Best Pedals - Best Tones

Pessimism

Endemic Vagabond
Feb 16, 2004
10,152
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SoCal
Most people use pedals, whether tubed, lamped, or digital. However, with so many out there, sometimes it's hard to get any info on the best of the best due to the constant barrage of bullshit from the media (magazines & internet ads from the biggest of the big companies) - but hey, we're all old forum goers, so I am asking this question to you:

What are some of the best damned pedals you have ever played with or heard?


I haven't heard many, and I can't even recall the names of the good ones I've heard; however, I was looking at this pedal and wondering if it was worth the cash - anyone ever try one of these?
 
Also, if you can actually rec. any good amp combos in place of pedals - then by all means go for it.
 
amm i use line 6 pod 2.3
and it sounds great... but it's digital shit...
so there is alot of pedal that do better work...

but in this days... you can have a not bad pedal... and have it fixed with the digital equipment...
 
My friend has a tube screamer that was modified to be like the old ones. It's fucking badass. I only have a Boss metalzone, which is total crap, which doesn't mean that WeAreTheLastMen shouldn't return it.
 
"MY" personal belief in pedals is this. Tone is all in the amp itself the pedals will just express it more. pedals will all sound different on different amps and different cabinets.

Thee best distortion pedal i have ever played through is the Korg Toneworks Hyper distortion. Nothing compares.. Unfortunately there was issues with those a lot of switch and computer chip shit. Both my bros and my pedal died... Something so good to be true can't last.. Right now i think the Digitech - Scott Ian Black 13 pedal takes the cake...
 
Okay, here's what I use:

pedalboard.jpg


I used to have a lot more pedals but I've really streamlined it down lately to the ones I find most important.

On the left there's a DD-3, I mainly use this as a short slap back delay to give solos an extra bit of atmosphere. My amp doesnt have reverb so it can be useful to simulate that. Sometimes I might screw around with 'echo song'-type effects when I'm at home, that can be fun. I havent been interested in delay models higher than the DD-3, but then I guess people who are really into their effects or want an extremely long delay might not find this to be enough for them.

Next, a GE-7 - this gets no use at home but it is probably the most important pedal I use live because it makes my solos jump out when they need to. As you can see from the sliders, I just keep them all the same but then have the gain slider up a little so I'm louder when it's on. I've tried fiddling around with the frequencies, but I'm pretty happy with the tone I get from my amp on it's own so I havent really felt the need to dial in an alternate 'solo tone'.

In the middle, an MXR 'Smart Gate', probably the second most important on my board! My amp on the gain channel is NOISY. I get hiss, hum, buzz, squeals, everything. Stick this in the effects loop though, and it's dead silent when I want it to be. It also stays open for sustained notes and shuts quick for staccato stuff. A clever device indeed!

Those last three go through the effects loop of the amp since theyre not very effective in the front.

Next, my absolute favourite! An RMC Teese Wizard Wah. I've owned a few wah pedals before, including a Crybaby From Hell, and this one beats them all in terms of tone. You know when a wah makes you want to mimic the sounds with your mouth? This does that! The sweep range is enormous, but it manages to stay rich on both the heel down and toe down positions.

Finally, a TU-2. Understated brilliance. Quite simply, my guitar would be out of tune half way through most sets without it!
 
I do have a fair bit of pedals, but my main belief has always been that the tone comes from your fingers. That said, I play with a a half gain tone and zedro effects-EVER.so I dunno
 
the morley bad horsie 2 is fucking the best wah out there in my opinion. the contour knob on it is useful too. it doesn't do much but personally, i think it sounds best turned all the way up.

the only other pedal i use (out of the 7 i own) is the morley little alligator. volume pedal of course and it does exactly what it's suppose to do
 
I know I am probably going to get laughed at but... the line 6 uber metal pedal... so sweet. If you want raw distortion this is for you... plus the noise gate allows for it to sound really raw and punchy. Such an amazing distortion pedal.
 
If I had to pick a pedal solely for distortion, I'd probably go with the Boss Metalzone that was released last year. Good dynamics, and great punch that can be made to fit in almsot any metal/heavy style. I dunno if I'd use it for anything besides practise or jamming, though.
 
I'm currently using a Digitech RP150 processor for recording my solo project, and I've programmed some pretty badass tones in it. It's an extremely versatile pedal. It's by far the best pedal I've ever used. I mainly got it because it has a USB port, for direct-to-PC recording, and it works very well for that.

And also, I can use it to record my V-Drums.

But anyway, this is a fantastic pedal. I have a Boss MT-2 (who doesn't! LOL), and I used to use it all the time, but this Digitech does everything I need, and I'm able to produce any distortion that I can think of, including a Metal Zone tone.

I love it.
 
I have the Electro-Harmonix Metal Muff with Top Boost and I love it, I use it with a Jackson DK2 Dinky and a Marshall MG1cdr and I have no problems with it.
 
Yeah the behringer post. There stuff is hit and miss. I have had a few things by them (Not guitar gear) But it's been pretty alright but either then that i find their stuff to be pretty tin like sounding. Very thin..
 
I'm running a boss gt-8 and I fucking love it. You can customize the all-might hell out of every effect, as well as mix and match them just about as much as you want.

Its a bit of a pain getting all the tech for it down (comes with a book thats close to 100 pages), but once I figured it out I've really been able to tweak the sound to exactly what I want to hear.

Saved about $200 by getting it from someone on ebay who had just gotten himself a gt-10, and it didnt have as much as a scratch on it :headbang: