Pedal Recommendations

[-GF-]

I'd be interested to see people's suggestions and thought others might too. Which pedals would you recommend - for each different type of pedal?

I'm going to use this post as a repository for my research in case it helps others similarly new to the world of FX.

It seems to me that there are 3 natural tiers:-

1. lowest-cost acceptable option - 95% of the way there for a fraction of the cost.
2. the "tipping point" pedals, where spending any more isn't generally considered to offer value-for-money - what the pros would settle for.
3. the "money-no-object, best-in-class or iconic pedals - the territory of cork-sniffers and unicorns, or pedals that scratch a very particular itch.

It's worth bearing in mind that:-

1. Pedals are in the middle of the chain and what is being fed in and where the signal is being sent will have a massive effect on the sound these pedals contribute to. A pedal that works for one set-up won't work for others.
2. Many pedals combine/overlap effects, so they don't fit neatly into the categories below, and might better fit your needs,
3. Not all pedals in one "class" are trying to do exactly the same thing and subjectivity is a large part of each individual choosing what suits them best.
4. Pedal technology hasn't moved on much in over a decade (in my opinion) other than in the all-in-1 MultiFX area (where it's come on in leaps and bounds), so older 2nd hand pedals are often a very good option

As a starting point (or to spark controversy, we'll see), from reading around the subject, I've broadly found the following:-

Tuner:

1. Any of a rake of £10-12 Chinese options from AliExpress etc eg Tomsline AT-07 mini. They appear to do the job perfectly adequately. Alternatively many all-in-one pedals offer a tuner - see "all-in-one" below.
2. TC Electronics Polytune 3 (worth it over the previous versions for the buffer they added to the mk3)
3. TC Electronics Polytune 3, Peterson StroboStomp HD, Boss Waza Craft TU-3W.

Compressor

1. Optical compressors like Mooer Yellow Comp and other clones of the Diamond CPR-1, Kokko Compressor, Mosky Dynacomp, JOYO JF-10, Behringer CS400 (close Boss CS-3 copy) or CL9* (very close Ibanez CP9 clone), Biyang CO-8 and other clones of the MXR Dyna-Comp/Ross/Keeley-type comp. Alternatively many all-in-one pedals offer compression - see "all-in-one" below.
2. Mooer Yellow Comp, MXR Dynacomp, Boss CS-3 or CP-1X, Marshall ED1 "Edward the" Compressor
3. Xotic Effects SP Compressor, Wampler Pedals Ego, Keeley Compressor Plus, Origin Effects Cali76, Mark bass, FEA, Becos Pro, Empress MKii, Strymon Compadre.

EQ:

1. Behringer EQ700, Biyang ToneFancier Series EQ-7. Alternatively many all-in-one pedals offer EQ - see "all-in-one" below.
2. MXR 6-band M109S or M108S 10-Band EQ, LR Baggs Align,
3. LR Baggs Venue DI Preamp, Empress ParaEQ, Wampler EQuator, Boss EQ-200, Chase Bliss Audio Automatone Preamp Mk II

Fuzz

1. Behringer SF300*, Cuvave Fuzz, DIY clones of the FuzzFace
2. Behringer SF300*, Cuvave Fuzz, Fuzz Face
3. FuzzFace

Boost and Overdrive

Boost, Overdrive and Distortion all seem like different points on the same spectrum. What I have read and experienced is that for acoustic, a low-gain, transparent overdrive is a good bet, and high-gain overdrive (and distortion) often doesn't work that well. For the budget option, clones of classic pedals seem like the order of the day. This is one class of pedal where a lot of the budget options get very good reviews and are considered identical to their targets - see eg here. This is also an area where the rest of your set-up is going to play a big part in terms of what works well.

1. Dolamo D-8 Overdrive, Caline Pure Sky and other Timmy clones; Behringer TO800 Vintage Tube Overdrive*, Caline CP-75 Emerald Night OD and other clones of the Ibanez Tube Screamer 808; Mosky Silver Horse* and other Klon clones; DemonFX King of Drive, Caline CP-70, and other clones of Analogman King of Tone, Mooer Blues Crab* and other clones of the Marshall Bluesbreaker, TC Electronic Spark and Spark Mini. Alternatively, many all-in-one pedals offer overdrives - see "all-in-one" below.
2. TC Electronic Spark, Boss Blues Driver BD-2, EHX Soul Food, Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive Mod, BBE Acoustimax Sonic Maximizer, Fender Smolder
3. It seems to me that this is what the boutique pedal world was built on - if you're shopping in this price bracket, I doubt you need any guidance. Out of the limitless options, some are... Analog Man King of Tone,

Distortion

As per the notes on Overdrive above, these might not work that well for acoustic, and, for budget experimentation, clones of classics might be the best bet.

