What are the most versatile pedals for covers/function bands?

PC_Dave

I play in a couple of bands (hopefully gigging again soon!) and I would like to try and find the most versatile, yet slimmed down pedalboard I can - I keep finding myself getting too lost with ideas and want to go as basic as I can in an attempt to concentrate on playing better, but also trying to sound as good as possible without going mad with pedals.

I have a Greer Lightspeed that will always be on the board, but I'm after the 2 (or 3 at a push?) most versatile drive pedals that will cover all bases, from light overdrive to full on AC/DC style rock. 

Also I think one delay pedal should go on there, and I have a Strymon Flint for any reverb/trem needs.

Hit me!

zedhex

For a covers band trying to get close to the original sound, a programmable multi-effects setup is probably the best you'll get. I have an old Boss GT100 which works fine with that sort of thing, but any of the more modern ones would probably do. 

PC_Dave

zedhex said:

For a covers band trying to get close to the original sound, a programmable multi-effects setup is probably the best you'll get. I have an old Boss GT100 which works fine with that sort of thing, but any of the more modern ones would probably do. 

Thanks - i'm trying to steer clear of multi fx if possible - I have a HX Stomp and I just don't use it anywhere near to its potential. I find I get option paralysis.

I'd prefer "real" pedals, and fewer of them.

Dan_Halen

Boss 200 series are great and have presets you can access with the press of a button. The delays on the DD-200 are good and, although I know a lot of people think it's pretty meh, personally I like the OD-200 as well. Might not have absolutely supreme overdrive/distortion sounds but they're perfectly usable and having a build in changeable boost and instant preset recall is awesome.

Depends how much variety you really need I guess and how picky you are over the sounds. There's other stuff out there that possibly sounds better but depends how much tweaking you want to do on the fly or between songs. Personally I hate it, think it looks naff on stage and like to set and forget. Or, if you want, get midi involved which is a whole new world of complexity.

PC_Dave

Dan_Halen said:

Boss 200 series are great and have presets you can access with the press of a button. The delays on the DD-200 are good and, although I know a lot of people think it's pretty meh, personally I like the OD-200 as well. Might not have absolutely supreme overdrive/distortion sounds but they're perfectly usable and having a build in changeable boost and instant preset recall is awesome.

Depends how much variety you really need I guess and how picky you are over the sounds. There's other stuff out there that possibly sounds better but depends how much tweaking you want to do on the fly or between songs. Personally I hate it, think it looks naff on stage and like to set and forget. Or, if you want, get midi involved which is a whole new world of complexity.

Thanks @Dan_Halen ; - I have Midi with the Stomp and it's just too much for my needs. I want set and forget as much as possible, which is why I was thinking of a couple of drives - low to mid, then HUGE etc.

ICBM

I don't understand the question... light overdrive and AC/DC are the same thing .

Something like a Marshall Guv'nor will do that.

If you want two pedals, Tube Screamer and DS-1 - that will do everything from SRV to Vai. Or TS and Guv'nor if the DS-1 sounds too extreme.

stickyfiddle

I've always gigged with 3 drive pedals - one clean, one light (think TS) and one Rat. Then no more than 2x "feature" pedals depending on the band; so that's a delay and a modulation usually, or one covers band saw me with an M9 for 1 big box that could do whatever feature effects I needed for specific covers - usually phase/flange, or delay, or "something to mimic a synth or horn part". 

If I really needed it I'd think about a compressor as well, but only if it's unavoidable. 

PC_Dave

stickyfiddle said:

I've always gigged with 3 drive pedals - one clean, one light (think TS) and one Rat. Then no more than 2x "feature" pedals depending on the band; so that's a delay and a modulation usually, or one covers band saw me with an M9 for 1 big box that could do whatever feature effects I needed for specific covers - usually phase/flange, or delay, or "something to mimic a synth or horn part". 

If I really needed it I'd think about a compressor as well, but only if it's unavoidable. 

Thanks Sticky -  That's exactly what I'm aiming for. I've never tried a Rat ish pedal, but something to consider. 

munckee

I've currently got a compressor with blend knob, into a fuzz with a mooer blues driver type pedal.  The compressor is greatly improved with 50% blend makes it less sterile sounding, then can use either just the mooer (which is light drive about9 o clock gain) or tghe mooer to tame the fuzz.  Seems to work well for most stuff I want to play.

PC_Dave

Well this is weird - as I have said this, Mick on TPS has just released this Vlog

EricTheWeary

Had the start of that on, he’s building up a board for his rock covers band ( via his philosophical musings). 

He was talking about needing some wobble which is roughly the comment I’d make - within the context of a band mix to a large extent chorus, phaser, rotary, flanger can cover a lot of the same ground. You will rarely sound 100% authentic but if you need wobble I think you’d get away with just one you liked/ have already. 

From an audience point of view wah or auto wah is often the most obvious effect ( and extreme fuzzes). Subtle shades of overdrive are probably more about you than your listener ( I’m not saying it’s wrong, I’m just saying people won’t really notice). God knows I’ve never got on with wah pedals but between faux Hendrix, faux funk, faux reggae, faux Schenker you could get some use out of one. 

PC_Dave

EricTheWeary said:

Had the start of that on, he’s building up a board for his rock covers band ( via his philosophical musings). 

