I’m about 2 years in to my guitar journey and I’m hooked. I have my first gig in April and believe I’ve passed the beginner stage, just. I’ve started to appreciate tone and want to start building a rig to see me in to the future.
I’ve noticed however that people are regularly selling all their pedals and was wondering if this indicates tube amps and pedals are now the past.
If you were in my position now, would you go tube amp and pedals or something like a Helix Stomp?
I like the the idea of having a nice Amp and pedals I can physical touch, plus the limitations that setup gives you, as the i feel the multiFX units would lead to option paralysis. However if I was an accountant, I’d probably choose MultiFX all day long.
For those more experienced than me, what would you do now?
Comments
Personally after 15 years of using valve amps and pedals I'm probably going to try going back to a modeller, a HX Stomp. I love valve amps IF I'm in the right situation to get the best out of one. Which 90% of the time I'm not. So a modeller makes much more sense to me these days.
I say go with a valve amp first, so you get to know their strengths, shortcomings and limitations. Then when you start wanting more, that's the time to switch to digital.
The problem with going digital first is, you'll forever be wondering how much better a "real" valve amp sounds, and might never be satisfied with what you have.
I've got a real love of the latest digital models, so easy to use and super flexible, but I still love having a valve amp too.
Honestly I see nothing wrong with wither route, though perhaps going for an amp and a couple of pedals will feel more natural.
Go to a shop, try a bunch of things out. I like having the amp provide the dirt, others like a clean amp with dirt from pedals, so get the store to setup a couple of options. This gear is expensive to buy first time round, so take your time.
Get a simple setup, and learn to use your hands to express yourself.
1 - Buy used, almost every pedal you want will eventually come on the used market. People have different tastes, people like to trade, the latest thing is always seem like the best thing so they move things on.
2 - To get the best out of them, get an isolated PSU from the get go, this will last you the longest.
3 - Don't go too complicated, keep it simple to start off with.
My my initial thoughts for an amp and pedal setup were:
68 Princeton Reverb
Tube Screamer
DS1 (already own)
EXH Canyon Delay
Neo Clone (already own)
EXH Soul Food (already own)
Spark
An EQ pedal
Is that simple enough?
Big believer in buying secondhand so probably about £1,200 all in for that rig, and most would retain its value if I wanted to ever swap or change.
The HX Stomp however does look very compelling, and only £429 for endless tonal options.
I’m in the multiFX group. Starting out I’d buy a secondhand Helix from someone who tried it, but couldn’t get on with it.
What about a Princeton and a HX Stomp? A used Princeton and HX Stomp would come in under £900. I’d then have the option to use digital pedals with a tube amp or the HX Stomp on its own using Amp emulations.
Yes, I love the Marshall sound, but Fender amps seem more versatile, especially with pedals. Maybe I have that wrong though?
I think i might look for a used Princeton and just stick with the pedals I have currently. If I decide I want more pedals, like delay etc, I’ll put that money towards a HX Stomp, using it as a pedal and then start exploring the other capabilities.
You don't need more than that but you can augment it as you go.
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Since then I've owned eight electric guitars (selling three), eight amps (selling four) and numerous pedals including a couple of expensive Blackstar drives (which I've sold).
I've finally come to the conclusion that this whole thing was a complete and utter waste of time and money. If I'd kept the Blackstar HT5 and Epiphone Les Paul I'd bought with flood insurance money and just stuck with that I'd be just as happy with the gear I have now.
I'd love to reduce the complexity and amount of stuff I've got, but it's likely trying to do so would end up me buying more stuff convinced this was me simplifying.
There are many reasons you'll find people selling off stuff in bulk here. Sometimes it's because they've joined a new band and need a very different setup to what they currently own. Sometimes it's because they're going "all-in" on a digital system like the Helix. Sometimes it's because this is a hobby and they need something to keep them entertained. Very few of those reasons are anything to do with the quality of the stuff they're selling.
Don't take forums like this as representative of guitarists in general- I know plenty who have no interest in the sort of gear geekery that goes on here, and there are plenty of other forums that have their own particular and quite different brands of geekery too.
I'd say it depends on what you want to play. For plenty of stuff it isn't simple enough- a Tubescreamer is similar enough to a Klone that having both might well be redundant for some players. Likewise, a clean boost and an EQ (and a Klone, and a Tubescreamer) can overlap somewhat, but not necessarily (and clean boost type pedals react very differently with different types of amps in different stages of overdrive, so might not do what you expect).
If it was me, I'd want a delay that can store presets and has more comprehensive tap tempo capabilities. I'd also pick an amp where I could dial in some overdrive that wasn't dependent on how loud I was playing, but that's about personal preference and how I play, not necessity.
If those are the tools you need to do the job you want to do though, it's a perfectly good setup. It might not always be suitable as your needs change and your playing develops, but that's one of the reasons all this gear gets bought and sold here.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
Ppl always buying and suddenly selling their "The best ever xxx - it's a keeper" so this is no indication to a trend.
FX units look great to the novice cos the contain all the FX they have heard of (and heard others speak of) BUT - FX units are processed and Marketed to sound everything to everyone from the power-up, and are almost totally useless in their Factory Preset guise in a live/band scenario.
So unless you want to spend months knob twiddling/mini menu mining and driving yourself nuts not finding that one sound you found once but forgot to save, then 'on the floor' individual pedals are a better bet.
Also - you will NEVER appreciate Tone from using an FX unit, but you will start to see how a pedal you, and the amp make your guitar sound. A pedal (most pedals) nearly always will have just the ONE setting where they truly excel. As long as you appreciate this fact (and not be tempted to sell it Because of that fact) then you will not only improve your playing/tone but also enjoy your journey a lot more.
Believe me - I have spent 30 years crafting FX units - see link below \/