pedal for vintage blues?

[Starter]

Good morning everyone,

I'm really grateful to people on this forum for helping down the road into electrics. Steve de Rosa's recommendation of the Bugera for my headphones got me through a long winter, and I may even be playing unplugged with others soon. Right now I'm trying to play like John Lee Hooker and Mississippi Fred McDowell.

For obvious reasons I was drawn to the Boss Blues Driver, but all the youtube reviewers seem like rockers, or maybe more modern blues players. So I'm wondering if there is an obvious pedal that would help me get to that sound on my little Bugera, beyond the gain on the amp itself.

happy springtime!
will

[pieterh]

Originally Posted by Starter

Good morning everyone,

I'm really grateful to people on this forum for helping down the road into electrics. Steve de Rosa's recommendation of the Bugera for my headphones got me through a long winter, and I may even be playing unplugged with others soon. Right now I'm trying to play like John Lee Hooker and Mississippi Fred McDowell.

For obvious reasons I was drawn to the Boss Blues Driver, but all the youtube reviewers seem like rockers, or maybe more modern blues players. So I'm wondering if there is an obvious pedal that would help me get to that sound on my little Bugera, beyond the gain on the amp itself.

happy springtime!
will

I don’t know exactly what sound you’re after but I am very happy with my BD. I have it on my pedal board just before the Tonebone Trimode (which takes care of the more rocky levels of overdrive). The gain is relatively low and gives me a nice break up and responds to a light touch or really digging in. I can also dial it up for a more classic rock level of overdrive.

To be honest, I wish I’d bought one earlier!

[blue]

It really depends on your amp. Watch the video below to really get a good sense of how the most popular "blues pedals" differ and how they interact with different types of amps.

To substitute a more affordable/easily available pedal for the King of Tone featured in the video, think "bluesbreaker" clone, so something like a JHS Morning Glory, which you can find used every day of the week. Not exactly the same, but in the family.

If you are going for a blues driver, I highly recommend a Keeley Super Phat Mod. It's a Blues Driver with better components, AND Keeley's super popular Blues Driver Mod built in. New in box, they are only about $50 more than a standard Blues Driver. You can also find brand new B-stock Super Phats with paint blems on Reverb at a savings. Love mine.

For early electric John Lee Hooker, I've always been happy with a $40 dollar Boss SD-1 (still on my pedal board) into any reasonable Tube amp to be honest. Folks like him would pull up to a Club and be thrilled to plug into any Fender they had and "set it to 11" Same can be said for artists as wide ranging as Chuck Berry and George Benson. It's about pushing the amp, and with your great sounding Brugera, that's super easy with pretty much any overdrive. That doesn't mean you should not try to get your "dream" pedal of course.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by blue

...It's about pushing the amp, and with your great sounding Bugera, that's super easy with pretty much any overdrive...

Pretty much sums it up, to which I'll add:

• Are you running your guitar's controls full-out - with P-90's or humbuckers, you should be able to hit the amp's front end hard enough to give you a true "vintage" tone (as was already stated, the old-timers ran guitar-cable-amp into anything that was available)...
• What pre/tone/post settings are you using = IME the V5 is not only very sensitive to any changes in settings, but the controls are highly interactive; since your initial post suggests you haven't done much through-the-speaker playing, I'd strongly recommend blocking out some dial-in time before you lay down bucks on a stompbox you may not need...
• What tubes are you using - FYI there are major tonal differences in identical-nomenclature tubes depending on manufacturer, and many savvy pros use specific tubes in specific applications to custom-tailor their signature tone; with a two-tube circuit like the V5 it's easy (and relatively inexpensive) to pick up a handful of preamp/power tubes, and mix-&-match combinations until you find something you like - or, as I did, tell the guys at www.thetubestore.com what you're after and let them point you in the right direction...
• Do you still have the original speaker in the amp (I'm thinking you do), and is it giving you the tone you're after - FYI Eminence, Jensen, and Celestion (among others) all make correct size/impedance replacements, IME a correctly-chosen speaker swap is the most significant change you can make to improve your amp's tone, and I've done it on nearly every amp I've ever owned...

I'm not down on stompboxes - I've owned my share since the late-60's and they have their place if used properly - but tapping back into what was said above, over the last six decades this old fart has found that the secret to getting the tone(s) that reaches out and grabs you/your audience is to dial in your basic combination to the sound you're hearing in your head, and stick with it; if you have a critical ear there's much to be said for simplicity in the signal path (hence the revival of interest in those minimalist low-power amps like your - and my - V5, essentially modern renditions of the first generation of guitar amplification), and once you've experienced the tonal/logistical difference IME you'll find it hard to go back...

[rllink]

I'm taking lessons and I want to get that blues sound on my Les Paul. Last fall my teacher helped me set up three pedals just to start for the blues, a Boss Blues Driver, an Electro-Harmonix Canyon delay, and a Wampler Reflections reverb with the spring setting, in that order. The delay is set up for slap back effect and I click it on for some songs, others it doesn't work. The Blues Driver and the Spring reverb are always on. At least for now, I'm getting the sound that I want with different combinations of those three pedals.

