First pedal suggestions!

[zachology]

Hey guys! I got a question for all you. I've been an acoustic player for years, but just recently I bought a used Washburn BT-2 electric from a friend of mine. It's awesome! Not the most expensive guitar in the world, but it plays/feels really well, and I think I'll be able to get a lot out of it. I'm glad I made the switch.

With it I got a small Randall practice amp; RGX15M is the model I believe. I'm not sure if they still manufacture it.

I can't imagine how it will sound with a decent rig, because it sounds pretty amazing even on just the Randall!

The amp has an overdrive switch, gain, volume, middle, treble, and bass controls. That's it.

I was wondering, anyone have any suggestions for a pedal or two I should check out to start? I definitely want to expand my sound.

I know this is a pretty broad question. Perhaps unanswerable for someone else. To help, here's some of my favorite bands/types of music: Radiohead, Coldplay, Explosions in the Sky, Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, Wilco, Sigur Ros, Oasis, etc.

Any ideas? Thanks!!

[marnold***]

Can't go wrong with some variety of Tube Screamer/overdrive. I had duhvoodooman build me a BYOC OD2 that is basically a Tube Screamer with all the popular mods plus a clean boost. His new Zonkin' Yellow Screamer is like the one he made for me but with even more options.

[sunvalleylaw]

I second that suggestion. A good overdrive is a good first, and DVM builds 'em. My first was a used Digitech Bad Monkey, which is a tubescreamer type that can be found very inexpensively used, and it is a good starting point for another option. Or you could get one of Vood's Rabid Rodent pedals, which has several distortion and several overdrive options you can dial in, all in one pedal. It's overdrive is a bit less mid-rangey than a tubescreamer type, but you get distortion and overdrive in one pedal.

[FrankenFretter***]

Although I can't really argue with having an overdrive/distortion unit as the first pedal, I would have to say that since you already have overdrive on the amph, you might consider a stereo chorus pedal. It's a nice way to give your guitar a fuller, lusher sound. And when you use it with 2 amphs...sweet mercy, the sound is HUGE! Just my two cents, which is about what my opinion is worth.

[ibanezjunkie]

if you dont like your amps gain structure, get one of DVMs BYOC builds, but you cant go wrong with a nice wah, alot of fun to muck around with.

chorus, phaser, wah, flanger, envelope filter, compressor, delay, reverb, volume (although for most people these are prety useless).

most modulation, delay or 'verb effects are fun to play with

[duhvoodooman***]

Not that I would ever want to discourage a sale of one of my own pedals (and if you're not too impressed by the overdrive chanel on your new amp, I have several possible cures for you!), but the first pedal I would recommend would be a decent digital reverb. Assuming that your Randall amp doesn't have this as an onboard effect, I find that reverb adds so much ambience/space to your sound that it's (IMO) a must-have effect. A good digital delay pedal can do much the same thing, set to a short "slapback" interval.

The other thing I strongly recommend having, though it isn't an effect per se, is a tuner pedal. Every guitar, cheap or expensive, sounds better when it's properly tuned!

[vroomery]

I'd say of all the modulation effects a delay is probably the one i use the most. Especially if you get a good one that has looping capabilities. I'd go with a good tube screamer first though.

[Monkus]

most of the bands you mentioned above would use some sort of delay or reverb. That might be your 2nd pedal, OD>Delay/Reverb. Boss, Danelectro and DOD you can get relatively inexpensively. Check the for sale (F/S) posts. DVM is culling his herd and has a chorus and a delay (I think) for sale.

Thread here:

Those two matched with an OD would be a sweet starter kit. Beware though GAS murdered the credit card. A little advice: research, google, then research again then wait a day or two before buying.

Cheers! :

[ibanezjunkie]

id recommend the purchase of one of DVMs BYOC overdrives, then a Line 6 Verbzilla. I was watching a pro guitar shop demo of one earlier, and it has a bunch of reverbs and delay and an octave setting i think.

[tunghaichuan***]

Here's a suggestion:

Get a cheap, used multi FX unit. Digitech, Boss and DOD make them, among others. That way you can plug it into your amp and decide what kinds of pedals you like.

When you get some experience using FX, then you can get stomp box versions of the FX you like. Those multi FX units are compact and have lots of different FX and sounds in them, but most players like individual stompboxes better. I know I do.

There are also the Boss ME-20, ME-50 and ME-70 multi FX units. These have most of the popular Boss FX as well as some others. These units are a bit more expensive than the low end Digitech units but sound better.

Of course, getting FX is just the beginning. If you get into electric guitar playing, you're going to need a decent tube amp to run the FX into.

tung

[bigG]

Here's a suggestion:

Get a cheap, used multi FX unit. Digitech, Boss and DOD make them, among others. That way you can plug it into your amp and decide what kinds of pedals you like.

When you get some experience using FX, then you can get stomp box versions of the FX you like. Those multi FX units are compact and have lots of different FX and sounds in them, but most players like individual stompboxes better. I know I do.

There are also the Boss ME-20, ME-50 and ME-70 multi FX units. These have most of the popular Boss FX as well as some others. These units are a bit more expensive than the low end Digitech units but sound better.

Of course, getting FX is just the beginning. If you get into electric guitar playing, you're going to need a decent tube amp to run the FX into.

tung

Agreed. An inexpensive multi-effects unit is probably the way to go (given the bands and type of music you like). Since you already have gain onboard the amp, go for a unit that combines most other common effects, and that might, subjectively, be good enough for you and all you need to buy.

If not, at least it'll give you an idea of what separate effects pedals you might wanna buy separately and which ones you don't want.

[duhvoodooman***]

Here's a suggestion:

Get a cheap, used multi FX unit. Digitech, Boss and DOD make them, among others. That way you can plug it into your amp and decide what kinds of pedals you like.

When you get some experience using FX, then you can get stomp box versions of the FX you like. Those multi FX units are compact and have lots of different FX and sounds in them, but most players like individual stompboxes better. I know I do.

There are also the Boss ME-20, ME-50 and ME-70 multi FX units. These have most of the popular Boss FX as well as some others. These units are a bit more expensive than the low end Digitech units but sound better.

Of course, getting FX is just the beginning. If you get into electric guitar playing, you're going to need a decent tube amp to run the FX into.

tung

Agreed. An inexpensive multi-effects unit is probably the way to go (given the bands and type of music you like). Since you already have gain onboard the amp, go for a unit that combines most other common effects, and that might, subjectively, be good enough for you and all you need to buy.

If not, at least it'll give you an idea of what separate effects pedals you might wanna buy separately and which ones you don't want.

Yeah, that is quite a good idea! As Tung says, you may tire of many of the effects quickly, because these multi-FX units tend to be quite sterile & synthetic sounding. But it gives you a good opportunity to check them out and hear which effects appeal to your ear and which leave you cold.