He was talking about needing some wobble which is roughly the comment I’d make - within the context of a band mix to a large extent chorus, phaser, rotary, flanger can cover a lot of the same ground. You will rarely sound 100% authentic but if you need wobble I think you’d get away with just one you liked/ have already. 

From an audience point of view wah or auto wah is often the most obvious effect ( and extreme fuzzes). Subtle shades of overdrive are probably more about you than your listener ( I’m not saying it’s wrong, I’m just saying people won’t really notice). God knows I’ve never got on with wah pedals but between faux Hendrix, faux funk, faux reggae, faux Schenker you could get some use out of one. 

Good points well made -  I guess it's the old thing of "if I like the sound I hear, I play 'better'", so with drives especially if I have a sound close to what I'm trying to mimic I play the part better.

I always have a wah in my bag, so i'll pop that on the floor before the pedalboard just in case.

Winny_Pooh

Add an MXR super baddass, with the EQ it will cover most things  from EVH to Metallica (using the mid knob) then a drybell vibe which will cover chorusy and tremolo type parts

Beexter

Strymon Sunset crams the most versatility into the smallest footprint I've found and I've been through a few dual pedals in my search.
Barber Gain Changer is good and I'm also enjoying the Nobels ODR mini.

PC_Dave

Beexter said:

Strymon Sunset crams the most versatility into the smallest footprint I've found and I've been through a few dual pedals in my search.
Barber Gain Changer is good and I'm also enjoying the Nobels ODR mini.

Interestingly both the Sunset and the ODR Mini have been featured on videos i've watched this morning! Will take a more in depth view, thank you!

robinbowes

Mick asked:

What's the most pared-down rig I could be properly happy with?

...this week.

Danny1969

If we are talking a pedal board into a clean amp then all I ever use across 3 covers band and a tribute is 


Compressor .. always used on clean tone to make it sit in mix better
Soul food for light overdrive, RHCP, Kings of Leon, Killers etc
BS HT overdrive for stuff like Bon Jovi, Van Halen, GnR 
Delay pedal .. essential for U2, Police, Catfish and the Bottlemen . Walk the moon etc
Chorus pedal ... useful for Crowed house, Prince and other eighties stuff
Reverb pedal ... used on loads of stuff fro light to drenched 

There's not really been a situation where I've really needed anything else I don't think. 

Rowby1

I have a small(ish) board with 8 pedals on which I use in various covers and original bands. I rarely find myself wishing I had anything else on that board (apart from very occasionally a wah). In signal chain order, TU3, Pickle Vibe, Riot, Cali76, Tim Pierce, Timeline, Trelicopter, Blue Sky. The Riot, Cali and TP all stack into each other really well. The other thing to point out is I run my amps so if the pedals are all off and I turn the guitar volume up flat out it’s just starting to break up. I use the controls (volume and tone) on my guitars a lot! 

BintyTwanger77

Watching Mick-Off-Of-That-There-Pedal-Show's vlog, I like the idea of using an HRD for gigs (despite its weight). The gain channels on the newest version are a huge improvement, and decent compressor would improve them even more and really make the cleans pop out. I would use one with a compressor and Chase Bliss Brothers for the boost channels primarily (though it would give you so many varieties of gain staging in one pedal), into maybe an H9 (for filter, modulation, pitch, a second delay, tuner, etc, etc.) and then a Source Audio Collider (with separate tap tempo switch). Four pedals. But I haven't gigged with a guitar in forever, so what do I know...

TTBZ

My approach for playing your typical pub rock covers set was that I didn't need to match all the sounds perfectly as nobody noticed or cared.

I'd just go tuner > wah > TS > Amp then a delay and an EQ lead boost in the FX loop. Pretty much what I use for everything anyway. If I played songs that needed it I would have stuck a mod pedal of some kind in front of the amp. Amp wise I had a single channel, set it to the highest gain I'd need then clean up with the guitar volume. Nice and easy setup and doesn't require multiple pedals for different levels of dirt.

If you still need pristine cleans as a base tone I'd probably be looking for an "amp in a box" style pedal which cleans up well and not bother with multiple drive pedals.

For FX these days I'd probably just get a HX Stomp, I've seen a lot of session guys using these as a do it all "other" effects unit where you might not want to buy individual pedals for one-off sounds.

p90fool

@PC_Dave my requirements live are pretty much the same as yours, and I cover it with Nobels ODR-1 set to just a hint of breakup and with a fairly jangly tone, and a Marshall Drivemaster set fairly gainy but warm.

Either of them sound good as a core tone, and I can run the ODR-1 into the Drivemaster as a boost or vary the whole lot in any combination with the guitar's volume knob. 

But the crucial part is that I need gain levels to be totally independent of volume level to be truly versatile, so the last thing in the chain is a volume pedal, or more specifically a volume pot in a box with a bypass switch. That allows me to have loads of gain quietly (say on an outro chorus), a loud clean tone for soloing or any combination in between.
The one I built allows me to roll it up and down with my foot as well as switch it in and out, but crucially compared to a rocker volume pedal I can see where it's set before I play a note.

It's simple, requires no programming and is totally intuitive to use on the fly, enabling me to react to how the band is playing or how the venue sounds. The brand names of the pedals are unimportant, it's the working principle which matters.