1. Mosky Black Rat*, Harley Benton Rodent, Dolamo Vintage Distortion, Mooer Black Secret, and other budget clones of the ProCo Rat. Alternatively, many all-in-one pedals offer distortion - see "all-in-one" below. A personal favourite for making acoustic sound electric is the Behringer UM300, a clone of the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone
2. Boss DS-1 or DS-2, Proco Rat, TC Electronic Magus Pro and other big-name clones of the ProCo Rat, Electro-Harmonics Big Muff
3. See Overdrive class 3 notes above.

Octaver

1. *Like for Reverb, it seems good octave can't be done on the cheap - so these are caveated: Mooer Tender Octaver, TC Electronics Nether Octaver (analog), Donner Harmonic Square. Alternatively many all-in-one pedals offer octaver - see "all-in-one" below.
2. Electro-Harmonix Pitchfork, TC Electronic Sub n Up, Boss OC-5
3. Electro Harmonix POG, Electro-Harmonix Bass 9.

Chorus

1. Tom’sline ACH3S Analogue Chorus, Nux Analog Chorus, Behringer UC200*
2. TC Electronic Corona, Boss CH-1 Super Chorus, MXR analog chorus pedal
3. Boss Waza Craft reissues of the CE2 and Dimension C (CE-2W and DC-2W)

Delay

Perhaps moreso than other FX, delay offers more variety and is more subjective. It seems to me there're far fewer "clear winners" and many are different rather than better or worse.

1. Donner Yellow Fall, Donner Echo Square, Mooer Reecho, Flamma FC03 or FS03. Alternatively many all-in-one pedals offer delay - see "all-in-one" below.
2. Donner Island Delay Looper, TC Electronic Flashback, Boss DD-3, MXR M169 Carbon Copy
3. Jam Pedals Delay Llama, Strymon Timeline, Catalinbread Belle Epoch

Reverb

1. *There seems to be broad consensus that decent reverb isn't available on the cheap - these are not universally accepted as decent! Behringer DR600, Mosky Spring Reverb, Flamma FC02, Caline Snakebite, TC Electronic Skysurfer Mini. Alternatively many all-in-one pedals offer reverb - see "all-in-one" below.
2. TC Electronic Hall of Fame, Boss RV-6, EHX Oceans 11
3. MXR M300 Reverb, Strymon Flint or Blue Sky or NightSky, EHX Oceans 11, Boss RV-500, Neunaber Immerse Reverberator Mk II, UAFX Golden Reverberator

PreAmp:

1. Behringer ADI21
2. LR Baggs Para Acoustic D.I., Boss AD3, Fishman Platinum Pro, JHS Clover, Fender Acoustic Preverb
3. LR Baggs Venue DI Preamp, Fire Eye Red Eye, Empress ParaEQ, ThorpyFX Team Medic, Radial Tonebone PZ Deluxe, Sunnaudio Stage-2 Prestine

Looper

1. ???
2. TC Electronic Ditto, Boss RC-3 Loop Station, Donner Circle Looper
3. Electro-Harmonix 720 Looper, BOSS RC-600 Loop Station

IR Loader

1. Nux NSS-3 Mini Studio
2. Nux NSS-5 Solid Studio, ToneDexter, LR Baggs Voiceprint DI, MOOER Radar, Line 6 Helix
3. BOSS IR-200, Strymon Iridium, Line 6 Helix Stomp

All in one:

1. This is an interesting one, in my opinion. From my reading around the subject, I got the impression most people would recommend a reverb and a delay pedal. It appears reverb can't be bought cheap, and two staple pedals - eg TC Electronics Hall of Fame reverb and their Flashback delay would cost around £100-120 second hand. Both those pedals are about 10 years old, and I had a look at multi-pedals from that time and things like the TC Electronics Nova System, and the Line 6 M9 or M13 could be had for the same money. I ended up buying an M13 (only because one came up for sale nearby for a good price - all things being equal, I'd have probably preferred a Nova System) and really enjoy messing around with it. It is not supposed to match individual boutique pedals, but it is well regarded and has about 100 effects, and it's got to be worth the equivalent of 20-30 other budget pedals - and by that rationale, it's an awesome budget option. The Zoom MS-50G gets some good reviews too.
2. Line6 HX, BOSS AD10, Zoom AC3
3. Axe-Fx III, Line6 HX Stomp XL

* See YouTube (eg JHS show "can you hear it" ) vids that show these are just as good (if not better) as the $$$ originals they're emulating.

What do you think? Any glaring errors or omissions. I'd love to see other people's thoughts...

[mjh42]

I cannot speak to all your options but these are my suggestions.

Get the polytune 3 it will be a good buy.

