Great question Bryce thanks for putting it out there, I’m new to using pedals as well, I have borrowed a BBE green screamer overdrive and a Guyatone MD3 delay for the challenge piece. I’ve just started looking into the world of pedals and there are endless choices. Any insights from members will be a big help.

Scott

I am not as well off as @gnlguy thinks I am).

Bryce

We are undeserving of your humility LOL

How satisfied are you with the OD of the Classic 30? If you think that its adequate for what you are currently doing, I would stay with the Ditto pedal

I don’t remember which Reverend guitar that you have but if its single coil, I would suggest a compressor pedal in the future as well. Even a cheap one like the $29 Behringer that I have will make a huge difference in your tone. At some point, I want to get a BBE Vari-Comp which is 2 compressors in one or an EHX Soul Preacher. Both have similar properties but from what I’ve read the BBE Vari-Comp can easily Mark Knopfler’s early tone – I doubt that any of us want to run Mark’s set up which was a Music Man 130 watt amp running wide open. I’m out in the country but 130 watts from a 6CA7 tube amp is enough to disturb the cows in Farmer Brown’s pasture 10 miles from here

Also, on some pedals, even though they are cheaper, Joyo & Behringer pedalsgets good reviews. I suggest that you look up our friend Shane from the land down under and search his You Tube channel In The Blues for some decent reviews

Keith

Hi Bryce,
I know your amp already has reverb. I think your overdrive pedals are right on and give different flavours of overdrive. A delay pedal is nice. It’s pretty much part of my default sound. I have the TC Electronics flashback but, at this point, I really only use the slapback feature. I bet you could get one of those inexpensive Joyo pedals to do the same job. So maybe a Blues Driver and slip in a cheap delay. Happy hunting.
John

Hey Keith or anyone else who knows. I am new to pedals as well and am not sure what exactly a compressor pedal does, could you give me a brief summary? I currently have a ditto looper, which is really just for practicing, and a boss blues driver. Thanks..scott.

@Bryce-akguitar

Bryce, First Happy Birthday!!

The recommendation really depends on what you want in your sound versus what you already have. In my chain I have the following in this order:
Vox Wah-Wah, MXR Compressor, OCD overdrive, Blues driver, Way Huge Pork Loin Overdrive(very cool), Way Huge Delay, MXR 10 band EQ, Ditto Looper. Reverb/Trem is on most of the amps….the rest Chorus, Flangers, etc not in my sound. I would say, leaving aside the brands/types, this is a basic setup of pedal categories. why 3 overdrives? I enjoy stacking them in 2’s nice mix. The EQ is very nice to experiment with.

Out of the whole bunch, honestly the one I use least is the looper. It is a great device, works great etc, but I simply prefer to use backing tracks most of the time. This is a personal choice and somewhat easier the way I have my audio world set up. If you decide to get the looper, my only recommendation with Ditto is make sure you need the functions on the larger model, as I recall it was much more expensive than the smaller one.

Another to think about is the Digitech Trio – New, its a band in a box very interesting for practicing
http://digitech.com/en-US/products/trio

And as GNLguy recommended go the the Intheblues channel on youtube awesome reviews of pedals to consider….

Enjoy the hunt.

@scotty117

Take a look at this as an overview of what a compressor pedal does.

http://www.musicradar.com/tuition/guitars/compressor-pedals-what-you-need-to-know-608602

Bryce

I had the Ditto II, you can have about 5 minutes to record something. This is very much. It is easy to use. He does what he is supposed to and convinces with good quality.

The Boss TU3, I have exchanged into TC Electronic PolyTune Clip Tuner. I would recommend to you.

If Overdrive, then I can tell you the Ibanez TS808 recommend. But this is also a matter of taste. At the Fulltone OCD You have your Amp far tearing. In addition, it is very rough compared to the Ibanez.

The Boss Blues Driver, I do not know. I only know the Boss BD-2. But he is not direct an Overdrive.

Wilfried

Hi Bryce,
I spend a couple of months last year checking single effects pedals and also the BOSS combined units, also borrowed a combined unit with whah whah etc.
Although not yet bought my decision came back to a Blues Driver and a separate whah, whah (not yet sure of the model); I think these two cover most aspects along with amp options.
Happy birthday and cheers, Bri

All of my effects are done through the line 6 Pod HD 500. Can’t see myself replacing that in the near future.

I have a trio. This is great fun to play along with. The downside is it’s not something you would use live and sometimes it just does not give you the groove you are looking for.

