# Which pedal to get?



## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

I don't really use pedals so I don't have a lot of experience with them. I mostly play blues and classic rock with SG's (P90s and humbuckers) and strats (SSS and HH). I use two amps, a Blackstar HT-1RH (mostly with headphones) and a Traynor YCV50Blue (mostly live). Both amps have built in reverb. Right now I have two pedals that I use about equally, a Boss BD-2 Bluesdriver and a Wayhuge Green Rhino. I'm pretty happy with them. What should I be looking at next, delay, chorus, compressor, wah, eq, or something else?


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Kerry Brown said:


> I don't really use pedals so I don't have a lot of experience with them. I mostly play blues and classic rock with SG's (P90s and humbuckers) and strats (SSS and HH). I use two amps, a Blackstar HT-1RH (mostly with headphones) and a Traynor YCV50Blue (mostly live). Both amps have built in reverb. Right now I have two pedals that I use about equally, a Boss BD-2 Bluesdriver and a Wayhuge Green Rhino. I'm pretty happy with them. What should I be looking at next, delay, chorus, compressor, wah, eq, or something else?


I love my BD-2, but prefer kicking in the keeley switches. If that's a keeper for you, consider getting more versatility with the keeley modded upgrade.

Next pedal for rock/blues would put me in the direction of delay or wah, but I'd probably go the delay route.

Cost-effective - MXR Carbon Copy
Best for rock - Maxon ad999

I've a/b'd the ad999 through a lot of amps and against most of the best pedals and it always wins the distortion test for lead and chords. It is good with cleans, but there are better ones out there for that.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

I'll agree with delay.

having said that you could pick up a Zoom MS70-CDR for not much money and it will get all the Chorus, Delay, Reverb you'll need. Great sounding pedal that is now a staple on my board.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

I would have to go with delay as well. It just adds a certain depth that you can't get with anything else. I had a couple of drive pedals, a fuzz and a chorus before I got my delay. The delay was the ONE pedal that kind of brought everything together. I definitely had a "where have you been all my life" moment. You might consider a TC delay that also has a looper built in. There are a few different models with both features to varying degrees. And the tone print feature is VERY cool. A few extra dollars but handy if you play alone a lot.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

I'd agree that a delay is the next important pedal to get. I'd not be so concerned about which one but I would strongly suggest keeping an eye on the emporium here. There's always a pretty good variety of pedals for sale and it's a whole lot cheaper than paying retail. A carbon copy, Boss DD-3 (or newer) are great choices.

As for distortion/overdrive, I've personally never been a fan of the Blues Driver (though others use it to great effect). I'd suggest trying some other flavours - from an SD-1, OD-3, DS-1 in the Boss camp to TS-9 variants, OCD, BB, Rats - there's lots of choices. Or get a 2-stage like the Fulldrive II.

Lots to experiment with and you can flip them on the emporium at very little cost.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

Forgot to mention I also use a Korg tuner pedal. It's use is so ingrained I forgot all about it. Thanks for the suggestions. It looks like I'm on the hunt for a delay pedal.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Two basic directions to pursue:

1) A pedal that allows you to do what you already do, but a little better.

2) A pedal that gives your playing a little kick in the hind-quarters, and makes you think about your playing differently.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

mhammer said:


> Two basic directions to pursue:
> 
> 1) A pedal that allows you to do what you already do, but a little better.
> 
> 2) A pedal that gives your playing a little kick in the hind-quarters, and makes you think about your playing differently.


I'm looking for both. Aren't we all?

- - - Updated - - -

I see Tapestry has a Boss DD-3 on their clear out. I may start there. I imagine I'll have to try a few before I figure out what works for me.


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## amagras (Apr 22, 2015)

mhammer said:


> 1) A pedal that allows you to do what you already do, but a little better.


A compressor (I would say the Keeley compressor) 



mhammer said:


> 2) A pedal that gives your playing a little kick in the hind-quarters, and makes you think about your playing differently.


A delay or a chorus (EHX Memory Man and a Boss CE2 if you want my opinion)


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

My traditional response is probably pretty similar. I am rarely without a compressor, since it makes things more predictable for the player.
I would normally suggest an auto-wah for the second category, but quite frankly, delays have come so far, lately, I terms of the options they provide (many of them not lining up with one's normal way of thinking), that I will say delay.


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

I would have to say delay as well. I don't think you can go wrong with a Carbon Copy or TC Electronic Flashback.


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

When I seen this thread on the main page I thought it was started by mhammer and I had a good laugh. Him asking us what pedal he should get next! Quite comical.

