Effects Pedals

J

johndobell

Guest
Hello All,
I have a new American Standard Strat with a Blues Junior Amp. I am just becoming acustomed to the miriad of differnet tonal and pick-up settings but would like to add a pedal.
Obviously I am concentrating mostly on blues at present but like to play a bit of other stuff ranging from Eagles to G n R's. Is there an opinion as to a great all-round pedal as a first up addition to my package?
Have read a bit about the BOSS Blues Driver BD2 for example which seemingly would do what I'm trying to achieve.
Thanks for any help that you guys can offer.
Cheers! JD
 

puakodiverdan

Blues Newbie
Hello John you have a nice set up there, the Boss BD2 pedal would be a fantastic addition for you I have had one for years and it is one of my favorite pedals, I had it for a couple years and then sent it in and had a keeley mod done to it and I will never let it go.
 

Rancid Rumpboogie

Blues Mangler
My vote goes to the Virtual Sound Double Trouble pedal.  Fantastic for blues, but will cover just about anything for classic rock as well.

You might check out the "Show us your pedal board / effects" thread up in the sticky notes to get a look at what others are using.

I would also strongly suggest that you find demo videos on Youtube for any/all of the pedals you are considering and listen to them.  Don't just read the ad print, because they all say they're the best thing since sliced bread.  There are well over 500 "distortion" pedals on the market, and half of them are "blues pedals".  Asking which one is "best" is futile.  Ask 50 people, you get 50 opinions.  You just have to listen and use your ears.  You very well might find 5 or 6 that all sound identical to you ... then pick the one with the most appealing paint job or whatever.  But use your ears and pick one that sounds good to you.

Also, if you're like the rest of us, you're likely to turn into a pedal junky.  The odds of buying your first dirt pedal and never trying another one are about zero.
 

piebaldpython

Blues Junior
What RR said is right.......go and try them.  However, if you want to get your feet wet and not spend a ton of bucks....try the Digitech Bad Monkey for $50.00.  Highly regarded inexpensive pedal.

A great pedal with lots of varied voices.....most certainly not a one trick pony.
 

Chuck

Moderator (One of the Men in Black!)
Staff member
I think the Boss BD2 is an awesome choice for your first pedal. It was first pedal. I also ordered the Keeley Modded BD2, but I don't think you need to get concerned with Mods right away. The Standard BD2 is a great pedal!

Get ready for all of the doors your first pedal will likely open! [smiley=beer.gif]
 

EJG

Central NJ
What RR said is right.......go and try them.  However, if you want to get your feet wet and not spend a ton of bucks....try the Digitech Bad Monkey for $50.00.  Highly regarded inexpensive pedal.

A great pedal with lots of varied voices.....most certainly not a one trick pony.
+1
My son plays out every week. He has a bunch of pedals on his board but probably uses his Bad Monkey more than any of them. I can't tell the difference between it and my Tubescreamer.
 

GuitarGeorge

Blues Newbie
Actually I am planning on testing a few pedals on my Blues JR tonight to see which ones make the cut for BGU live 2013, so I will give you the results of the shoot out.

I plan on trying: MXR BadASS distortion, BD2, Fulltone drive 2, and Zen drive.

I will let you know the winner and use my Strat.
 

brent

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
Just to throw another idea out there: have you thought about a multi-effects pedal. I have a Boss ME-25. Yes, the preset settings are mostly worthless, but you can tweak the settings and get some decent sounds. Plus, it lets you get a feel for many different types of effects. This way you can get an idea of what types of effects you like to use and in what combinations. Then you can set out later to buy better quality examples of those effects. That is the route I have taken. I intend to buy some effects pedals in the future and thanks to my Boss ME-25, I have a better idea of what I want. Good luck!
 

Marv

I play 'err' guitar.
A few people here have been saying build your sound with your effects, then any clean amp can be used to provide the volume.

While that can certainly done with a number of individual stomp boxes, modelling is much better on multi-effects devices these days, so I'll cast another vote for multi-effects here.

The more I play around with stuff, the more I appreciate the built-in effects pedals and amp models of my Fender Mustangs.

I can custom-tailor my internal "pedal board" for a particular song and save the preset by song title.  This saves having to remember exactly how I like to set up my pedals when I play "Smoke on the Water", which is usually different from when I want to play "The Thrill is Gone".  ;D

I can completely shift gears with a couple of footswitch clicks.  I can even have a couple of presets ("Smoke Rhythm" and "Smoke Solo") next to each other for use during a song. 

