Tag: vibe

Intro to Pedals Part 2: Choosing Pedals

So you’ve decided that you want more from your guitar sound than what you get when you plug straight into your amp. It’s time to get a pedal or two, but which ones should you be checking out to begin with?

Multi Effects Units

A fairly common way to get an idea of what’s what, is to get hold of a multi effects unit which supposedly has everything in it. It’s significantly cheaper than buying one of every kind of pedal in existence, and side steps having to deal with mounting them to a board, hooking up lots of patch cables and worrying about power requirements.

If you have access to one of these, maybe on loan from someone else or acquired second hand for some freakishly negligible cost, it might be helpful to play with. You can scroll through all the effects while making an awful racket and taking note of which ones you find interesting.

I’ll stop short of recommending you spend significant money on one of these units, or spend a significant amount of time trying to sculpt a usable combination of sounds with one. I would strongly discourage buying a new one at full retail price.

What will inevitably happen is, over time you’ll discover at least 60% of the sounds in that unit are of no interest to you, and those that are happen to be important enough to you that you want a decent quality version of that effect in an individual pedal. I can’t think of a single guitar player who started out with a multi effects unit and went on to use it exclusively throughout their professional career.

Resale value on these things can be punishingly low, so selling it on once you’re done with it seems hardly worth it. This is not where you want to invest the bulk of your gear budget.

Having said all that, many professional musicians do occasionally gig with top quality modelling gear when they’re travelling light or they don’t want to take their expensive vintage equipment to a particular gig. Worthy of note among these are the Line 6 Helix range, and Neural DSP Quad Cortex.

Those aren’t cheap though, and for the same or less money you could buy one of the actual amps or some of the effects that they’re trying to sound like. Why not have the real thing? When you buy modelling equipment you’re paying for access to a vast range of sounds, most of which you’ll never use.

This brings us to the most important question you need to keep in mind when shopping for pedals: “What are the effects I need in order to generate the guitar sounds I want to play?”

Knowing What to Use

Put together a playlist of the kind of music that you’re likely to play on guitar. Listen to what effects the guitarists in those recordings are using. This will be your starting point. I’m going to make a few suggestions here but you don’t necessarily need these pedals to play that music.

Get a Tuner

OK forget what I just said about not needing the pedals I suggest here. Every guitarist needs a tuner, and that means you, too. Pedal tuners are about the most practical on the market. When you consider the alternatives are either rack mounted, headstock/clip on tuners, or a pitch pipe, this just makes sense.

Important things to look for in a tuner are:

  • Accuracy
  • Tracking speed (when you pluck a note, you don’t want to have to wait for the tuner to “find” it)
  • Visibility in different lighting situations (consider dark/low light in a club versus bright sunlight at an outdoor gig)

The TC Electronic Polytune is hugely popular, and for what it’s worth I’m a big fan of the Korg Pitchblack Custom. While the visibility isn’t quite as impressive as the Custom version, the standard Korg Pitchblack performs much the same and costs a fair bit less.

You don’t have to spend a fortune on a multitude of features here, but you only want to have to make this purchase once and be done with it. This isn’t a fun or exciting pedal, and if you cheap out on something that’s a massive compromise, you might find yourself going through the banality of shopping for another one in the not-too-distant future. There’s no such thing as a “beginners tuner” so you might as well make the investment in a proper one straight away.

Your Average Rock Band

Straight away you’re going to need some sort of overdrive, and it’s quite likely you’ll only need one. If you’re going to play the odd lead break, you may want to also invest in a lead boost. That would sort most rock guitarists out, and this is reflected in the amount of “dual overdrives” on the market (essentially an overdrive with a second switch to engage a boost).

It’s not all that uncommon to want to make use of several different gain stages:

  • a light, just-past-edge-of-break-up overdrive
  • a more aggressive, higher gain overdrive
  • a lead boost

Stacking all of those into each other could also approximate a decent full-fat distortion in a pinch.

Your Average Covers Band

Covers bands play a bit of everything, so surely you’re going to have to get the lot, right? Not necessarily.

Assuming your amp already has reverb, you’ll be surprised just how far you can get with a range of different gain stages (see above) and a delay pedal.

Depending on the material you’ll be covering, you may want to get some sort of modulation. Most commonly this will be chorus and tremolo, but occasionally you may need a flanger/phaser/vibrato etc.

If you’re doing 60s rock covers, you’ll want to get a wah pedal, a fuzz, and maybe a uni-vibe.

