Good Guitar FX Pedals

[strumcat]

Having decided to acquire enough basic effects to free myself from the tyranny of on-board amp effects, and having decided that most multi-effects processors are absurdly overpriced and of poor quality, I've been researching individual FX pedals. A few in my price range that seem to be well-regarded are:

EHX Holy Grail Nano Reverb
EHX Small Clone Chorus
Danelectro DJ17 PB & J Delay
Danelectro DJ-9 Surf and Turf Compressor
Danelectro DJ14 Fish and Chips 7-Band EQ

Has anyone had any experience with these? Are there others that may be better choices? Thanks in advance for any advice.

[mtierney]

I've got experience with all of these, what exactly are you looking for though? Are you thinking of getting all of them, or what effects have priority? Usually it'd be like which reverb or which chorus but these are all different... Is this for jazz?

[strumcat]

I've got experience with all of these, what exactly are you looking for though? Are you thinking of getting all of them, or what effects have priority? Usually it'd be like which reverb or which chorus but these are all different... Is this for jazz?

I would be using these for a variety of purposes: in front of my amp for playing jazzy blues, pop, and folk music; in my modest home studio when recording others, especially vocalists and guitar players. My top priorities would be a decent reverb and a decent compressor. I intend to eventually have one of each type (reverb, delay, chorus, compressor, and eq). That way I'd have one less thing to worry about when using different amps or buying a new amp.

Thanks for your reply. Any suggestion, pointers, tips, or opinions?

[mtierney]

I was going to say that the only one that I would really recommend against is the Danelectro compressor. Compressors are kinda tough to shop for because a lot of them will thin out your tone. It may sound okay if you're playing by yourself, but it will make you transparent when playing with people. As far as a recommendation goes, it's tough to say... I know a guy who mods pedals who made me a Boss CS-3 mod that sounds excellent, but I understand that that's usually not an option. While searching for a compressor though, I found that the EHX Black Finger is fantastic, but noisy and expensive. The White Finger is comparable but cheaper, still a great pedal. The unmodded CS-3 is still pretty good, but it's subtle. The Dyna Comps are pretty good, BUT they're really tough to tone down; they're always really "squishy". The Keeley Compressor is apparently the best out there, but I haven't tried it. The Pigtronix one is awesome. The Visual Sound one is really good in the double pedal, but I haven't tried the single. If it's the same, that's probably my recommendation.

The Holy Grail series is excellent for reverb, EHX makes the best reverb pedals in my opinion. You'd be very happy with it. The only thing to keep in mind is that it will probably never sound as good as an actual spring reverb.

My advice for picking out all of these pedals though is that you should try them all out, and when trying them consider what you'd use the pedal for. For example, do you want a subtle or a squishy compressor? Do you want a short quiet delay or do you want the option of turning up the feedback knob and making it self-oscillate?

I'm glad you're staying away from modeling amps and multi-effects pedals. In the long run they'd be less expensive, but the tones of individual stomps is so much better.

[sergeantk]

Get the Small Clone for chorus, I have one and it is amazing. Unrivaled especially for the price.

[strumcat]

I was going to say that the only one that I would really recommend against is the Danelectro compressor. Compressors are kinda tough to shop for because a lot of them will thin out your tone. It may sound okay if you're playing by yourself, but it will make you transparent when playing with people. As far as a recommendation goes, it's tough to say... I know a guy who mods pedals who made me a Boss CS-3 mod that sounds excellent, but I understand that that's usually not an option. While searching for a compressor though, I found that the EHX Black Finger is fantastic, but noisy and expensive. The White Finger is comparable but cheaper, still a great pedal. The unmodded CS-3 is still pretty good, but it's subtle. The Dyna Comps are pretty good, BUT they're really tough to tone down; they're always really "squishy". The Keeley Compressor is apparently the best out there, but I haven't tried it. The Pigtronix one is awesome. The Visual Sound one is really good in the double pedal, but I haven't tried the single. If it's the same, that's probably my recommendation.

The Holy Grail series is excellent for reverb, EHX makes the best reverb pedals in my opinion. You'd be very happy with it. The only thing to keep in mind is that it will probably never sound as good as an actual spring reverb.

