends" such as Stevie Ray Vaughn for example actually have a number of websites dedicated to showing exactly what gear they used on what recordings and such. Depending on what your tastes are, you may find you need very little effects at all or you may find yourself assembling your first pedal board...but only your ears, heart and checking account will really be able to determine any of that. In other words, if you're a Pink Floyd fan such as I am, be prepared to start forking out A LOT of dough! LOL!!!

Good luck and welcome to this journey we like to call "the quest for the perfect tone", LOL!!!

Peace,
Jim

It's difficult to identify what you want before you know what the different effects sound like.

I'd say just to get on eBay, buy an easy to figure out multi-fx pedal like a Digitech RP or similar for $75 and just play around with it.

Buy one used and it's a simple no-risk strategy to get you started.

Ibanez TS 9 is the first step ! Cheers!

_________________
Blues Ya?

is this a good effects pedal? where can you buy it?

anyone know of the top of your head how much a boss bf-3 flanger pedal would cost?
thx

New...should not be more than $129.00

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=151423

RK

Fulltone - Robin Trower Overdrive

me =

http://www.samash.com

Search: Zoom G2R

_________________
-Kc
"Payin' dues."

Sorry guys, but to me, the best distortions and tones come from within an amp. Particularly in the pre-amp. IMHO, If you need a pedal to get more gain, better distortion, tone ect, then you probably bought the wrong amp. The majic comes from within the amp. To me, many of these pedals are band aids, even though some swear by them. Most distortions pedals are using diode clipping, which does not sound as natural and warm as tube clipping to me. There are tube preamp pedals out there now as well.

This is why I use tube preamps, my tone and distortions can be had through any decent amp, but the majic still happens within the preamp. With my preamps, I have gotten good tone and dstortions through every rig I have plugged them into. This includes a homemade bass amp, an old crate bass amp (RIP), a old peavey backstage amp (1982), and my mesa 50/50 going into a marshall cab. Its hard to make a good preamp sound bad

_________________
Guitars:
1. mid 70's Ventura MIJ Gibson l6-s clone (Pre-lawsuit) in Black with Rosewood FB and EMG 81 BR/ 85 Neck
2. ESP KH2 Neck Thru
3. 2008 Am Std Strat in 3 tone sunburst

I'm not a big fan of multi-effect pedals; many times, you only get a fair approximation of what an effect is supposed to sound like, and you never get a specific effect with deep tonal personality.

My personal desert-island pedals would be an Ibanez TS9 Tubescreamer, an MXR Phase 90 and an MXR Carbon Copy analog delay...with those three and a good tube amp, you can do everything from Jimmie Vaughan to David Gilmore!

...but ultimately, let your ears be your guide; what works for one person might not work for you.

_________________
Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals