# Essential Effects - Short List



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

There are literally tons of effects pedals you can choose from today. What would be the essential pedals on your board if you had to limit it to a total of 5. Not so much the brand or maker, but the type of pedal that you would consider to be essential to the set-up?


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

Wah 
Delay
Fuzz 
Overdrive
Vibe

Edit: I suppose I should clarify that I use about 10 pedals to cover these 5 effects. Tremolo is also essential but I like amp trem better. Tuners, loopers and buffers don't count as effects either. ;-)


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Tuner
Overdrive
Delay


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Everyone will want or need something to adjust dynamics, so a compressor.

You might think that an overdrive or distortion would be considered an "essential" given how many there are out there and how many are sold in any given year. But it is also true that an increasingly large number of amps come with footswitchable channel selection or overdrive. That's not to say the resulting clipping embodies _everything_ that particular player could ever want, but it IS something that one doesn't necessarily need a pedal for.

A wah. This doesn't come on most amps and plays a big role in a lot of music.

A chorus. An increasingly common feature on a lot of amps, but still not common enough to leave off the pedalboard. If you play rhythm guitar at any point, you're probably going to want one.

Tremolo. This used to be a standard feature on just about any amp, tube or solid-state, made from 1960 through to about 1975, and then kind of dried up and blew away. very handy for a wide array of music. Even jazz. I was listening to a Charlie Hunter concert the other week, and the tremolo stayed on for much of the entire show.

Delay. Doesn't really matter what type - digital or analog - as long as it will do at least 400msec so that individual repeats can be identified.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

I used to have a compressor years ago. But I admit that I really did not know how to properly apply it. I was thinkng of getting another one but would want to apply te thing properly


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

wah, phase, chorus, echo, reverb


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

For me, mainly different flavours of drive. Do have a reverb, and a trem, hardly use em and sold my delay. Have never owned a wah.

-it's utility but is essential, a tuner
-I never go anywhere without my op-amp Big Muff
-or my RAT
-or my 1970's VOLZ phaser.
-and something for lower gain/boost, though I tend to carry 3-4 other fuzzes


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

I've already precisely done this. Trimmed my board to the essentials. I have:
Tuner -> Overdrive/Distortion - > Chorus -> Delay
Sonic Research Turbo Tuner -> Lovepedal Eternity -> Timmy -> Boss Digital Dimension -> GoudieFX Delay


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## Merlin (Feb 23, 2009)

I have quite literally scaled to 5 essentials at times. Since I play jazz and 60's instrumental, I'd have:

TC Polytune tuner
Danelectro Transparent Overdrive
Voodoo Labs Superfuzz
Danelectro Tremolo
Boss Fender '63 reverb

To express it more generally - a tuner, two kinds of dirt, tremolo and reverb.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Always been simple. The Deluxe provides the reverb and tremlo
Ibanez combo unit provides 

Compressor,delay and stereo chorus 
Outboard overdrive and boost 

done


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

Tuner
Green Muff
Rat
Shart analog delay (Ad-9)
Tremolo

If the tuner doesn't count, I'll take a wah if I feel funky!


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

If I can keep my on-board reverb, I would want (in no particular order):
volume
overdrive
distortion
chorus
wah

If I can't have my amp reverb, I'll ditch the distortion.


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...i envy my other guitarist - he can get every tone imaginable with a stock blues driver and cheesy analog delay. even the amp doesn't matter.

for me, it's:

tuner
vibe
compressor
transparent o/d
distortion
mid-scooped high-gain distortion

and in the loop:

digital delay
modulation (chorus, trem etc)


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...and here are the brands:

tc polytone tuner
bbe funk vibe
barber tone press
danelectro transparent overdrive
radial bones "london"
eh metal muff

in the loop:

tc nova mod
tc nova delay (both of which i hope to replace soon - looking for pedals with faster/easier access to presets)


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## ThePass (Aug 10, 2007)

Interesting thread!

I'd need my Boss Tuner

a wah, OD, Delay & chourus.

That's it. I guess.....


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## soldierscry (Jan 20, 2008)

tuner
Fuzz (big muff)
Flanger
Delay
reverb


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

david henman said:


> ...i envy my other guitarist - he can get every tone imaginable with a stock blues driver and cheesy analog delay. even the amp doesn't matter.


 When I'm playing out, I only need a dirt (Rat of Muff) and a Tuner. Nothing else. Even Amp doesn't matters. I imagine it's a question of confort. I hate switching things out. At home it's different story!


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## zurn (Oct 21, 2009)

Should change the thread to "Your stuck with a Pedal Train Mini, what pedals do you keep?"

For me it would be:

Turbo Tuner
Timmy or OCD
EQD Hoof
Strymon El Cap (has reverb and delay in it)


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## The Kicker Of Elves (Jul 20, 2006)

zurn said:


> Should change the thread to "Your stuck with a Pedal Train Mini, what pedals do you keep?"


I have two bigger boards, but for my little one:



Bigger boards are packed away as we're finishing the basement...


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## Presto1202 (Dec 8, 2010)

For me, a wah, a distortion/overdrive, and a delay.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

My "small" board, which I'm currently using, has a wah, tuner, FDII, BB Pre, OCD, DD3, and an H2O on it. 99% of the time I use the FDII and the OCD. I use the delay on the H2O for slapback for some tunes, and the DD3 for a few solos. The wah for no more than 2 tunes and the chorus for 1. Oh yeah - the BB gets used in place of the FDII for 2 tunes.

Guess my essentials would be the tuner, FDII and OCD ............... but I would always keep the H2O as I like to be able to split the signal to 2 amps sometimes and the H2O works great for that.


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## prodigal_son (Apr 23, 2009)

Here is what I have been using for the past year or so:

Distortion (Ibanez SD9)> Phaser (Phase 90)> Flanger (DOD 575B)> Chorus (Dixon Stero Chorus)> Delay (Boss DM2)> 1996 Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

These are all placed on a rack shelf with a Pedal Power 2. I also use a Digitech DHP-33, mind you - not very often these days. Everything gets looped through a GCX system with a MIDI switcher which allows me to blend in amp channels. 

I am always looking for better pedals but the afforementioned set up is what I would currently consider to be "essential".


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

__________


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

I play pretty much all country and chicken pickin'. I would be quite content with a tuner, compressor, and a delay into an amp with a slight break-up. My current set-up consists of a couple added components, but they are in there to add a little to the comp and delay, which are the skeleton of what I want.

> Tuner - Korg Pitchblack
> Comp - currently a Boss CS-2, but I am replacing it with a Wampler Ego Compressor
> Phaser - MXR Phase 90
> OD - Jetter Jetdrive Dual OD
> Delay - Way Huge Aqua Puss
> Buffer - Musikelektro 

(powered by a Voodoo Labs ISO-5)


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