electric must haves?

makikogi · #1 03-03-2008, 11:37 PM

Ok so I'm starting my venture off into the electric world. I will primarily cover worship music at my church. Here's what I got on my list right now:

In my possession: these pedals were bought years ago for my acoustic rig, they will now reside in my electric rig:
Boss super chorus
Digiverb
Digidelay (although would like to sell for a DD20)

Currently in transit:
T5 custom
vox ac-15
furman pedal board
Keeley Blues Driver

short list of effects but don't know if necessary:
keeley compressor (or other good compression pedal)
keeley katana (don't really know what this does, but everyone raves about it.....)
boss ge-7 (or other good eq pedal)
Boss dd20 (or other good delay pedal)

There's not really anything I can do about the stuff that I already have/on the way. But I would like some advice on the "short list". If there's a pedal in there that really isn't needed for my purposes or overrated and if there should be other pedals included in my electric rig I would love some advice.

thanks....

HereIGoAgain · #2 03-04-2008, 12:15 AM

Okay, you're off to a good start, but man, all that Keeley stuff is going to run you a lot of money unless your scour Craig'slist.

At least check out Indyguitarist.com and Analogman before you settle on the Keeley modded stuff. (Although your Keeley Blues Driver is regarded as a good choice. The stock pedal isn't much, from what I've read.)

The Keeley Katana is a clean boost, and I think a little bit of dirt. A clean boost is used to push the preamp tubes into distortion. It can also be used as a volume boost for leads on a clean amp. You can get a superb clean boost with an MXR Micro Amp for about 1/3 the cost of the Katana. (I have one, works great.)

If that AC-15 has an effects loop, you can use the Danelectro Dan-Echo. I used to have one, and it was my favorite delay of all that I tried.

I am a pedal junkie. I've battled the urges several times over the past several years. My advice to you is to never buy a pedal that you don't know you absolutely have to have. Really do your homework and research. You could get very broke very fast otherwise.

Bob Womack · #3 03-04-2008, 07:09 AM

I've picked up a Barber Tone Press compressor that I love. I wrote up a review, HERE. I like the transparency of the "parallel compression" system, by the way, that lets you keep as much of the attack as you desire and then dial in sustain after that.

If you are playing through a tube amp, you might consider "cooking" * the preamp with clean boost for a brighter, glassier clean and a more complex driven tone. Barber offers their LAUNCH PAD for just this sort of operation, though the Tone Press offers enough clean gain to do much of this as well.

I'm not affiliated. I just like their stuff.

Bob

* Dave Barber post on COOKING a tube preamp.

Herb Hunter · #4 03-04-2008, 07:36 AM

I'm quite happy with the tone I get plugging my guitar directly in to the amp without any effects other than the reverb of the amplifier, or in the case of a Twin Reverb, the tremolo effect. Occasionally I may want to compress the signal more than the amplifier does for which I have an old Boss CS-2 Compressor. Maybe if I replaced it with the one Bob Womack recommends, I might use it more frequently.

cu4life7 · #5 03-04-2008, 07:53 AM

Seems like a pretty good setup. I don't know how much help I will be because I am pretty new to it also, but I go for a very simplified sound and all I have is a fender strat hwy one, blues junior amp, and the only effects pedal I have is an Ibanez tube screamer. I would highly recommend that pedal to give you more drive out of those tubes. Oh, and I have a Vox Wah Wah that I just use for kicks mostly...

sarNz · #6 03-04-2008, 08:16 AM

how about the Boss NS-2 noisegate pedal? (assuming you dont have a noisegate already) stops a lot of that unwanted noise, but make sure you get it with the power adapter, it doesnt really work with batteries

dthumb · #7 03-04-2008, 08:45 AM

i didn't notice a "tubescreamer" on your list...the ibanez tube screamer (any of them but, particularly any of the green ones) are a "must have" for any electric pedal head....they bring wonderful warmth and roundness to any instrument or some real nasty overdrive on demand..great tone!

Herb Hunter · #8 03-04-2008, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dthumb

i didn't notice a "tubescreamer" on your list...the ibanez tube screamer (any of them but, particularly any of the green ones) are a "must have" for any electric pedal head....they bring wonderful warmth and roundness to any instrument or some real nasty overdrive on demand..great tone!

Cu4life7 recommended the Ibanez tube screamer as well.

jyee · #9 03-04-2008, 10:24 AM

i love the keeley bd, but ended up going with a barber direct drive instead... mostly just because it was a bit cheaper. they sound similar.

The only other effect i'd consider adding to your lineup is a tremolo. the dano tuna melt is a good cheap one. the boss tends to get negative reviews because there's a volume drop when it engages (there is a keeley mod version that fixes this). i personally have the carl martin surf trem... it sounds great, but the only draw back is it doesnt do a real choppy on/off/on/off trem, but i rarely need something that percussive.

depending on your style of playing and the music you play, having another fuzz pedal, something with a bit more grit, would be good. it would allow you to play rhythm with some warm OD, but then punch a bit more distortion for leads. the tubescreamer was mentioned... I favor the ts9 over the other ibanez versions.

Other big delay units like the dd20 that you might want to consider would be the line6 dl4, akai headrush2 and the new electro harmonix memory man +harazai. they all have tap tempo and looping. the memory man also does chorus and trem (i think)... although in a band setting tap tempo can be tricky unless you have a good drummer.

wthurman · #10 03-04-2008, 10:53 AM

Must have:

Outside of good pickups, strings, tuners, body, neck, bridge, nut... must have a guitar cord, must have a way to amplify including speakers.

Everything else is gravy.

KyCabnetMkr · #11 03-04-2008, 10:59 AM

That's cool with the gear you're looking to get. I'm not too familiar with a Keeley mod Blues Driver, but I'm sure it's very good because Keeley does very good work. I'm not entire sure what kind of cables you're using, but I'd recommend getting custom made cabling from George L's. Also, why not an Ernie Ball Volume with a tuner out? When I play electric I find it extremely useful. I'm assuming your Furman provides enough juice for all your pedals. Everyone I've seen that has one loved their Fulldrive pedal. you may want to consider that as well. Lastly, check out www.thegearpage.net as many users have some very nice custom pedalboard setups. Good luck and God bless!

trpullen · #12 03-04-2008, 11:26 AM

Forget the DD-20. Get the RE-20 Space Echo. It sounds SOOOO good. MXR has also just released the new Carbon Copy analog delay. With that AC15, you could get into serious Edge territory.

Not sure what you are into but check out YouTube for the Chris Tomlin/Daniel Carson stuff. Daniel spends one of the videos detailing his pedalboard and what he uses on different songs. Very useful. http://youtube.com/user/worshipfrequency

There are also some great videos from Hillsong United. Nigel also details how he gets his tones. http://youtube.com/watch?v=BY8yGkEYNIk

makikogi · #13 03-04-2008, 04:08 PM

Thanks for all the input everyone....I do have good patch cables (canare) so I think I'm ok there. I like the reviews I read for the line 6 dl4 so I think I'll shoot for that instead of the gigadelay. And yea I'll probable try and find a tube screamer (keeley if the price is right) I pretty much vowed never to buy new gear considering the turn around. Everything I've purchased so far has been used (except for the keeley BD....used were going for $5-10 less than new, so I just sprung for a new one). I like the little micro amp pedal that Matt a top recommended...anyone else have good luck with this? Thanks again everyone and keep the advice coming!!!

imwjl · #14 03-04-2008, 07:17 PM

I've gone from GAS to AAS and on to PAS.

On AAS.... So far no pedal does the reverb and tremolo like my black face and my new design amp is on craigslist. Also as far as tremolo I'll also add no pedal is same as the tremolo bar on the guitar. The downside to the classic vs. newer design amp seems to be better shielding makes them quieter sitting in neutral.

On PAS.... I know it can be considered diminishing returns, but I returned my all in one multi-unit and started with individual pedals where I'd suggest a Sonic Stomp, and where so far I'm finding the Electro-Harmonix and Dunlop/MXR offerings a good step between boutique products.

Warning (insert humor and sad truth): You might also want to start saving for a guitar if you get into electrics. I played T5s and find them neat, but at a year plus after decades of acoustic only I'm finding that the electrics I really like and have kept are classic designs. It almost defies logic, but I actually sold my PRS and am keeping my Tele and Strat for example.

Have fun with it all!

JedimasterPaul · #15 03-04-2008, 07:56 PM

MXR Phase 90.