I’ve Spent Over £20k on Pedals – Here’s My Honest Take – Was it Worth It?
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00:00 intro and background
1:24 Martin’s question
4:20 I’ve had loads of pedals, some boutique, some not
4:28 the most athletic thing I’ve ever done
5:40 is life as a guitarist worth living without pedals
6:20 start with the classics – not boutique?
6:36 would a modeler be good enough – maybe but
7:30 the first 3 pedals I would suggest
7:37 I’d probably only start with drive pedals
8:55 Boss Blues Driver
9:03 Marshall Bluesbreaker
9:50 Any tubescreamer
11:45 I’d go for Overdrive rather than Distortion
12:35 Do I even have a favourite pedal these days
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only if you wanted, you could buy me a coffee!
Get my PADs bundle here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=TVZN39QQAAKTG (this folder will grow, and I’d encourage you to ask for different keys/songs and stuff that might suit this type of preset?)
I’ve decided to make it possible to grab both my Helix/HX Stomp bundles (the expression bundle with freeze presets has always been separate) together – https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=CCTNL7P2XSQDC – I will then email you a link to both bundles!
Try my general patches for Helix or HX Stomp in this bundle using this link – I will then send out the patches! https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=45L8AZ4RYL3HW
You can get my EXPRESSION patches in this bundle using this link – I will then send out the patches! https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=3PUJ7M8YPS4WU
Try my patches for Pod GO using this link – I will then send out the patches! https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=2E7DSCRZW45JN
https://www.patreon.com/johnnathancordy get my backing tracks here
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/johnnathancordy – if you like what I do and
only if you wanted, you could buy me a coffee!
#Ive #Spent #20k #Pedals #Heres #Honest #Worth
Originally posted by UCkL4v-tohdDZX7kzmL9b2UA at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plEdfSCocWY
It's all optional. There's no right or wrong. For Vox AC15 I love the Origin Effects Magma57 for low gain to mid gain drive. It matches the sound of the amp well, adds a bit of mid push and tonal flexibility, and has amazing vibrato and Univibe sounds. Expensive, but covers a lot of ground and is easily my favorite drive. Add a treble booster for leads, a Boss DC-2 or CE-2 Chorus, and a delay that suits your taste and that's a really versatile kit. For country, low gain drives like the Nobels ODR-1 and Timmy are nice for stacking. For rock, I'd go with fuzz pedals instead of overdrives for additional gain because they complement amps nicely with unique textural qualities to the gain. The Tonebender and Colorsound Overdriver are good choices for a Vox. I use the BAE Hot Fuzz, which has a Colorsound Overdriver and Rangemaster Treble Booster in one box. Phase, flange, and all of the other stuff are just additional ways to add movement and color the sound, but you can also just stick to the Tremolo and Vibrato.
Nobels odr-1 is affordable and great. Used by «all» the nashville greats
I would recommend buying a Nano Cortex and then going around to John Nathan Cordy's house and copying/capturing (or whatever its called) his entire setup.
£20k? What the… Why? Sounds like GAS.
Why you prefer Boss BD2 over Boss JB2?
I'm a Vox obsessive and have been for about 20 years now. I have tried countless drives, and for me, the Wampler Paisley Drive is my absolute favorite for single-coils. There are many drives that are extremely similar in tone and response, the Timmy and Prince of Tone come to mind. Another favorite is old MIJ SD-1. In my experience the current version doesn't sound the same.
Any of these paired with a good compressor will give you the range from clippy clean to sustaining drive and without buzzy excess gain that tends to go hand in hand with distortion pedals.
Thanks John, great topic. Tangential question…i decided to get one external dirt to rule them all to use with the Stomp (analog dirt is def better then the modeled ones). I decided on a JHS Twin Twelve because it has massive headroom as well as treble and bass controls. I thought about getting an RC Boost as well. I heard Brian Wampler talk a bit about the problem with boosting into digital modelers because things can get weird around clipping AD converters. Wondering if you have any experiencethoughts on that. Thanks!
Good advice and my two pence worth would be dont spend 100s of quid on boutique pedals, buy cheap Chinese clone pedals by companies like Joyo, Behringer Nu-x etc that way you can find out what works for you for only a small layout especially if bought second hand from online markets like reverb and ebay, then and only then if you feel that you really like a certain type of overdrive, delay, chorus etc save a little more and buy the more expensive brands if thats what you really want, although Ive found that many of the inexpensive pedals sound great.
