FX Pedals Thread: News, Views, Etc.

[PurpleCatfishBettie]

Here's a pedals thread. Hopefully we can work up a discussion on what we like, what we don't like; ask questions and get answers on pedals we're interested in, from other KVR netizens.

Ok, here's one. Does anyone have the 2-channel, Joyo D-SEED Delay? This looks cool: http://www.amazon.com/D-SEED-Channel-Di ... B00HB2ZEUG At $85, this is relatively low-cost for 1 full second of delay available, and 2 channels, and 4 modes including 'reverse'. I've found Joyo in general to have a lot of value for the money. If anyone already has this, does the 'channel' switch let you have the options for 1) A or 2) B, 3) both A and B, and 4) neither A nor B?

This Behringer DD400 Delay looks great for the money: http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-DD400-B ... B000Y35C8S Where else can you get a tap-tempo delay with up to 1.3 seconds of delay time, for only $40?

Here's a favorite of mine, the Mooer Lo-Fi Machine: http://www.amazon.com/Mooer-MSE1-Machin ... B00B3PB11I Sometimes, with the settings a certain way, these kinds of 'bitcrusher' pedals sound kind of like a 'poor man's ring modulator'. There are a number of interesting sounds to be explored here. One of the caveats of the chinese mini-pedals in general; some of them tend to 'warm up' a bit when plugged into an adapter; they literally warm up; i find that just a tad bit disconcerting. The Lo-Fi Machine is one of the ones which exhibits this behavior. ymmv

This Joyo Classic Chorus is really sweet-sounding: http://www.amazon.com/JF-05-Classic-Cho ... B007VOGU8O It's simple, with just two controls. It's basically 'toned down' in effect by turning the 'width' down. It sounds great to me. The artwork on the face of it is kind of strange. Maybe this one will be a collectors' item in 30 or 40 years.

Anyway, I thought that this hardware forum section could stand to have a 'pedals thread'.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Pedals you say? I don't have any experience with the one's your looking for feedback on, but here's what I've currently got, and what I think of them.

Digitech Whammy-IV - wish I had spent the extra and got the V, but I'm happy enough with it as is.

Vox 847 Wah - this one sucks tone when not in use, but is still my favorite sounding wah.

BiYang Fuzz Star - nice fuzz effect, lot's of options. Maybe a little harsh at times, but great considering the low price.

ProCo Rat - an old 90's Rat with the chip everyone likes - this one ain't going anywhere ever

T.Rex Comp Nova - very nice compressor, stays on all the time when playing clean (turn it off when using distortion pedals)

Morley Mini-Volume - opto-design volume pedal, so no noise, but the volume onset is weird

MXR Phase 90 (block) - this is getting replaced with a script version (and soon); the phasing is too thick

T.Rex Tonebug Chorus/Flanger - got it cause it's a 2-in-1, pretty good, the flanger bleeds some volume, chorus is clean and good

Marshall Vibratrem - does Fender style Vibrato and Tremolo in one pedal (oddly, the pots on mine are wired backwards where trem is vibrato and vice versa), had this one almost as long as the Rat

TC Electronic Flashback - cool pedal, lots of awesome delay sounds, software to make your own delay with a ton of parameters...only downside is the weird tap tempo functionality (you have to hold the pedal button down and wait for it to mute the signel, then mute and pick the guitar strings which means you can't do this mid-song)

[waiting man]

being a tremendous pedal slut I was thinking at a similar thread...but for synths and drums

[bharris22]

I recently bought a few pedals that I think are fantastic and would highly recommend:

1) Dr. Scientist The Elements - just simply the most flexible overdrive/distortion pedal I have ever heard. Countless different switches, can be used as a clean boost all the way to melt your face gain. Has three-band EQ, which I find very useful. Sounds fantastic, and if I wasn't so addicted to overdrives and distortions this could probably be the only such pedal I would need to own. Plus, Ryan at Dr. Scientist is a very nice guy, and responds directly to e-mails with questions, etc. Not cheap, but worth saving for.

2) Blackout Effectors Mantra Overdrive (http://www.blackouteffectors.com/?page_id=370) - a very creamy overdrive/distortion pedal that has a unique Baxandall EQ. Impossible to get a bad tone out of this one (although for some reason I find it easy to get bad sounding playing through it ). The link I posted is to a sale on blem units that they have, where there are 10 left with the "high-low gain switch" mod. I bought one of these because it is more flexible, and honestly can't even tell it is a blem.

3) One more (because I can't help myself) - the EHX Soul Food. Like all EHX pedals, IMHO, cheap and great sounding. This is a very thick sounding overdrive that is an excellent Klon copy, for not a lot of money (probably half of the nearest Klon competitor). Check out That Pedal Show on YouTube for a comparison of this pedal with other Klon copies. Yes, the Wampler Tumnus sounds a bit closer to the original, but it is 3x the price of the Soul Food.

In addition to these pedals, I also just purchased a long overdue power supply - the Cioks DC5. This has made a huge difference to the sound of my pedal board (a Pedaltrain Nano). It is isolated, has a couple of high output (300 mA) sockets for current-hungry pedals, as well as a convenient set of dip switches; now I can run both 9V and 18V pedals off of the same cord. Dirt pedals that I thought were noisy before are now dead silent. Again, Poul Cioks is a good guy, and has responded to my technical questions on a weekend. That's customer service, and this power supply is true quality. I feel like a pro with this, although I still don't sound like one.

My 2 cents . . . .

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

In addition to these pedals, I also just purchased a long overdue power supply - the Cioks DC5. This has made a huge difference to the sound of my pedal board (a Pedaltrain Nano). It is isolated, has a couple of high output (300 mA) sockets for current-hungry pedals, as well as a convenient set of dip switches; now I can run both 9V and 18V pedals off of the same cord. Dirt pedals that I thought were noisy before are now dead silent. Again, Poul Cioks is a good guy, and has responded to my technical questions on a weekend. That's customer service, and this power supply is true quality. I feel like a pro with this, although I still don't sound like one.

I recently picked up this one to power my home my homemade pedalboard:

http://truetone.com/power-supplies/1-sp ... ro-c12zzz/

It's powering everything on my prior post with no hiccups. I'd definitely recommend it. Hadn't heard of the Cioks until just now.

[bharris22]

I like the 500mA outlets on the one you just linked to. The Cioks DC5 and the Adam (4 outlets only) fit under the Powertrain Nano and Nano+ pedalboards, so if you have a small board these are ideal (in addition to being clean and offering multiple voltage and current options).

[foosnark]

I mostly stick with synths, with the rare bit of fretless bass and even more rare lap steel (though I'm thinking of selling the lap steel). But I've played some with pedals.

Red Witch Fuzz God II: it doesn't really do gentle and sane very well, but it excels at noisy, buzzy madness and self-oscillation. This is the one I use most.

Danelectro French Toast: a more restrained but still fun octave fuzz.

Little-Bear R.Attack: a cheap Proco Rat clone with a switch for different modes. I don't use it a lot, but it's good for getting stuff messy.

Zoom G1On: a very cheap multi-effect pedal with surprisingly decent sound and a kind of awkward interface. (Same engine as the G3, but one screen, fewer knobs, and more menu diving.) But honestly I don't use it very much; pick any single effect in its roster and I have a better one in software. The looper works well though, and the compressor is an easy "it just works" effect, so maybe I should get it out and play with it some more.

Devi Ever Truly Beautiful Disaster: completely insane fuzz/noise/nightmare box. It tended to pick up random radio signals and all kinds of other stuff. It was fun but ultimately I couldn't justify owning it, and so I sold it.

Devi Ever Rocket: a slightly less crazy, but still violent and out of control dual fuzz. Again, we had some fun but I felt I had better uses for the money, and sold it.

[PurpleCatfishBettie]

Random observations:

TC Electronic Flashback: That 'tap tempo' using the guitar strings 'sounds' strange ('wrong') to me, but some people appear to like it (if you look at amazon reviews).

