Creating my first pedalboard - advice please...

lovestrat74

I am a home player and only own a couple of pedals and I thought it was about time I experimented with creating my own pedalboard. Nothing fancy as budget is small and I want to keep it relatively simple.

I play mainly rock/blues so Hendrix, Stones, Zz Top, Black Keys, Black Crowes etc...

I have a Fender Vibrochamp XD and a Marshall Lead 12 but might look to change to something more classic fender in the future.

So looking for some advice on pedals really. Number 1 would be a fuzz that also cleans up well. Maybe a fuzzface mini or one of the newer hendrix mxr minis.

I have a joyo trem pedal and a DE mucho boosto pedal. Also have an old cry baby wah.

Very green to the world of pedals so go easy on me 

munckee

A lot depends on what amp you get. Because my champ doesn’t have reverb or tremolo they are must haves for me.

ive found I want a compressor, two levels of gain; low gain and high gain od for me - but low gain and od fuzz would be similar and a looper. 

I don’t use delay or chorus or flange etc so that’s it for me. 

Kebabkid

Hi,

I can't help you on your choice of fuzz but when you do decide, it's good to have a look at a Pedalboard Planner and this allows you to choose from a large selection of manufacturers and set out your board to see what size board you'll need.

http://pedalboardplanner.com/

A good power supply is always a good thing. One that's quiet, efficient with enough power to supply your pedals and best to check and add up what they require and come to a total i.e. mA and also check if you need isolated outputs or different voltage requirements - most pedals require 9V but some work off 12V or 18V

Good luck

steer

Yes, the most boring purchase ever is a power supply, but if you are going down the pedalboard route then a good one will be a worthy investment. I started off with a cheapo non-isolated one which was beautifully silent at home and in some venues , but picked up all sorts of random noises and buzzes in some places. 

Other than that it's a voyage of discovery - enjoy. 

Germanium fuzzes clean up beautifully when you roll back the guitar volume - which is a recent revelation for me at least. Have a look for the Pete Thorn youtube video on the subject. 

Jalapeno

Whatever you do - leave space for a couple more pedals !

Winny_Pooh

For your needs and musical tastes I'd look at a low gain drive for Stones stuff (maybe a BD-2 or something more pushed mids like a Klone), mid gain for ZZ top stuff (MXR super badass, Marshall GV-2, Angry Charlie) and a fuzz (Behringer sf300 for Black Keys, FF mini for all around fuzz) then a simple delay. 

Blackbooks

And buy a board larger than you think you will need...I've found the hard way and now need to get a bigger one as once you start buying pedals, the collection can grow quite quickly.

Sassafras

Allow for a Gig Rig 3 in your budget.

Philtre

Don't use pedals - you'll sound like everyone else! If you want to sound "original" you must go straight into the amp without the crutch of a pedalboard stuffed with pedals!

j/k

phil_b

a multi FX pedal might be a better option . lots of variety for experimenting and give you alot of effects for the money

lustycourtier

buy a HX Stomp.

clarkefan

Don't buy any board yet imo.  You absolutely need to settle on what you want pedal wise first, then angle of board, then how "armoured" you actually really need in the first place, way before actually buying anything.

I built my perfect angled board, all the effects I wanted. The planning took more than a year.

Three effing days later I was ripping it apart.  Six more years and I'm way better, and I learned a few things in the process:

- the internet Is full of shit.

- just because Pedaltrains work for everybody doesn't mean they work for you, cos after lots of money it turns out you hate angles.

- turns out you never use even half of the pedals you spent so much time and money on acquiring.  All they are is in the way.  Ditto all the useless functions.

- turns out you hate packing pedals like a Tetris screenshot and want space for the stuff you actually use, including your foot.

- turns out you utterly despise all the programming and studying manuals, and actually a 60 quid Boss DD3 gives you everything you ever actually need in a delay.

- you discover that expensive shit you convinced yourself is essential leads to only one epiphany, when you prove to yourself how thick you actually are.

