Where do i start?

[vroomery]

First of all I want to say hello to the forum via the effects section. I am new to this forum so I try to be as respectful as possible since newbie know it alls are really annoying.

I'm not new to the guitar by any means, but in the past I've been all too complacent with the typical multi-effects boxes that line 6 (I still have my 1x12 flextone 2nd generation and pedal board if anyone wants it!) has become famous for. In the last 4 months I have sold my ibanez ssh that was in really crappy shape and bought a used but like new highway one tele. Then I acquired a fender hot rod deluxe which I am also loving at the moment with my tele. My big question is where do I go from here. I really want to get into the pedal board idea where you have more pedals that each do one thing but do it really well. At some point I want to get a fulltone fulldrive2, but I have the footswitch that came with the amp that is doing an ok job of a primary overdrive and a lead boost to the overdrive. I also want to get a really good delay pedal. Probably going to end up going with the boss dd-20 if I can make myself wait long enough to get the money. I also want to get a compressor pedal of some kind. I am leaning towards the mx4 dyna comp right now b/c is so effective and at a good price. Somewhere down the road I also want to get a tremelo and probably a volume pedal.

Basically I just want some outside opinions on what is most important to start with since I have a limited budget. Fulldrive2, DD-20, Dyna Comp, Tremelo, Volume?

Also am I missing something that you guys really value in your pedal board setup that could be beneficial to me? I just really want some suggestions before i start spending money on stuff. Thanks for the input.

-Vroomery

[SuperSwede]

Hi Vroomery!

Welcome to the fret.net!

[duhvoodooman***]

Welcome to TheFret! Please stop by the Fret Player's forum and introduce yourself there.

A good overdrive pedal like the Fulldrive2 and a capable delay pedal are definitely good starting points. Depending on what you like to play, some type of modulation pedal (phaser, flanger, chorus, vibrato) is a good addition to the tonal arsenal. And don't forget a decent wah pedal--more fun than a clown on fire!

[Robert****]

Yeah, as mentioned, it depends on what kind of music you play. Delays are great fun, but if you play old school blues, you probably don't need it, for example.

Duhvoodooman here makes a wicked tube screamer type of pedal that we love.
I'd say number one thing is such a pedal, whether it's by Fulltone or someone else. There are so many good ones out there these days. For a good sounding cheapie, try the Danelectro FAB small dinky plastic Overdrive or Distortion pedals. They sound great! Not good for gigs though, too small and plasticky.

[Spudman***]

Vroomery

Welcome to the pedal junkies forum. lol

I have a Fulldrive 2 (and HRDX) and I'll tell you for starting out pick up a Digitech Bad Monkey. I can pretty much duplicate the sound of the Fulldrive with either the Monkey or Digitech Tone Driver. There is a slight difference in the feel (touch) but not enough that I'm going to suggest right off the bat to go spend $130 on a Fulldrive when a monkey can be had for 1/4 that price. The monkey is a little more tonally versatile too since it has a separate Bass and Treble control and the Fulldrive doesn't.

Other than the great pedals that our esteemed Voodooman makes which are mostly overdrive type pedals, I would suggest that for the most amazing distortions check ino the Radial Tonebone Classic or Hot British pedals. Pricey but oh so worth it.

[sunvalleylaw]

Welcome Vroomery! I am relatively new to guitar (1+ year or so) and have obtained all the pedals in my sig line below in the last year, after research here. I really like the Bad Monkey, and other than the Behringer PB-100 that I leave on all the time, and the tuner, it is the one I rely on the most. I like my Boss Chorus too, but am not that proficient at using it since I am still developing my chops. Feel free to ask any specifc questions you have about what I have.

[duhvoodooman***]

Yeah, an overdrive pedal is a great place to start, esp. for rock & blues. Several excellent choices have been mentioned already, including my hardly-original-but-wicked-good-sounding ZYS, which is basically a highly modified, handmade TS-808 clone. You can easily spend $150 - $200 or even more on a good overdrive, but there are some amazing deals out there on inexpensive OD pedals, as has been menioned here. The Digitech Bad Monkey may be the best of them ($40 - $50 new), but you can get a very decent overdrive pedal even cheaper than that. On a lark, I recently bought a Behringer TO100 Tube Overdrive brand new on eBay for $16, and it's an amazingly good sounding little pedal. With a plastic casing and flimsy knobs, it's probably not "gig-worthy", but it's more than serviceable for the hobby player on a budget.

[vroomery]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm probably gonna look into the first purchase in a few weeks maybe just kinda testing the waters and trying things out before I put money down on it. I'll probably start with the distortion/od pedal first i suppose. I really like using delay since a lot of what I play is the more modern church music. I'm also thinking about a noise suppressor since i do have a tele running through a tube amp. Theres quite a bit of hum even at low volumes though so I know it really needs to be shielded properly (the hum goes away when I get around 10 or 15 ft away from the amp and other electronics). Thanks again for the suggestions.

