First Pedal Board advice

Gru

Looking for some advice for my first pedal board. I'm not looking for something too big or expensive for that matter.

My initial thinking was:
Reverb
Delay
Overdrive
Looper

The pedals that I see most of the time are Boss, but notice there are quite a few other makes out there, some cheaper, some not so.

Although each will have there own sound, would a basic delay, looper offer the same sort of functionality? And would the 4 I have mentioned be a good starting point.

monquixote

Boss are always reliable and not a bad choice. TC Electronic and Hardwire are also very good.

What sort of budget are you thinking about?

Some of the fancier delays have a looper built in like the TC Flashback which is a nice pedal. 

You could also get a Zoom G3 which would do all of that and is dead easy to use.

How heavy do you need the drive to be? The Hardwire CM-2 is an absolute bargain on Amazon at £46 and is really flexible. 

If you want super cheap then the Digitech Bad Monkey, or Screamin Blues Overdrive are meant to be good as is the DIgidelay

digitalscream

It really depends on what your budget is. For example, I prefer to keep my board pretty simple:

Smorg board + riser from @dindude, a couple of TC delays, Boo Boost, Mooer phaser, PolyTune Mini, Mooer power supply and daisy chain underneath the riser and a patch bay from Bright Onion (and the amp footswitch, obviously). I've just rebuilt it using Lava cables, which are so easy it's ludicrous - I did the whole thing in about half an hour (with a couple of false starts while I got the hang of it).

Everything was second hand except the patch bay and the phaser. Total cost was £435-ish, which is about average given that I'm not using cheapest-of-the-cheap pedals.

Gru

Drive I would like a bit of crunch/breakup but not really into heavy distorted sounds.

Budget wise haven't a clue, but I guess if I could start at around £40-50 per pedal? But I think loopers start at around £90 and need to think about power supply. The zoom G3 sounds interesting u will have a look at that.

Got no issue with used examples so will keep an eye on the FX classifieds to see what comes up.

ab2014

Boss sd1, Mooer ana echo, looper depends on requirements akai one perhaps. Reverb just use amp reverb if you have one.

John_A

Unless you really plan on using a looper a lot, I would get a delay that does looping as well, loads of overdrive options for not much cash, a Boss SD-1 is a good call.

DesVegas

Get a zoom ms50 for 70 pounds. has it all in there. chorus reverb delay filters and you can link them up to make some awesome sounds. has distortians to and the same size as a boss pedal.
no looper though

UnclePsychosis

I'd think carefully about whether or not you need a dedicated looper. They're fun for messing around with at home but not many people find a use for them live.

Loads of delays also have loopers built in, might be worth considering one.

If I were you I'd probably buy a zoom g3,use it to work out what effects you actually need, and then go from there.

John_A

There are also pedals like the NUX mod core that do loads of different modulation effects for £30ish they are pretty good, I have one but don't use it much as I have a phaser and trem on my live board

EricTheWeary

Still some good deals on Digitech and Digitech Hardwire pedals on Amazon ( and elsewhere). As Monq said look at the Hardwire CM-2 which had rave reviews. Assuming you are using something with a single 12" speaker or smaller some ( tube screamer based) overdrives can make your sound a bit too boxy so something like the CM2 with proper EQ is a good idea. I'd echo ( pun intended) what was said about loopers unless you have a specific need for one. Might be more interesting/ cheaper to look for a modulation pedal instead - chorus, phaser, flanger, vibe. A basic phaser is cheapish and its a pretty common sound in rock, reggae, punk - anything since the 70's.

Gru

I can't believe that this post was 2 weeks ago. How time flys when your having fun.

It's funny, I just started think about it again and after reading through a post noted that DrBob had a G3 which was recommended above. Seeing as I still hadn't figured out what I want, it was a good option. Unfortunately I missed out by an hour.

I need to create a wanted post and look on ebay. Wonder if it will take me another 2 weeks. :-)

Gru

Ah. I forgot to say. Thank you for all of your advice and tips.

Gru

On more Question.

Would the G3 be able to get me relatively good Claption 'Bad Love' and 'Layla' lead sounds?

monquixote

Gru said:

I can't believe that this post was 2 weeks ago. How time flys when your having fun.

It's funny, I just started think about it again and after reading through a post noted that DrBob had a G3 which was recommended above. Seeing as I still hadn't figured out what I want, it was a good option. Unfortunately I missed out by an hour.

I need to create a wanted post and look on ebay. Wonder if it will take me another 2 weeks. :-)

I've got one that is for sale...

markblack

this is my first board on a bit of scrap ply. enjoyed building it, and trying to fit as much in a tight space.

Probably got about £250 in it what with the pedals (all second hand and one kit) and PSU + jack plugs.

Gru

markblack;411840" said:

this is my first board on a bit of scrap ply. enjoyed building it, and trying to fit as much in a tight space.Probably got about £250 in it what with the pedals (all second hand and one kit) and PSU + jack plugs.

You have just confused me again. Ha ha.

Looks great for your first board. Does it just run off one psu?

I am trying to think back to when I used to do music production. I do remember liking knobs and dials rather than delving through menus, maybe that's something I need to consider this time too. Although I have just started watching some YouTube videos about the G3 and love what it can do with ambient sounds certainly a lot of tricks in the box.

markblack

Yep one PSU.