My advice for picking out all of these pedals though is that you should try them all out, and when trying them consider what you'd use the pedal for. For example, do you want a subtle or a squishy compressor? Do you want a short quiet delay or do you want the option of turning up the feedback knob and making it self-oscillate?

I'm glad you're staying away from modeling amps and multi-effects pedals. In the long run they'd be less expensive, but the tones of individual stomps is so much better.

Thanks very much for your detailed response. It's exactly the kind of input I need at this point.

The compressor I intend to use mainly for recording vocals, to keep the levels under control. I'd like to keep it as subtle and noiseless as possible, so the CS3 seems interesting. Probably won't be using it on guitar much at all. You've given me a nice variety of options. I'll see what's available and try before I buy, if possible.

What you said about the EHX reverbs confirms what I've read elsewhere on the net. The only other thing that looked interesting was a Danelectro spring reverb ($150 new), but I've heard nothing about it, just saw it in an ad.

As for delay, I mostly use it to repeat once, very quickly, as kind of a note-thickener when playing blues solos, so that will be kind of a one-trick pony.

Multi-fx: I bought a Zoom (can't remember the model) a long time ago, the one that goes on your guitar strap. What was I thinking? Once bitten, twice shy.

I'm in awe of the talent and experience of the people who use this forum. THat's why I decided to inquire here before making any purchases. Again, thanks for taking the time to help me out.

Regards,
Joe (Strumcat)

[strumcat]

Get the Small Clone for chorus, I have one and it is amazing. Unrivaled especially for the price.

That's what I'm hearing, that it's the only one worth the bucks. Your comment pretty much nails it down for me. And I really don't want to wind up sounding like the chord-fairy possesed my guitar Thanks for the input. That one's a definite.

Regards,
Joe (Strumcat)

[the*doctor]

I'd defintely reccomend EHX pedals, they're always quality, but perhaps not the danelectro. I've read plenty of reviews on them saying they're great FOR THE PRICE. But I'd rather only get a few quality pedals at a time.

I used to be really into seperate pedals, but now I'm getting tired of the amount of cables, the setting up, the unreliability of so many cables, etc.

I've read great reviews about the line 6 m13
That'll be my next purchase, it's basically a bunch of pedals all together, with no amp and cab modelling, etc. Great sounds apparently.

[medblues]

Jim Hall and I both like the Digitech Whammy :-)

EHX Freeze is something that Bill Frisell and I like also :-)

Digitech Hardwire RV-7 reverb is definitely a contender.

I have a Damage Control 2 x 12AX7 tube preamp (which has compressor and overdrive) but it is discontinued.

I still have not decided on a chorus pedal so I will check out the Small Clone. I am also looking for a delay/looper. Any ideas out there ?

That's what I'm hearing, that it's the only one worth the bucks. Your comment pretty much nails it down for me. And I really don't want to wind up sounding like the chord-fairy possesed my guitar Thanks for the input. That one's a definite.

Regards,
Joe (Strumcat)

[Bill C]

Using guitar stomp boxes for studio vocals seems unusual. Are you sure these will interface optimally with your mics and recording equipment? You may get better results with a studio-oriented unit. Obviously that may or may not be compatible with your guitar rig...

[mambosun]

For pop, rock, hard and blues I mainly rely on Boss stompboxes: built like a tank, really good sound, buffer-in, not the most expensive.
I own up to eight pedals; the only concession I made to Boss is a Geoffrey Teese RMC 6 wheel of fire wah pedal, great stuff.

[mr. beaumont]

I always like the EHX stuff.

Have you considered a delay from them? I have a Memory Boy and it's excellent--fattens up the sound enough that I don't need reverb or anthing else.

No experience with the Dano stuff...bought an overdrive pedal from them 15 years ago that was bad enough to make sure I never bought one of their pedals again (sounded good, but juiced batteries, only worked with it's adaptor, blew it's LED after two weeks of use and the footswitch crapped out after a month or so...but that was 15 years ago...)

I never understood compressors for jazz...I think that squashed tone is the worst guitar sound imaginable...