I have a Donner Echo Square it was good at it's price to explore different kinds of delay but I now use Carbon Copy--it's just plain better.

I had an EHX Holly Grail, I did not like it. Now using an MXR Reverb.

All the single pedals I use are $200 or less. The preamp--equalizers are more in the low $300's range.

[lkingston]

The Line6 HX Stomp XL does everything you’re asking for and more.

[pieterh]

Originally Posted by -GF-

I'd be interested to see people's suggestions and thought others might too.

Which pedals would you recommend - for each different type of pedal?

I was thinking there are 3 natural tiers:-
1) lowest cost acceptable option
2) the "tipping point" pedals where spending anymore isn't generally considered to offer value-for-money, and
3) the "money-no-object, best in class pedals.

As a starting point (or to spark controversy, we'll see), from reading around the subject, I've broadly found the following:-

Tuner:

1) Any of a rake of £10-12 Chinese options from AliExpress etc. They appear to do the job perfectly adequtely
2) TC Electronics Polytune 3
3) ???

Compressor

1) JOYO JF-10, Behringer CS400
2) MXR Dynacomp, Boss CS-3, CP-1X
3) Xotic Effects SP Compressor, Wampler Pedals Ego, Keeley Compressor Plus

Octaver

1) Mooer Tender Octaver, TC Electronics Nether Octaver
2) Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork
3) Electro Harmonix POG 2

Chorus

1) Tom’sline ACH3S Analogue Chorus
2) TC Electronic Corona Mini, Boss CH-1 Super Chorus
3) ???

Delay

1) Donner Yellow Fall, Donner Echo Square, Mooer Reecho
2) TC Electonic Flashback, Boss DD-3, MXR M169 Carbon Copy
3) Jam Pedals Delay Llama

Reverb

1) Behringer DR600, Mosky Spring Reverb
2) TC Electronic Hall of Fame, Boss RV-6
3) EHX Holy Grail Max Reverb

What do you think? Any glaring errors or omissions. I'd love to see other people's thoughts...

I’m not familiar with all of the models you mentioned but here goes:

Tuners - the PolyTune series is excellent and I’ll be buying one for my bass board when I start putting one together. I have the original on my electric board and it’s really good. Bear in mind that the pedal is effectively on when you can’t hear anything and you’re tuning, but that some signal (digital interference) can leak over the power connections to adjacent pedals. The solution to this is battery power or isolated supplies (I use Cioks DC10). The phenomenon is not limited to the PolyTune, it can happen with a number of tuner pedals.

Compressor - the Wampler Ego is a superb compressor and I have one on my electric board. If you are wanting a genuinely transparent comp check out the Carl Martin; mine is going on my bass board when I put it together.

Octave - the POG is rightly a classic and genuinely makes guitars sound like 12-string models etc. Great tracking and sound - but they’re not cheap.

TC Corona chorus - check out the full size version with the tri-mode option (can’t remember if the Mini has it)

Flashback delay - I use the X4 and the newer model is even better. I like being able to have 3 basic delays at the touch of a button. I also have a Wampler Faux Tape Echo which I use as an always-on effect. The tape simulation is subtle but gives a nice colour to the sound. The cream of the crop for delay units for me is Strymon, they make some amazing delay effects.

Reverb - I have the HoF last in the chain and use it for non-spring reverb sounds (I use the amp for genuine spring fx). Again, if you want to go really high end then check out Strymon.

[-GF-]

Originally Posted by mjh42

I cannot speak to all your options but these are my suggestions.

Get the polytune 3 it will be a good buy.

I have a Donner Echo Square it was good at it's price to explore different kinds of delay but I now use Carbon Copy--it's just plain better.

I had an EHX Holly Grail, I did not like it. Now using an MXR Reverb.

All the single pedals I use are $200 or less. The preamp--equalizers are more in the low $300's range.

That's great. Thanks. Apart from your point about the reverb, it fits in with my reading, and what I posted. I'll add the MXR reverb to the list.

Originally Posted by lkingston

The Line6 HX Stomp XL does everything you’re asking for and more.

Yes, good point, worth mentioning, but to keep it simple (because there are quite a few pedals like the Stomp that cover a variety of effects) I was just considering single-effect pedals for this thread.

Originally Posted by pieterh

I’m not familiar with all of the models you mentioned but here goes:

Tuners - the PolyTune series is excellent and I’ll be buying one for my bass board when I start putting one together. I have the original on my electric board and it’s really good. Bear in mind that the pedal is effectively on when you can’t hear anything and you’re tuning, but that some signal (digital interference) can leak over the power connections to adjacent pedals. The solution to this is battery power or isolated supplies (I use Cioks DC10). The phenomenon is not limited to the PolyTune, it can happen with a number of tuner pedals.

