Analog Pedals vs Digital Pedals

USMC0341

USMC0341

Dead Cold Day
Apr 23, 2004
729
0
16
NY
www.deadcoldday.com
Looking for some opinions:

Analog pedals vs Digital. I'm a simple guy when it comes to my guitar sound, but I'm not very adept at dialing in what I like.

All I need is a very thick, heavy and clear crunch (I play a Jackson soloist with EMG HZ pickups through a 100w Ibanez ToneBlaster amp).

i would like to get 2 analog pedals that will give me a great rhythm sound, a good solo sound and a nice clean sound.

I have a Boss GT6 guitar effects pedal, but to be honest - I'm starting to lean back towards the analog sound - but again, I'm not great at dialing in sounds, so maybe I'm just missing what this digital pedal can do.

I'm trying to keep it simple, hence my desire for 2 analog pedals, rather than a digital pedal with 5 billion sounds and settings.

Any suggestions?

JB
 
i got a GT6 too, and i'd suggest defaulting the thing. that is, unless youve made some tweaks you'd really want to keep.

then, just flip through them until you find what you want (hell there's 384 on there) and set your fav tones to 1, 2, 3, 4.

finally, use it in manual mode, so that the switches turn off distortion, fx, verb, delay. then it will be like a whole board of analog boxes.
 
I think digital is great with the exception of overdrive. I like valves (tubes) for the distortion and nothing else comes close. For everything else, I am happy with the sound of digital.

Bryant
 
Cool...thanks for the opinions guys. Much appreciated.

Now - let me ask you this...I have an Ibanez Toneblaster 100w amp. It has a footswitch where I can hop between the clean and overdrive channels.

I am not crazy about the amps overdrive sound...so should I always keep it on the clean channel, and the run the clean channel through my GT6 and just turn distortion on and off from there, or should I still physically hop between clean and overdrive channels, and only apply the GT6 distortion to the overdrive channel?

Sorry for asking sill and basic questions. I've been a bass player for the past 17 years or so and I'm starting to play a lot more guitar, so this is a learning experience for me.

JB
 
i used to have an amp whose distortion i didn't like. i did the first option you described.

i set it to the cleanest tone possible and used it like a PA. then i set patches for an OD tone and a clean tone, and a "solo" tone, and basically used the GT-6 as my amp. i made a clean tone as well because when you set the amp to the most generic sound, it's kinda bad, but necessary to keep it from interfering with your patches.
 
USMC0341 said:
Cool...thanks for the opinions guys. Much appreciated.

Now - let me ask you this...I have an Ibanez Toneblaster 100w amp. It has a footswitch where I can hop between the clean and overdrive channels.

I am not crazy about the amps overdrive sound...so should I always keep it on the clean channel, and the run the clean channel through my GT6 and just turn distortion on and off from there, or should I still physically hop between clean and overdrive channels, and only apply the GT6 distortion to the overdrive channel?


JB
Click to expand...

If you prefer the verdrive of the pedal use it. You can always still use your amps overdrive channel turned to a clean setrting just as a "boost" to give you more volume for solos if you don't like to change the pathc number on your pedal.
I don't necessarily "hate" digital or solid state distortion either. I sort of tri-amped when I had my rig set up 100% and used PA for clean, my tube amp for dirty and solos and a solid state half stack using the distortion from the amp for that "chunka chunka" thrash style rythm.

The best advice I can give you is just try out different things and find the one you like. There really is no right or wrong.


Bryant
 
Get a good tube amp, with some better distortion, Ibanez Tone Blaster sucks, and how did you get a SOloist whilst still having such a shitty amp? soloists are hella expensive arent they?
 
Myrmidonlord666 said:
Get a good tube amp, with some better distortion, Ibanez Tone Blaster sucks, and how did you get a SOloist whilst still having such a shitty amp? soloists are hella expensive arent they?
Click to expand...

I agree here. The best distortion comes from an amp. I use a mesa dual rec and a crate blue voodoo. The distortion is awesome. For FX, I use electro-harmonix small stone, small clone and I use BOSS for D Delay. Im not a big digital fan.

But dont let other peeps opinions become your own, dial in to what you like and what suits your style. I dont find the tone blaster useful, but you may...and thats cool.
 
Blue Voodoo Is nice or peavey VTM 60 with a good Dist pedal i can get an analshredding tone out of it great tube powah
 
Myrmidonlord666 said:
Get a good tube amp, with some better distortion, Ibanez Tone Blaster sucks, and how did you get a SOloist whilst still having such a shitty amp? soloists are hella expensive arent they?
Click to expand...

The Soloist is a $900.00 guitar...I'm not sure what you mean by "how did I get a soloist but a shitty amp" - I bought what I needed. As far as the Toneblaster amp - I like it a lot. I didn't buy it for the distortion either. It's relatively small, sounds good and was in the right price range for me ($350.00 on sale - not bad for a 100w amp). I don't play out nor do I play in a band - I needed a decent amp to jam out with when I practice. All my recording is done direct to my DAW through a POD.

I could buy a tube amp - I will NEVER debate that they sound better than solid state - you can't beat the warmth of tubes - but I didn't want to spend that kind of money - lest I have to spend less on the guitar.

If I were in a band and needed a serious rig - I could see your point, but I tend to not agree with simply buying another amp. I get a pretty damn good sound out of this one...I'm just looking for tips on tweaking my sound as best I can.

JB
 
JB, the guy that made the original post made the best. Find out how to bring your pedal back to default and use a factory setting and tweak it a little to get your own sound. Dude, I am still scared to death of my GNX4, but the more I fool with it, the more comfortable I get with it.


Bryant
 
Bryant said:
JB, the guy that made the original post made the best. Find out how to bring your pedal back to default and use a factory setting and tweak it a little to get your own sound. Dude, I am still scared to death of my GNX4, but the more I fool with it, the more comfortable I get with it.


Bryant
Click to expand...


I did that very thing Bryant - I zeroed the pedal, and went through every built-in sound. I have 4 that I really like, and I assigned them to pedals 1-4 on Bank 1. Now I am going through each one and tweaking them so they sound exacty the way I want them to.

Thanks again for following up on this thread dude...I appreciate it.

JB
 
USMC0341 said:
I did that very thing Bryant - I zeroed the pedal, and went through every built-in sound. I have 4 that I really like, and I assigned them to pedals 1-4 on Bank 1. Now I am going through each one and tweaking them so they sound exacty the way I want them to.

Thanks again for following up on this thread dude...I appreciate it.

JB
Click to expand...

Well I am far and away from some kind of guitar guru, but I have been playing for 20 years and if nothing else, I am a student of the "Alabama Guitar School of Bad Habits and Hard Knocks." The great thing about being a musician is that you never graduate. I learn just as much from lesser experienced players as they do from me.
Anytime you have any questions, feel free to ask. If I don't know the answer, chances are I know someone that does. At the same time, it is so inspiring for me to see guys (and gals) here excited about playing and looking to get better.
I might even need you to help me. I don't pick up my sweet five string Foundation as often as I should. I love the way it plays, but the sound could be much better. I am pretty dumb when it comes to bass effects.


Bryant
 
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