Guitar Effect Pedalphile Thread

[dcbc 14,492]

Fortunately for me, I've learned (after two fuzz pedals) that I only like fuzz when other people are using it. 

[Deej 76,848]

I'm thinking that pedal would be good for a Jimi Hendrix-style version of "Convoy", and probably nothing else. 

[BoomMF 1,399]

NPD

Aaron Thorpe doesn't miss with his designs, but he's gifted when it comes to fuzz imo (His Muffroom/Fallout Cloud is best triangle on the market imo). The last time he collected enough Germanium transistors to do a run of pedals I missed out and now the OG Veteran Germanium fuzz gets stupid prices on Reverb. So when he announced he had enough to do a run of Tone Bender fuzzes I did one of those sight unseen things. It arrived today and now the hard part - deciding what to kick off the board.

 

Some reviews:

 

 

Maybe just need a bigger board...

[dcbc 14,492]

On 3/18/2022 at 8:10 PM, BoomMF said:

NPD

Aaron Thorpe doesn't miss with his designs, but he's gifted when it comes to fuzz imo (His Muffroom/Fallout Cloud is best triangle on the market imo). The last time he collected enough Germanium transistors to do a run of pedals I missed out and now the OG Veteran Germanium fuzz gets stupid prices on Reverb. So when he announced he had enough to do a run of Tone Bender fuzzes I did one of those sight unseen things. It arrived today and now the hard part - deciding what to kick off the board.

 

Some reviews:

 

 

Maybe just need a bigger board...

That's a cool pedal.  Shape reminds me of the old RealTube pedals.  I'll check out the video, but I know I love the sound of other people playing tonebenders.  Unfortunately, after much research and purchasing, I know, for me, fuzz doesn't work with how/what I play.

[sidis 9,832]

On 11/16/2021 at 8:17 PM, Paul Wesley said:

 

Any of you degenerates in Austin looking to build a pedal board?

 

I have two old ones to get rid of.

 

Small velcro one that still has a DC Brick and a quartermaster (lets you make loops so that you are turning multiple pedals on and off at once) -- both already mounted on there.  You'd be way ahead of the DIY game. 

 

Also a bigger hardshell suitcase with a power strip mounted to bottom.

 

Make me a semi-reasonable offer.

 

paul, did you already unload both of these?  just seeing this from freaking november.

[Mileslong 4,728]

Howard Gee, formerly of Catalinbread, has started his own pedal company, Kittycaster FX. He has released his first pedal, the Groovy Wizard.

A very dynamic fuzz driver that allows you to add or take away fuzz not just with volume knob but how hard you hit the strings.

Glad to see Howard back in the game, after the tragic death of his partner at Catalinbread he kind of disappeared. He is such a badass guitarist…

[Mileslong 4,728]

Kittycaster with another new release, the Tremdriver

[Mileslong 4,728]

Kittycaster with another new release, the Tremdriver

[NoRagrets 1,125]

I’m building out my board for a live show in a few weeks.

I have an old wah wah, Ibanez tube screamer, boss waza delay, boss waza fuzz, and a boss looper.

What am I missing?

[Chad Fuck 17,691]

I’m building out my board for a live show in a few weeks.
I have an old wah wah, Ibanez tube screamer, boss waza delay, boss waza fuzz, and a boss looper.
What am I missing?

What kind of music are you playing?

What are the other links in the signal chain? Guitar/amp?

[dcbc 14,492]

3 hours ago, NoRagrets said:

I’m building out my board for a live show in a few weeks.

I have an old wah wah, Ibanez tube screamer, boss waza delay, boss waza fuzz, and a boss looper.

What am I missing?

Some sort of phase shifter would be good early in the chain.

[tbone_ 14,132]

[NoRagrets 1,125]

On 6/26/2022 at 7:56 AM, Chad Fuck said:

What kind of music are you playing?

What are the other links in the signal chain? Guitar/amp?

Great question. Modern Rock and some clean classics. 

[sidis 9,832]

10 hours ago, NoRagrets said:

Great question. Modern Rock and some clean classics. 

then probably not much...but if it were me, i'd probably add an octave(sub-n-up), reverb, a phaser, and if any of it is from the 70s or 80s, a chorus.

[tbone_ 14,132]

Great question. Modern Rock and some clean classics. 

Despite my sarcastic contribution above, here’s an actual attempt at an idea. When I play with our full band, I just use one dirt pedal (Bogner La Grange Marshall style pedal) with the amp set on clean with just a little dirt dialed into the amp. With just that and the volume knob I’m able to do every song we do, from the Cars to the Beatles to Aerosmith to Sheryl Crow to the Talking Heads etc etc.

The amp is an old 22 watt boogie. The clean channel has a pre Volume/gain and master. I just use the clean channel and turn the pre most of the way up and keep the master down. Gets a nice bluesy tone with just a little bit of grit. Then I can kick in the La Grange as needed. I do have a chorus on the board but I hardly ever use it.

Point is, I realized a while back I can’t do a pedal dance while trying to actually play. Seemed to me that in a garage band/bar band scenario, tone nuance goes out the window as soon as the drummer kicks in. So I came up with this idea. Very simple and works great and allows me to concentrate on trying to be a less shitty guitarist. FWIW.

[tbone_ 14,132]

Oh and I use a strat with a humbucker in the bridge. Super versatile setup.

[tbone_ 14,132]

Double post

[dcbc 14,492]

1 hour ago, tbone_ said:

I can’t do a pedal dance while trying to actually play.

This is why I dumped my big board for the PT Nano and Nano+.  I've never had to use the Nano+ in a band situation.  4 pedals is plenty for me to think about, even when one of them is a reverb, which I easily could move from the board to the top of my amp. 

 

Usually, in no particular order, it's a pair of drives, something swirly (phaser, univibe, or harmonic vibe like Mint Green Mini Vibe) and either an analog delay or something funky (envelope filter).  With two exceptions, neither of which ever end of getting used live, I have a no more than four knob rule when it comes to pedals.  And I hate pedals with adjustment points that require the pedal to be taken apart.  I've got enough to think about while I'm playing and I don't want multiple levels of pedal board prone to shutting off my signal entirely when some wire goes bad, which results in my having to pick apart the signal chain.

 

Power supply is a daisy chained 1-spot or 9 volt batteries.

[tbone_ 14,132]

One spot ftw

[Deej 76,848]

I love my One Pot, but once I installed a power brick under my board, I was much happier. Both 12 and 18v connectors, and much tidier. 

[tbone_ 14,132]

Yea I have one. Just been lazy on drilling holes.

[dcbc 14,492]

The daisy chain is fine if you're just running analog pedals.  I'm guessing you could bridge two leads into 18 volts.  My old Boss DM2 is the only weird one since it wants 12 volts to convert down to 9.  Battery works best for that.  I had a Pedal Power2, but it won't fit under my Nano boards and I've gotten cheap about buying another brick.

Edited July 1, 2022 by dcbc

[tbone_ 14,132]

Check Cioks. They’ll fit under little pedal trains and do all kinds of voltages. They’re pretty cool.

https://cioks.com/history/

I bought one for a little mini board that has a TC Helicon play acoustic that needs 12 or 18. Can’t remember which.

[Paul Wesley 3,284]

No posts on this thread since July?  Disappointed in us all.

I just got an email from Neunabar that they're doing Black Friday pricing.  Versatile and cool reverb pedals that sound great and have comparatively easy interfaces (i.e. dedicated knobs and no menus).

https://neunaber.net/collections/all-products

[dcbc 14,492]

1 hour ago, Paul Wesley said:

No posts on this thread since July?  Disappointed in us all.

I just got an email from Neunabar that they're doing Black Friday pricing.  Versatile and cool reverb pedals that sound great and have comparatively easy interfaces (i.e. dedicated knobs and no menus).

https://neunaber.net/collections/all-products

Holy shit.  That looks great.  I'm off to look at videos. 

 

I've been very happy with my Catalinbread Topanga Reverb, which is basically a recreation of an old Fender Reverb unit.  Before that, I had a Real Tube 921 Stereo Rack Mount 12 spring reverb.  Prettiest thing you ever heard.  Unfortunately, it was a pain to deal with, even in a 1U rack mount case.  The Topanga made me not miss it much though.  This looks super promising with so many options in a small size with only four fine adjustment knobs (I have a 4 knob rule with few exceptions).

[dcbc 14,492]

Intensely convincing demo

 

 

[Paul Wesley 3,284]

Yeah, I've been through several reverbs.  

The Strymon - is great, but it has a big footprint and requires high current (my Phoenix power supply only lets me have a few of those high-draw outputs).  It's also a bit overwhelming in terms of big, deep menus.

Hall of Fame - also requires one of my high-current outputs.  Sounds good, but not great (a lot of the settings sound kind of thin and digital to me).

An old TC Electronics Time Line - really like this one, and I think it sounds nice and was ahead of its time, but it's a huge footprint and also a very unique voltage requirement, so it has to have it's own DC brick on the board.  Big footprint + needs its own wall wart = naga... naga... nagonna be on *this* pedalboard anymore.

The neunaber fairly small, draws low amperage, and has a simple dedicated-knob interface.  It also sounds richer and lusher to me compared to the Hall of Fame.  $199 for that combo of attributes is super appealing.

I wonder how close the spring setting gets to your Topanga...

 

Edited November 18, 2022 by Paul Wesley

[G650 14,269]

10 hours ago, Paul Wesley said:

No posts on this thread since July?

We don't need no stinking pedals...

 

But I did pickup an OD808 recently which is probably the best value pedal ever. 75 bucks all day on Reverb and you get a JRC4558 chip ala original Tubescreamers. I had a boost my buddy makes before which was super flat response, but I have been using Strats into Fender amps lately and it really needed the midhump of the TS.

 

I may put my old trusty TR-2 on ice though. I've always maintained it was a solid as anything but the harmonic trem in this Super I picked up is something else. A little goes a very long way. I  can see times when you still would want the TR-2 for lighter work, but the Super is just so damn syrupy. It's amazing.

[dcbc 14,492]

I wonder how close the spring setting gets to your Topanga...
 

I'm sure that there's more to it than is shown in that video. The Neunabor sounds like it has a nice spring sound. But there's an advantage in the Topanga for its just doing one type of sound. Suffice it to say that it (Topanga) does it quite well. And since I'm a spring reverb lover, that suits me fine.

[dcbc 14,492]

We don't need no stinking pedals...
 
But I did pickup an OD808 recently which is probably the best value pedal ever. 75 bucks all day on Reverb and you get a JRC4558 chip ala original Tubescreamers. I had a boost my buddy makes before which was super flat response, but I have been using Strats into Fender amps lately and it really needed the midhump of the TS.
 
I may put my old trusty TR-2 on ice though. I've always maintained it was a solid as anything but the harmonic trem in this Super I picked up is something else. A little goes a very long way. I  can see times when you still would want the TR-2 for lighter work, but the Super is just so damn syrupy. It's amazing.

I maintain that Tube screamers continue to get the job done just right and that people who say they add too much/many mids to already mid heavy tweeds should just shut up and play their guitars through TS pedals

[G650 14,269]

Truth

[Chips O'Toole 1,326]

7 hours ago, Paul Wesley said:

Yeah, I've been through several reverbs.  

The Strymon - is great, but it has a big footprint and requires high current (my Phoenix power supply only lets me have a few of those high-draw outputs).  It's also a bit overwhelming in terms of big, deep menus.

Hall of Fame - also requires one of my high-current outputs.  Sounds good, but not great (a lot of the settings sound kind of thin and digital to me).

An old TC Electronics Time Line - really like this one, and I think it sounds nice and was ahead of its time, but it's a huge footprint and also a very unique voltage requirement, so it has to have it's own DC brick on the board.  Big footprint + needs its own wall wart = naga... naga... nagonna be on *this* pedalboard anymore.

The neunaber fairly small, draws low amperage, and has a simple dedicated-knob interface.  It also sounds richer and lusher to me compared to the Hall of Fame.  $199 for that combo of attributes is super appealing.

I wonder how close the spring setting gets to your Topanga...

 

Which Neunaber do you have?  I always hear good stuff about the Wet but have never tried one.

[Deej 76,848]

11 hours ago, dcbc said:

Holy shit.  That looks great.  I'm off to look at videos. 

 

I've been very happy with my Catalinbread Topanga Reverb, which is basically a recreation of an old Fender Reverb unit.  Before that, I had a Real Tube 921 Stereo Rack Mount 12 spring reverb.  Prettiest thing you ever heard.  Unfortunately, it was a pain to deal with, even in a 1U rack mount case.  The Topanga made me not miss it much though.  This looks super promising with so many options in a small size with only four fine adjustment knobs (I have a 4 knob rule with few exceptions).

Using a 12v or 18v power supply with that Topanga? I've got one and am thinking about trying an 18v power supply with it. Supposedly improves the drip and the headroom. 

[Chad Fuck 17,691]

Check Cioks. They’ll fit under little pedal trains and do all kinds of voltages. They’re pretty cool.

https://cioks.com/history/

I bought one for a little mini board that has a TC Helicon play acoustic that needs 12 or 18. Can’t remember which.

