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overwhelmed with pedal choices what would you recommend?

Amp360

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Feb 16, 2012
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852
I have been using the same pedals for almost 30 years. I have a bunch of old pedals but read so much about new ones it's overwhelming. For a short time I had a Line 6 pedal modeler but it was too complicated to use and it didn't channel switch the amp I use live (SLO-100) despite that being one of the reasons I bought it. Plus it sounded ok but didn't sound like the pedals I own.

My board is all Boss and a Klon, which I bought for $230 back when I was at Berklee in the 90s. I have a couple other pedals I put on sometimes, a Maxon OD-808 and the Maxon compressor (the black one). I also have one of those old timey Fender boxes that does reverb for when I play my Twin or Deluxe, which have no reverb.

I like clarity in my sound. I don't like fizz or distortion where you lose the attack of the note if that makes sense. I did get that new Boss Fuzz pedal as a Christmas gift and it's nice sounding but it's a little too fuzzy sometimes. I also bought the new Boss Chorus, which is nice because it doesn't need to plug into the wall like my old one. I can say that it sounds the same as advertised.

I play all styles but am not really into heavy metal or blues. What would some really nice sounding pedals to try out be?

Thanks!

Here is my board right now:
 

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renderit

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Jan 19, 2009
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10,951
I am a HUGE fan of Origin Effects.

They are expensive, but the best sounding pedals I have EVER owned.

Started out with the OE Slide Rig.


I was SO blown away with the sounds I decided to get the Cali 76 TX-P. I use it on EVERYTHING PERIOD. Vocals, drums, guitar, bass. Anything.

The Slide Rig is flat out awesome as well and works pretty much the same as two 76's cascaded with slightly less control but for slide it can't be beat.


After another Limited run Cali-76 Germanium FET

35712675613_2dcf721e6f_b.jpg


Then the bastids came oot with this:


I got it as well. Nothing matches what these guys do. You like clean? It makes it clean and RICH. You like dirty? They make it dirty and CLEAR.

I have a lot of pedals and some strange ones like Chase Bliss units, but you said you like simple so this is one I love and it is so easy to use you will wonder why nobody came up with it before...



I use it quite a bit now. Bliss (below) aint for the feint hearted.

SIZE]
 
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Amp360

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Feb 16, 2012
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I have a couple 1176s already as well as a pair or la-2a compressors, which are tube. I don’t really like that sound in line before my amp. I’ll check out an eq.

Thanks!
 

Amp360

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Feb 16, 2012
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FWIW this will be my next buy.

I've heard a lot about them but I wouldn't buy something based on that clip because has that many effects/post production going on. Kind of the issue with a lot of the YT demos. I'll watch one on say a Twin Reverb and there's all kinds of echo, chorus and Erik "John" Stone style FX all over it making it sound like background music from Melrose Place. Could be a great product but I don't know what it sounds like.

I have an old Marshall JMP but it doesn't sound anything like that clip. Maybe with the pedal it gives that sound?

120851781_10223455840653096_6716925594894787437_n.jpg
 

WillyW

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Apr 17, 2021
Messages
125
If I want to try something new I tend to go to Boss first, and I often stop there....

I did go down a boost rabbit hole a while back, and it was fun but I really should sell some off...

What boss fuzz do you have? I have the FZ5 I think, I really like it.
 

Amp360

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Feb 16, 2012
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852
The one I have is silver. Not sure of the model. It sounds really good. It’s almost perfect but it’s about 5% too fuzzy, which I can deal with.
 

ourmaninthenorth

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Mar 28, 2009
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7,119
I've heard a lot about them but I wouldn't buy something based on that clip because has that many effects/post production going on. Kind of the issue with a lot of the YT demos. I'll watch one on say a Twin Reverb and there's all kinds of echo, chorus and Erik "John" Stone style FX all over it making it sound like background music from Melrose Place. Could be a great product but I don't know what it sounds like.

I have an old Marshall JMP but it doesn't sound anything like that clip. Maybe with the pedal it gives that sound?

120851781_10223455840653096_6716925594894787437_n.jpg
Agreed about the YT limitations.

However I've either owned or played the pedals it's platformed on SS2 & 3, G2 & P2, so I have the advantage of knowing how it's going to sound. I can understand the diffidence for those that haven't.

This covers an awful lot of ground.

My lines are in the water for one, I'll post a review when I get a bite.
 

