Make a list - pedals that are....

Mark Wein

Mark Wein

Grand Poobah
Staff member
or maybe 3 groupings.

1. Pedals that are essential

2. Pedals that are helpful but you could get along without in a pinch

3. Pedals that you really don't need but keep around because they're fun.



For me (out of my current inventory)


1. Pedals that are essential



RC Booster

LTD SR

Tuner (Sonic Research Turbo Tuner in my case since it has the Feiten Offets for my Suhr)

Carl Martin Plexitone



2. Pedals that are helpful but you could get along without in a pinch

Omicron Chorus

Eventide Timefactor

MXR Phase 90

TC Electronics Hall of Fame Reverb

Fulltone Wah

Barber TonePress


3. Pedals that you really don't need but keep around because they're fun.

Guyatone Wah Rocker

MKII - Home built via Telecaster911's project thread




If I could only chose one pedal from category 2 it would be the reverb I think. I discovered that it was very helpful on my low volume gig to give things a little depth without over effecting my sound.
 
oh, you mean my pedals. ok.

essential:

amp footswitch
tuner

qualification - if the amp footswitch is for reverb and tremolo, then the essential pedal is my Double Rocket Drive. if the amp footswitch is for distortion, then the essential pedal is my Jacques Prisoner Delay

helpful:
Subdecay Quasar DLX
EHX LPB-1

fun:
Way Huge Angry Troll
MI Audio Tube Zone
Mojo Hand Colossus
Catalinbread Valcoder
Eventide Pitchfactor
ThroBak sToneBender
Foxrox Paradox TZF
HBE Medicine Bawl Wah
 
I just made the realization over the last few weeks that if I had just the stuff that I like to use for my own playing I'd have a much smaller pedalboard.
 
1. Pedals that are essential

Xotic EP
Xotic RC
Hermida Zendrive
TC Polytune
Wampler Ego Compressor - Country music only

2. Pedals that are helpful but you could get along without in a pinch

Hall of Fame Reverb
Flashback Delay
TC Chorus
Xotic BB
Xotic AC

3. Pedals that you really don't need but keep around because they're fun.

Crybaby Wah
Phase 90
EB Volume Pedal

Lots of others as well but they are different types of overdrives and distortions, etc.
 
I don't have that many pedals to start with. But I am finding I could theoretically use three to four OD pedals on the board. I need about 5 shades of drive during my sets....


Essential...(agreeing with Howie here)
Tuner
Amp channel switch

Helpful...

EHX LPB-1
Fulltone OCD
Boss Bluesdriver

Fun..I really only use theses pedals on one or two songs per night...
EHX Neo Clone
Boss DD-3 Delay
 
Mark Wein said:
This alone is where things start to multiply when you do the rock cover band thing.
Click to expand...

likewise, my typical setup is usually Quasar -> Rocket Drive -> Colossus -> Prisoner -> LPB. with the Rocket Drive, i've been running the B side with the drive at about noon, and riding my volume knob. the A side (there's no difference between them, it's just for illustrative purposes) i have with the gain down to goose either the B or the Colossus. then the LPB is on the end for a solo boost, which of course makes the amp distort a little too.
 
Denverdave said:
Seriously....I run into everything from the bare edge of breakup to the edge of hard rock/metal (and occasionally over that edge).
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I spend quite a bit of time using pedals but volume knobbing in the right amount of gain too. Sometimes it depends on how loud I can or can't run my amp altough since I've gotten the Badger with power scaling it hasn't been as big of a deal. I still do it a bit though.
 
This is pretty easy with my current rig. Probably even cheating for an exercise like this.

1. Essential
Line 6 HD500 - amp models, modulation, dirt, pitch shift, wah, everything else I need to do my cover gig.

2. Pedals that are helpful but you could get along without in a pinch
BB Preamp - to boost single coil guitars and split humbuckers so they are at similar levels to my HBs

3. Pedals that you really don't need but keep around because they're fun.
Mojo Pedals Klone - It gives a nice sparkle and punch that helps the guitar cut through and also makes the Line 6 sound more amp-like IMO
Timmy Overdrive - This one could be easily replaced by an overdrive in the Line6, but I like having options.
Washburn Soloist Distortion - I just love this distortion. I've gotten pretty close to it in the Line 6 but not quite there.
MI Audio Neo Fuzz - The fuzz models in the Line 6 are good, but this has an organic sound that makes me smile.

Probably another 30 pedals that just sit on the floor and aren't currently on a board. :embarrassed:
 
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Mark Wein said:
This alone is where things start to multiply when you do the rock cover band thing.
Click to expand...

Three pedals - BB, Zen, RC

7 combinations of sounds.

1 - BB
2 - Zen
3 - RC
4 - BB+Zen
5 - BB+RC
6 - Zen+Rc
7 - BB+Zen+RC
 
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It really depends on what amp I'm playing through.

For a single channel amp, I have to have an OD pedal and an EQ pedal.

For my channel switching amps I can get by with just the amp's footswitch and an EQ pedal.

Since the VHT head has a footswitchable graphic EQ, I could conceivably gig with just the amp's footswitch.

Taking that into account, I'll say the following.

Essential:

Barber Direct Drive Super Sport
MXR 6 band EQ

Like to have on the board:

Hardwire Delay
Hardwire Reverb
EVH Phase 90

Keep around for fun:

Everything else.
 
Essential:

Turbo Tuner



Like / Pinch:

Holy Grail Reverb (provided the amp doesn't have reverb)
Wah



Keep around for Fun:

Howie. :helper:
 
Maybe I missed it, but has anybody put together a list of the "Essential Pedals," not by brand, but by type? I mean, if you're just starting out, and you don't have a lot of cash, what are the first pedals you should buy, by type. A distortion pedal? A reverb pedal? A fuzz pedal? There are so many choices...
 
ptrott said:
Maybe I missed it, but has anybody put together a list of the "Essential Pedals," not by brand, but by type? I mean, if you're just starting out, and you don't have a lot of cash, what are the first pedals you should buy, by type. A distortion pedal? A reverb pedal? A fuzz pedal? There are so many choices...
Click to expand...

that's really difficult to say, because there's such a wide variance within categories. it really comes down to what you play, how you play, and the equipment you play through. saying "i want to sound like Guitar Hero X" only gets you so far because everybody plays different and different pedals play differently through different rigs.
 
1. Pedals that are essential

TS808
Tuner
MXR Dynacomp

2. Pedals that are helpful but you could get along without in a pinch

Holy Grail Plus Reverb
DD-20 GigaDelay

3. Pedals that you really don't need but keep around because they're fun.

Crybaby Wah
Phase 90
EB Volume Pedal
 
Essential:
-Sonic Edge J and J Overdrive (For Lead Boosts)
-Boss TU-3 (Gotta stay in tune!)

Helpful:
-Visual Sound Liquid Chorus (I almost put this in essential because I use it so often, but I could go without it)
-Snarling Dogs Blue Doo (I use this for a slight gain boost if my playing is kinda sloppy that night)

Fun:
-Ibanez Airplane Flanger (I use it to make funny noises)
-MXR Carbon Copy (Just for some extra flavor here and there, not a big deal)
 
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