Pedal newbie help

BRISTOL86

Hi Guys

I’m just a home player and I play mainly clean with a bit of reverb which the Roland Blues Cube Hot does very nicely at bedroom volume. 

I want to build a small bedroom pedal board for when I want to do something a little different. 

The main tones I’d be trying to get close to are a kind of clean but driven lead tone if that makes sense (think John Mayer in where the light is) and also to try and get close to a kind of Gary Moore / Still got the Blues tone. 

I’m guessing a Tubescreamer mini will be a good shout for that clean-ish driven lead tone, but how would I go about trying to get close to that Gary Moore tone (without buying a Les Paul and a Marshall stack?!) 

All advice appreciated  

Thanks

octatonic

Try a high gain pedal designed to work well with clean amps:

Suhr Riot
Bogner Red
Amptweaker Tight Rock Jnr
Friedman BE
Thorpy Gunshot

etc.

BRISTOL86

Thanks man will look into those  

alvynmcq

For the John Mayer drive you should try a Marshall Bluesbreaker or clone of one. He used one for years 

djspecialist

If you're getting a Bluesbreaker clone, look at the Snouse Blackbox.

monquixote

I think Gary Moore used a Marshall Guvnor which is quite similar to a Crunchbox of which there are lots of clones like the Mooer Cruncher.

thermionic

Pick up a used Marshall Guv’nor II here or on ebay. Then decide if you need to spend more.

munckee

I'm pretty much a home player and after a couple of years of tinkering with individual pedals I made myself a pedal board, its been through a few variations, but I've now settled on a compressor, an overdrive set on minimal and a tubescreamer plus a loop pedal which has really added to my home playing, playing the chords of a song and then the lead parts over the top.

This is a picture, its not up to date as my amp has reverb now so the reverb was replaced with a low gain drive:

https://i.imgur.com/qng1XQI.jpg

english_bob

It may well be possible to get one or other of those tones from your amp.

It's probably worth reading the manual to see what you can alter about the Blues Cube's tone- much of the sales blurb on the Roland website is about how it's supposed to mimic the sound of overdriven valve amps.

BRISTOL86

english_bob said:

It may well be possible to get one or other of those tones from your amp.

It's probably worth reading the manual to see what you can alter about the Blues Cube's tone- much of the sales blurb on the Roland website is about how it's supposed to mimic the sound of overdriven valve amps.

I’ll play around but I think to get the sort of tone and sustain I’m thinking of (the Gary Moore tone in my head) I’d need to crank it a lot higher than I can get away with in a bedroom setting. That’s not to say that pedals will necessarily negate that of course!

english_bob

^^^ Sustain is often at least partly about plain volume. You can substitute distortion for volume to a degree, but it doesn't sound the same. 

I was thinking more of the John Mayer dirty-clean sound really, but it pretty much depends on what your amp can do, and which sounds you need to be able to switch quickly between (which might be none).

clarkefan

A Crunch Box or knockoff is a good base, though I've never tried a Blues Cube.  Neck position PAF style humbucker. But yeah, Moore played loud, live and in the studio...

BRISTOL86

clarkefan said:

A Crunch Box or knockoff is a good base, though I've never tried a Blues Cube.  Neck position PAF style humbucker. But yeah, Moore played loud, live and in the studio...

Yeah to be honest I think I’m probably on a hiding to nothing trying to get that tone out of a strat at bedroom volume! 

JDE

Keep your peepers out for a second hand Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde. It’s a dual pedal, a Tubescreamer on one side and a clone of a Marshall Shredmaster (don’t be too deterred by the name) on the other. Can be had for very reasonable prices, especially if it’s one of the older ones which are in an ugly enclosure. 

monquixote

JDE said:

Keep your peepers out for a second hand Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde. It’s a dual pedal, a Tubescreamer on one side and a clone of a Marshall Shredmaster (don’t be too deterred by the name) on the other. Can be had for very reasonable prices, especially if it’s one of the older ones which are in an ugly enclosure. 

That's a good call.

Brilliant pedal.