Anyways, I would agree with a delay. I find a bit of delay with a bit of reverb makes a real nice distortion sound better. With the Traynor, you can run the delay in the effects loop where it should be which will keep the quality of the sound high. This would satisfy #1:


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A nice fuzz is fun to play with and opens up different sonic territories. I love the Big Muff for playing into clean amps but find a Fuzz Face more versatile playing into a semi-cranked amp. You can leave your volume knob on your guitar all the way up for fat, gnarly fuzz (especially with silicon fuzz faces) and drop the volume knob off to get a nice old school crunch with a little different character. This would satisfy #2:




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## exhausted (Feb 10, 2006)

All the pedals. Get all the pedals.


But seriously, in the absence of trying to emulate or capture any one sound, delay is very inspiring. Specifically rhythmic delay so get something with tap tempo.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

exhausted said:


> All the pedals. Get all the pedals.


LOL I wish. I find it too confusing if I have too many options. I tried a Line 6 Pod XT Live for a while. I spent all my practice time playing with different options instead of practicing. I'm not very disciplined to start with and when shiny things are available I can't resist. The Line 6 now sits in the office downstairs well away from my practice setup.


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## mister.zed (Jun 8, 2011)

Get a Bass Balls. This is one inspirational pedal. Or perhaps even better get a wah. I never knew what the fuss about wah was until I got one recently. Adds a whole new dimension of expression. Pair it with fuzz, overdrive or distortion and you get a whole new palette. As my little kids say - it will blow your mind up.


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## GWN! (Nov 2, 2014)

I agree with the others about delay. I added a couple of delay pedals to by set-up and I love it. I have been buying and selling pedals like crazy but I think I finally have most of what I need for Blues/Classic Rock. My current pedal set-up is Visual Sound Route 66>VFE Blues King>Timmy>Seymour Duncan Vapor Trail>Strymon El Capistan> Strymon Flint. I am also thinking of getting a Dunlop Mini Cry Baby Wah and I think that will be it.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

mister.zed said:


> Get a Bass Balls. This is one inspirational pedal. Or perhaps even better get a wah. I never knew what the fuss about wah was until I got one recently. Adds a whole new dimension of expression. Pair it with fuzz, overdrive or distortion and you get a whole new palette. As my little kids say - it will blow your mind up.


It's a fun pedal; a whole lot more fun with a couple of simple mods. Behringer makes a clone of one, dirt cheap.
I usually recommend autowah to shake up one's playing, but like I say, these days delays have a whole bunch of interesting tricks up their sleeves.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I had a carbon copy - great pedal, but it was either not enough or too much for the sound I wanted. Tonally it was great, but I sold it fairly quick.

DD3 - a staple on a lot of boards (including mine haha). Simple yet effective.

I looked into the AD999 as Chuck has swooned about it on here - I did not realize that pedal was so expensive! That crossed it off my list pretty quick. If you want tap tempo (I personally really like having it), look into a used Diamond Memory Lane Jr. Analog tone, adjustable modulation, and it just sounds phenomenal. I miss mine.

There's even the options from Mooer and Six Shooter pedals, which are tiny-chassis pedals priced at around $100 new - this will let you determine which features you do and dont want in various pedals.

I knew delay would be the one effect I'd go nuts over if I ever got into the pedal game. A year and a bit into needing a pedalboard, and yeah - the rabbit hole is deep. I don't have the space, power or money to get all the delays I currently want (only two!), and then add in another reverb or two and it just gets silly.


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## amagras (Apr 22, 2015)

Whatever you do, don't go with the boss dd7. Although it is a great pedal with lots of fun and stereo in/out for use along other stereo effects such as reverb and chorus it isn't durable. Also the dd3 sounds better.


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## fretzel (Aug 8, 2014)

How about a boost pedal. Someone posted a link to a sale with an EHX LPB-1 for $30.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

amagras said:


> Whatever you do, don't go with the boss dd7. Although it is a great pedal with lots of fun and stereo in/out for use along other stereo effects such as reverb and chorus it isn't durable. Also the dd3 sounds better.


How is the DD7 less durable than a DD3? Its the same box. Pretty sure the digital in the dd7 is the same chip too...


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## amagras (Apr 22, 2015)

Budda said:


> How is the DD7 less durable than a DD3? Its the same box. Pretty sure the digital in the dd7 is the same chip too...


DD3 is basically an analog pedal with a very simple digital part that works in parallel to create the delays. DD7 is a modeller, this means everything is made using a computer to emulate classic (analog) sounds. 

I've had a dd7 for 4 years, broken... once the digital brain gets "cookoo" there's no way to make a factory reset to fix it (this is the official word from Roland) and their warranty policy sucks. That's why I wouldn't go with a dd7 if I were the OP.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Out of being online for over 10 years you're the first person I've encountered at all who's fried a DD7.


