Mr. Tee

Ok... I met with my band members for like... A half hour. They were over here and we were just talking. We definitly want to start gigging at some point in the future and we're all pretty excited. I want know... What effects should I concern myself with?

I'm already on the market for a compressor pedal... When the time comes to pick the tube amp of my dreams I'm going to get a Boss DS-1 for the distortion needs... But what other effects might be good to have on a pedalboard? Here's a short list off the top of my head:

Reverb
Delay
Chorus
Volume pedal
Wah
Noise Gate
Overdrive/Boost pedal of some sort?


Any suggestions I'll consider.

I'll tell you a little bit about my band... We want to make original songs and MAYBE cover some classic rock songs to get off the ground. Like AC DC, Ted Nouget, The Beatles, etc...

I'm not concerned on matching exact tone of bands if we choose to cover, if we can play it I'm happy.

And as for originals... I'm kind of moving away from the high gain thick chunky distortion and moving towards a more medium gain melodic style with clean guitar/acoustic. Our second guitarist is pretty much on the same gound I'm moving towards only a bit more clean guitar. Out drummer... He can keep time great but he says he wants a double bass setup to get a great drum pattern going when us guitarists get into it.

So... To sum everything up...

As far as effects go what would be some "must haves" if you will; if any, out there? If there are no effects that really stick out I'll just go out and test a few and see what I can use.

And as far as band playing goes... For covering I'm not after a specific tone. But for originals... I'm after a warm gainy tone for leads, and a nice crunch when I kick on the distortion. Not crazy gain to the point where sounds like... Well... You all remember my first tune I posted right? Yeah... That... Haha.

I know this is a lot to absorb... But I'm doing a lot on my end so... The littlest things will go a long way for me (and my band )

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Improbable Joe

If you buy a good delay, it can mimic chorus and reverb to a certain degree.

There's a couple of pedals I would suggest you try out, either a Vox Satchurator or a Visual Sound Route 66. The Satchurator has a "More" button that is like cranking the drive knob up, which could handle the crunchy rhythm/warm lead thing. The Route 66 is a Tubescreamer-style overdrive with a built-in compressor, and you can use the compressor and overdrive separately or both at once, depending on your needs.

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Mr. Tee

Hmmm... The route 66 sounds interesting... I'll have to track one down.

The delay chorus effect seems a bit strange to me... I understand the reverb because delay and reverb are both echo effects. But... I'll have to get deeper in on this one.

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Improbable Joe

Chorus is sort of short delay/reverb with a slight pitch shift.

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The posts of the members and administration of the Guitar Forums website are for entertainment and educational purposes ONLY, and should not be taken as professional or legal advice. There is no guarantee of the accuracy of any post, implied or otherwise, and you act on the advice posted at your own risk. No legal responsibility for the consequences of the actions taken on that advice can be assigned to the members, administration, or owners of Guitar Forums.

Mr. Tee

Hmmm... That's interesting...

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classicrock

I think there is always a spot for a Phase Shifter. I like the new MXR reissue script or for a little more over the top the EVH. Also don't ever underestimate the power of the Big Muff Pi. Pros from Steve Howe to David Gilmoure to John Frusciante and too many more to name all use the BMP.

stackny

I'd say the things you need to consider are what you want to have engaged, when, and is it realistic to use them all at once. Sometimes, I'm friggin tap dancing and it can get confusing amidst a song. I've got changes where delay and cleans have to go off and distortion and EQ have to go on, while I'm getting off the mic, and also hopping on the wah all within a bar or 2. One wrong move, and I'm toast. If I accidentally turn the EQ and cleans on at the same time, I get a very loud overdriven sound (a very undesirable sound being my volume spikes up to about double what its usually at). If the delay gets left on, it tends to effect my distortion channel a lot more than my clean channel because I run it in front of distortion because I've had issues with my effects loop. This can create undesirable sounds also. Take things like that into consideration before you buy too much. I still want a phaser, but only for really ambient things that I most likely won't have to be tap dancing much for anyways. I eventually want a volume pedal for cool swells but can't really justify needing one at this point. Probably a chorus someday to thicken up leads.

IMO, start with what you really NEED and then delve into effects that tend to be more subtle. I'd say get to the point where your satisfied with your cleans, distortion, and leads and then get things like a volume pedal, chorus, etc...You might be surprised what you don't need or want anymore when you're satisfied with that. I've been pretty surprised myself. Just a thought--the other guitarist in my band has a $200 chorus pedal but struggles to be heard on leads because he hasn't invested in a boost of some sort yet.

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Mr. Tee

My cleans and leads are fine. I have a Boss GE-7 and I boosted my distortion pretty good. My next step is to plug a Boss SD-1 and a DS-1 into the Egnator Renegade I've been GASing for and see how it responds. Based on what I find... I'll make a checklist. A compressor is definatley going on that list.

I don't see myself using effects like phaser, flanger, tremolo, or any effect like that... I just don't like them.

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Silimtao

I agree with what Stack said. Recently, I've been thinking about my stupid pedals, and I though I'd never say this- I've been thinking of a good multi-effects pedal. Not a GT-10 where you have to read a manual to program everything; I don't have the patience for that crap. I'm thinking of a multi-effects pedal that will take regular pedals also, where you can kill the mfx. But..since you asked, I'd go with a good compression pedal. The right one can act like a boost pedal.

But yeah, def. what Stack said. Get what you need. You may find something like a flanger really cool, until you realize you liked it because you heard it on one tune and thought it cool.

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Mr. Tee

Hmmm... A multi-effect board might not be a bad idea... But it also might be too much. I only want effects I'll use. The whacky effects are pretty much useless.

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