With a traditional pedal board full of stomp boxes, in the heat of the moment playing live, all I really get is "on/off" for each effect with little chance of crafting the individual settings for each pedal by song.  I guess it depends on how much you want to vary your tone from song to song and how many pedals you want to stomp or knobs to twist to do it.

For home use and recording, the Mustang itself is sufficient.  Gigging, I can use the Mustang III directly or make it my effects engine and port its preamp output over to my large Fender tube amp, which is just there to provide sheer volume and ambience.  ::)

If I were shopping today, I'd probably buy a used Mustang Floor for $130 and plug it into my Fender Super (or a Blues Jr.) when I wanted volume.

I do have a BD-2 and a couple of other pedals, but they usually sit collecting dust.  Nonetheless, the BD-2 is a great first pedal for use with your BJ.

Consider buying used from Guitar Center and you can play with pedals a bit.  Any you really don't like, you can return within 30 days and try something else.
 

FishKiller

Blues Newbie
If you like Funk & Jazz, Reggae, Grateful Dead, I would suggest the Pigtronix's Envlope/Phaser, it's like 2 pedals in one, and quite a few tones avalible.

Carlos
 

Silicon Valley Tom

It makes me happpy to play The Blues!
Let your budget be your guide!

I like the Keeley Luna Overdrive.  I bought it because I liked the sounds it produces and did not want to buy one of each made by every manufacturer.    :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCGwJYIsp7Q

Tom
 

gpower

Blues Junior
The BD-2 is a great option and works well with the BJr. Maybe the most popular pedal on the forum. I had one and did really like it. I have 3 OD pedals and the most versatile is a VooDooLabs Sparkle Drive. On a budget? Check out the pedals at GFS.
 

Rancid Rumpboogie

Blues Mangler
A few people here have been saying build your sound with your effects, then any clean amp can be used to provide the volume.

While that can certainly done with a number of individual stomp boxes, modelling is much better on multi-effects devices these days, so I'll cast another vote for multi-effects here.

The more I play around with stuff, the more I appreciate the built-in effects pedals and amp models of my Fender Mustangs.

I can custom-tailor my internal "pedal board" for a particular song and save the preset by song title.  This saves having to remember exactly how I like to set up my pedals when I play "Smoke on the Water", which is usually different from when I want to play "The Thrill is Gone".  ;D

I can completely shift gears with a couple of footswitch clicks.  I can even have a couple of presets ("Smoke Rhythm" and "Smoke Solo") next to each other for use during a song. 

With a traditional pedal board full of stomp boxes, in the heat of the moment playing live, all I really get is "on/off" for each effect with little chance of crafting the individual settings for each pedal by song.  I guess it depends on how much you want to vary your tone from song to song and how many pedals you want to stomp or knobs to twist to do it.

For home use and recording, the Mustang itself is sufficient.  Gigging, I can use the Mustang III directly or make it my effects engine and port its preamp output over to my large Fender tube amp, which is just there to provide sheer volume and ambience.  ::)

If I were shopping today, I'd probably buy a used Mustang Floor for $130 and plug it into my Fender Super (or a Blues Jr.) when I wanted volume.

I do have a BD-2 and a couple of other pedals, but they usually sit collecting dust.  Nonetheless, the BD-2 is a great first pedal for use with your BJ.

Consider buying used from Guitar Center and you can play with pedals a bit.  Any you really don't like, you can return within 30 days and try something else.
I have just two distortion boxes on my pedal board ... a Virtual Sound Double Trouble and a VHT V-Drive.  Three stomp switches.  And a Pigtronix Class A CLEAN boost pedal.  Four switches.  A dozen different variations of distortion depending on the combination I have on.  All instantly accessable.  No fumbling, no tweaking, no remembering ... just look and stomp.  And that pedal board works exactly the same way regardless what amp I'm using.  I am NOT into multi-effects.   The effects in my Mustang III are never used ... except the reverb ... all of my amps have excellent reverbs.  The different amp models, however, ARE used.

And no band will ever have to wait for me while I scroll up and down in my patch list to find "Smoke on the Water" or "The Thrill is Gone".
 
J

johndobell

Guest
Hi Guys,
Thanks for all the input. Extremely helpful. It would seem that the general consensus surrounds 4 options: BD2, Bad Monkey, Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive and Visual Sound Double Trouble. I may also investigate Boss ME-25 Multi.
I predict that all of these would satisfy.
I like the styling of the BOSS range of pedals so it could come down to something as simplistic as styling. A bit sad but true.
Thanks again for the help. This forum will be a great aid.