[mtierney]

Mr B, for the record my compressor(s) are not for jazz! The only pedal I use for jazz is a tuner.

Anyways, strumcat, I agree with Bill C about using guitar pedals on vocals. What computer software are you using? you should have a decent enough compressor plug-in that would work much better; most vocal effects that you use should probably be run in post production.

Also, if you're thinking of spending 150 for a reverb, you may want to stretch just a little bit more. The EHX Cathedral is by far the best reverb pedal on the market. You may not need all of its features though, which is why my original recommendation was the Holy Grail. Depending on how much versatility you want though, the Cathedral does EVERYTHING. It even has an echo in it (not saying you shouldn't get a delay pedal, just saying that that's a feature).

You may want to take Mr B's advice about the delay. I would do either that or maybe the MXR Carbon Copy; but if you're only doing a slap back you may not need to worry about the pedal being analog.

As for chorus... I'm not really a chorus man myself. I had the Visual Sound H2O at one point because it's more versatile than the Small Clone, but I ended up regretting it. The Small Clone just has a fuller tone, plain and simple. Not the most versatile pedal, but after having the H2O I understood that the versatility wasn't the most important aspect.

Also, medblues... Most Boss pedals in the DD series (DD-7, DD-20) have a loop function but the looper in it sucks tone. Also, it disables the delay functionality while the loop is going. You also can't turn a loop on and off. That said, both of the aforementioned delay pedals are very versatile as delays, and if you don't mind those setbacks then they are great options.

For everyone interested in stompboxes though, you may want to find more advice on the Post-Rock forum (after the post rock); not to reject my advice or anyone else's on this forum, but the more advice the better. I'm not on it, but my friend is, and I hear that the community is kinda snobby (which is why I'm not on it... he just makes them out to be kinda petty and not very focused) but that they're very knowledgable about gear.

[strumcat]

I'd defintely reccomend EHX pedals, they're always quality, but perhaps not the danelectro. I've read plenty of reviews on them saying they're great FOR THE PRICE. But I'd rather only get a few quality pedals at a time.

Yeh, maybe I'll stick with the quality stuff. Trying to save a few bucks isn't always the wisest path.

I used to be really into seperate pedals, but now I'm getting tired of the amount of cables, the setting up, the unreliability of so many cables, etc.

I've read great reviews about the line 6 m13
That'll be my next purchase, it's basically a bunch of pedals all together, with no amp and cab modelling, etc. Great sounds apparently.

I read from a competent, non-commercial source that the Boss ME-30 Multi-FX box is worth the money, but I think I'm still going to go with the individual pedals in a pedal-box. All those connections are just buzzes and hums waiting to happen, but there's usually a trade-off involved in every decision. Good luck with the Line 6 though.

Thanks,
Joe

[strumcat]

Jim Hall and I both like the Digitech Whammy :-)

EHX Freeze is something that Bill Frisell and I like also :-)

Digitech Hardwire RV-7 reverb is definitely a contender.

I have a Damage Control 2 x 12AX7 tube preamp (which has compressor and overdrive) but it is discontinued.

I still have not decided on a chorus pedal so I will check out the Small Clone. I am also looking for a delay/looper. Any ideas out there ?

Hehe, I'll look into the whammy and freeze after I get the basics. I gotta watch my spending.

I had kind of gotten a bad impression of the DigiTech stuff in general from some of the reviews of their Multi-FX boxes, but I'll keep an open mind about it and give the RV-7 a listen.

Regards,
Joe

[strumcat]

Using guitar stomp boxes for studio vocals seems unusual. Are you sure these will interface optimally with your mics and recording equipment? You may get better results with a studio-oriented unit. Obviously that may or may not be compatible with your guitar rig...

Yes, completely obvious blunder on my part to be even considering that. The thought was "unripe", let us say. That's what happens when you try to take too many things into consideration at one time, I guess. (That's the only excuse I could think of...)

Thanks for pointing that out.

Joe

[strumcat]

For pop, rock, hard and blues I mainly rely on Boss stompboxes: built like a tank, really good sound, buffer-in, not the most expensive.
I own up to eight pedals; the only concession I made to Boss is a Geoffrey Teese RMC 6 wheel of fire wah pedal, great stuff.

