What Is the ideal pedalboard For a Guitarist?
December 12th, 2008 | 
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Patrick G asked:
Im one of those guys who plays anything from Blues to metal
Wahs?
Compressors?
Noisegates?
Im one of those guys who plays anything from Blues to metal
Wahs?
Compressors?
Noisegates?
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buy individual petals. never buy a processer. the best sounding pedals are boutique made. good handmade ones are not cheap but the best sounding. if your recording at home get a line 6 pod you’ll need a volume pedal, wah, chromatic tuner, reverb, overdrive, tremelo, distortion, sustain, and chorus to begin with.
You mean effects pedals, not the pedal board itself. Hmm blues to metal? Basic necessity is a drive pedal. Get an overdrive and/or distortion. I suggest Boss DS-1 or Boss Metal Zone if you want a more metal sound. For wahs, check out Dunlop Crybabys, the best wahs out there. If you’re setting up a lot of drive on your pedals, get a compressor to even everything out.
Good luck!
The dunlop 535Q wah sounds the best, but the morley wah`s are so easy and reliable. A compressor isn`t really necessary for live sound. Noise gate…use the noise suppressor from Boss. It`s pretty awesome. A good, versatile amp will keep you from needing a distortion pedal, but the Ibanez tube screamer is a long standing overdrive champion that can bring out a really sweet lead sound from just about any tube amp.
If you really want a “one box for all” device, you`re going to have to go the used route. The good stuff was all made in the mid to late 90`s. Digitech`s 2101 is an AMAZING sounding processor. The direct recording sound is heavenly, and couple with the right power amp it can sound just as sweet live. Use the Control One footswitch system and it`s the most versatile device a giutarist could ever ask for.
There`s a lot to be said for a good amp and a small assortment of good pedals, but your personal style and tone preference will ultimately be the judge of what you use.
If guitar is your hobby, then go with a Danelectro Daddy-O Overdrive pedal, DigiTech DigiDelay Digital Delay, Line 6 Tonecore Verbzilla, and a Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble pedal in that order, with a wah pedal of your choice(they all sound different and you really need to pick your wah out yourself like you would pick out a wife) at the very front of this setup. NOW…If you want to join a band someday and take playing seriously, the next sensible step before going rack-based/MIDI setup which i’ll go into later, would be a Boss GT-8 Guitar Multi Effects Processor teamed up with a Behringer FCB-1010 for added control capabilities. On to the Pro setups… a beginner setup would include (in a 10 space rack case) from top to bottom-Furman power conditioner, ART TPS-2 tube pre-amp system, Alesis 3630 Compressor limiter with gate, (3) Behringer Virtualizer Pro effects processors or a Rocktron Prophesy 2 or whatever processor of your liking with MIDI in/out/thru, and a BBE 428i sonic Maximizer, and a Behringer FCB-1010 to control your processor. in front of your rack you would include any stand-alone foot pedals and wah’s. after your rack would be your Amplifier which you would mic with one mic for mono sound or two for stereo before sending to the mixing board for recording. MOST IMPORTANTLY is that you visit your local music store with your current thoughts about what you want and let someone who can talk face to face with you help you decide on whats right for you and your wallet.
individual stomp boxes are used by the gigging professional, period. I’m not going to influence you with my personal biases as far as brand names go, but I will tell you that after 40+ years of playing rock and blues primarily, you should be looking at: a drive (distortion) pedal; a chorus pedal; a delay pedal; and a wah pedal - all played through the clean channel of your amp. I prefer to have the drive pedal next to last (distortion should always be the last effect) and then the wah pedal last to affect any pedal I have turned on. think about what you’re playing, or like to play. identify the effects used on the recordings. chances are that you’ll see that may be all you need, too. happy trails.