First pedal?

robgilmo

So I am thinking about buying my first pedal, no reason really. But what one?
I have a Vox Cambridge 30, it has reverb, tremolo, mid range boost , gain boost, and a clean channel.

http://voxshowroom.com/uk/amp/c30_hood.html

http://www.voxshowroom.com/korean/amp/nu_cambridge.html

I play stuff like Skynyrd , blues, that kind of stuff.

So, would a distortion pedal be a waste of money? The amp does do distortion Ok to my ears, reverb? Like the Boss FRV-1? My amp does do reverb and its a spring reverb but I have nothing to compare it to, would I see little gain in either of these?
Or should I just go for something fun like a Wah Wah? 

I have often heard people asking if an amp can take pedals well? Are there amps that cant? I don't understand this.

Ro_S

an overdrive or drive pedal, probably.

robgilmo

Wouldn't that give me a very ''heavy metal'' kind of sound?

EricTheWeary

Some solid state and digital amps don’t take pedals well, the level of the output is too high and craps out the input. Some, like the ubiquitous Peavey Bandit, are brilliant and have no problem. By contrast the old Line 6 Spider amps really couldn’t cope with anything that boosted the signal. It varies. 

Wah and fuzz are obvious ‘ it’s on’ pedals and used a fair bit in blues or blues rock. An octave pedal is good for making riffs sound thicker and a bit synthy , Warren Haynes uses his old Boss OC2 a lot in blues rock. 


https://youtu.be/LztOqQoaH5I

Winny_Pooh

You should get an overdrive of sorts. Try a BOSS Sd-1 waza or a zendrive

robgilmo

So now the question is, will my amp be happy with an over drive pedal? Is there anyway to tell without actually buying a pedal?

EricTheWeary

robgilmo said:

So now the question is, will my amp be happy with an over drive pedal? Is there anyway to tell without actually buying a pedal?

The ones that particularly crap out tend to be well known for doing so and particularly cheaper digital stuff so it’s probably fine. Wether you like the actual sound of any given overdrive with your amp just takes some experimentation. Something like a Boss SD1 is pretty cheap and if bought and resold ( if you didn’t like it) used you wouldn’t lose much. Only £52 new so it isn’t a huge gamble in any event. The Waza version is more than double the price and gives a second voicing. 

Ro_S

No, an overdrive wont get you a heavy metal sound.

Dont get the waza version of the SD1. that's unnecessarily expensive for you.   

Octave seems an odd choice for a first pedal, imo.

If you're after an affordable dirt pedal - whether overdrive, distortion or fuzz -  I probably have something if you're interested.

JD50

What about a multi fx unit like M5 or Boss?
That way you can try out a bunch of sounds and if you.find them.useful splash on some dedicated stomp boxes if you think they sound better.

Teetonetal

What is it that you are missing from your sound that you thing a pedal would solve? How many of your current options are footswitchable?

Ro_S

Do you footswitch the two channels on the amp?   Do you like both channels?  Do you just use Channel 2 all the time?   Is the Gain Boost function on Channel 2 footswitchable?

Is the pre-amp of the Vox Cambridge (when on Channel 2) entirely tube or partially tube?

I think I nearly bought a Vox Cambridge back in about 2000.  I can't quite recall; it was certainly a Vox. I recall it had a chunky  'Celestion' logo on the grill cloth.

simonk

Why not get a looper and get creative?

wayneirie

Teetonetal said:

What is it that you are missing from your sound that you thing a pedal would solve? How many of your current options are footswitchable?

This. Ignore the people trying to sell you their unwanted pedals. Are you happy with the drive sounds you’re getting from the amp? If you do want an overdrive try and borrow a pedal or two from a friend see how they work with your amp.

You have tremolo and reverb how about delay/echo add some different ambience, experiment with slap-back, longer echoes. Make weird noises. 

Sassafras

JD50 said:

What about a multi fx unit like M5 or Boss?
That way you can try out a bunch of sounds and if you.find them.useful splash on some dedicated stomp boxes if you think they sound better.

