Essential pedals....................

[Michaell]

Tuners are not pedals?

Thanks for clarifying that!

LOL!

[pengipete]

Originally Posted by 3 Chord

Tuners are not pedals.

Mine is.

[Rob DiStefano]

With the *right* amp, no pedals needed or wanted - Tele, cable, amp.

That said, I keep handy an analog overdrive and analog delay for those rare occasions ... YMMV.

[Colin Johnston]

Like most I like the guitar straight in, when that's suitable, but I like to have my board there when I', playing out.

Boss Tuner (it looks like a pedal, it works like a pedal!!) >> Boss SD1 >> Line6 Delay >> Bad Bob (always on @ 10.30) >> DRRI

[petebradt]

None. My favorite way to play is guitar>cord>amp. Turn the amp up use the guitar's volume control for clean or dirt.

I occasionally use a Fulltone Fat Boost if I'm in a place I need a little dirt because I can't turn the amp up enough to let it breathe.

Oh yeah, a tuner. I use a pedal tuner.

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally Posted by petebradt

None. My favorite way to play is guitar>cord>amp. Turn the amp up use the guitar's volume control for clean or dirt.

I occasionally use a Fulltone Fat Boost if I'm in a place I need a little dirt because I can't turn the amp up enough to let it breathe.

Oh yeah, a tuner. I use a pedal tuner.

Yeah man, +1

[lclyman]

My chain:

tele >> korg stomp tuner >> barber tone press set for extremely light compression..more for tone shaping...a little more focused and clearer sounding >> BYOC tremolo >> barber small fry >> bad bob always on @ 10 o'clock ..i use it to hit the front end just a little harder and open up the amp a bit..>> ibanez ad9 always on set to a light slap...

the only time it sounds like a pedal is "on" is when i hit the tremolo...even the small fry is set for light overdrive that i kick in on those tunes that need just a little more "oomph"...

[jazztele]

i always like to have a volume pedal for gigs...at home, nothing, usually...

i do have a ibanez AD-9 thats a lot of fun...

[Johnnytone]

I'll go out on a limb here and say I play harder music than most here. Although I have gone back to basics.

[geddyleedog]

Originally Posted by Johnnytone

I'll go out on a limb here and say I play harder music than most here. Although I have gone back to basics.

Johnnytone, I like your style.

For me, and for what I play, my "must have" is my ProCo RAT. Although, second runner-up is my Monte Allum's modded SD-1.

[TeleBrew]

Lately I've found that if I have pedals in front of me I'll step on 'em. If I don't have them, I don't miss them. I tend to use them more to amuse myself at home than when I play with my jamming buddies.

Having said that, I gotta have a fuzz pedal, and these days it's the Voodoo Labs Superfuzz. And I'm with johnnytone: I love my Phase 90. It looks like I'll be ditching my Rocktron Short Timer in favor of one of the MXR Carbon Copy pedals. We'll see.

[SixStringSlinger]

I'm good with a versatile distortion and my wah. If the amp has a nice distortion of its own then I'm fine with just the wah.

I have fun with loads of other pedals, but those 2 are all I really need.

[jealousblues]

Originally Posted by Fatmanstratman

Holy Moly!...

Sounds like you've got more pedals than your local guitar store probably keeps in stock! My guess is that your Telecaster must be inwardly weeping every time you plug it in! Why would you want to mask such sweet and clear tones with all that electronic distortion?

I would think that your best bet is to just sell your Tele and buy the cheapest Les Paul copy that you can find. By the time you've fizzed and fuzzed your sound through all that lot nobody will be able to tell what sort of guitar you are playing anyway.

I'm with FredDairy on this one. If you've got a decent amp and a decent Tele, the less you do to alter their natural sounds the better.

Just MHO - YMMV of course...

because not everyone feels the same as you and a lot of gigs require at least some effects.
I dunno mayby im biased because Im in cover bands, and have to play ALL freaking kinds of different music.
But I dont get the elitist attitude, so what if someone else uses pedals or you think your tone is great. to be honest at a gig no one gives a crap about our tone for the most part, unless its obnoxious.