I have a beat buddy drum pedal. I can’t fault this. There are a lot of synthetic sounding drum machines about – the beat buddy is not one of them.

And finally I have the original ditto. The ditto made the most difference to my playing and is extremely simple to use.

There is so much out there it’s a case of finding what suits you.

I’ve tried Boss super overdrive sd1 and I’ve Never been satisfied, otherwise I’d like to recomend you Fulltone OCD… Sweet and rough (like virgin Wool on your skin) when you need it
Let us know your choice
Anyway ..happy birthday
Cheers
Ale

Happy Birthday Bryce!
Lot’s of good suggestions for you from the forum! Boss Loop Station RC-3, great for looping a phrase to play along with. Also I would like to echo Alan Bennet’s comment about the Beat Buddy Drum pedal. This beat pedal has so much to offer it really helps with my timing. http://mybeatbuddy.com/
It’s a little spendy especially with the optional footswtch, which is pretty much required to use it optimally. They now offer a beat buddy mini with less features for less money. They have a cool t shirt too! I named my drummer Clyde. He’s ready to play anytime 24/7!

Fred S.

Hi Bryce. My instinct would be to go first for a delay – like John, I have the TC Electronic Flashback, and like it a lot for its ease of use, quietness and very clear sound. I struggle to get an overdriven sound I like, but this is just me and I obviously need to try harder! Happy birthday!

Well Bryce you are certain to get a number of responses to any pedal or guitar question. I recently bought a Donner Yellow Tail delay pedal and a Caline Hot Mushroom Compressor pedal. I wonder who comes up with the names of the pedals!?* At any rate, I am pleased with both of them. My Orange amp has a reverb and both a clean and dirty channel. I bought these particular pedals for three reasons: 1. I wanted the compressor for hybrid picking 2. I wanted the delay for rockabilly and some other genre that I favor; 3. Both of the pedals together cost less that a so-so overdrive pedal and my amp’s dirty channel gives me a crunch tone for my Les Paul. So that’s it for now; no more pedals for a while. Ha! Good luck and have fun with the Amazon shopping……….
Rip
Bozeman, Montana

Happy Birthday Bryce!

I originally started with a multi-effects pedal so that I could “try out” different types of tones. I found that I stick to a few I like so now Im on the hunt for individual pedals that recreate that effect.
So far I have the Boss Blues driver 2 Waza and an Akai headrush looper/delay pedal.

Let us know what you end up getting.

Hi Guys,

I have a Fender Mustang iii V2 with quite a few effects built in and a Deluxe 85 which could blow your head off over three on the dial. However, I have been thinking about a Boss Blues Driver and have watched a number of videos on you tube to see what you can get out of them. I’m not convinced yet but sometimes the audio on the videos is not good enough for a fair representation. I think my leads are a bit too pretty and something that would make them sound a bit more edgy might help. Can you give me your thoughts on the Blues Driver please?

Cheers,

Andrew

@stratplus66

Hi Andrew, I also have the Mustang III v2, love it, and I also have the Blues driver. I found that one of the best tones I get is taking the basic Fender Bassman amp model and playing the Blues Driver with it…mostly with volume at noon and gain at 10 oclock…..mixing the cleans on most fender amp models with the blues driver on a strat is very nice tone for blues. The blues driver itself can sound somewhat thin depending on the amp model on the M3, but its a question of finding what you like…it never sounds bad… I also use it with my tube amps especially a Fender champ 600…that is a nice combo. I think the blues driver for the price, especially used, is a no brainer…..obviously, there are some amazing OD pedals out there, like the OKKO Diablo…wow…but cost as much as the M3!!

Roberto

Thank you Maradonagol. The “hand of God” obviously helps. I will give the Blues Driver a try! Thanks again for such a quick reply.

Andrew

As i do my own research on pedals, i have another question for someone who knows. What is the difference,advantage,disadvantage, between individual pedals and one of those multi-effect, all in one pedal boards? The all in one boards are cheaper than buying each pedal individually so i assume there is a reason. Thanks..scott.

@StratPlus66

No problem Andrew, glad to help! Ah yes, the hand of God…..what a memorable game….if only his brain and mouth were as good as his feet and hands!!

Roberto

As i do my own research on pedals, i have another question for someone who knows. What is the difference,advantage,disadvantage, between individual pedals and one of those multi-effect, all in one pedal boards? The all in one boards are cheaper than buying each pedal individually so i assume there is a reason. Thanks..scott.

