The Guitar Thread • Page 3

Anyone else here built any of their own pedals?

Also, anyone got recommendations for a good reverb pedal? It's probably the next guitar thing I'll invest in. Just wondering what people are enjoying.

 

I always go to bat for the Neunaber Wet Reverb. I would invest in that or a Strymon or the Eventide Space. These are serious pedals.

Anyone tried an ehx cathedral?

As you probably know, the boss digital reverb and ehx holy grail are tried and true

 

Right now I'm using a TC Electronic hall of fame reverb pedal. I enjoy it, though I only use it for spring reverb. So I can't be much help as far as the other settings sound like.

 

I've got the TC Flashback, which I'm super impressed with, so the Hall Of Fame is on the list to try out. I know one of the Strymon pedals is meant to be incredible (El Capi-something-or-ther I think?), but they're also pricey to match. I think their reverb unit is about £300 or something crazy.

Anyone got an opinion on the Earthquaker Devices reverb? That one has caught my eye as one to try too.

I really don't get on with EHX stuff, for whatever reason.

 

Recently picked up the Orange Pro Crush 120W Combo amp. I was trying to steer away from solid state, but I actually really like this amp.

 

Really love RV5/RV6s though I don't own one. Will probably be my next reverb. Also, I mess with my roommates Wet a whole lot and I love it. Definitely a good pedal if you want a sound that can get real washy and shimmery.

 

Cast Engineering has a pedal called Texas Flood which is their version of the TS808. Even though I already have a 808, I'm kind of interested in this.

 

I have a Cathedral reverb and I love it. If it weren't a gift i probably wouldn't have spent the money on it though (it's worth the money, just more than what I would've spent). I like the Hall of Fame a lot and the Boss reverbs are also pretty nice pedals.

 

actually I might be wanting to part ways with my Neunaber Wet...so that I can get the Neunaber Stereo Wet.

if anyone interested. dk what they go for right now. Ill check prices on reverb

 

I bought my first electric guitar in the beginning of the summer, a used American Telecaster, and it made me so glad that I spent the past two years learning on my shitty bargain acoustic -- thank god for the insanely high action on it. I still would say I'm firmly in the beginner camp since I've had my acoustic since the sixth grade and (while playing off and on) I only really started learning the last few years of high school. I am borrowing an old VOX amp right now, don't really know much about it at all, but I do like it. What would be a good amp to get, one that sounds good when playing a live setting but isn't like insane in terms of pricing? I started my first band a few months ago, and we wanted to start doing that soon. I have amps I can borrow in the meantime, but I wanted to learn more about what I don't and don't like while I'm still in the fortunate position of not having to shell out yet.

 

You don't want to use the vox? What model is it?

 

The VOX Showroom - The Vox V9168R Pathfinder Amplifier with Reverb
pretty sure it's that one. the size makes it seem like a not great gig amp but i know very little about amps so maybe I am incorrect

 

What sort of budget are you talking and what sort of style are you playing? If you have the budget, a lowish wattage valve amp will go a long way. 15 watts in a 1x12 combo or into a 2x12 cab is going to be plenty enough for small gigs and there's a fair bit of choice in that bracket currently.

Stuff like the Fender Bassbreak series and the Egnater Tweaker are pretty versatile and not bank busters. Or, if you just want to play jangly clean chords, a Fender Blues Junior might suit you.

 

I have some money, but the plan is to save up and be at like $400 before I actually buy and shop around for something used at a good price. At the moment, my band has been pretty all over the place stylistically. Sometimes soft or clean, sometimes loud or distorted. We're just getting a pool of stuff together at the moment, so I would like something versatile. I have noticed that on the smaller amps, I tend to turn down the gain since the distortion on those sounds pretty not great to my ears, especially the louder it gets. So like currently on the VOX im using I'll turn the gain down pretty low, barely even noticeable, and the volume up much higher for a cleaner sound. I'll look into the ones you suggested by name, the versatility is probably a big plus right now.
Side note, are there any resources for learning about amps and to get a better handle on what I want out of them without just googling across a bunch of different sources? Like for example things like: why is a low watt valve amp good for a small gig, the pros and cons of a particular wattage, what kind of amps are around and the differences (like I have no idea the difference between a valve or tube amp which are things I hear often).

 

Think you could get a used ac15 for around 500

 

I'll look into this as well, thanks for the suggestion. I've got a list of about four suggestions rn, but since I'm using the VOX currently and know what I like about it, this might just go on the top

 

I really need recs!

1. phase pedals

2. overdrive pedals

anyone in here use overdrive pedals with tubes?

 

The Vox you're using is quite a cheap solid state and won't be comparable to the ones I suggested or the one @Your Milkshake suggested. The low wattage concept only really applies to valve amps. If you have a lower wattage, you need to push the valves harder to get volume, but that also means that you can get a nice natural distortion at a lower volume compared to say a 100 Watt amp, which would need to be pretty ear destroyingly loud to get a really nice overdrive tone.

Typically, solid states just don't sound that nice and you need a high wattage to get volume without the amp distorting in a fairly horrible way. There are some exceptions, admittedly (the new Roland Cubes are meant to sound really nice, but I think they're technically modelling amps).

A valve amp and a tube amp are the same thing. You have roughly 3 types of amps; Solid State, Modelling and Valve/Tube. I think yours is a Solid State. This means it's all transistor based. They are typically cheaper and react very differently from a valve amp. Valve amps are preferred because of the natural breakup and harmonics created by the valves (as opposed to the transistors in a solid state). They also behave very differently (often considerably better) with stuff like drive pedals. Modelling amps tend to be digital amps which try to mimic other amps. Some of these are very good and some are bloody awful.

You could try googling stuff like "Best lunchbox heads" or "Best small valve combos". I don't know of any one resource which is really good for explaining amps. If you have any questions though, I'm sure people in here will be happy to help. Personally, I rather enjoy talking gear. :D

 

Never used an OD with tubes on-board.

The Fultone Plimsoul is very nice. I'm very partial to the Zen Drive clone I built myself too.

 

Thanks!

 

I will never not suggest a Blues Jr.

 

So anyone have recs for phase pedals??

I'm looking at the the bigger mxr phase and the keeley 26

 

I know very little about phasers. EHX have a famous one don't they? Small Stone?

My brother has one of the Pigtronix things. It's the EP2 Envelope Phaser. It's a little pricey, but absolute insane.

 

Anyone have any experience with a Quilter Tone Block 200? It's an amp head

 

anyone messed with the Strymon Deco?

Seems completely awesome.

also the Chase Bliss Warped Vinyl or Tonal Recall?