Well, I've bought a few Boss pedals (long ago) and liked them fine. But that was in my rocknroll days, so I thought I'd try to see what else is out there.

But I did dig an old Boss HM-2 out, dust it off, and try it out just for the heck of it. Still works perfectly. If you turn the distortion all the way down, set the EQ knobs to about half, and the volume to a little more than passthrough, it actually gives a nice fullness and very subtle throaty rumble to things. Makes my solid state amp sound alsmot like a tube amp. Pretty cool.

Regards,
Joe

[Al_F]

+1 on the ehx nano reverb, I have one in front of my AC4, sounds great. I see them for sale on CL regularly, $50 - $70.

[strumcat]

I always like the EHX stuff.

Have you considered a delay from them? I have a Memory Boy and it's excellent--fattens up the sound enough that I don't need reverb or anthing else.

The more input I get, the more I think EHX is the way to go for most of my stuff. I noticed the Memory Boy when I was sniffing around. I will definitely take a listen next time I'm in the store.

No experience with the Dano stuff...bought an overdrive pedal from them 15 years ago that was bad enough to make sure I never bought one of their pedals again (sounded good, but juiced batteries, only worked with it's adaptor, blew it's LED after two weeks of use and the footswitch crapped out after a month or so...but that was 15 years ago...)

Well, what I heard was, buy the Dano's for the circuitry, but rehouse it in a sturdier box. That may be too much hassle to go through, though.

I never understood compressors for jazz...I think that squashed tone is the worst guitar sound imaginable...

Yep, I don't know what I was thinking... see the reply above to Bill C.

Thanks
Joe

[Pierrot]

.... having decided that most multi-effects processors are absurdly overpriced and of poor quality,......

Ever listened to a TC Electronics multiFX?
I have the Nova System and each individual FX is at least as good if not better than any single pedal I could listen to.
Plus, you get memories, presets,etc...

[strumcat]

...What computer software are you using? you should have a decent enough compressor plug-in that would work much better; most vocal effects that you use should probably be run in post production.

I'm still using Cakewalk Music Creator, and even that has a pretty good compressor, among other things, and takes VST plugins. (I have Sonar, also, but it's very similar to Music Creator, and I'm used to the MC interface.) What I want to use a compressor in front for is to keep vocal takes from getting ruined by a little too much dynamics on the singer's part. Other than that, I don't want it to affect the sound of the vocal at all. I guess what I should really do is look for a new preamp with built-in compression.

Also, if you're thinking of spending 150 for a reverb, you may want to stretch just a little bit more. The EHX Cathedral is by far the best reverb pedal on the market. You may not need all of its features though, which is why my original recommendation was the Holy Grail. Depending on how much versatility you want though, the Cathedral does EVERYTHING. It even has an echo in it (not saying you shouldn't get a delay pedal, just saying that that's a feature).

With the Cathedral, can you use the reverb and the delay simultaneously? That might save me some bucks and some space. I really do want a high-quality reverb more than anything else, if I can afford it.

You may want to take Mr B's advice about the delay. I would do either that or maybe the MXR Carbon Copy; but if you're only doing a slap back you may not need to worry about the pedal being analog.

Points taken.

As for chorus... I'm not really a chorus man myself...

I want a chorus to do two things: 1. sound sweet, almost acoustic, at a subtle level that you can feel more than hear, and 2. keep my guitar sounding in tune even when it isn't

I appreciate all the help you've given (and everyone's).

Thank you,
Joe

[strumcat]

+1 on the ehx nano reverb, I have one in front of my AC4, sounds great. I see them for sale on CL regularly, $50 - $70.

Thanks, Al. It's definitely gonig to be an EHX reverb.

Joe

[strumcat]

Ever listened to a TC Electronics multiFX?
I have the Nova System and each individual FX is at least as good if not better than any single pedal I could listen to.
Plus, you get memories, presets,etc...

I haven't listened to one, but that statement is intriguing enough to get me to do so.

I'd better plan on going to multiple stores to do all my listen tests. Don't want to drive them crazy at any one place.

Thanks very much,
Joe

[mtierney]

The Cathedral has a function known as "pre-delay" which is a gap of time before the reverb actually kicks in. You can then set feedback for the pre-delay so that it acts as a delay pedal would but with cascading reverb. Unfortunately, this is not a subtle manner, no matter how it's done. There's another function that is just delay, but that has no reverb whatsoever. In short, no, it won't replace the versatility of having both a delay and a reverb pedal. But that doesn't detract from the Cathedral's awesomeness!!

You're right about the preamp for a vocal compressor; when I record I use plug-ins though... There's nothing unprofessional about plug-ins. I personally prefer a good plug-in to an outboard unit simply because you can work the plug-in easier after the raw track is recorded. But you may not want to reject the idea of a compressor completely. I wouldn't use the compressor for jazz, and I definitely wouldn't say that it's your top priority for jazz or really any genre right now considering the other effects you're looking into, but compressors are useful for rock-based or country-based genres.

What other gear do you use?

[strumcat]

The Cathedral has a function known as "pre-delay" which is a gap of time before the reverb actually kicks in. You can then set feedback for the pre-delay so that it acts as a delay pedal would but with cascading reverb. Unfortunately, this is not a subtle manner, no matter how it's done. There's another function that is just delay, but that has no reverb whatsoever. In short, no, it won't replace the versatility of having both a delay and a reverb pedal. But that doesn't detract from the Cathedral's awesomeness!!

You're right about the preamp for a vocal compressor; when I record I use plug-ins though... There's nothing unprofessional about plug-ins. I personally prefer a good plug-in to an outboard unit simply because you can work the plug-in easier after the raw track is recorded. But you may not want to reject the idea of a compressor completely. I wouldn't use the compressor for jazz, and I definitely wouldn't say that it's your top priority for jazz or really any genre right now considering the other effects you're looking into, but compressors are useful for rock-based or country-based genres.

What other gear do you use?

I've decided on the Cathedral. It's stereo in and out. I'm thinking I can use it to drive two amps in stereo, something I wanted to do anyway. Reverb is always the last thing in the effects chain, so it's a natural to go straight from there to my amp inputs. Besides, I just want it real bad. It's calling me.

I'm from WVa, so I do have country music in my soul. Not this pop stuff that they're calling country music on the radio. I prefer to call it folk music instead. Bluegrass. Hank Williams. The Carter Family. I have this crazy idea of a real laid-back band playing this kind of music, but with jazz guitar, bass, and drums. Intelligent, refined, exciting country/folk music. I don't know if I could find jazz musicians that would want to do it, though. I think it would be dynamite.

My equipment is the bare minimum to get me by. I have a computer that I put together myself, running Cakewalk Music Creator under Windows. For an interface I use an EMU 0202, which has pristine, uncolored sound up to 192 kHz at 24 bits. Problem is I have to use an SM57 through it because the preamps have no phantom power. The outs on the EMU go to a couple of powered KRK Rokit monitors. For headphones I use Sennheiser HD280 Pro's, good enough for tracking or even mixing in a pinch.

My electric guitar is a Moridira Hurricane LTD3 with Fender Lace Blue pickup at the neck position. I call it a Strat so people will know what ballpark it's in. It's really a very nice-to-play instrument with a good vibe. I have a Yamaha FG-160 acoustic that sounds good for a cheap guitar, and a "Little Martin" just for fun and portability. It's good-looking and sweet to play, but doesn't have much of a voice. Maybe I should put a pickup on it.

I don't have a working gig-amp at the moment, but I have a tiny little Roland Mobile Cube with amazing tone and usable effects. I run that out to a (don't laugh) Raven RG20, which at least has a 12" speaker. The Raven does one thing well -- it has a very nice clean channel, and gets louder than you might expect. Everything else on it is useless; the distortion, the "reverb" (lol). The delay is ok if you don't listen too closely. But my little "kludge-stack" actually sounds pretty good. I also have a little Peavey practice amp that's good for holding doors open or as a spare seat.

Gotta run
Joe