Compressor - the Wampler Ego is a superb compressor and I have one on my electric board. If you are wanting a genuinely transparent comp check out the Carl Martin; mine is going on my bass board when I put it together.

Octave - the POG is rightly a classic and genuinely makes guitars sound like 12-string models etc. Great tracking and sound - but they’re not cheap.

TC Corona chorus - check out the full size version with the tri-mode option (can’t remember if the Mini has it)

Flashback delay - I use the X4 and the newer model is even better. I like being able to have 3 basic delays at the touch of a button. I also have a Wampler Faux Tape Echo which I use as an always-on effect. The tape simulation is subtle but gives a nice colour to the sound. The cream of the crop for delay units for me is Strymon, they make some amazing delay effects.

Reverb - I have the HoF last in the chain and use it for non-spring reverb sounds (I use the amp for genuine spring fx). Again, if you want to go really high end then check out Strymon.

Thanks for that really helpful. I'll change the Corna to the full size version, and add the Strymons

[jamison162]

Life is short, go for the best you can afford. Not all that different $-wise.

Tuner:
1) Peterson StroboStomp HD

Compressor
1) Diamond Mini Comp

Octaver
1) Boss OC-5

Chorus
1) Why would you ever want to use chorus on acoustic guitar?

Delay
1) GFI System Orco Delay

Reverb
1) GFI System Skylar Reverb -or- Neunebar Immerse Mk II

[PANDAPANDELO]

For compressores, check the Cali76 CD. Awesome pedal. For reverb, I love the Free The Tone Ambi Space. And for Delay Pedal, as I like to use (low mix, just for some ambience), I really love the El Capistan, but I would love to test the Free The Tone Future Factory.

[-GF-]

Originally Posted by jamison162

Life is short, go for the best you can afford. Not all that different $-wise.

Tuner:
1) Peterson StroboStomp HD

Compressor
1) Diamond Mini Comp

Octaver
1) Boss OC-5

Chorus
1) Why would you ever want to use chorus on acoustic guitar?

Delay
1) GFI System Orco Delay

Reverb
1) GFI System Skylar Reverb -or- Neunebar Immerse Mk II

Thanks - I'll add those. Is the comment about chorus addressed to me or all of the world's top acoustic amplifier manufacturers who include it as an effect in their amps? (I'm with you - not a fan - but there's no denying it's a popular acoustic FX)

Originally Posted by PANDAPANDELO

For compressores, check the Cali76 CD. Awesome pedal. For reverb, I love the Free The Tone Ambi Space. And for Delay Pedal, as I like to use (low mix, just for some ambience), I really love the El Capistan, but I would love to test the Free The Tone Future Factory.

Thnaks - I'll add 'em.

[RBK]

I'm in the process of putting together a pedal board for Solo Gigs.
After many hours of You-Tube reviews and Dealer Hype I settled on these.
Tc Helicon Harmony G-XT
Boss Reverb RV6
Fulltone Supa Trem Jr
LR Baggs Align Delay Acoustic Delay Pedal
Electro-Harmonix 720 Looper
A few of the pedals I already had, I just picked up the Delay and Tremolo this week. Also purchased the Sweetwater Pedal Board Kit which consists of a
Pedal Train Classic Jr, 1 Spot CS7 Power Brick with power cables, and various patch cables and Velcro. Now I'm working on the order of the pedals. I know the Looper is last just trying out different order of the reverb tremolo & delay.

Rick

[RBK]

Just going straight into my PA system....no acoustic amp.

[SalFromChatham]

I think a 4 pedals mini pedal train will get you there.

From right to left…

Boss TU3
Boss CS3
Boss Ge7
Boss Reverb

I know there are cheaper pedals, but they are from firms that “borrow” and reverse engineer the intellectual property of others. I personally won’t support it anymore. I used to… to save a buck.

[Peter Z]

Originally Posted by lkingston

The Line6 HX Stomp XL does everything you’re asking for and more.

Yes, much more, including IRs that can be mixed in. And it will be cheaper if you consider an additional pedalboard and cables. And much quicker to setup.
Also it works wonderfully in case you want to play a gig with your electric guitar.

[pieterh]

Never mind…my bad

[YamahaGuy]

MXR analog chorus pedal. Took me 7 chorus pedals to find it.

Just got a Bluesky. Can't wait to put it on my board. Will be replacing a TC Arena (predecessor to the HOF).

I don't understand why one would use a compressor with an acoustic. Each to their own, I guess.

[SalFromChatham]

Yamahaguy,

I play in a duo… a lot of dad rock songs. When one takes an acoustic solo, a boost via a GE7 and a compressor sustainer sounds great. Notes pop, and even sloppy solos sound good.