I've got no problem with this being a generic 'fx pedals' thread; for guitar, synth, or whatever.

...gonna have to look into getting a 'quieter' power supply.

...definitely a lot of new buying possibilities opened up here already. lol (Mantra OD is tempting...)

Meanwhile, I've been working with a 'Us Dream' pedal from Joyo; which is in turn apparently based on a 'Suhr Riot'. not bad. not bad at all. I definitely 'know the thing' of wanting yet another overdrive/fuzz/distortion pedal, and along the way, this one is pretty cool... methinks it's kind of 'wild' and not 'smooth' like some overdrives. It's fuzzy with a lot of attitude.

[FoxV]

More random observations:

I'm surprised there is so little talk on KVR about the Mod Duo. Just ordered one, and looking forward to playing with it. Though perhaps it's more a computer in a pedal (certainly not "analog").

Speaking of analog, I just bought a Earthquake Devices Palisades, and I'm loving it (for guitar). My favorite flavor of overdrive is the tubescreamer, and this pedal allows awesome flexibility to compensate for whatever amp I'm using (or not using, and going direct), whatever room I'm playing in, whatever guitar, etc. Great little box.

Edit: Mod Duo link: http://moddevices.com/

[khanyz]

Has anyone got/tried the BBE Sonic Stomp? I want something to bring out a bit more detail in my sound, which is usually booster, overdrive or distortion, and chorus.

My current fave pedals are:

GarageTone Chainsaw - Sets up a tube amp to distort brilliantly, adds a sweetness that cuts through.

Budda ZenMan - Its a new (Peavey) one but still adds a nice edge. Also, the price is great (though not as good as the TC MojoMojo)

EHX Holy Stain - All my acoustic needs in one pedal.

Seymour Duncan Paranormal - Simple set&forget bass DI, just kick in the slap contour for variation.

[bharris22]

The Mod Duo looks very interesting. I had never heard of it before - thanks for sending .

[justin3am]

A friend gave me this Zoom UF-01 UltraFuzz... it's a total madman.


Zoom really just makes DSP effects but at some point they made a few analog distortion/fuzz/overdrive pedals. This one is supposed to sound like a Fuzz Face and a Big Muff (the 'Color' control cross fades between the two voicings). It doesn't really sound like either but there are a lot of intense sounds in this thing. It will self oscillate at certain settings, at others it sounds like an octave pedal or kinda synth-like.

The EHX Memory boy and Deluxe Memory Boy are awesome. Dark BBD delays with a CV input. The Deluxe has a tap tempo. They work great with modular synths.

I use a ton of cheap pedals for noise tracks. I hook them up to sends on an old mixer and route the pedal outputs back to channel inputs on the mixer for fun with feeback.

[waiting man]

Niceee...never seen Zoom analogs.

Memory boy is lot of dark fun, as other EHXs.

Holy stain is a weirdo and usually cheap 2nd hand, distortions are good for colour as well as for Muffizing and the ability to jump from preverb to preshifter can save a jam or two.

Ringthing band options are amazing, wasn't convinced at first but it's well designed and sounds good. It tracks well, has a second input and also vibrato and waveforms...Then it's also a whammy so thumbs up. Oh, also dry output.

Another cheapo poisoning me is Tom's Line Engineering Liner, a line selector with A, B and A and B combinations for splitting to two (generally drive and treated fuzz) pedals.

The Xvive W1 Wave Phaser gets my attentions, but it's 18v and I'm unprepared for that. Also the Ehx new vibe sounds sweet.

[Stupid American Pig]

I used to have a collection of Electroharmonix pedals, but never was much of a pedal junkie. I recently got a Boss Me-80 as my only pedal. For the mods and reverbs it is fine, but the overdrives definitely leave me wanting. I have a vox ac-15 which doesnt really do drive all that great anyway. I would love to hear something that could take the jangly vox and make it drive and heavy for those times I want that. Any ideas?

[resynthesis]

Loads of things out there but I've always been pretty pleased with a Rat and AC15