[jealousblues]

Originally Posted by Geo

I don't use pedals much but own a few. In a playing scenario where
needed for a certain sound style probably a delay, maybe compressor and a
clean overdrive/distortion combination.

One effect I really like that is in a small SS amp owned is called Ambiance.
It is a very minimal virtually unnoticeable delay at factory setting but
gives a great sound "ambience". As it is increased from factory setting it
becomes more of a slap back echo effect.

I try to have this all the time. Just a very short delay on all patches to thicken it up a little bit.
I run a very different set up than most here though.

[backalleyblues]

It really is what colors are called for on the gig, nothing more or less...

I'd love to go straight into the amp, but the only amp I like to do that with is a Deluxe Reverb-anything bigger is too loud for our gigs (in fact the Deluxe could be too loud on some of them!). So with that in mind, my needs are:

Good OD (take your pick here, Tubescreamer usually for me)
Tremolo (unless your amp already has it)

My wants also include a distortion (ProCo Rat in my case) a boost pedal, wah, chorus/phase/univibe, reverb/delay, and a tuner pedal.

Fluff pedals for me would be a touch wah, graphic eq, "synth" pedals, and any other weird thing you can think of. Yeah, they're fun, but not something I feel I need in my rig...

I look at pedals as extra crayons in my box of colors-used right, they can really bring out stuff in the sonic pictures you're painting...

Franc Robert
Back Alley Blues Band

[Blewbyou]

Originally Posted by jealousblues

because not everyone feels the same as you and a lot of gigs require at least some effects.
I dunno mayby im biased because Im in cover bands, and have to play ALL freaking kinds of different music.
But I dont get the elitist attitude, so what if someone else uses pedals or you think your tone is great. to be honest at a gig no one gives a crap about our tone for the most part, unless its obnoxious.

Here.... here.....Because I'm new I didn't want to say anything (which is unusual for me) but certain songs require certain effects, as I see it to sound right. As a listener I can appreciate a cover that the artist has made their own but love a somewhat exact replication.

[Scatterbrain]

Originally Posted by Fatmanstratman

Why would you want to mask such sweet and clear tones with all that electronic distortion?

If you've got a decent amp and a decent Tele, the less you do to alter their natural sounds the better.

Just MHO - YMMV of course...

Although I appreciate your point about the purity of tone when you run a good Tele through a good amp, I must respectfully disagree with your sentiment. Personally I love the variety of sounds that pedals offer and find that, if nothing else, they can keep me interested in playing guitar when all else fails. And not to be a smart aleck, but Andy Summers' Tele didn't sound too bad running through a gazillion pedals. In fact, the pedals added a lot of texture to the songs that would not have existed otherwise. So keep it pure if you choose, but don't chastise those of us who enjoy pedals because they don't fit into your rather narrow view of good tone.

For the record, I love Boss pedals and could not do without my DC-2, CS-2 and EH-2. Though not an effect, the RC-2 is plenty of fun to record loops and practice with. I also dig lots of EH effects and have a soft spot for a Tonebender clone that sustains for days. You probably wouldn't like it though.

[Big Lug]

For my needs the essential pedals are:

- tuner
- overdrive (Timmy)
- booster (Bad Bob)
- chorus (Maxon)

and for those 60's moments:

- wah (Teese)

If I had to choose just one it would be the Bad Bob although a Timmy can be set up to boost like a Bad Bob. Oh yeah, it does the overdrive thing real nice too.

[3 Chord]

"Tuners are not pedals?

Thanks for clarifying that!

LOL!"

I wasn't trying to be smart about it. I think of a pedal as something that alters sound and or creates some kind of effect. A tuner just kind of sits there, granted it looks like a pedal sometimes but it's function to me is not to process the signal.

No one has ever come up to me and commented on the cool sounds I'm getting plugged into a tuner.

I'll go sit in the corner and be quiet now.

[Michaell]

3 chord

sorry

I am a big stickler about playing in tune.

I just think if someome is going to get into stomp boxes/pedals, start with the one that will always make you sound good.