This.
Those Zoom pedals are cheap and seem to produce decent sounds.
Then you can decide which pedals you want to explore further.

DesVegas

Welcome to the rabbit hole, it's easy to get lost in the world of pedals, but many here would agree it's damn good fun.

It depends what your budget is but if I were starting again I would get an Earthquaker Devices Afterneath, that is a sound your amp defiantly won't be able to do on it's own - https://www.earthquakerdevices.com/afterneath/

thermionic

Reverb, tremolo and drive covered by the amp, so I would go for a delay.

Something like a Boss SD-1 may give you a nicer/better overdrive sound. Buy used for £25-30, and if you don't like it, sell it on for near enough no loss

ICBM

thermionic said:

Reverb, tremolo and drive covered by the amp, so I would go for a delay.

This - or a phaser, flanger, chorus or vibe… or one that can do all of them, like a Marshall Regenerator.

Or a half-decent multi-FX, you can pick up second hand ones very cheaply compared to what they originally sold for.

noisepolluter

Delay/Echo, definitely. Got to be the most commonly used guitar effect after reverb (assuming you don’t include distortion).
or a Line6 M5 would give you a whole slew of options of delay, modulation and various others. The effect quality ranges from pretty good for the delays to so-so for some of the drives, but if you found there was one effect you particularly liked then you could look into getting a dedicated pedal of that type further down the line. 
I reckon it would keep you going on the delays, choruses and phasers for a while though.

timbuk02

JD50 said:

What about a multi fx unit like M5 or Boss?
That way you can try out a bunch of sounds and if you.find them.useful splash on some dedicated stomp boxes if you think they sound better.

Second this. I had a humble Pocket Pod before any amp or pedals, and it was a decent way to explore which sounds I did/didn't like and hear the differences between phaser/flanger/chorus etc under my own fingers. Line6 M5 looks worthy

robgilmo

Thanks for the input guys. The amp doesn't sound too shabby, channel two without gain or mid boost does sound good but a little thin, boosted it sounds more full but it looses detail. Chanel one sounds lovely but again a little thin and bright but I thought Vox amps sounded quite bright anyway? It can be switched between channels via a foot switch, gain boost can be switched on and off via a foot switch as can the tremolo, but this is the thing, I am reading the manual and its suggesting that channels can be switched, reverb and gain boost can be switched, and tremolo can be switched, that's a lot of switching?

Top panel has a jack for a foot switch, this is the optional foot switch and controls channel switching and tremolo on/off , then there is the back panel that has another jack for a foot switch, this is the EXT. foot switch that controls reverb and gain boost, I have no idea how any of this would work?

Perhaps my first pedal should be a pedal to switch the amp?

ICBM

robgilmo said:

Thanks for the input guys. The amp doesn't sound too shabby, channel two without gain or mid boost does sound good but a little thin, boosted it sounds more full but it looses detail. Chanel one sounds lovely but again a little thin and bright but I thought Vox amps sounded quite bright anyway? It can be switched between channels via a foot switch, gain boost can be switched on and off via a foot switch as can the tremolo, but this is the thing, I am reading the manual and its suggesting that channels can be switched, reverb and gain boost can be switched, and tremolo can be switched, that's a lot of switching?

Top panel has a jack for a foot switch, this is the optional foot switch and controls channel switching and tremolo on/off , then there is the back panel that has another jack for a foot switch, this is the EXT. foot switch that controls reverb and gain boost, I have no idea how any of this would work?

Perhaps my first pedal should be a pedal to switch the amp?

From memory, you would need a standard two-button latching footswitch with a stereo cable for each of those options. You need something like this - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hosa-FSC-385-Latching-Guitar-Footswitch/dp/B000VXKUL0

It's slightly annoying that channel and boost are on separate switches, likewise tremolo and reverb - although in theory you could have a single four-button switch with two cables made, then you could arrange the buttons in any order. (Likely to be fairly expensive though.)