MrNubs

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Nov 2, 2019
Messages
153
put this on the front side of that marshall


also, old school 120v tc electronics stereo chorus - run two amps in stereo like JB does. and it has a sweet preamp built in which you can dial in with the twist of a knob- set it and forget it - working even if the pedal is off
 

Amp360

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Feb 16, 2012
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852
Not the sound I’m looking for but I do have one of those tape echos like the guy in the video.
 

Tollywood

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Mar 16, 2022
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394
I’m sorry to say that all of us will claim that we have the answer, but it is subjective. There are so many pedals out there way better than Boss, and we all swear by whichever one we have.

That being said, I recommend the Xotic EP Boost. I thought I was buying it to boost my solo volume but the tone became such a foundation of my sound that I leave it on all the time.
 

corpse

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Jun 9, 2007
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4,876
I bought a Way Huge Overrated Special. It adds some grit but just clamps things together a bit. Add some heavier filth to it and that's really what it's designed for.
And mine didn't break the bank.
 

Amp360

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Feb 16, 2012
Messages
852
I’m sorry to say that all of us will claim that we have the answer, but it is subjective. There are so many pedals out there way better than Boss, and we all swear by whichever one we have.

That being said, I recommend the Xotic EP Boost. I thought I was buying it to boost my solo volume but the tone became such a foundation of my sound that I leave it on all the time.
When I was in college there was a store that sold the Klon pedal. Once ever couple of weeks the guy who made it would drop them off and we would sell them. I bought mine for $239 (which was insane at the time) and brought it to a lab at school. By the end of the semester my instructor (Tomo) as well as about 3 out of maybe 8 people in the class had them. I don't like it at home but I leave it on live. I have three of them now, I bought a silver one when it came out because I wanted a backup and then at some point I got another one from Bill.

As for pedals being better than Boss I'm pretty skeptical. Many of the fancy pedals I see are based on Boss or Maxon designs. I still think my two Boss delays (an old purple one and a box made by Roland with a tape in it) are the best I've used aside from an old rack mount Chandler Echo I have, which is a PITA for a guitar or my rack mount Lexicon. I want to try the Boss Tera Echo but haven't had the chance yet.

When I heard the Klon I had to have one. Around the same time I also bought the Big Muff reissue which is green (this would have been 94/95).
 

DonnRowe

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Nov 5, 2019
Messages
59
I too got a Klon new back in the day :) I used it for quite a while and just this year traded it for a nice flamed R8 that I love. It's a great pedal for sure! I've had a lot of Klones and they never were/are the same. Anyway, now I use Origin Effects Revival Drive Compacts (Regular and Hot Rodded). They sound and feel great and are really versatile. I never bother with my rack stuff anymore as it's too much of a PITA` LOL Good luck in your search!
 

jrgtr42

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Mar 24, 2005
Messages
2,308
When I was in college there was a store that sold the Klon pedal. Once ever couple of weeks the guy who made it would drop them off and we would sell them. I bought mine for $239 (which was insane at the time) and brought it to a lab at school. By the end of the semester my instructor (Tomo) as well as about 3 out of maybe 8 people in the class had them. I don't like it at home but I leave it on live. I have three of them now, I bought a silver one when it came out because I wanted a backup and then at some point I got another one from Bill.

As for pedals being better than Boss I'm pretty skeptical. Many of the fancy pedals I see are based on Boss or Maxon designs. I still think my two Boss delays (an old purple one and a box made by Roland with a tape in it) are the best I've used aside from an old rack mount Chandler Echo I have, which is a PITA for a guitar or my rack mount Lexicon. I want to try the Boss Tera Echo but haven't had the chance yet.

When I heard the Klon I had to have one. Around the same time I also bought the Big Muff reissue which is green (this would have been 94/95).
Around the turn of the century I was working at a guitar store, and one of the managers had a working relationship with Bill. He lent me his |Klon to try out, with the offer that if I liked it I could grab one (or two) at that same $239 - yeah, that was crazy for a "distortion" pedal at the time. Being relatively young and dumb, I plugged it in for maybe 10 minutes, and when I couldn't get the heavy distortion sound I liked at the time I gave up.
A few days later I gave it back, and it seemed that my manager forgot he loaned it to me.
EVen then I should have plugged in with the rest of my rig as it was and really started twisting knobs with and without the rest of the pedals going.
It was only after the prices started going nuts did I really understand what the Centaur was and what it did. Ah, if I knew in 2000 what I know now...

|But that said, there's some great Klones out there, from the EH Soul Food, to the Rockett Archer (Ikon I think is the closest copy) the Wampler Tumnus, to a million others at all price ranges.
 

Amp360

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Feb 16, 2012
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Before the Klon I used a DOD FX-10 which was a preamp for acoustic guitars.
 
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