I'll add, I really like the Boss Blues Driver but it isn't going to get you much by itself. If you are doing slow blues the slap back delay doesn't work well, but if you are doing something quick it is really cool. Also it is great for Rockabilly. I've been learning on those three since Christmas and I haven't found myself at a point where I need to add anything. I'm sure it is coming but for now they have carried me.

One thing I forgot, I'm using a Marshall MG30GFX 30-watt amp and I'm not using any of the built in reverb.

[M Sarad]

I find that a Tweed Deluxe turned up to 5 gets the job done. I use a ZenDrive with my Deluxe Reverb.

[roylor4]

Which Bugera amp? If it's the V5, you don't need a pedal. Set the gain high and the volume low and you will get good blues crunch - anywhere from SRV to AC/DC depending on where the gain is set. Too loud? Use the attenuator on the back and use a lower power setting. If it's the V22, you may need as pedal to get good Blues Crunch without getting LOUD. Any decent pedal will accomplish this.

You can start cheap w/a Behringer TO800 (actually a pretty good sounding pedal) until you get a more discerning ear or find your own exact preferred tone.

There are lots of great sounding pedals out there and many can be had for well under $50. I respectfully disagree with rllink, you do not need reverb or slapback for great blues tone - but when used in moderation they can add a lot of flavor in some songs. I am a semi-pro player and play a lot of Blues live.

My favorite OD pedal is the EH Soul Food - great pedal and can go from creamy blues to sweaty grunge. Downside - it requires a power cord - doesn't use batteries.

[Ray175]

A Klon would get you there for a price, but a price too far, I'm sure! Hermida Love Pedal is close but still expensive. If you can find a Tumnus Wampler (first edition, not the deluxe v2) you'll be in the "affordable"'range (just) - that's my solution for low output signals. YMMV

[Glennwillow]

I am probably not all that demanding when it comes to blues tone, but I do have a decent amp (Fender Blues Deville 410). I have gotten very good use out of my Boss Blues Driver (BD-2) for a lot of years.

I don't like a huge amount of gain; it seems that when I get the BD-2 set right and the amp set right, everything just sounds good. I have some very good guitars -- an ES-335, a very nice Strat, a MIM Tele with USA pickups and electronics, and a Les Paul Standard -- so it seems that whatever I use sounds amazing. These pedals are somewhat volume sensitive, similar to how a tube amp behaves, and I find that really useful.

When I bought my Blues Driver BD-2 it cost me only $80. That has to be at least 15 years ago... They are up another $22 or so today, but still not a bad price for what those things do.

- Glenn

[arwhite]

Blues Driver into some reverb (either a pedal or built into the amp) is about as good as I've ever been able to sound. Not that that is anything special to anyone other than me, but I do like it.

[OKCtodd71]

I'll suggest reading this thread;
https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guit...wn-volume.html

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by roylor4

Which Bugera amp? If it's the V5, you don't need a pedal. Set the gain high and the volume low and you will get good blues crunch - anywhere from SRV to AC/DC depending on where the gain is set. Too loud? Use the attenuator on the back and use a lower power setting...

I have nothing to add...

[MIGAS79]

If I am able to play loud enough, my EP Booster is great for that. But both of my OD/distortion pedals, JHS Angry Charlie and Wampler Sovereign can do about anything in blues and rock territory (the Angry Charlie goes even further). I keep the Wampler set at a blues rock type tone and the JHS a bit heavier and often use them sort of like varying gain channels. The JHS is a Marshall in a box so used with my Les Paul it can really do everything.

Blues Drivers, to me, are either great when you dial it in right, or not usable if you don’t. I sold mine because I felt I had to play with it too much to get it right.

Almost any OD will get you there, especially with your guitar’s tone and volume usage (often overlooked) with a particular effect or amp.

[redir]

I don't think cats like John Lee, Albert King, or Muddy Waters ever plugged into pedals. It's all amp. A Fender Champ makes a great blues amp imo.

[blue]

Originally Posted by redir

I don't think cats like John Lee, Albert King, or Muddy Waters ever plugged into pedals. It's all amp. A Fender Champ makes a great blues amp imo.

But they played by different rules. I can't imagine being able to play a Super Reverb loud enough to get Muddy's tone in any of the joints around me. What would happen if SRV came up in recent times? Can you imagine him being told "Turn it down Hippy!"

And during the lockdown even a Champ turned to "6", which is where my Blackface started sounding downright AMAZING, is too much in my house where I have two homeschooling college students, and a Wife who works through Zoom and teleconferences all day.

An Attenuator on a non-master volume amp is a must in my home, and in my local clubs, where you might be asked to back off a 15 watt amp. I usually use headphones as my attenuator has a phones jack.

Another option is a pedal you love. Not picking a fight. Just sayin'. Natural breakup is not always an option without buying gear. And for some, pedals are more exciting than an attenuator.

They most certainly are more versatile if you only have one amp you have to live with. Gain all the way down and output/volume all the way up? Reversing that, and everything in between? Start fiddling with the tone knob on a three knob overdrive or fuzz, and things stand a good chance of getting out of hand in terms of tone options!