The Heavy Stuff

If you’re playing heavy music, some kind of distortion is a must. A lot of metal guitarists will achieve this via an amp with a high gain channel. If you take this route, it’s still worth looking at some kind of lead boost. Consider how loud it is when the rest of the band is pummelling out a down-tuned heavy riff at full volume. Your tiny little single note lines don’t stand a chance of being heard in that mix without some kind of assistance.

Stepping on a Tube Screamer or some kind of Tube Screamer derivative at this point would help a great deal. It would tighten up your bottom end, increase your mids, and in doing so raise your most audible frequencies so the audience can hear you. If you crank the level knob you’ll also enjoy a cheeky increase in overall volume. Most lead boosts will operate like this: they’ll likely lift your upper mids and increase your volume.

If you don’t have a high gain amp, you’re going to need a distortion pedal. There are so many types of distortion pedal on the market I could dedicate an entire series of posts just on this topic. I’ll try to give you a quick over view to get you started on your search.

The good old fashioned Boss DS-1 was a go-to pedal in the 80s but is a bit too shrill and spikey sounding for some rigs. Dialling the tone knob all the way back on one of these might get you the exact sound you’re after without spending a whole lot. A Rat might be worth a look if you want something old school but a bit darker and thicker sounding. They’re kind of a cross between a DS-1 and a Fuzz Face.

If sludgy, doomy, fuzz-meets-distortion is what you’re after, check out the world of Big Muffs. There’s a lot of variation between the different Muffs available, so do your research and try a few out.

If you’re chasing a more modern, djenty sound, there’s quite a lot of options. Check out Deizel pedals for starters. This company is renowned for making epic sounding high gain amps, and they’ve done a decent job of capturing that distortion sound in their pedals.

James Brown (no, not that one, the guy responsible for the design of the Peavey 5150) now has a pedal company by the name of Amptweaker. His distortion pedals are next-level awesome. The MXR 5150 overdrive pedal is geared towards the distortion sound of that amp, and like the Amptweaker stuff, comes with a built in noise gate.

Music hasn’t sounded quite the same since either of these two guys came along.

If you’re looking to spend a little less, there’s the Hotone Djent. It looks like a toy but sounds like the business.

Conclusion

These are all just broad suggestions on where to start if you’re not sure. Whatever you run with for your first pedals, get cheap ones to start with.

Yes, I would discourage spending good money on a multi effects unit to try it all out, on the basis that you’ll probably move on from it and not get your money back. I will however encourage you to take a similar approach with a handful of cheap pedals instead. You might experience a few less effects, but you lose less money and focus on the more relevant pedals to your playing style.

While you figure out what flavour of overdrive or fuzz or distortion etc you’re into, you’re going to swap out and trade your way through a whole bunch of pedals. Better to do that with cheap ones first of all. Even if you start with expensive pedals, you can still be almost certain you’ll end up moving them on at a loss once you refine your tonal tastes.

Here’s how I’d recommend the commencement of your pedal journey:

  • Listen closely to recordings of the genre of music you’d like to play
  • Take note of the effects involved
  • Buy some cheap versions of those effects
  • Once you know what sort of sounds you like, have a look at which pedals on the market do a top notch version of that sound within your budget

Just a word of warning: once you start experimenting with pedals, it’s a slippery slope towards full blown pedal addiction. You’ll quickly find all sorts of pathetic excuses to spend more than you should on just one more pedal. Always keep in mind what you’re trying to achieve with your tone before you browse for pedals, and likewise keep a close eye on your budget. You have been warned.

Once you’ve got a handful of pedals you’ll be wanting to hook them all up in a practical and portable manner. In my next post I’ll be exploring all the non-pedal parts of your floor based gear: pedal boards, patch leads, power requirements, and other stuff you could potentially lose a heap of money on through buying the wrong gear or cutting costs in the wrong area. This post will cover all the hidden expenses we forget about while lusting after the gear that makes cool sounds.

Cheap Clone Pedals

If you’re on a tight budget but have found yourself hooked on pedal acquisition, you’ve no doubt discovered the wonderful world of “clones”. Thanks to a peculiar quirk in intellectual property law, it’s the look of a pedal and its name that you’re not allowed to replicate. You’re free to copy the circuit to your heart’s content.

Disclaimer:
Just to be clear, I’m not a lawyer, and this is my feeble, uneducated understanding of the matter. If you choose to do this you do so at your own risk. Please chime in on the comments section if you know what’s actually going on here.

The important distinction to make is that I’m not talking about counterfeits. I’m talking about pedals that are assembled in different enclosures and marketed with different names. Counterfeits do exist, but that’s not what I’m referring to here.

