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Pedal Advice


quikblade

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Im looking at getting a few pedals.

Was looking at getting a Distorition pedal and a phasor of some sorts.

I dont have any previous experiance of pedals so i was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for me?

Price is not a problem within reason for me and id be looking to play hardcore, so the distortion would have to be plenty heavy.

Thanks :)

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If you can lay your hands on one, try the Hughes & Kettner Warp Factor pedal. I used one through a Mesa Duel Rectifier for a long while and it was absolutely brutal. Takes a bit of controlling, but was still the best distortion pedal I've ever used. Played it through a load of other amps as well, and always sounded great.

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If you can lay your hands on one, try the Hughes & Kettner Warp Factor pedal. I used one through a Mesa Duel Rectifier for a long while and it was absolutely brutal. Takes a bit of controlling, but was still the best distortion pedal I've ever used. Played it through a load of other amps as well, and always sounded great.

I'm going to go against this one slightly in that I used to have one of these and found it to be pretty poor with any big amps, though it sounded great with smaller combos. Just personal opinion of course. :)

To the original poster - I'd need to know what other gear you're using to best recommend when it comes to distortion pedals. As for phasers though, I like the MXR Phase 90 as well. :)

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I'm going to go against this one slightly in that I used to have one of these and found it to be pretty poor with any big amps, though it sounded great with smaller combos. Just personal opinion of course. :)

QUOTE]

To be honest, I'm the only person I know who's ever had a good experience with them! Maybe it's the way I play, or the shitty banged up SG I use, I don't know. Or maybe I just had a godawful sound and was the only one who didn't realise:D

Can't really help with phasers I'm afraid, never used one except for crazy effects for the hell of it! Never made it onto the final version of anything thankfully!

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Thanks for all the advice guys, given me a few things to consider.

Got an Ibanez RG1451 which i will be playing mainly. The amps a bit more complicated. At the moment ive got a line six spider with all the effects built in ofc, but im really just fancying a change and a bit of an upgrade. Was going to go into town this weekend and have a go of a few amps to give me some ideas but I really don't know where to start with effects pedals, hence the thread. :S

As for the hardcore it'd be along the lines of Parkway Drive, Yashin, Asking Alexandria, heavy distortion mixed with some mellower stuff and maybe some electronic elements aswell hopefully.

Bad Hardcore? possibly but its just what i like ;)

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I have owned (in no particular order), a Boss DS1, DS2, HM1, Mega Distortion, Proco RAT, Marshall Bluesbreaker, Blackstar Valve distortion and an MXR Distortion + (and others I can't remember!).

Going through either a JCM900 or and ENGL Thunder 50, I tend to use the MXR as my main distortion. It doesn't have much in the way of controls (just volume and distortion), but if you've got a decent clean sound/amp, I still think it's hard to beat. That's the set up I did about half of the guitars on the Curators record with. The rest was the ENGL's distortion. Valve amp distortion is ace. Footswitches, however, are unreliable pieces of shit in my experience.

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The amp you get might have perfectly fine overdrive.

Agreed. Although you'll be heading into a chorus, you'll stomp on the footswitch and...nothing will happen. Except smoke and misery.

I fucking hate footswitches. They're like Italian footballers, always breaking down dramatically for no reason.

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Agreed. Although you'll be heading into a chorus, you'll stomp on the footswitch and...nothing will happen. Except smoke and misery.

I fucking hate footswitches. They're like Italian footballers, always breaking down dramatically for no reason.

Have to agree a million percent with that. The latching type footswitches you get with most heads are a total lottery as to when and if they'll work. Wires pulling out of everywhere and all sorts.

I've got a Boss GT8 that I use for all my clean effects etc, but have assigned one pedal to change amp channels. Works like a charm each and every time, plus it sticks a noise gate in there too...

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This is just me being elitist/picky but none of those bands are 'hardcore'

Im not even gonna go there man, genres are confusing things ?(

If you don't know what amp you're going to end up with, there's little point getting a pedal to drive it just yet. The amp you get might have perfectly fine overdrive.

Point taken, ill maybe come back to you guys once i have a better idea what im getting, althought i do reckon im going to need some pedals regardless of the amp so i can switch between distortion and cleans. Unless there is a better way to do this?

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If you are looking into a new amp, I would get that sorted before looking into distortion pedals - The sound of the amp you choose will affect how the distortion sounds and whether you will want an onverdrive to boost the amps sound, a separate distorted sound or something completely different like a fuzz. There is also the fact that depending on the amp, you may not need a distortion pedal - why buy a nice Marshall or Mesa (both known for the awesome distorted sounds) then use a cheap pedal instead to provide distortion?

As for amp footswitches, sure they can break, but so can the switches in pedals - My Rat needs fixed at the moment as the switch in that has gone intermittent, and pedals also come with the extra faff of having to power them reliably.

If you are worried about amp switches, the basic one or two switch pedals are also pretty damn basic, so it is easy to build yourself a heavy duty version if you feel the need.

If you are after a distortion pedal, the best advice I can give you is to try everything you can get your hands on and see what works - go visit RnB or Bruce Millers, tell them what you are after and spend some time trying different ones. There is such a huge range of sounds available that it is impossible to know what will suit the sound you want and the gear you already have. I personally love my ProCo Rat (when the switch works - a bit too much stomping methinks) and old Marshall Guv'nor, but they are quite likely completely unsuitable...

Phasers I am not so practised with, the MXR Phase90 does seem to be a popular option, plus check out pedals from the likes of Boss who make some pretty solid stuff.

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Im not even gonna go there man, genres are confusing things ?(

Point taken, ill maybe come back to you guys once i have a better idea what im getting, althought i do reckon im going to need some pedals regardless of the amp so i can switch between distortion and cleans. Unless there is a better way to do this?

Alot of modern amps have duel channels to switch between via a footswitch. Though an OD pedal will always come in handy if you want more dirt.

David, don't ProCo's come with a lifetime guarentee against wear and tear?

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