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What Pedal Should I Get Next???

Thumbing My WayThumbing My Way Posts: 1,073
edited January 2006 in Musicians and Gearheads
I just have a decent little Traynor practice amp right now that gets the job done and i've been playing for just over a year.

I got some lesson sessions for christmas and am pretty excited for those but have so far come pretty far on my own.

Right now i have the Boss DS-1, which seems like a good distortion pedal, especially for a beginner.

Anyways, I've been looking at Wah's very seriously now for a while and just can't decide on which one to get.

Is this a good call??? I've got the distortion, but what "should" come next, I think the wah would be a good call but you guys would know better :)

Any ideas or suggestions would be great :)
"I Miss You Already!!!!!"

"Sorry is the fool who trades his love for high-rise rent, Seems the more you make equals the loneliness you get"

.NJD.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    wahs are fun. if you go that route, a basic dunlop crybaby (there are a few different crybaby models) would probably be fine for a starting point. personally, i prefer the vox wahs but hell, they're all made by dunlop anyway.

    delays are fun as well.
  • dont_go_on_medont_go_on_me Posts: 877
    wahs are great if you know how to use them (which i struggle with to be honest). If you're up to playing solos and stuff, a wah wouldn't be a bad idea since it really adds a voice to notes you play (it's basically almost an instrument in itself). But if you're still at the stage where you're more of rhythm player, then maybe go with a different effect.

    Look hard at a nice overdrive pedal. It's all personal preference, but to me an overdrive is the most important aspect to a person's tone. If you're overdrive is garbage, your entire tone will be garbage. You've got yourself a distortion, now get yourself an overdrive.

    Couple questions: How much money are you willing to spend? Is there a certain players tone that you'd like to emulate? What type of music do you play?
    "I'll do whatever the song dictates - if it doesn't need a real lead, then I won't do one. But if it does, then I'll fuckin' go off." - Mike

    "Japan is awesome; the fans there knew all the words to all the songs...at least phonetically." - Stone

    "I know this song so well, I can smoke a cigarette, have a drink, brush my teeth, take a shit, and mow the lawn while singing it. But I'll only be doing a couple of those things during this version." - EV
  • Thumbing My WayThumbing My Way Posts: 1,073
    don't_go_on_me wrote:

    Couple questions: How much money are you willing to spend? Is there a certain players tone that you'd like to emulate? What type of music do you play?

    I love Mike!!!

    I love his tone so much, Hendrix, Jimmy Page,....then again, Angus.

    I even really like Tom Morello's.

    Not really to worried about the price right now, i know i tried the Boss Overdrive pedal when trying out my DS-1 but can't really remember the sounds.

    What's the difference between Distortion and Overdrive?
    "I Miss You Already!!!!!"

    "Sorry is the fool who trades his love for high-rise rent, Seems the more you make equals the loneliness you get"

    .NJD.
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    Overdrive is essentially the sound of power tubes being pushed past nominal output to clip. It provides a bit of "sag" and sounds very crunchy one of the things that makes tube amps sound so good and expressive

    Distortion I have heard described in various ways, think of it as more agressive than overdrive, the speakers working harder the preamp tubes are slammed you even mix in a little of the power tubes as well at its best. The best way to think of distortion as a beginner is probably overdrives angry cousin. It's thicker and nastier than Overdrive. If you are looking at a Marshall Triple Super Lead the Green channel is Clean to light Overdrive. The Yellow channel is crunchy overdrive and the red channel is distortion.

    Fuzz is generally another animal altoegther. Fuzz is similar to distortion but the character is different.


    A wah is a great choice and the regular dunlop crybaby or a morley or anything in that 70 dollar price range will do you nice for a while.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • remshellremshell Posts: 6
    I started with first a guitar & amp.

    then a volume pedal - this is probably the most overlooked "effect" a guitarist can have. Of course you can use your volume knobs, but they can get a bit slippy in a gig (and you can normally rotate them with your little finiger).

    That "violining" sound you can achieve with a volume pedal is always impressive-sounding if you get it right. You'll find plenty of 1970's era guitarists who can happily perform with just amp-git-volume pedal (Steve Howe comes to mind immediately). My current volume pedal is a Vox.

    Next I had a most unsexy pedal, a compressor/limiter, but I still have one in my chain, and it is my favourite pedal. If you have a bolt-on Strat-style guitar without the trem blocked, you find yourself probably lacking sustain. A compressor will give you sustain, but also equals-out your notes - great for rhythm playing as well as boosted solos. Most folk put a compressor at the front of their chain.

    The next pedal was a wah.

    As it is I normally get away with just the volume pedal, but just because I'm hopeless coping with lots of pedals on stage.

    Everything else after those above aren't essential. With a powerful valve amp and a venue where is can be turned-up (so you don't need a distortion pedal) you should be able to get away with a compressor and wah - the volume pedal is only if you would use it. Phasers, flangers, octave dividers and so forth are wonderful to have but shouldn't be overused. Find a good basic tone (you might find it useful to try blocking the wah in a fixed position) and then use F/X just for special occasions.
  • enharmonicenharmonic Posts: 1,917
    Depends on what kind of player you are. If you're playing leads, a wah would be great. Vox wah's are nice and they won't break the bank. :)

    If you're a rhythm player, I'd go for a delay
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  • Thumbing My WayThumbing My Way Posts: 1,073
    Now you guys got me thinkin' an Overdrive.....:o

    I looked at the Boss SD -1 and the OD - 1 (difference??)

    And i'm thinking now too that i should have got their OS - 2, the Distortion/Overdrive pedal instead of having 2, or is there more control with the 2??

    I just started looking at the Ibanez TS9 as well because it seems very popular.

    How does that compare to the Boss ones??

    Thanks again :)
    "I Miss You Already!!!!!"

    "Sorry is the fool who trades his love for high-rise rent, Seems the more you make equals the loneliness you get"

    .NJD.
  • Thumbing My WayThumbing My Way Posts: 1,073
    10 charc (double..sorry)
    "I Miss You Already!!!!!"

    "Sorry is the fool who trades his love for high-rise rent, Seems the more you make equals the loneliness you get"

    .NJD.
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    Tube Screamers are useless unless you are using a tube amp. Go with maybe a boss SD-1 that would serve you well, the modded ones sound great too.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
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