PDA

View Full Version : first pedal questions



aksteve
03-02-2013, 05:25 PM
well, i have decided to venture into the world FX and i plan on getting a pedal (or two). does anyone have any suggestions for distortion pedals that arent to expensive?

and any suggestions on other types of pedals that are widely used?

thanks in advance!

Steve

Nicki
03-04-2013, 12:36 PM
Ooh, you know I'm a HUGE distortion fan! :) I'll tell you about my favorites. You didn't specify a pricepoint, so I'll list the prices along with the pedal info to give you an idea. I own and regularly use all of these.

1) Maleko B:Assmaster - Retail price ~$255. This comes is 3 versions: Silicon, Germanium and Double Germanium. I have the Germanium version. One of the classic Bass distortion pedals. It'll going from a light fuzz to melt your face off nasty. You have tone control, of course, a tone volume, a clean signal volume, and the harm switch which controls the harmonic spectrum. This pedal nicely maintains your bottom end. Lots of reviews of this one available on youtube.

2) ProCo Rat II - Retail price ~$70. See my previous review and clip of this pedal. It's actually a guitar pedal, but I still love it. It doesn't preserve the lows as well as others in this list.

3) ElectroHarmonix Big Bass Muff Pi Deluxe - Retail price ~$120. Lots of fiddly knobs on this one. A crossover, also allows you to mix your dry and wet tones. Another aggressive distortion pedal...if you want it to be. There's so many tones you can get out of this pedal, it's very versatile. My favorite thing to do is run this pedal in serial with the B:Assmaster for truly epic distortion while still keeping that nasty low end. :)

4) ProCo Deucetone Rat - Retail price ~$150. It's 6 rats in one...Vintage Rat, Turbo Rat, Clean Rat, Dirty Rat. All the classic Rat pedals in one spot, plus the Clean Rat, which can only be had in this pedal. Run each channel separately or run them together to get any combination of rats your little heart desires. LOTS of great sounds to be had with this pedal. Again, not a bass pedal, so a bit of low end loss.

Anyway, those are my faves. :)

Elmeaux
03-04-2013, 06:26 PM
I really like my Zoom B3, but I don't have much experience with single function distortion pedals. Since the B3 features a variety of distortion effects, there's a lot to choose from. I think it cost around two-hundred-and-something dollars, but it has so many functions that the price was WELL worth it.

5Slinger
03-04-2013, 09:06 PM
<<<3) ElectroHarmonix Big Bass Muff Pi Deluxe - Retail price ~$120. Lots of fiddly knobs on this one. A crossover, also allows you to mix your dry and wet tones. Another aggressive distortion pedal...if you want it to be. There's so many tones you can get out of this pedal, it's very versatile. My favorite thing to do is run this pedal in serial with the B:Assmaster for truly epic distortion while still keeping that nasty low end. <<<<

If you just want fuzz (distortion) you can't miss with a big muff.... you can find them for as little as 80 bucks. Just one mans opinion.

AB


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98muCPgevF4

aksteve
03-05-2013, 11:17 PM
Thanks for all the great advice! i have been looking at the Big Muff, and i will see if the local guys have any of the others that i can try out. Elmeaux, ive been thinking about those multiple effects pedals. may be something to look into....too many options....i will just buy one of everything! (until the wife pulls the fundage! LOL)

5Slinger
03-06-2013, 05:51 AM
Steve,

First off, some advice. If the boss is good with funding, buy now :-)

The multi effects pedals are great. I am partial to zoom. BUT (but for me) they have so many tones, and combinations of, that I find them not too useful in a real situation (gig). That said, I have the zoom B2.1u and love it. Tones are ok (not as good a dedicated pedals IMHO), but what else you get is, tuner, drum machine, USB interface. Everything I have posted to this forum so far has been done through the B2. Tones are good, but there are so many that I tend to get lost. My fix was to make every other bank clean. So no matter what I am doing, on shift up or down gets me back to a clean tone. Also, it is easy to carry, lots of Toneage in a small box. This was my first, and I love it for all the other stuff it does.

2920

But for the real deal, I have a pedal board with the stuff I actually use. I, like you, had a window of opportunity where my boss basically said, "get whatever you want". She wont say that again :cool: Anyway, I sold off all the stuff I never used and I am left with a few pedals that I use, Chorus, Muff, Flanger, Envelope filter, Octaver, and tuner. This is my core set up.

2921

I use the Chorus all the time, the muff a lot, the tuner of course. The other are situational. I love the envelope filter, it makes me funkier than I really am :) Anyway, if you were not confused before you probably are now :)

AB

Elmeaux
03-06-2013, 12:11 PM
The Zoom B3 has "The Big Muff" in its roster of stomp boxes. It's a really great sound. If I was going for a solo-effect, I'd be very interested in The Big Muff.