I bought one of these for my new board and I love it. No more “do I have enough power for this weird pedal.” Just get the color coded cord that fits, flip a switch and you’re golden. Played it out and no issues so far.

[Paul Wesley 3,284]

3 hours ago, Chips O'Toole said:

Which Neunaber do you have?  I always hear good stuff about the Wet but have never tried one.

Immense (the one in that demo video above)

Edited November 18, 2022 by Paul Wesley

[Paul Wesley 3,284]

*Immerse (I blame autocorrect)

[G650 14,269]

That's what she said.

[Chad Fuck 17,691]

My first (and maybe last) gig playing my Mesa out with a pedal has got me thinking I really probably just want a super clean (ie Fender) amp that takes pedals well.  Of course, that means I need some new pedals.  These are currently in the cart at Sweetwater for Black Friday.  I'm looking for any thoughts on whether you've played these pedals or not.  

 

[tbone_ 14,132]

Buddy of mine has that plexi drive deluxe. It’s very good.

I use the Bogner Lagrange in front of my clean amps. Might be worth a listen.

[tbone_ 14,132]

I love a clean amp plus pedals set up. I really wish Fender made the blues jr in a head.

[G650 14,269]

1 hour ago, Chad Fuck said:

My first (and maybe last) gig playing my Mesa out with a pedal has got me thinking I really probably just want a super clean (ie Fender) amp that takes pedals well.  Of course, that means I need some new pedals.  These are currently in the cart at Sweetwater for Black Friday.  I'm looking for any thoughts on whether you've played these pedals or not.  

 

I think from what you've told us, you do cover band work, is that right? Are you doing mostly small bar gigs, bigger clubs, weddings? All of the above? The reason I ask is that the "takes pedals well" thing is a bit of a red herring. It depends on the amp and pedal combination and how they interact. Are you pushing the amp with a boost or just using a straight up distortion pedal. And part of that is the amount of clean headroom you need for your gigs. The number one "takes pedals well" amp in popular opinion is the 5F6A Bassman and I can almost guarantee you don't want that. Probably the only Fender amp that would run totally clean with just the pedal coming through is the SF Twin Reverb. But that is a very loud amp. I definitely favor the amp doing the heavy lifting in general, but in the studio I've used a Peavey Classic 50 as a totally clean amp with things like a Big Muff before, I would strongly recommend that for what I think is your intended use.

The only pedal above I am familiar with is the Archer, which is maybe the best Klon clone there is. I would not run it into a clean amp though.

[Chad Fuck 17,691]

1 minute ago, G650 said:

 

I think from what you've told us, you do cover band work, is that right? Are you doing mostly small bar gigs, bigger clubs, weddings? All of the above? The reason I ask is that the "takes pedals well" thing is a bit of a red herring. It depends on the amp and pedal combination and how they interact. Are you pushing the amp with a boost or just using a straight up distortion pedal. And part of that is the amount of clean headroom you need for your gigs. The number one "takes pedals well" amp in popular opinion is the 5F6A Bassman and I can almost guarantee you don't want that. Probably the only Fender amp that would run totally clean with just the pedal coming through is the SF Twin Reverb. But that is a very loud amp. I definitely favor the amp doing the heavy lifting in general, but in the studio I've used a Peavey Classic 50 as a totally clean amp with things like a Big Muff before, I would strongly recommend that for what I think is your intended use.

The only pedal above I am familiar with is the Archer, which is maybe the best Klon clone there is. I would not run it into a clean amp though.

Yes, mostly cover band stuff.  Pretty much all of the above.  From small gigs, to mid sized clubs.  For smaller gigs I have a 68 Princeton Reverb and bigger gigs a 66 BF Twin. the Mesa was an attempt to do both in one and I'm just not feeling it.  It's great to play by myself cranked at home, but it didn't really play well with the rest of the band.  

Lead singer has a Peavy Classic 30, which is great.  Perhaps a Classic 50 would be worth checking out.  I'm also trying to down size some of my schlepping.  I love playing the Twin, but its heavy as fuck and so is the Mesa.  I think I might be happy to carry a Princeton in one hand and something similarly sized in the other and run one clean and one dirty.  I'm always tinkering with these ideas.  

 

[G650 14,269]

10 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

Yes, mostly cover band stuff.  Pretty much all of the above.  From small gigs, to mid sized clubs.  For smaller gigs I have a 68 Princeton Reverb and bigger gigs a 66 BF Twin. the Mesa was an attempt to do both in one and I'm just not feeling it.  It's great to play by myself cranked at home, but it didn't really play well with the rest of the band.  