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## amagras (Apr 22, 2015)

Budda said:


> Out of being online for over 10 years you're the first person I've encountered at all who's fried a DD7.


Me and this guy: https://rolandcanada.zendesk.com/entries/71314509-Boss-DD-7-Issues
Mine lives on the board that used to go on tour with me and has been beaten but roadies and wet climates over most of its life.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

I bought the joyo analogue delay, analogue chorus and dynamic compressor. A lot of pedals all at once, but not one of them is over 50 bucks shipped. They may not last long or they may last me forever but i figured there was no sense spending money on high end pedals I may not like or want or use. So i cheaped out for now. If I really really like one of the effects then I will youtube for other pedals of the same modulation and see what is out there that is similar and probably upgrade. 

I also bought the timmy, but i already knew it would be a great pedal from the reviews and resale value so it was worth it to fork over the dough for that.


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## amagras (Apr 22, 2015)

knight_yyz said:


> I bought the joyo analogue delay, analogue chorus and dynamic compressor. A lot of pedals all at once, but not one of them is over 50 bucks shipped. They may not last long or they may last me forever but i figured there was no sense spending money on high end pedals I may not like or want or use. So i cheaped out for now. If I really really like one of the effects then I will youtube for other pedals of the same modulation and see what is out there that is similar and probably upgrade.
> 
> I also bought the timmy, but i already knew it would be a great pedal from the reviews and resale value so it was worth it to fork over the dough for that.


Congratulations, I see nothing but good reviews of the Joyo pedals and in my opinion the sound really really good.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

I'm happy with them so far. Just threw that out there in case the OP want's a cheaper alternative


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

I think trying some cheaper pedals is a great idea. I can buy several pedals to see what I like. Once I've got an idea of what they can do I can sell them and buy some higher end pedals of the type I like or I may just find the less expensive ones suit me fine. Is there anywhere in Vanouver I can look at the Joyo pedals? If not are there any Canadian online dealers?


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Amazon, but shipping is slow because they are coming from UK. That didn't deter me because I am still working on my custom pedal board.


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## fretzel (Aug 8, 2014)

Try the Caline line as well. 
CP-18 is a BB clone and is really good. The CP-12 is a Timmy clone. Amazon has them for $30 shipped.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

Bought a Joyo analog delay and a Joyo eq from Amazon. They ship from China. I'll see what they're like. I'm going slow with this pedal thing. I tend to spend a lot of time playing around and not enough time playing guitar if the gear gets too complicated.


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

I recently picked up a Strymon Deco and i'm pretty blown away by this beast…..it's not an overdrive, not a flanger nor a chorus, not a double tracker and not a delay…. but does all of these things…. Being that i'm a product of the 70's, this pedal is candy to the ear. it is very musical and once again, Strymon has impressed me beyond belief. Check out the demo's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUNklBG8gAc


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPkM5T6FSi8


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## amagras (Apr 22, 2015)

Deco is the only digital pedal that I don't mind it's digital. I love it!


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## BMW-KTM (Apr 7, 2015)

Far as I'm concerned it depends on how one defines "classic rock." Since the OP listed blues first my first thought would not run to a delay box. If your definition of classic rock means later classic like either U2 and similar genres or else glam/shred/80s rock then a delay would be on the list. However if that definition comes closer to Hendrix, Floyd, Purple, Heep, etc. then I would suggest some kind of tremolo, univibe, or a Leslie emulator as they would all be tons more useful with playing the blues and would still work nicely with the earlier classic rock. I just don't see where a delay box is a common blues effect.


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## fretzel (Aug 8, 2014)

^^^^agree!!! Dirt Wah Vibe. Done!!!


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

BMW-KTM said:


> Far as I'm concerned it depends on how one defines "classic rock." Since the OP listed blues first my first thought would not run to a delay box. If your definition of classic rock means later classic like either U2 and similar genres or else glam/shred/80s rock then a delay would be on the list. However if that definition comes closer to Hendrix, Floyd, Purple, Heep, etc. then I would suggest some kind of tremolo, univibe, or a Leslie emulator as they would all be tons more useful with playing the blues and would still work nicely with the earlier classic rock. I just don't see where a delay box is a common blues effect.


I am not a blues connoisseur whatsoever, but did they ever use slapback delay? Super short delay also makes leads sound bigger.


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## fretzel (Aug 8, 2014)

I don't mind a little slap back, but personally I don't plug my delay pedal in very often.


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## BMW-KTM (Apr 7, 2015)

I do not profess to know every blues song or artist out there. I'm sure there must have been at least some bluesmen who experimented with delay but it is by no means whatsoever a staple effect in the blues genre. Even if there were some bluesmen who toyed with delay I can't see them using it as a thickener but more likely as an echo. ie: long delay times rather than short.


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