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best Pedals for tube amp

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rafaelh

rafaelh

Posted
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with a price range of up to 250 a pedal?

 

Holy cow...IMO I don't belive you'd need to spend a total of 750 bucks for 3 pedals. Man that's a lot of bread.

 

Anyhow for me it's EQ, OD, and Delay...out board Reverb if the amp don't have one. As far as which...well you a have to fill in the blanks. Doing the dreaded bemo thing unfortunately. LOL, I don't mind doing the demo thing when I'm not really wanting to buy anyhting, hated when I do though....go figure #-o

 

Wah's optional I think...I do like them though. As far as a tuner you should already have one if you play the guitar.

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twanger

twanger

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Holy cow...IMO I don't belive you'd need to spend a total of 750 bucks for 3 pedals. Man that's a lot of bread.

 

Anyhow for me it's EQ' date=' OD, and Delay...out board Reverb if the amp don't have one. As far as which...well you a have to fill in the blanks. Doing the dreaded bemo thing unfortunately. LOL, I don't mind doing the demo thing when I'm not really wanting to buy anyhting, hated when I do though....go figure :-k

 

Wah's optional I think...I do like them though. As far as a tuner you should already have one if you play the guitar.[/quote']

 

You do have a good point...$750 IS a lot for pedals. That kind of money could be better spent on a quality amp. Then again, it's all rather subjective, the quest for tone, that is. Maybe pedals take the place of being able to afford the desired amp. Sort of like building your desired tone over time. Maybe your tastes/band(s)/gigs demand a wide array of tones/sounds and pedals are a lot easier to schlep around than several amps. Of course, if you're independently wealthy and can afford your own road crew, why not? Unfortunately, I'm neither a bank, a politician or a lottery winner so I'm kind of stuck with pedals to fill out the variety I seek

 

I've listened to the DL4 and I personally find it very much worth the money I spent on it. Of all the effects I've had my echoplex is the one I kick myself the most for having sold. It's sound was just indescribably cool. The DL4 does a fine job of remaking that sound. Plus it offers 15 others.

 

That Blackstar HT pedal is real tone wonder. Every boost/overdrive/distortion pedal I've tried has a sort of sterility to the sound. Don't get me wrong here, that sound is useful for certain types of tones. I still have my Boss Metal Zone. One of the reasons I bought the MZ is because it does a fine job of scooping out the mids and it's great for metal tunes. Still, the HT Dual gives a much more "organic" sound for driving your amps or getting that great tube distortion without having a SWAT team show up at your door for "noise violations". Besides, if you have a single channel amp the HT Dual is just like adding 2 new channels to your amp with a wide array of really good tones.

 

The wah, to me, is the quintessential guitar effect after reverb. It was my first outboard effect and whether I make good use of it or not I just like having one in the signal chain...a comfort thing?

 

When looking through newer effects I'm amazed at all the boutique makers nowadays. In this "post rack" era it looks like the rackmount effects have come out of the racks and ended up on the floor (Line 6 M13, Boss ME-50 ME-70 among others) and these things are really spendy. But then, the good sounding rack units were expensive also. TC and Eventide units were over a $1000 if I remember right. So I guess, in the end whatever your sound/tone is worth to you is what you'll end up paying.

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JesusOfSuburbia

JesusOfSuburbia

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I am on just such a "Tone Quest" right now and have really been happy with most of the Digitech X-series pedals and also the Bad Monkey by Digitech, so +1 for the Bad Monkey!!!

 

I also HAVE to have a wah pedal, not that I use it a whole lot but it's more fun to 'stomp and wah' than it was using the Cyber Twins modeling wah I have, great sound, but I love stomping and 'engaging' a real wah!!!

 

I just need to find a nice clean boost for my solos on the gain channel of my new Epi So Cal; my EH LPB-1 works awesome on the clean channel but makes the gain side more "mushy" with no significant volume level increase.

I can use either of my overdrive pedals as a boost but they kinda 'mush it up' as well, but I'm still experimenting.

 

Also, go to eBay and can find some good deals on used pedals to try if you can't afford new or want more than just 3, I found that 3 pedals is not enough for me!!! Plus if you don't like them and the pedals are in good shape you can just sell them again on eBay and get your $$ back usually.

 

The point I guess is, just try a few differant pedals and remember;

one persons recommendation is based on his/her tone preferances and also may sound great on their amp but not yours.

Trial and error my friend, trial and error...

 

And thus, the Tone Quest continues!!!

