What was the first effect you bought?

[OZ T 001]

And in what sequence did you buy the rest? I bought a wah pedal, and then a phlanger, but that was a few boxes ago.

[Joel Terry]

My very first effect pedal, purchased from Shiloh Music, Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, December 1983:



(No, the one in the picture isn't mine; it's just an example of an old FX70.)

In fact, I still have and use the FX70 on occasion. It sounds much more like a very lush chorus than it does a flanger. It has such a thick, sweet sound; I love it to this day. (However, for the most part, for any chorusing, I now prefer the more subtle BOSS CE-3 or DC-2 pedals in stereo.)

The next pedals I bought very shortly after the FX70 Stereo Flanger were fellow DOD pedals FX25 Envelope Filter (the original lime green funk wonder) and FX20 "Phasor" (the ancient beige one, not the newer brick red one).

Then, a few months later, in 1984, the BOSS bug bit, and I've never been the same. First, it was the then-new (and infamous) HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal; then the BF-2 Flanger. Then, the bomb dropped: A few months later, I acquired the then-new DD-2 Digital Delay for the incredible, whopping sum of $275 US (a price and a pedal which just blew my 16-year-old mind and wallet at the time--but is still represented in spirit by the much more economically priced DD-3 of today), the CE-3 Chorus (the best analog chorus ever made, in my humble opinion), the PH-2 Super Phaser, etc., etc.

More than 20 years later, I'm still just as much of the effects hound as I was then. Now, it isn't just DOD and BOSS, though--I have effects by Korg, Alesis, Dunlop, etc.

But my heart always skips a beat when I plug into that old silver FX70 (which still looks as new as the day it came off the assembly line!) and turn it on and play the first few arpeggiated chords of "Little Wing," "Message In A Bottle" or "Red Barchetta," or turn the speed all the way up on that sucker and play "Cold Shot."

Joel

[maestrovert]

let's see...very VERY long ago.......and all on the same day i got a:
Vox wah,
E-H LPB-1
E-H Big Muff and last but not least , a:
E-H Small Stone Phase Shifter..........

after a few years ended up with a home made pedal board (thought i'd invented it for a while) with up to 30 different pedals, no tone, too much noise and continual breakdowns (to put it mildly)

........"doze were da daze" as Archie would say.........

[Mark Davis]

In 1967 got a Fuzz face and 2 weeks later got a cry baby wah. I also had a Gibson ES335 and a BF Super Reverb. Pretty cool rig for a 17 yr old way back then wish I had it all back that stuff was killer!

[J-man]

A Boss DS-1.

[Oldschoolwax]

Hmmm... The first pedal I ever bought was one of the Ross distortion pedals. I didn't like it for a long time, but now I do, so go figure.

[BB]

FIrst pedal I bought around 68 or so was a Sunn Buzz. A little black box that hooked into the guitar, the a cord into the amp. The pedal lived up to its name doing the innagoddadavidda thing to a T. A year or so later, the EH LPB-1 became my second. Klempt Echolette, Maestro Fuzz and Phase were next.

[genelovesjez]

I got one just like this for Christmas when I was around 12 or 13. I still have it, too!

[Midgekey]

My first was an original TS-808, got it when they were new & so was I. :) I used to do odd jobs at the local music store & the proprietor would give me old gear or discounts. I think I got the 808 for about $25 or so, and still have it and the box it came in. The box is pretty beat up, but the pedal is still in good shape.

The first pedal that I remember saving for & ordering was a DOD Performer Series Stereo Chorus. It's big & beige, and I still have that one as well. The guys at the store I bought it from were also very kind to me and sold me their old gear cheap or gave me tremendous deals on new stuff. Some of the gems I got from them around that time include two DynaComps (one script and one block logo), a Deluxe Electric Mistress, a Maestro Phaser (Big, old, 3-button deal), and a Ross Compressor.

[gtrwrks]

Mid-80's Ibanez Chorus pedal. I can't remember the model number (I swapped it to a buddy years ago), but it was the light blue one and made my strat sound like "liquid".

I wish I could get that feeling back...

[rcrecelius]

An Ibanez TS10 back in 1986...and I still have it as well as another one I bought a few years later.

[SinnerBoy61]

Boss BD-2 blues driver with Keeley Mod.

[FUMoney]

My first was a Sekova fuzz pedal, chrome with an attached guitar cord in the early 70's. I loved it! Soon followed by an E-H LPB-1.

Ed

[Cheesecaster]

went to town to buy a boss ds-1 they had none , so i buy a guyatone distortion , did that thing suck through my vantage guitar and ram bass amp ... i remember the day i got that amp ...grade 9 $200 cdn dragged it home on the school bus , it was huge
that was my start to many years of tone quest!

[unzari]

...a DOD compressor, used. I have no idea how old it is, but the thing looks old, just two big knobs that are great for adjusting with my foot and a heavy-duty, all-metal housing.

It compared really well to the other ones in the store, and it was way cheaper than the Dynacomp.

I don't think this thing will ever be turned off!

[noodle_world]

Danelectro Daddy-O.

[Neill Levine]

An old dark pink Ibanez analog delay pedal

For the ultimate in echoed surf guitar when I was 15... 8)
17 years later and I still have not found its' equivalent

[Tim Bowen]

1.) Foxx Tone Machine. Blue, fuzzy, nasty.

2.) Kay Fuzz Wah. Or whatever it was called. Orange plastic rocker pedal that made cool weird noises that thrilled me to no end.

3.) Mutron III envelope follower. Can you say FONKY.

A bit hazy on the details, but the purchases were made at some point in the 70's. All said gizmos have found new homes, sadly.

This is a bit like being asked to expound and reflect on one's original loss of virginity.

[Josh Exmoor]

Either a Ibanez TS-5 or a DOD Grunge pedal, I cannot remember. Funny thing is, I got the TS-5 cheap from a friend and hated it at the time because it didn't distort much. I got the Grunge for Christmas the first year I played guitar and loved it at the time. I just got them both from my parents house and I couldn't believe how much I actually liked the Tubescreamer. Meanwhile the Grunge (as well as my metal zone, ew) make me cringe nowdays.

[TeleTubby]

Ah yes, I remember it well- on my 19th birthday, I gathered all the cash that had been bestowed upon me and ventured over to Ace Music in Santa Monica to purchase a brand new, spanking clean, still-in-the-box CryBaby wah. Looking back, I can't recall why I "had" to have a wah, but then I can't seem to remember why I bought most of the pedals I've ever had- too much plugging and unplugging for me. Although, they certainly do serve a purpose and I use that logic to continue buying them today...