New to pedal game, want to get into pedals but dont know here to start.
Subjective question I know, but Are there any pedals all electric guitar players should have/use? (Even the most basic & recreational players)?
I am currently using a les Paul modern and like to play alt rock, hard rock, classic rock/blues rock, some classical music and Metallica. what would be some relevant fx pedals types to try? any particular models?
Also, What are your opinions on multi effect pedals like the BOSS ME-80 Multi-Effects Pedal? Is it good value for money or jack of all trades? Is it better to get a specific pedal?
I own a modelling amp with built in effects pedals. The only actual pedals I own are loopers and a wah. I think a looper of some sort is always a good idea.
Yes to a looper. A simple one is probably best to start with.
Other pedals? A lot depends on what you plan to play. If your preferred style of music is Country, you probably don’t want a Metal Zone!
Also, do you have anything built into your amp? If you already have a Fender Mustang, Boss Katana or similar then you have a bunch of pedals built into that already, and it’s worth exploring these before you buy any new.
For beginners, I actually think multifx systems are generally a good idea, as long as you use them to explore what different effects do, rather than just blindly switching between factory presets.
Turn off everything and then experiment with one effect type at a time, and build your own patches from them. In general, the PC based editor applications are the easiest way to do this
Once you’ve done some learning on a multifx platform, you should have the knowledge to know if you want to branch out to individual pedals, and what pedals you might want first.
The ME80 is rather old now. I would look at the Boss GT-1, or something like the Zoom G1X Four as a starting point. If your budget is higher, there’s loads of options including the Boss GX100, Helix, etc
Another good pedal to get is a tuner, although you can also get clip-on tuners. IMO pedal tuners work better for electric guitar and have the advantage they can also mute the sound whilst tuning.
A multi-effect is a good idea but, as @Majik said, don’t just switch between presets because they tend to be somewhat extreme.
I usually recommend a versatile overdrive and/or distortion as first pedal. certainly with your broad taste. from clean to “slightly boosted” to m"mild breakup" to “crunch” to “metal chug”… Some pedals go quite broad in that.
Finding the right overdrive or distortion and/or setting isn’t easy.
You need to find the subtleties of the amount of gain you are setting.
Discovering the difference and relation between gain and volume is the first step of course.
I usually don’t recommend a looper as a first pedal but many multi-effects have these built in these days.For learning, a looper is very valuable though!
This is what I would be buying, this is the basic model of theirs yet still offers a pretty good selection of amp sims, effects and options. It can be used either into the clean channel of an amp or directly into an Audio interface.
I would be careful with Dan & Mick. They are a great source of info, but most of the time their information isn’t (IMO) quite right for beginners, or even your average bedroom guitarist.
It’s often a bit like watching a car show that reviews high-end performance cars for advice on which town car to buy for taking the kids to school or doing shopping.
Right again Keith - Dan & Mick are for afficionados and those with money and the experience and know-how of what to do with it to best suit their needs. For someone having no experience with fx pedals it is a dark and deep rabbit hole that should come with a warning sign at the entrance.
Not an awful lot to add to the already good advice. There are - only - five or six different types of pedal and then variations on those. So you have Distortion pedals (screamers, muff, overdrive, blues drive etc), Compressors, Modulation (Chorus, Flangers, Phasers etc), Reverbs, Delays and the more exotics which would be Wah/Filter type effects. “Other” pedals that exists are things like Amp simulators, CAB simulators etc. but these wouldn’t necessarily classed as part of the traditional pedal board.
I cut my teeth on a MFX (Zoom G3) and it’s a good way of experimenting with different types of effects. Just bear in mind (and read reviews) at the lower end of the market some of the simulations of different types of pedals may not be as good. That said even at the lower end of the market the quality has improved significantly. If you are “physical” pedal person then plenty of good budget pedals from Donner and Joyo to name two.
As others have said DONT use the factory presets on a MFX…better to start with a blank preset add in your AMP/CAB combination get that sounding nice then experiment with distortion/modulation/delay/reverb etc.
