Electric Recommendations...

[zb0430]

Here are a few pedals and brief descriptions of my impressions, that you should take a look at:

Overdrives/Distortions

• Fulltone OCD (Can do light gain, all the way to heavy girth)
• Tim/Timmy Pedal (A very transparent OD, lets the character of the amp/guitar shine a bit more than most, and has a great tone)
• Fulltone Fulldrive 2 Mosfet (A great, versatile drive that has a rich character to it)
• Klon Centaur (A revered drive, not worth the price, but has a midrange richness)
• Keeley Modded Boss BD-2 (Keeley makes great pedals, and takes good pedals and makes them sound even better, and versatile, like this great low gain pedal)
• Keeley Modded Sparkle Drive (This is a popular one in the worship scene, with a TS-808 drive sound, with parallel clean boost to retain definition)
• ProCo Rat (Either an original, or a modded one, NOT A NEW ONE, will give you a great fuzzy heavy distortion tone)
• Fulltone Fat Boost 3 (This is a wonderful boost, that can really stack well into other pedals for added gain)
• Xotic Effects BB Preamp (This is a great Marshall in a stompbox pedal)
• Xotic Effects RC Booster (This is one of my favorite pedals to stack into other drives, or as a clean boost, or as a light hint of grit on your sound)
• Barber Direct Drive (I hear great things about this pedal, but haven't used it)
• Zendrive (This is a 'Dumble in a box' pedal that many love, I think it's pretty good)
• Zvex Box of Rock (Another pedal that many people talk about, but I haven't used)

There are at least a few options for you to look at.

Delays/Modulations

• Boss DD-20 Giga Delay (A versatile digital delay, sounds great and is popular in worship venues, has input for tap tempo pedal)
• TC Electronics Nova Delay (Another digital delay, sounds good, but to me has a clunky interface and operation features)
• Boss DD-5 (The hard-to-find, discontinued Boss delay pedaled revered for great reverse and dotted 8th note delays, input for tap tempo pedal, replaced by the DD-7, DD-6 has no tap input)
• Line 6 DL-4 (This is a wonderful, versatile pedal, even better and sturdier when modded by Robert Keeley, has a wonderful feature set, and is worth a hard look, 1 of two pedals from Line 6 I'd even touch)
• TC Electronics Nova Modulator (Enough modulation effects to blow your mind, and they sound good to boot)
• Boss CE-1 Analog Chorus (A classic chorus that I like, even lightly mixed into an acoustic signal)

There's a shorter list of what kind of pedals I'd call essential to getting your sounds for worship settings.

Compressors

• Keeley Compressor (Either the two knob or four knob, no difference, just easier to access non-internal controls on the 4 knob... Nothing touches this compressor to my ears)
• MXR DynaComp (This is a classic, and lots of people love it... I find it a bit less smooth and a bit more noisy than the others, but it has its own tone that many like a lot)
• Barber TonePress (This has a parallel clean circuit, allowing some of the original signal to be blended in with the compressed, and is a great pedal)

Other Essentials

• Radial ToneBone SwitchBone JX-2 (If you wind up with a two channel amp, be sure to get this wonderful ABY box with boost/mute feature, and buffered tuner output to avoid the toneloss associated with even the VP tuner out)
• Real McCoy RMC 1 Wah Wah (The name says it all... This Teese wah is indeed the real mccoy of wahs to my ears...)
• Voodoo Labs Pedal Power Plus 2 (A great option for delivering good, clean power to your pedals, even the option to introduce drag to mimic the tone of a dying 9-volt in the pedal)
• George L's Pedal Jumpers (Wonderful, easy to create DIY pedal interconnects, with good cable that doesn't rob your tone or screw up your mids)

Hopefully, some of those are on your list too...

As for guitars....

After a friend owned a couple boutique strats, Suhr and Anderson, that I got to play regularly, I'd say they play wonderfully. Perhaps better than even his custom shop strat, and they certainly look awesome... But still...

I wasn't as big of a fan of their pickups as many are. I really enjoy custom shop Fender pickups. They just ooze mojo to me. I really enjoy my Kinman pickups as well, in my American Standard, and definitely like the Lollars my friend has in his K-Line strat. There are an infinite number of pickup options at your disposal, and I'd recommend reading up on some of the ones listed in this thread.

For the actual guitar, you really can't go wrong with a Fender custom shop strat, at least in my book, if you go the strat route.

[690MBCOMMANDO]

WOW MAN - THANK YOU....will look into this and begin to digest.....

[leftycajun]

Good point about the Keeley compressor. The 2 and 4 knob versions are identical designs, the only difference being that the 4 knob gives you more control. The 2 extra knobs give you access to trim pots that are inside the 2 knob version's housing. Same design, just more convenient access with the 4 knob version. It's very useful if you want to use the same compressor with multiple instruments (acoustic, electric, bass, whatever)

[Dogsnax]

Gerald Melancon makes fine guitars here in Louisiana:

http://www.melanconguitars.com/index.shtml

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by jimmybcool

I think you need to define what electric tone you are looking for. What style you will be playing. ANd your budget.

Also, if you don't already have a quality amp that is a factor cause the worlds best guitar thru a crappy amp is still crappy tone.

+1 to the importance of amp (black face with touch of spring reverb addict here).

Next I say play different models and with same or simple amp before you commit. Of course keep setup in mind. Make sure you know all the tones the classic Fender and Gibson types make etc....

