Off Topic Building an inexpensive pedalboard

[luv]

Suppose you were given the task to build an inexpensive pedalboard. Why? Let's just say you were bored. The only requirements are that you aren't buying the cheapest pedals because they are cheap. You are buying pedals that sound good and are a good/great balance between sound quality and value. You are building a pedalboard that you or someone you like would use.

I realize that this goes against the grain somewhat. Judging by some of the guitar collections on this forum, some of you literally have money falling out of your pockets.....let's just say, for this discussion, that you don't. There isn't really a set budget, but let's ballpark $350-$500 for the pedals. I know there is Ebay and the used market, but let's assume that you were buying new pedals.

Here is what you are after: Overdrive, Distortion, Delay, Chorus, Reverb...and maybe +/- 1 pedal (take your pick). The board is geared toward Blues, Rock, Ambient Rock, Heavy Rock and Metal \m/.

What would you build?

 

[mikeller]

I will tell you - I am not sure if you can beat a TC Electronic Nova system in that price range (actually they are $500). Its got it all covered and the quality of the effects are very good

 

[Horsehead67]

I have both the tc electronic poly tuner and flashback delay. They're probably the best and most useful pedals on my board. Those two plus a Wampler pinnacle distortion and you're set. Of course, the budget is blown, but what the heck.

 

[Jimmyb]

I'd look at Build Your Own Clone models, but I'm sad like that!

 

[peterd79]

i've been back and forth between individual pedals and all in one units. I've had the PODs and Nova and Jstations and kept going back to individual pedals for quick adjustments to my tone. Not that i didn't like the all in ones but i like the ease of looking at an OD and changing on the fly without getting into the user interface.

He's what i would do... all new pedals and i'll try to go for the $500 mark...
OD: Boss Blues Driver @ 99 or T-Rex Tone Bug OD @ 99
Distortion: VFE Alpha Dog (Dirt / Fuzz with lots of flex) @149
Delay: VFE Blue Print Delay @149
Reverb: Natural Room Verb
Chorus: T-Rex Tone Bug Chorus/Flanger @149
My Choice: Ernie Ball VP jr

i'm a lil bit over the $500 but the board would be versatile

i'm a big fan of the VFE stuff... Peter does a great job and truly loves working with us musicians i was lucky enough to get several of his early pedals and they're never coming off my board that saying i'm adding a TIM next week.

My chain would be

 

[Roubster]

The problem is that this could become an addiction if you start with the pedals. I have a whole pedalboard outlined that is already running over $1K. I only have 2 of the pedals so far, and each are about $200. I must agree with Mike though, that the Nova system looks awesome. I might opt for that instead of crap loads of pedals.

But if you want versatility, minimal stomping and good tone here is what I have/looking to get:
BB Preamp (great OD), Suhr Riot (amazing distortion), TC Corona Chorus, TC Blueprint Delay. I think those are essential pedals to built all sorts of cool tones and textures.

 

[JMD]

It sounds like a quantity vs quality (value) thing at that price range - Boss pedals are a good value - lots of pro's have 1 or 2 in their rigs. BYOC (as mentioned above) if your handy and want to up the quality part of that value (achieved with your time, hopefully only one time!). I've got a box full of Boss pedals....been meaning to put together another board

 

[ScoobySteve]

Building a pedalboard to cover all the bases you've listed at that price range......and doing it well is not possible IMO.

Pedals are a dangerous road as others have mentioned. Your taste and mood in music is always in flux and there fore makes the quest for the tone in your head everchanging. It's a deep and endless rabbit hole.

It doesn't even begin to also describe the utter picky nature of pedals. Its one of the reasons why so many boards look so different. Pedals react differently to guitars and amps. Pedals react to other pedals differently. Pedals react differently in different positions in the signal chain. And many of us are not afforded with the financial luxury of being able to update and modify often. In the end I parted my pedal board and settled for the Nova system which was excellent. I reized an excellent amp plus a high quality multi fx unit got me enough tweakability and versatility to be occupied and content. Sometimes its better to go 90% on the tone quest and just start playing sooner.

I'm on the Elevenrack now but will go back when I have a proper amp again.

 

[morsecode]

A Nova System I think would accomplish your needs but if it's not what you are looking for I think picking up something from MXR or other non-boutique pedals (Boss, Line 6, Digitech, etc.) should get you there. Check out the new MXR Badass line and their Carbon Copy. Don't discount buying used to save some $$$. I rarely buy pedals new anymore and I'm a bit of a hoarder with them.

 

[luv]

A lot of Nova System recommendations out there. I was just reading some reviews of it that talked about less than desireable distortion and a poor chorus effect. Any truth?

I currently have a Vox Tonelab EX. I'm not 100% sold on it.....the effects are so so. It also has a bunch of stuff on it that I'm not interested in. When I start thinking about all the time and effort and $ they spent to include all the effects I don't use, I wonder how much time and effort and $ they cut from improving the effects that I do use. I guess that's the issue with Multi Effects. I'm not opposed to a better Multi Effects unit...if it's really better.

I guess I'm searching for the diamond in the rough type pedals. Ex: Digitech Bad Monkey....cheap, but pretty decent (according to others) for what you are paying for it. I figure there will be at least one or two more expensive pedals thrown in....and probably worth it for what they bring to the table.

I'm certainly considering used pedals. For the sake of this thread it's hard to put a $ value on used gear, so I just said new to make it easier.

 

[Roubster]

I'm really liking the TC toneprint pedals. Good value with tons of versatility. As for the Nova system Pete Thorn does an amazing demo. Check it out and let me know if those tones are sub par.