 

JoS

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Dave

Dave

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If I had to resort to pedals on the floor, I'd have a tube screamer, a chorus, and a delay pedal. Right now, I'm using none of the above since my Peavey Vypyr tube 60 has 12 stompboxes, 11 amp models, and 12 rack effects built in that are fully accessible from the Sanpera II foot controller. I have 12 programmable presets in the foot controller that I can tweak and save and arrange in 3 banks of 4 presets that are a foot click away. Granted the foot controller is a biggy; it's about 2 feet wide, but it has everything in one box that is connected with a single midi cable to the amp. I don't have to deal with dead batteries, multiple patch cords, tone loss, or bad jack connections.

 

The built-in features of the amp are truly top shelf and I've not had a need for outboard effects since I started using it.

 

Pardon me for plugging a competitor, but I'm really impressed by this amp.

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m-theory

m-theory

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my EH LPB-1 works awesome on the clean channel but makes the gain side more "mushy" with no significant volume level increase.

The mush isn't coming from the pedal, but rather the amp. You've obviously got the front of the amp set very gainy, and the output tubes just idling. If you were to change that around, dial the front end gain back and get the amp up loud enough to get the power tubes cooking, that boost would act quite differently.

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JesusOfSuburbia

JesusOfSuburbia

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If you were to change that around' date=' dial the front end gain back and get the amp up loud enough to get the power tubes cooking, that boost would act quite differently. [/quote']

 

Funny, I actually just tried that, I realized as I was typing last night that maybe it was a "gain" thing as it the LPB-1 does boost the volume on the clean channel. So backed off the amps preamp gain, increased the gain on the OD pedal and the LPB-1 did a much better job of actual volume boosting. I'm gonna try at the gig I have tonight and see.

 

So what works best as a volume/solo boost with a lot of preamp gain? So far I've heard MXR micro amp or MXR super comp and also an EQ pedal like the Boss GE-7.

 

Or the many other various custom booster pedals on the market...

But this one sounds interesting:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Tonesonics-master-volume-amp-attenuator-boost-pedal-pre_W0QQitemZ260395538734QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar_Accessories?hash=item260395538734&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A10%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

 

JoS

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spaaarky21

spaaarky21

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3 pedals ? Easy; 3 pedals that should be on every guitarists pedal board. Boss EQ' date=' Boss TU-2 tuner pedal, and something along the lines of the Digitech Bad Monkey or Boss Blues Driver. [/quote']

 

I have a TU-2 and find it relatively inaccurate. I've read similar complaints from others. Just something to consider. I have a great Seiko tuner but I wish it was in pedal form. The Korg PitchBlack might be a better option but who knows.

 

Anyway, my recommendation would include a compressor and a nice overdrive. I am fairly happy with my MXR Super Comp (a more tweakable version of their classic DynaComp) and DOD 250 Overdrive/Preamp. The DOD is virtually the same pedal as the MXR Distortion Plus.

 

Beyond that, I suppose it depends on what you like. Maybe a wah would be up your alley? I used to like playing with a modulation pedal - like a nice analog flanger or phaser. I like the Electro-Harmonix Small Stone but the output volume does vary a bit more than I would like.

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m-theory

m-theory

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So what works best as a volume/solo boost with a lot of preamp gain?

The only thing you can do when you've got heavy gain on the front end is to change the eq...boost the mids a bit. No boost or overdrive pedal will help you. You've already maxed out the front end of the amp, so any boost, overdrive, or distortion that you introduce is only going to get swallowed up with that front end gain and turn it all to mush.

 

The magic is in the output tubes, not the preamp tubes.

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JesusOfSuburbia

JesusOfSuburbia

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Jesus' date=' you ever tried running your EQ pedal in the amp's FX loop? Not just as a boost but to further tweak your amp also. Jus kick it on when you need it.[/quote']

 

No effects loop on the So Cal Rafael.O:)

 

That seems to be the most common mod for the So Cal and is probably the first mod I'll have done to it.

 

But then one of my "pedal guru" friends (who has a HUGE pedalboard) said he prefers not to use an effects loop, so IDK...

 

I'd hate to void the warranty and get the EF loop mod done only to have it not make a significant differance, plus more friggin' cables, LOL!!!

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rafaelh

rafaelh

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No effects loop on the So Cal

 

Oops sorry #-o ...didn't know that.

 

 

But then one of my "pedal guru" friends (who has a HUGE pedalboard) said he prefers not to use an effects loop' date=' so IDK...[/quote']

 

I belive the key word here is "prefers". Nothing to do with better or worst' date=' or making a differnce or not..or the way my knot head gets it.