Cheers Guys!!
 

Rancid Rumpboogie

Blues Mangler
Hi Guys,
Thanks for all the input. Extremely helpful. It would seem that the general consensus surrounds 4 options: BD2, Bad Monkey, Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive and Visual Sound Double Trouble. I may also investigate Boss ME-25 Multi.
I predict that all of these would satisfy.
I like the styling of the BOSS range of pedals so[glow=yellow,2,300] it could come down to something as simplistic as styling[/glow]. A bit sad but true.
Thanks again for the help. This forum will be a great aid.

Cheers Guys!!
That's just one more consideration.  For instance, the Double Trouble is a HUGE pedal.  So if space on your board is a major consideration ... it is a factor.  And sooner or later you are going to want a pedal board.  And with that in mind, any pedal with the 9V plug on the side right next to a 1/4" input/output jack can be a problem to mount on a pedal board.  I won't even consider a pedal that's built that way, which rules out a whole lot of pedals.

The Visual Sound Route 808 pedal is exactly the same pedal that is in the Double Trouble ... the Double Trouble just has two of them side-by-side.  The Route 808 is about half the price and size.
 

GuitarGeorge

Blues Newbie
Alright, just had a shoot out.  I thought I was going to like the Badass distortion better, but my Montel Allum moded BD-2 won the day
 

dan5150

Shredding the Blues
I can't tell the difference between it and my Tubescreamer.
This is becuase the Bad Monkey is basically a Tube Screamer with an additional mid control.

Like RR said, ask 50 people, and get 50 different opinions.

So here is mine: Go to Guitar Center (or whatever big music store is close). Bring your guitar. Ask to plug into the same model amp you have. Then try out all of the pedals you are interested in. Close your eyes and let your ears help you decide.

Personally, I like the sound of a Tube Screamer (or a TS clone) more than I like the BD-2. I like they way you can dial a clean tone (or almost clean) and kick it in and get a nice grit that works for blues or classic rock. I also like that in front of an amp with the gain cranked it "tightens" up the sound. 
 

Rancid Rumpboogie

Blues Mangler
I can't tell the difference between it and my Tubescreamer.
This is becuase the Bad Monkey is basically a Tube Screamer with an additional mid control.

Like RR said, ask 50 people, and get 50 different opinions.

So here is mine: Go to Guitar Center (or whatever big music store is close). Bring your guitar. Ask to plug into the same model amp you have. Then try out all of the pedals you are interested in. Close your eyes and let your ears help you decide.

[glow=yellow,2,300]Personally, I like the sound of a Tube Screamer (or a TS clone) more than I like the BD-2[/glow]. I like they way you can dial a clean tone (or almost clean) and kick it in and get a nice grit that works for blues or classic rock. I also like that in front of an amp with the gain cranked it "tightens" up the sound. 

+1  This is why I like the Virtual Sound Double Trouble so much.  It is essentially two tube screamers side by side ... except they have a lot more available volume, and a bass boost switch, and can be run separately or one into the other, and the pedal is extremely quiet even when on full gain.  I have a TS808 and a TS9 ... the Double Trouble retired them both.  The Double Trouble also sounds more "open" to my ear.

I have it combined with a VHT V-Drive on my board.  This combination is pretty awesome.  This provides 7 different levels/flavors of distortion, all at the same volume as the amp alone, without touching a single knob.  14 if you count using the Pigtronix Class A clean boost.

The VHT V-Drive is capable of some really bluesy mild-to-medium grit distortion all by itself.  But I don't use it that way ... I have it set to a really grainy Marshallesque fairly high gain setting reminiscent of ZZTOP.  Anyway, if I was asked to recommend one do-it-all pedal, this would be it.

Both are really quiet pedals, very little hum even at max gain.  Check out where my Decimator noise reduction is set.  This minimal noise reduction takes care of all noise even with all three distortions on at the same time and the compressor on full-tilt.

8537825524_6cab8668fb_z.jpg
 

gpower

Blues Junior
Personally, I like the sound of a Tube Screamer (or a TS clone) more than I like the BD-2.

All three of my OD pedals (Sparkle Drive, Route 66, and Jam Pedals Tube Dreamer '72) are variations on the TS theme. Each does have it's own voice though. What I like with the Sparkle Drive is the ability to mix in some clean signal with the OD signal.
 
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