 

[ScoobySteve]

I put the nova in the FX loop which disables the drive circuit. Where chorus also sounds better. If you need distortion I am a 100% believe that it should come from the amp. There's no tone quality like tube saturation. Guitar and amp is paramount. Pedal board is color. Maybe an extra OD to push the preamp harder but there's no distion like the one a good amp gives.

No pedalboard, no matter how awesome, will sound good through a mediocre guitar and/or amp.

If you go through on the Pedals, ill put in my two cents:

1. Distortion from amp not stompbox.
2. OD from Xotic depending on your taste. RC AC AND BB are all excellent.
3. MXR Carbon Copy. The best and practically priced delay. Analog but can get some nice long delays. BOSS DD3 is quite good too. In the price range.
4. TC chorus
5. TC REVERB
6. EB Volume Pedal
7. Tuner. Korg pitchblack is awesome and affordable for this case.


For delay and modulation you can go the TC toneprint way as well. Personal taste.

 

[peterd79]

I've used the TC Nova System and loved it and the distortion was plenty to get ya up and rockin. My problem with the Nova was the inability to change on the fly. It was a great all in one system and very flexible if you want to really dive into the interface and setup with a remote Midi Controller. If you want help with this shoot me a PM and we can discuss it via email or over the phone. Really opens up the system and you can throw a few pedals in front of it as well if you'd like.


I opted to go with individual pedals to allow for on the fly adjustments with the way i play i want to be able to tweak here an there as needed for the room i'm in.

My current rig is well past the 500 mark

EB Wah $100
Home Brew Electronics CPR (Compression) $162
Paul C "TIM" $300
Home Brew Electronics Para Drive $199
VFE Distortion 3 $150
VFE Alpha Dog $150
EB VPjr $90
LovePedal Gen5 Echo $150
Dr Scientist Reverberator $200
Fulltone SupaTrem $190
Korg PitchBlack Tuner $90

for $1781

now i've not purchased all of these at the same time and has taken aa while to assemble the "loot" but it does what i want it to do very well and its pretty versatile with the VFE's having a few different "modes" and my reverberator giving me multiple reverb options/ flavors which is nice. I push this through my combo amp and sounds pretty good to me but i think the base of your tone has to be the amp and my pedals sound so much better through my Dr Z than it ever did when i was playing an Orange. So always keep that in mind as well... get the amp that really gets what your after and just flavor it with a few pedals here and there.

 

[beej]

I'm a fan of the pedals vs all-in-ones, but it does take forever to get where you want to be. I've got the favourite ones and, save the odd new delay or something, they really never change.

If you don't know what you want, it's hard to find the diamond in the rough. My advice would be to pick up a handful of second-hand Boss pedals on Craigslist. There are some GREAT ones and they usually go for cheap. Often overlooked in the current boutique craze. As time goes by, you can flip them. (Heck, you'd probably do that with an all-in-one system anyway.)

OD/Distortion are the tough ones- there's a high dependence on what amp you have. So that's probably where you'll have the most difficulty finding what you like.

 

[luv]

The problem is that this could become an addiction if you start with the pedals.

Brother....I'm far down that road already. I've signed the waiver and I promise not to hold any of you responsible.

 

[Rufedges]

I just got POD HD300,.....the 500 has more options, however, the 300 sounds fantastic (you must run it through and FRFR type rig, ...currently running it through the AUX input of my amplifier. Has completely replaced the need for an actual amp/amps, and my pedalboard.........now I have almost 2,000 dollars worth of pedals I am going to have to unload on Ebay, at least 4 Analgoman modified pedals as well,....and the HD300 sounds better.......never been that close to early EVH and even EJ tones.

 

[mikeller]

I have a great pedalboard: Timmy - Xotic BB Preamp - Suhr Riot - RetroSonic Phaser - Boss Pitch Shifter - Hardwire Chorus - Boss DD20 and a separate board with a EB Wah and Talk Box.

I recommend the Nova System which I also own because for the money it can't be beat.

 

[fsmith]

I've gone back and forth between pedals and all in one effect units and have come back to pedals... I've jumped on the Wampler bandwagon and am in the process of acquiring the Paisley Drive, SLOstortion, and Pinnacle. All of my distortion needs can be met with those, I also have a ZenDrive and Tim, round that out with a Boss DD3, CH1 Chorus, MXR Phase 90, EB Wah and volume pedal and I'm good to go. I also use an MXR 10 band EQ in the effects loop of the Tweaker for dialing in / volume control for home use.

Of course I can't meet the requirements for keeping it around $500 and don't know that I'd like to be forced to choose what would come off to hit the mark, I think they're all necessary...

 

[JMD]

An overlooked market (IMHO) is the rack mount stuff people have collecting dust and can't give away. I have a Rocktron Replifex and Midimate controller that I could not give away on kijiji (like craigslist for those uninitiated).....it sounds great, fully programmable...add a Boss OD pedal for $50-70 and your rockin (if you need it). I don't use it 'cause I'm really happy with my pedalboard right now - and it carries well in one hand. Rack mount multi fx can be great - and are a deal if you look online or post a flag that your in the market.

 

[Spudmurphy]

Well here's one, talk about inexpensive!.....

http://forums.ernieball.com/showthread.php?t=43548

link don't seem to work.

Tell ya what search on the word hinge under my name and you'll see what I mean
(forums been a bit "iffy" today?) or just copy/paste this http://forums.ernieball.com/showthread.php?t=43548
into the top of your browser