After spending thousands of quid on pedals overthe years I now have one USA boutique overdrive and an MXR Carbon Copy delay on my board and all the other pedals are from the well known Chinese companies and I love 'em, so dont think you have to join the gear snobs out there 😉
Modulation – a TC Flashback set at mod delay going into another TC Flashback set at tape delay. Or same but reversed order. Makes the notes float
I often hate pedals, because they almost always noticeably degrade the tone when bypassed from just plugging the guitar straight into the amp. Putting a bunch in series multiplies the degradation. I like being able to warp the sound with a pedal once in a while, but I only hook them up when I have to, and I tend to keep batteries in them and just insert and remove them as needed. I do have a pedal board I can put a few on, but again I only use it when I have to. Thus I never spent huge amounts on pedals. I also use amps with OD channels and use them. Never could get a satisfying sound out of clean amps with pedals for OD and distortion, even though that seems to be the convention.
I'm aware of multi-loop footswitches that address this issue, but those tend to be pricey, and I'm just not enough of a pedal person to spend the money. I have a homemade looper switch to bypass my entire pedal board instead, it does OK.
After much longer than you lol (being much older) I've ended up with a Wampler Gearbox. This is half Tumnus half Pinnacle, or half Klon, half Guv'nor if you like, plus a noise gate. It's all I now need for '3 channels'.
I’ve bought a lot of pedals as well and honestly think if you are “new to it all” something like an hx effects is the way to go. I’m actually surprised JNC didn’t emphasize that. Save your money. Most of the options he mentioned (if not all) will be in an all in one rig like the hx effects, and they honestly sound pretty great. It gives you a chance to play with a lot of sounds for less money. Over time you’ll find what specific niche pedals you might want to invest in. I’ve found digital emulations on my hx stomp that I prefer over single pedals that I own. Specifically talking drives…the timmy and klon are pretty great! When it all comes down to it you can make music with any of these options. It is fun to buy gear but it can easily become a barrier to creativity if you let it.
Bluesbreaker and a Tumnus(Or any other good Klon Clone)
The harder I can push my amps through a power station the less I need drive pedals.
Silly.
I need 4 pedals. 400 eur.
It is often said that most guitarists buy with their eyes and not with their ears!
Also most guitarists use their pedals in the same order and in series, and have not tried using the pedals they have in a different order including parallel.
One of the problems with multi-effects is that the pre-programmed sounds are only really there to get your attention so you buy it, and they are usually useless in the real world and will need tuning to your guitar/amp/preferences to sound their best. Then you join a band and stuff that sounds great in your bedroom is again useless in a band context and everything needs editing again, and that is not so easy on a lot of multi-effects without some deep diving.
Build some!!! No, really!! There are some great companies in the UK and elsewhere that sell brilliant DIY kits that are clones of pretty much anything. Fuzz Dog and Jeds Peds are great places to start.
I'd suggest that pedals lend themselves to certain genres and styles of playing , but maybe for most that I commonly see in SM content, modelers would serve just as well.
Pedals,- especially more advanced or specialized designs, – are vital if you're trying to do something different or outside of your standard wedding, church, or cover band.
Personally, my thing is all about tube amps and pedal effects; they are key components in the creative process.
I would also concur, having tried most of them, that the Boss BD 2 and SD 1 are two of the best going.I avoid all the standard drive circuits, favoring the Hudson Broadcast and various simple boosts,- and it took a lot of trial and error ( and many, many pedals) to figure that out.
The basic amp and speakers you choose is a pretty big deal; not even the best effects are going to help if you choose wrong in either of those areas.The amp and cab should be able to get close to what you're looking for by themselves ( though part of what is great about the HB is that it can re voice and re stage almost anything).
Most honest, helpful and fair review ive ever listened to … turns out its all accessible , reasonable, tried and true affordable pedals ! Thank you! I too have spent a lot of money and spent loads of time finding out the same as yourself.. for me its a fender Stratocaster, fender tube amp and the blues breaker.. i love pure classic tone.. the tube screamer and the blues driver are also classics … the rest is a money, tone abyss …
The truth is, some pedals sound better then what modelers offer. The expensive ones. Analogue ones mostly, some digital ones too, becasue they have different algorithms in them. But is is also more about what you do – if you have amp or combo, you go to few pedals and you are happy. If you do gigs and care more about ease of use and portability, and presets, you take modeler. Pedals are closed thing, not all in one. You should use what you love. Maybe you need only analogue tone enhancers. Maybe you want only two or three things. Or maybe you want easy switching system and tons of presets and modeler does that for you instantly instead of all that complicated midi + switcher + pedals big pedalboard thing.
I will mind my business. ????
My favorite pedal is my boss t-wah. I turn both knobs wide open a lot of times.
I like the LA Lady distortion pedal. It's a DSP pedal. It has two channels and you can set up three distortion models on each of them.
Yes I have bought a ton of pedals (particularly Overdrives). Budget, boutique, very high end, ect. No matter what OD’s I buy I always go back to the Boss Blues Driver.
If you want something with a good flat response I would recommend a Nobles ODR-1 type pedal. I have the wampler belle which adds some extra functions and controls that help me get a great sound. Sounds fantastic through a tube amp.