 

At any rate, and IMO of course, but if you have a clean running amp there really is no need to use your FX loop...or no difference if you did or not. When you have an amp set with high gain is when it would make a diference. Your FX loop places those pedals in the FX loop after the pre amp stage and before the O/P stage.

 

If you bump the front of your amp that is already set high with gain with a booster pedal. All it's going to do is push the gain further rather than just boost the over all signal which is what you want. In orther to do that you'd have to put the booster pedal after the gain section...ie an FX Loop.

 

Some folks like the OD after the Delay...I mostly don't. Any ways to get an idea of the differences if you're not familiar with them yet. Take a OD and Delay pedal, if you got one of each, and swap the order to see. As I said I prefer the Dalay last and ODs before. On your amp the preamp, or gain, section is just like an OD or Distortion pedal...just a hell of alot more expensive...ha!

 

 

I'd hate to void the warranty and get the EF loop mod done only to have it not make a significant differance' date=' plus more friggin' cables, LOL!!![/quote']

 

I hear you loud and clear on both counts....especially the cable part. When I use the FX loop on my amp is with stuff that usually stays on all night. Whether or not I do use them, they always stay with the amp. When It's time to go they stay hooked up and I just shove them below in the amp....as I said they are basically part of the amp LOL.

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sexygibson

sexygibson

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I have a TU-2 and find it relatively inaccurate. I've read similar complaints from others. .

 

Wow; thats surprising. I am totally a Boss tuner guy. My favorite is my TU-12P that I have had for just over 20 years now. I bought a TU-12H last year as a back-up which I have not yet needed.

The TU-2 that I use to have on my pedalboard was always reliable and accurate but I guess theres bad eggs in any group.

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JesusOfSuburbia

JesusOfSuburbia

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Some folks like the OD after the Delay...I mostly don't. Any ways to get an idea of the differences if you're not familiar with them yet. Take a OD and Delay pedal' date=' if you got one of each, and swap the order to see. As I said I prefer the Dalay last and ODs before. On your amp the preamp, or gain, section is just like an OD or Distortion pedal...just a hell of alot more expensive...ha! [/quote']

 

I have been putting my Delay pedal after the overdrive pedals and just after my Volume pedal so I can do volume swells with the delay still sounding, most Q&A forums say that is the correct order, but I can experiment as see what happens. I also put my Wah before the OD pedals as it sounds the best to me but some forums say that Wah after distortion is better, again, personal preferance I guess.

I just tried putting the LPB-1 last just after the delay as the last in my chain and it helped more as a boost when I turned the gain down on the gain channel but now I have some noise as I had to turn up the gain on my overdrive pedals to compensate. With the amp's gain set to max and the OD pedals set at a more resonable level there is less noise, so one solution brings up another issue...

Maybe the effects loop mod is better for what I need since I like the high gain on the So Cal with the OD pedals set as "tone enhancements" so maybe a tue clean boost in the loop will give me that solo volume I need. But since that is probably a little while away I'll try experimenting with it stock some more...

 

peace & thanks for all your help rafael, and to all you guys on here, you are all vey kewl and I appreciate all your

feedback. I hope it doesn't seem like I'm trying to 'dominate' the amp brds here, I'm just obsessed and all you guys info here has been invaluable!!!

 

JoS:-k

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rafaelh

rafaelh

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I have been putting my Delay pedal after the overdrive pedals and just after my Volume pedal so I can do volume swells with the delay still sounding' date=' most Q&A forums say that is the correct order, but I can experiment as see what happens. I also put my Wah [i']before [/i] the OD pedals as it sounds the best to me but some forums say that Wah after distortion is better, again, personal preferance I guess.

JoS:-k

 

That's the way I do run them too. When I use my wahs they are the first thing I plug into also...ODs after.

 

I didn't mean to imply that the OD after a delay was better. Just since you don't have an FX loop I thought by swapping the order of your pedal might give you some kind of an idea of how an FX loop could be a handy thing. In other words think of your OD pedal as the amps preamp section. Sorry for the confusion. You be fine. LOL, sometimes it's better if I just keep my big mouth shut.

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JesusOfSuburbia

JesusOfSuburbia

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I didn't mean to imply that the OD after a delay was better.

Sorry for the confusion. You be fine. LOL' date=' sometimes it's better if I just keep my big mouth shut.[/quote']

 

No, I gotcha Raf!!!

I was just gonna mess with pedal order this week as a kick anyway,

pretty sure I'll stay with the same order I've had them in.

 

thanks again!!!

:)

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