I have Zoom G1Xon multieffect, so I think I can tell you – multieffects can be great and can make even subpar equipment sound very nice (as they can simulate ampheads and speakers) BUT they are very fiddly. If I want a little more delay, it takes about a minute fiddling in menus to get to what I want and there is no direct feedback which you get with an analog knob, meaning I probably won’t even get exactly what I want anyway.

I’ve resigned on making adjustments and use presets only. There are LOTS of them on my multieffect, so there is always something which will fit.

There is simplicity in turning a delay or compression knob and hearing the response, which you won’t get with a multieffect.

Vojtech, thank you. I have been looking at theses and some pedals. I currently only have a boss bd-2 blues driver and a ditto looper. I have been playing in a band for a little while now and would like some effects options for some songs. I can’t really afford a bunch of individual pedals at $100 or so each, so i was thinking about an effects board as an alternative. Sounds like you are happy with yours so i might look into it more. I just didn’t know the difference, so thank you..scott.
Ps:I have a Fender Blues Jr. Amp.

Happy Birthday Bryce! I don’t know jack about pedals, so I’ll leave it at Happy Birthday Bryce!

I use the Line 6 POD HD 500. This is a fantastic piece of equipment and is also used by some of my friends. It has been around for a few years now and there is loads of stuff on utube if anyone is interested. It does too much to try and describe in a thread.

My main reason for buying this was i don’t understand what people mean when they talk about, compression, tube drenched, overdrive vs distortion vs fuzz, cutting the mids, plate reverb vs reverb etc.

I changed over from the acoustic guitar to the electric in my mid 50s and all this additional technology goes over my head.

With my POD comes presets. If I want a sound for a particular song and it’s not on the POD I can download it. I also have a friend who is fantastic on all this and will make me up a patch if I want it. All I have to do is hit the right foot switch.

Happy Birthday Bryce! I have a whah whah, Boss blues Driver and Ditto looper. To be honest, I realise that I have a lot to learn before introducing or complicating myself with the Whah Whah, but just love that sound! I have tried it a couple of times, but it’s little used. I just need to concentrate on basic guitar after injury etc. The Boss Blues driver is awesome, but once again, hardly used as I live in a Flat and plugged into my fender Twin Reverb Valve Amp, it just kicks to much ass and I would get evicted ( I mainly use my Yamaha ThR amp) . the Ditto looper is great, but I feel like I waste valuable time trying to hit the button at the right time. You can have a lot of fun with the looper, lay down the 12 Bar Blues EP0127!! And solo over! Good luck, Phil

I may as well throw in my two cents as well…(BTW….Happy Birthday, Bryce)

I’ve a drawer full of pedals….

I’ve found (quickly I might add) that pedals are kind of a way to scratch your buy a new piece of equipment itch without spending a lot of dough. (relatively speaking) Don’t get me wrong, they can be cool but primarily if you play in a band and are looking for a way to get close to the tone featured in the cover your band is attempting. If you are a solo act as are many of us, better off buying a smaller amp (such as that THR10C discussed on the forum) that already has the effects and modulations built in, not to mention several amp models. If you tweak the controls enough, you’ll get pretty close to what you’re looking for without having the clutter and wires of pedals all about. I’ve gone the pedal board root. It redefines clutter. After a few months I just couldn’t look at that mess anymore….(thus the drawer)
The exception would be a good looper such as the Boss RC3. I’ve had three and this one is the easiest to use.

While we are on the subject of Effects….If you ever get a chance to try out the Boss eBand JS-10 audio player and guitar effects practice amp, you will be astounded at the amp modeling, effects provided, sound quality, recording capability, exporting capability, backing tracks provided. Of all my gear, this would be the last one that I would part with. It’s a stroke of musical genius. Check it out on Youtube.

Over and Out
Marty

PS…pedal lovers, please don’t hate me….I just feel that if you buy the right amp, you don’t really need pedals to play in the living room…..LOL

Just a final comment on the ditto Bryce. This is something I do quite a lot and I believe helps develop your playing, particularly if your goal is to play alongside others.

Strum a simple progression and record it as your first loop/layer.
Now imagine you’ve another guitarist who’s been asked to go on stage and play alongside this progression. You won’t want to play the same, so you now have to come up with something different which fits and does not clash with the first loop. So now you’ve got two players playing the rhythm part. Now try and put a third loop down. You can use riffs arpeggios anything you like. If you do something badly wrong hold the pedal down and it will remove your last layer (you go back a level). See if you can get to five different layers without it sounding a mess. Then try playing lead over the top.

I played comfortably numb (my version) for 45 min a few nights ago. You just get lost in it all.

Good luck with your final choice and I hope you had a good birthday.