Lead singer has a Peavy Classic 30, which is great.  Perhaps a Classic 50 would be worth checking out.  I'm also trying to down size some of my schlepping.  I love playing the Twin, but its heavy as fuck and so is the Mesa.  I think I might be happy to carry a Princeton in one hand and something similarly sized in the other and run one clean and one dirty.  I'm always tinkering with these ideas.  

 

ABT, Always be tinkering.

I will say, gun to my head, if I had to pick the best value amp ever, Peavey Classic 50. No question. Huge upside of the Classic 50 is that you don't have to uncork it to make it sound full. And it has tons of clean headroom. I had/have a 2 x 10 one, which is filling the HP Twin role, they also make the 4 x 10 that apes the Bassman. They have different sounds for sure.

I used to run a pair of Marshall Jubilees as a clean and dirty, but eventually went to just a pair of dirty amps, using volume to control.

 

 

[Napoleon 8,691]

Not “Effects”, but rather

“Metronome & Various Accompanying Beats”

Guitar Practice Pedal*

*also posted on the guitar thread due to greater traffic, limited discount window, and it is more for practice than an effects pedal.

BeatBuddy MINI $109 (-10%)

I got this beat metronome & beat machine and then I used the sweaty/oily Canadian burnout guitar teacher’s 10% Off code to nearly cover a secondary two-button switch pedal. 

The BeatBuddy MINI has a variety of beats that can be played at different speeds that accompany you and act as a metronome when you are learning new songs or performing. 
 

Guitar At Work guy’s Discount Code:

GAW10

Here are the items and what I paid.

 I think that it is Free Shipping if you go over $100, because the Switch+ was going to cost $13 for shipping if I hadn’t combined it with the MINI.

https://www.singularsound.com/products/beatbuddy-mini

[Paul Wesley 3,284]

13 hours ago, Chad Fuck said:

Yes, mostly cover band stuff.  Pretty much all of the above.  From small gigs, to mid sized clubs.  For smaller gigs I have a 68 Princeton Reverb and bigger gigs a 66 BF Twin. the Mesa was an attempt to do both in one and I'm just not feeling it.  It's great to play by myself cranked at home, but it didn't really play well with the rest of the band.  

Lead singer has a Peavy Classic 30, which is great.  Perhaps a Classic 50 would be worth checking out.  I'm also trying to down size some of my schlepping.  I love playing the Twin, but its heavy as fuck and so is the Mesa.  I think I might be happy to carry a Princeton in one hand and something similarly sized in the other and run one clean and one dirty.  I'm always tinkering with these ideas.  

 

Have you considered a TwoRock Studio Pro 35?

Very compact and relatively light.  Best EQ I’ve ever heard on any amp, and possibly also the best reverb. 

Great overdriven sound and also the perfect clean “pedal platform.”

I’ll bet you’d love it. 

[Chad Fuck 17,691]

Have you considered a TwoRock Studio Pro 35?
Very compact and relatively light.  Best EQ I’ve ever heard on any amp, and possibly also the best reverb. 
Great overdriven sound and also the perfect clean “pedal platform.”
I’ll bet you’d love it. 

I’ll check it out.

Also another merge thread vote. “And just like that, my pedal discussion became an amp discussion.”

[NoRagrets 1,125]

Need help. One of my new used pedals has a huge volume drop. It’s plugged in. When I take it outbid the chain, everything returns to normal. Is it a dud?

[G650 14,269]

33 minutes ago, NoRagrets said:

Need help. One of my new used pedals has a huge volume drop. It’s plugged in. When I take it outbid the chain, everything returns to normal. Is it a dud?

Does it have an LED indicating it's on?

[dcbc 14,492]

2 hours ago, NoRagrets said:

Need help. One of my new used pedals has a huge volume drop. It’s plugged in. When I take it outbid the chain, everything returns to normal. Is it a dud?

What pedal is it?  Can you run it on a battery to see if the power outlet or connection is the issue?

[NoRagrets 1,125]

On 12/6/2022 at 9:38 AM, G650 said:

Does it have an LED indicating it's on?

Yes

On 12/6/2022 at 11:23 AM, dcbc said:

What pedal is it?  Can you run it on a battery to see if the power outlet or connection is the issue?

I could try that, but it’s on my pedal board so it would be a pain in the ass if it has run in battery.