Make sure you try a Princeton Reverb in your trials and as far as guitars go Tele, Strat, Les Paul, ES-335, and PRS' scale length too.

FWIW: My Hollow Body (PRS) and Tele get the most play but I very much enjoy owning a Strat at times.

Have fun.

[dhbret]

I've been following this thread and have been thinking about going the opposite route - from many pedals to one multi effects pedal. So much easier for transport and setup etc. And easier to change patches on the fly than having to bend down and tweak. I play with a group that covers many different songs and styles and have been toying with the idea of one multi function pedal. Any ideas on a basic, good tone pedal? Thanks

David

[690MBCOMMANDO]

Anyone have any perspectives on Tom Anderson Hollow Drop tops vs. Classics?

I LOVE the PRS Hollowbody. If I get something like that I'll need a Strat like guitar.

[leftycajun]

Originally Posted by 690MBCOMMANDO

Anyone have any perspectives on Tom Anderson Hollow Drop tops vs. Classics?

I LOVE the PRS Hollowbody. If I get something like that I'll need a Strat like guitar.

I like the way you think! You just described one of my buddies at church's setup. PRS for most of the Gibson style stuff (and he's got some nice ones!) and Anderson for the Fender stuff.

Dogsnax, where in Louisiana is Melancon based? I'm from the Lafayette/New Iberia area originally. I'd love to check this guy out next time I head down south.

[690MBCOMMANDO]

Yeah - I'm thinking:

- Anderson Hollow Drop Top (or maybe classic version)
- PRS Private Stock Hollowbody II or 22/24

w/
Boss DD-20
Fulltone Fulldrive2 MOSFET
Fulltone OCD
Keeley BD-2
Keeley Compression
Keeley Katana or Keeley Time Machine
Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2
Which chorus?
Which reverb?


Ernie Ball VP (have)
Boss TU-2 (have)




Which amp?? Perhaps a Carr....I want something mobile that I can take to gig or to church...

Also will need a good pedal board that is also portable. Pumaboard?

For now, put money considerations aside and just continue to think "best in class" many thanks all! This is fun!



Also, please continue to react to the above list as we refine together. Thanks!

[jooonnn]

I love my fulltone fulldrive 2 mosfet. i also love my Line 6 DL4. I can honestly say anyone that can try one will probably love it as well. Many consider it one of the best of its kind. The keeley compressor is also my favorite compressor. Teese Real McCoy Wah is my favorite wah as well. Another GREAT product is the Roger Linn Adrenalinn III. Just look it up and imagine the worlds of fun you can have with it.


Amp wise I really like the Blues Junior modded out with BillM mods and a Jensen C12N speaker. A lot of people like the Cannibas Rex by Eminence as well. The Vibro King is a great but big amp. If you have too much money to spend, I'd go with a Swart Amp. They make some of THE best sounding amps I've ever heard. Check them out. If you have even more money, go Two Rock amp John mayer has a signature Two Rock that i hear is to die for.

[Dogsnax]

Originally Posted by leftycajun

Dogsnax, where in Louisiana is Melancon based? I'm from the Lafayette/New Iberia area originally. I'd love to check this guy out next time I head down south.

Melancon Guitars is located in Thibodaux...not too far from your old neck of the woods.

[690MBCOMMANDO]

Anyone tried a Goodsell Super 17?

[zb0430]

Originally Posted by 690MBCOMMANDO

Anyone tried a Goodsell Super 17?

Oh yes... A wonderful Vox-ish tone from a relatively light, small amp, that's easily portable and plenty loud. It's a beauty, too...

I'd highly recommend that amp.

I'd also recommend PedalTrain pedalboards.

That Nova Modulator would cover everything from Chorus to Flanger, to phaser, to everything in between. You could also still look at the Analogman Chorus. It's a wonderful chorus with some depth to it, as well.

I'd try to find an amp with spring reverb. The real thing beats a pedal, IMHO.

You also really need more than 1 drive pedal. The Fulldrive is a great mid-gain pedal. I'd say at least two more, a high gain and a low gain, would be ideal. I think it's important to have at least three well defined gain/crunch tones to fall back on at any moment, with the stomp of a box. I'd recommend the Tim/Timmy or the Keeley BD-2 for low gain, and the BB preamp of the OCD for higher gain.

[690MBCOMMANDO]

Originally Posted by zb0430

Oh yes... A wonderful Vox-ish tone from a relatively light, small amp, that's easily portable and plenty loud. It's a beauty, too...

I'd highly recommend that amp.

I'd also recommend PedalTrain pedalboards.

That Nova Modulator would cover everything from Chorus to Flanger, to phaser, to everything in between. You could also still look at the Analogman Chorus. It's a wonderful chorus with some depth to it, as well.

I'd try to find an amp with spring reverb. The real thing beats a pedal, IMHO.

You also really need more than 1 drive pedal. The Fulldrive is a great mid-gain pedal. I'd say at least two more, a high gain and a low gain, would be ideal. I think it's important to have at least three well defined gain/crunch tones to fall back on at any moment, with the stomp of a box. I'd recommend the Tim/Timmy or the Keeley BD-2 for low gain, and the BB preamp of the OCD for higher gain.

Great points....especially on the drive pedals - didn't think of that one but makes total sense..

[trpullen]

The beauty of the Fulldrive 2 is the boost. You can kinda "fake" a couple levels of gain with it to get you started. Add pedals as needed later.