[Robert****]

For the hum problem - get noiseless pickups! I have DiMarzio Virtual T's in my Squier Tele and it's working out really great.

[duhvoodooman***]

....I'm also thinking about a noise suppressor since i do have a tele running through a tube amp. Theres quite a bit of hum even at low volumes though so I know it really needs to be shielded properly (the hum goes away when I get around 10 or 15 ft away from the amp and other electronics).

Boss NS-2. AMAZING pedal, unbelievably effective. I do most of my playing in a 12x12 room, so I can't get 15 feet away from my amp! This pedal cures the hum problem completely. I can lean my Tele or Strat against the amp and not get any hum when this puppy is running!

[vroomery]

I've been thinking about that too. We'll see. I'll probably try shielding first b/c its pretty cheap and not then I might spring for some new pickups.

[sunvalleylaw]

Boss NS-2. AMAZING pedal, unbelievably effective. I do most of my playing in a 12x12 room, so I can't get 15 feet away from my amp! This pedal cures the hum problem completely. I can lean my Tele or Strat against the amp and not get any hum when this puppy is running!

Does it "suck tone" as is discussed about pedal chains? I get some signficant noise when I turn on my Boss DS-1. I was thinking about putting the NS-2 on my B-day list.

[duhvoodooman***]

Does it "suck tone" as is discussed about pedal chains?

Not that I've noticed. I'll let Tone chime in here, too. He turned me on to the NS-2, and it's a thing of beauty....

[Tone2TheBone]

Not that I've noticed. I'll let Tone chime in here, too. He turned me on to the NS-2, and it's a thing of beauty....

...and I'll refer back to Justa since he's the one that suggested I get one. With my pedals, and I have a bunch of them now, the NS-2 does not suck tone. It probably won't with your pedals Steve and if anything you'll be so glad you got one because your stuff AND guitar will be dead silent from here on out. The NS-2 is a beautiful thing indeed.

[Justaguyin_nc]

The NS-2 is a beautiful thing indeed.

+1.... best pedal I have bought to date.. makes them all worth having.. noise free till you need the noise.. psssst make sure you use the LOOP in it...



As to which pedal to get first.. any over drive to fatten the sound up... so many sounds can be had from them.. making you feel like your actually doing something..

Boss BD-2 is an excellent start... (I keep trying to sell mine.. then changing my mind.. it just sounds good on its own.. and to me thats stock even.)

ProCo Rat is right up there.. imho, very clean to muff sounding badarse.. the tone knob can do wonders..

[tunghaichuan***]

Boss BD-2 is an excellent start... (I keep trying to sell mine.. then changing my mind.. it just sounds good on its own.. and to me thats stock even.)

We should form a club, you and I seem to be the only ones who like the BD stock

For my use the BD has kind of a nasty high end, I find I have to roll it off with the tone control to keep the pedal from sounding nasty.

tung

[vroomery]

I've thought about the ns-2 as well. I was really surprised with how well it worked when i tried it in a shop one time. The only thing that kinda gets me a little bit is the weird kinda fade in when you have your first strike. I think before i breakdown and buy a pedal for it, i'll try shielding as best as i can and then go for the pedal if that doesn't work. We'll see how it works out when the money is actually there to spend.

[vroomery]

it looks like i'm probably going to be going for a delay pedal first. I already have boss's good 'ol ds-1 and have a drive channel on my amp, so i figure i can make do with that for now until i have the money to get an overdrive pedal. I'm not a big fan of buying versions of lesser quality before you buy into the really nice stuff, so i think i'm just gonna go for the boss dd-20 because of its versatility and 4 preset channels. I'm really excited to start piecing this together. I've spent way too long in amp modeling line 6 world and i'm ready for the real deal!

[Jimi75]

Hello and welcome Vroomery. You will love this place.

Sorry if I missed something, but it would be a clear advantage knowing which kind of music you play.

I assume that you were "fat" up with the digital loads of sound the Line6 delivers, so you wanna get basic and direct and pure

I suggest you start with two simple pedals and see how far you get with them. Additions like a delay pedal for example are often devices that are soon dusted and removed from a pedal board. Your amp has a nice reverb that should deliver a clear and wide headroom.

The Tubescreamer in any form by any good maker is a brilliant and worth addition to your amp. Creating a third channel, crunchy sound, giving your licks that last kind of bit you missed before, this type of pedal does the job, no matter which music you play. Furthermore, a pedal that everybody needs is a wah pedal. Get a standard Dunlop Cry Baby at ebay and it makes you smile.

If you do not go for the Cry Baby spend the money on a good tuner pedal, which you definitely need when you play live.