Seriously I could go on.  You play at home like me, and maybe you're the opposite and enjoy all the stuff I have discovered I hate, and good luck to you, we're all different

Gassage

What would really help you is a stereo delay. Neither of those amps have Reverb but hooking them up off a cheapish decent stereo delay would be game changing for you. 

Alex2678

This might reduce the pain of forking out for power - https://www.dv247.com/en_GB/GBP/Fame-DCT-200-Multi-Power-Supply-/art-GIT0019066-000

Its bulky but otherwise it’s great, and the price is pretty sweet

lovestrat74

Bloody hell it's a minefield!! Forgot to say that I did purchase a Diago PS-01 Powerstation from this parish, so will be using this to power my pedals. And I will be building my own board once I have got my pedals sorted

paulcaye

clarkefan said:

Don't buy any board yet imo.  You absolutely need to settle on what you want pedal wise first, then angle of board, then how "armoured" you actually really need in the first place, way before actually buying anything.

I built my perfect angled board, all the effects I wanted. The planning took more than a year.

Three effing days later I was ripping it apart.  Six more years and I'm way better, and I learned a few things in the process:

- the internet Is full of shit.

- just because Pedaltrains work for everybody doesn't mean they work for you, cos after lots of money it turns out you hate angles.

- turns out you never use even half of the pedals you spent so much time and money on acquiring.  All they are is in the way.  Ditto all the useless functions.

- turns out you hate packing pedals like a Tetris screenshot and want space for the stuff you actually use, including your foot.

- turns out you utterly despise all the programming and studying manuals, and actually a 60 quid Boss DD3 gives you everything you ever actually need in a delay.

- you discover that expensive shit you convinced yourself is essential leads to only one epiphany, when you prove to yourself how thick you actually are.

Seriously I could go on.  You play at home like me, and maybe you're the opposite and enjoy all the stuff I have discovered I hate, and good luck to you, we're all different

This was like a checklist of what I have just done - although still spending money on pedals which will have limited use -> for the sake of it might come in useful (one day). 

timbuk02

lovestrat74 said:

Bloody hell it's a minefield!! Forgot to say that I did purchase a Diago PS-01 Powerstation from this parish, so will be using this to power my pedals. And I will be building my own board once I have got my pedals sorted

I've had the Diago PS-01 Powerstation for about 7yrs and its done the job. Its not isolated tho, and my germanium fuzz didn't like being daisy chained, so I just use a battery in that as it draws so little current, lasts for ages and legend has it fuzz sounds better run off battery anyhow.

My one suggestion if starting out would be the full size TC Spark Booster.  It will also complement/play well with pretty much any other pedal you might buy along your pedal journey. Very versatile tool regardless of genre tastes.(and also takes a battery).

That said theres a crazy amount of excellent pedals available on here at the moment - you've chosen a good time to start the journey!

JMS96

lustycourtier said:

buy a HX Stomp.

I recon this is great advice. For anyone, but specially for someone new to pedals. You have every conceivable flavour of pedal on tap and you can play around with settings and signal chain as much as you like. It's a great tool for learning the difference between clean boosts, mid-humps, rats, TSs, analogue, tube, tape delays... whatever you want. Same goes for amps (cabs, speakers,...), if you're not quite sure what you might want in the future.

Niallseroreilly

Dont do it

Mark1960

My suggestion would be to sort your amp out first. I assume you have the guitar you want, so next step would be to get the amp you want to get the sound you're looking for. Once you have your guitar and amp, think very carefully about what extra you need, it may not be as much as you first thought, then try to find a pedal that gives you what you want in each case. I thought I needed a pedal board for a while, but after getting the amp right,I ended up with two pedals, and a channel switch for the amp in the end.   

lovestrat74

Mark1960 said:

My suggestion would be to sort your amp out first. I assume you have the guitar you want, so next step would be to get the amp you want to get the sound you're looking for. Once you have your guitar and amp, think very carefully about what extra you need, it may not be as much as you first thought, then try to find a pedal that gives you what you want in each case. I thought I needed a pedal board for a while, but after getting the amp right,I ended up with two pedals, and a channel switch for the amp in the end.   

This will probably be me! Out of interest what pedals did you go for and through what amp?