I want a pedal that will give me....

Imabrokenwire · #1 02-25-2013, 11:31 PM

A bluesy sound, im a noob in the electric guitar world i have a washburn hb-35 and i want to get a pedal that will be so bluesy it hurts.. As far as drive and distortion and etc. im lost. Any help will be appreciated. cheers

Poppa · #2 02-26-2013, 12:52 AM

I love playing the blues myself, but my definition of great blues tone might not be what you have in mind! There are many styles of blues (as well as tonal variations) today as there were way back at the start of electric blues.

What players do you like and what songs kind of set the standard for the tones you would like to aim for? What kind of amp are you mating the Washburn with? These answers will help to let others know exactly what you're after.

For the tones I love, I pretty much opt for the 'clean with a bit of hair' tone. When I use an overdrive pedal, I generally opt for a low gainer. My favorite and #1 for the past 20 years is an old black box Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal. It's pretty much a one trick pony, but it does that trick the way I like it! It responds well to playing dynamics and cleans up well with the guitars volume control.

I've owned and used many, many different drive pedals over the years,
(as many others here also have) so I'm sure the recommendations will be coming soon. The fun part for you will be narrowing it down to those pedals that best describe your ideal tone.

jseth · #3 02-26-2013, 01:13 AM

I use an Ibanez Tube Screamer, the TS9, I think... a lot of people think that the older ones are better (the TS 8, etc., etc.), so if you can find one of those for a good price, grab it! I paid a little over $100 for mine, new...

It plays well with both solid state and tube amplifiers, and it "cleans up" nicely when you lower the volume control on the guitar, meaning that the level of gain/distortion/drive lessens as the volume drops a bit... which lets you use your volume control on the guitar as a way to "play" the pedal...

There are a lot of pedals out there that are good, some MUCH more expensive than others... I ended up with the TS and like it a lot...

clintj · #4 02-26-2013, 07:20 AM

I built a Build Your Own Clone kit of the original Bluesbreaker pedal and that is a very good one. It'll stay clean until you dig in or play a chord, and then it gives you a bit of bite. The player that most comes to mind when I play it is Santana. The early version of the Tube Screamer was the favorite of Stevie Ray Vaughn, and is in a lot of his playing. A lot of blues players run straight into a good tube amp and set the amp so their attack controls the tone and any breakup they want.

Grenade · #5 02-26-2013, 07:39 AM

I have a Boss Blues Driver. It cleans up well just rolling the volume knob down. For more drive and grit I have a Double Trouble by Visual Sound. I run these into a Fender Bassman and a Marshall 4x10.

Dru Edwards · #6 02-26-2013, 04:38 PM

The amp will make a significant difference on your tone, as will the pickups in your guitar. That said, you want an overdrive pedal and not a distortion pedal.

What amp are you using? I'm assuming it's a transistor amp (non-tube). You probably want to put it on the clean channel and use an overdrive pedal, like a tubescreamer, or put it on the distortion channel with just a little gain.

franchelB · #7 02-26-2013, 05:42 PM

Try a Digitech Bad Monkey.

RussB · #8 02-26-2013, 05:50 PM

Blues comes from the heart and hands, not from a couple diodes and transistors in a box!

What amp/guitar you rockin' ???

el_kabong · #9 02-26-2013, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clintj

I built a Build Your Own Clone kit of the original Bluesbreaker pedal and that is a very good one. It'll stay clean until you dig in or play a chord, and then it gives you a bit of bite. The player that most comes to mind when I play it is Santana. The early version of the Tube Screamer was the favorite of Stevie Ray Vaughn, and is in a lot of his playing. A lot of blues players run straight into a good tube amp and set the amp so their attack controls the tone and any breakup they want.

Right on...and the pedal you describe sounds as if it functions like "a good tube amp", which is still, generally, the best solution. Oh, and don't forget to use your volume knobs to help control your gain...as well as your right hand technique.

J Patrick · #10 02-27-2013, 08:02 AM

...if you listen to all the blues greats you will hear that their tone is all over the map...from squeaky clean to down and dirty...there is a huge offering in pedals that produce all manner of overdrive tones...."so bluesy it hurts" is a colorful term but it really doesn't say what tone you're after....citing a specific player or two will help very much in letting us know what sound you're after...i've used a lot of pedals and could recommend one if i knew a little more....

Imabrokenwire · #11 02-27-2013, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RussB

Blues comes from the heart and hands, not from a couple diodes and transistors in a box!

What amp/guitar you rockin' ???

I have a tubeless fender amp id have to wait till i get home to look at it and a washburn hb 30, i understand the concept of playing the blues just wanted a different sound. Im saving up to get a tube amp

Imabrokenwire · #12 02-27-2013, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RussB

Blues comes from the heart and hands, not from a couple diodes and transistors in a box!

What amp/guitar you rockin' ???

I have a tubeless fender amp id have to wait till i get home to look at it and a washburn hb 30, i understand the concept of playing the blues just wanted a different sound. Im saving up to get a tube amp

franchelB · #13 02-27-2013, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RussB

Blues comes from the heart and hands, not from a couple diodes and transistors in a box!

What amp/guitar you rockin' ???

C'mon dude! Even Stevie Ray Vaughan used some pedals:

Xtremca · #14 02-27-2013, 08:59 PM

Trying to nail a sound is an endless quest and you can spend oodles on pedals after pedals. An option you could look at is a multi-fx unit such as a Zoom G3, G5, Fender Mustang Floor. These will give you a large amount of effects and amp simulation options without shelling out tons of money for pedals. Otherwise, one of the more recent pedals that I like is the Bogner Ecstasy Blue pedal. As a basement electric guitarist, I currently use a Zoom G3, which can be tied into my computer and you can tweak with all the settings with the mouse rather than digging through buttons on the unit.

The Old Gaffer · #15 02-28-2013, 06:19 AM

The sound I use is to put a boost pedal (Electro Harmonix LPB-1) in front of a cranked small(ish) tube amp, I use an Ampeg Reverberocket II (15 watts), Ampeg Gemini II (30 watts), or a Fender Deluxe Reverb (20 watts). Season to taste with the guitar's volume knob. My guitars have either humbuckers or P-90 pickups.
Not heavily over-saturated but, for me, just about right.