Anyway, cloning makes perfect sense in some cases. There are pedals like the Klon Centaur and Marshall Bluesbreaker that are long out of production, and can only bought for “collectors” prices. If the original manufacturer no longer makes them, where’s the harm in someone else having a go?

There’s a somewhat ethical grey area after that. There are boutique pedal manufacturers who build everything by hand, carefully measuring and choosing every component with painstaking quality control. They charge a fair price for such effort and craftsmanship, which happens to be more than most folks want to pay for a mere tonal tool.

With this approach comes a long waiting list for your pedal to be made. Analogman’s King of Tone notoriously has a 2-3 year waiting list. So if you can’t stomach the wait, you might want to consider the used market. Knowing the waiting list creates scarcity, used versions of these sell for highly inflated collectors prices.

What’s an impatient, cash-strapped muso to do? Clones of these pedals which are available for a small fraction of the price get awful tempting. You might justify it by thinking that the original manufacturer is already selling more than they can make, so they’re not missing out on sales. After all, is a mass-produced cheapo unit really competing with hand built boutique pedals?

I’m not going to weigh in here. On one hand I have massive respect for boutique builders. On the other, I have a modest income, yet would still like to participate in the pursuit of guitar tone. So whether you throw stones from your ivory tower in defense of boutique builders, or bypass the builder and gather cheap imitations without regard, I’m not here to judge. You do you.

Are clones as good as the real deal?

Yes and no. On the one hand they typically have the same circuit, and as such will (in theory) sound and function exactly the same. In order to mass manufacture something at a cheaper price point, quality control corners often get cut and cheaper components become a must.

Ironically enough, the cheapest generic brand pedals tend to be closest to the original circuits. They’re not looking to re-invent the wheel, so going with what’s already there is a quick and easy solution. In the meantime, mid-priced brand name pedal manufacturers tend to want to make their own pedal, merely inspired by the original. Their own spin on it might be better, worse, or just plain different.

A great example is the EHX Soul Food. Inspired by the Klon Centaur, opinions all over the net are divided over whether it differs too much with its brash high frequencies, or whether it’s a welcome fresh take on the original. Meanwhile, the Mosky Golden Horse gets universally praised for doing more or less exactly what a Klon should, for around half the price of the Soul Food.

In my quest for a decent uni-vibe style pedal at a budget price, I discovered the Animal Pedals Car Crush. Animal Pedals are put out by One Control who are best known for making respectable, mid-priced loop switchers. The Car Crush was the cheapest vibe pedal I was aware of that made use of a photo cell circuit.

I asked online for recommendations for other cheap photo cell vibes, and if anyone had experience with this one. One helpful soul opened his much cheaper vibe pedal, the Moen “Jimi Nova“, and compared it to the innards of a Car Crush. Wouldn’t you know it, they’re the same pedal, but the Moen one costs half the price.

The artwork on the Car Crush is way cooler, and you might have some of your peers turn their noses up at the sight of a generic Moen pedal on your board. Whether it’s worth twice the price to rectify that is a question for your conscience.

What do I need to be concerned about with cheaper pedals?

Moving parts
The most obvious things that can go wrong with any device will likely involve moving parts. Check for flimsy switches, and free-spinning knobs that do nothing to affect the sound. Make sure the input and output jacks are ok.

Power
If you plug a switched on power lead into a pedal, the split second before a firm connection is made could result in a bit of a power spike through the pedal. More expensive pedals will likely have some small amount of protection built in, while the cheaper ones will end up fried before you’ve played a note.

I’ve heard anecdotes of this happening to Mosky pedals in particular. If all the generic brands are using the same circuits, they’ll all likely be just as susceptible.

Best practice is to plug your power in first, THEN switch the power on. Still, it’s nice to know if the connection wasn’t as firm as you thought it was, you haven’t killed your pedal.

Noise
This is particularly a problem for pedals with plastic enclosures that aren’t well shielded. That’s not to say all plastic pedals suffer from this, but they are the main culprits.

There are also some pedals which function with a high noise floor. You might consider fixing this with a noise gate, or spending a little more money on the original purchase and finding a better version without so much noise. Then again, maybe your tolerance to the noise makes it not a problem. This is just something to weigh up when trying cheap pedals.

The Bottom line

Nothing comes close to the quality control, aftermarket service, and sense of community you find when you purchase a top end pedal. The expression “buy cheap, buy twice” definitely holds true here as well. Then again, you shouldn’t let a tight budget stand in the way of getting amongst it while cheaper options are available.