Good day all! Alex here from Florida (Long Island transplant Troy - Amityville). Just wanted to get involved in the forum and start off by asking for recommendations on what everyone uses for gear, specifically effects pedals to get the various sounds we all love and hold dear. I’m using a Prestige Ibanez with Peavey 6505 combo amp. Pedal time…
Thanks,
Alex
I’m a fan of keeping things simple, and the 6505 is a great starting point. In addition to a small amount of reverb, many people like to throw a Phase 90 in front without going too aggressive on the settings. Another interesting relatively simple sound is to use the green channel on the 6505 with a Tubescreamer in front.
Thanks Frylock. I have a tube screamer actually on the way. I might invest in a reverb pedal as well. Thanks again.
Pedals
Overdrive is a must. I love my EHX Crayon as I really like the two EQ controls they help clean up problem frequencies. It completely replaced my BYOC screamer clone on my board. The Wampler Tumnus Deluxe is probably the only pedal that could replace it. For EVH Echoplex preamp or the EXH 5150 OD.
Compressor. Need more sustain on those squealies? Did you already put a brass block on that floyd? Still not enough sustain? You don’t have to be a country chicken picker to have a compressor. Also helps counteract the sustain loss from the noise gate you will invariably need with all these pedals. EHX Tone Corset.
For reverb there are two paths the “I never want to buy another reverb pedal again” so you get the EHX Cathedral, Boss RV-500, or Strymon Big Sky. I’d lean towards the RV-500. For simplicity or pedalboard real estate conservation try the EHX Holy Grail Neo. Personally I’m not a fan of a spring reverb with a distorted shred tone but I need something with a spring setting for when the need to play surf rock arises and a hall setting which is what I prefer for all things metal.
Delay
Like reverb you can go “I want one delay pedal” or get the simplest possible. Boss DD-500 or Strymon TimeLine are the ultimate delays. If you just want analog or tape get the MXR Carbon Copy, Dunlop Echoplex, or Boss Space Echo.
I’d go with the DD 500 since I really like precise tempo setting for playing rounds and fugues.
Looper
This is probably the most overlooked and underappreciated type of pedal but it can help so much with composition and learning licks. I prefer simple for this. For complex stuff I just use a DAW and record stuff. EHX Canyon (can also meet your delay needs), Boss RC-1, TC Ditto.
Phaser
MXR M290 Phase 45. Script setting for the EVH tones, Block setting for the “swooshier” stuff. Set the speed pretty low.
Pitch
Digitech Whammy 5. This is simply one of the most fun pedals out there. Great for experimenting with harmonies. Great for creating pseudo organ sounds with the octave up or down harmonize setting.
Digitech Drop Tuning is really nice for experimenting with tunings on a floyd rose equipped guitar.
Whammy DT if you want both of these. Don’t get a Whammy 4 it isn’t true bypass and it’s a tone black hole.
Noise Gate
ISP Decimator, all the other ones decimate your tone.
Power
MXR DC brick. Voodoo Lab pedal power.
Amps
Do you get decent cleans out of your 6505? I never did. Roland JC-120 or JC-60. Metallica used a JC-120 for “One” and “Fade to Black” Get an amp switcher like a Voodoo Lab Amp Selector. You now have a great palate of sounds.
Incredible. Thank you I will be investigating each of these.
See, I know it’s a bit sacrilegious, but if my pedal budget started getting up over $800, I’d be thinking screw it and just get something like a Helix or Boss GT1000 that lets you have everything in one box with multiple presets.
I’ve never heard of one that was touted by anyone with skill. Seems like they aren’t so good.
A skillful player can make just about any pedal sound good. Big name players play some gear because it’s what they’ve grown accustomed to, and a lot of gear because they have a business relationship with the company that makes it. Using an all-in-one solution makes it harder for a big name player to shill for a bunch of different modestly priced single-purpose pedals from various companies.
And when you move slightly up in price point to rack-mount stuff like Axe-FX, you’ll find it becomes less difficult to find “people with skill” who tout the idea of an “all-in-one” solution.
Do you have any all in one recommendations?
No, I play for fun and use almost no effects. Probably literally any multi-effects unit made in the last 5 years will do in a pinch. Zoom has some sub-$500 units that look very promising, though I haven’t tried them personally. On the ultra-cheap, there’s something like the Zoom G1Xon, though it’s probably not super-durable or particulary easy to use, but the effects themselves are probably fine.
What do you think about all in one pedals like the boss gt-1000 or the line 6 helix?
Oh same. I plan on going Axe Fx III when it comes out.
I don’t have experience with the GT-1000 but the Helix stuff is great. If you just want effects the Fractal FX8 is a better buy though.
I use next to nothing - just a TC Electronics Timeline X4 in the loop of my Mark V. I’m more about getting the amp to sound the way I want it to, rather than using it as a platform for pedals.
The problem with those pedals IMHO, is that it’s a Jack of all Trades, master of none thing.
The OD and distortion tones leave a lot to be desired. But some of the digital Fx aren’t bad at all.
I have the GT100 and it’s pretty good once you dive into the settings and make your own patches. The default patches are ok-ish, they’re more of a starting point for making your own. In my opinion it’s more for a player that needs a bunch of different sounds at a touch, for instance in a cover band, and who doesn’t want to deal with tweaking a bunch a pedals around for every song.
I picked up a Boss BR-80 recently because it’s great for headphone practice, has an 8 track for putting down ideas quickly, and has a slow-downer for learning licks. What’s interesting is that it has almost all the same effects and settings as the GT100! I only pull out the GT100 now if I’m recording into Reaper or going someplace to jam.
Sure to be a mixed bag, depending on what you choose. I like using Peavey’s 6505 and JSX/XXXII models in their Vypyr series modeling amps, and rarely supplementing with the built-in “stomp-box” style effects. Their Plexi modeling seems decent too, though I’m not a connoisseur. I have a couple of old Boss pedals, a Cry-baby and an ancient Boss multieffects and I haven’t touched any of them in years.
Yes, I’m sure there has been a lot of improvement with the newer iterations. My last experience with a multi Fx was the boss GT-10. So that was a while ago.
What do you guys think about using a Line 6 Helix through a 6150+ peavey? Would that be essentially the end all be all for effects ?
I can’t speak to that particular piece of gear.
My opinion only but I’m not generally a fan of these multi-Fx units. My experiences with them have overall not been positive.
I don’t think any piece of gear is “end all, be all”. Our tastes change.