Who else is off the merry go round?

DanR

My favourite thread on here is the one with people showing of their boards as it’s nice to see the variety of pedals we all use.

But no one ever talks about why they picked up what they had so figured I’d try to start that off with mine.

I haven’t changed anything since Jan/Feb of this year and that’s by far the longest I’ve gone in the past 20 years.

1) Waza tuner - My old boss TU-2 was getting temperamental and this was on offer.

2) Black Moon Fuzz - I’ve been through way too many fuzz pedals but always struggled to get one that played well all my amps and guitars. 

This one was as happy in my SLO and VX100 and with active and passive pickups without getting that thin/harsh sound you get when stuff doesn’t play well together.

3) Sparkle Drive - £100 808 Clone that was bought because it looked cool and sounded no different to the half million boutique ones I’ve owned, granted it’s only ever used in classic metal fashion mainly used with my VX100.

4) Amaterasu - 20db clean boost with a toggle for an extra 12db of treble boost.

This is the alternative to the Sparkle when I don’t want the mid hump.

Plays really well with my SLO as can use the clean/normal setting on the amp and this gets it easily into the overdrive channel

5) PDF 1x - My main drive pedal, it goes into clean/crunch/filth and always something when it’s on.

6) WURM - Whilst my hands can’t really cope with extend fast playing nowadays I do still love that early Swedish sound.

Whilst it allegedly does more than one sound everything was set max and hasn’t been touched since it was plugged in.

7) Dispatch Master - Easy to dial in and sounds good with clean and dirt what’s not to like.

8) Somersault - We all need some modulation and something a bit weird this does all of it, chorus/vibrato and massively tweakable.

It’s more at home into clean channel but I’ve had some good fun with the Wurm/Somersault/Eccos into the crunch channel of the SLO.

9) Eccos - This is an odd one as it’s probably not my favourite delay pedal I’ve owned.

So why would I keep it, well it does sound good, it’s easy to dial in, has presets, has a (fiddly but useable) looper, it’s also compact.

So whilst I’ve owned better sounding delays this just does what I need really well so it feels pointless to change it as it’s such a good package and we all love something that’s so close to being perfect but just misses out.

10) Mercury 7 - Whilst I do like this I would like a   Blue Sky again to compare against it as sometimes it’s a bit fiddly to get what I’m looking for but when it’s their it sounds sublime.

The lack of presets without having to buy another pedal is extremely annoying.

For a long time I built my boards around wanting to sound like a specific band/person/genre but this is the first time I’ve just built a board that was based on hitting what I liked.

Who knows maybe that’s why it’s not changed.

meltedbuzzbox

Your board looks great. Looks like an assembled selection of pedals that serves a purpose.

I've not changed my board for 2 years now...
I used to try everything (usually after @Wazmeister had bought and listed it for sale) 
I just haven't felt the urge for ages. 

26.2

I’m never actively after anything, but I do hunt for bargains just to try out. My gig board is pretty much tuner > Lightspeed > DMM now. 

DesVegas

My board has made it through a gig most successfully so im happy to get off this merry ride as thats what its supposed to do

Lots of cloned pedals as im not a rich man but the premis is..

Dumble type / zen od
Into..
Tonebender 1.5
Then..
Tc pipeline tremolo set to hard square
Delay
Churchy reverb
BBE Sonic Stomp eq
Looper / sample player (Ammoon Pocket loop) (it really is very good)

Playing lead in a punk rock band

BintyTwanger77

Absolutely brilliant board. I’m still not completely off the merry go round, for the Nth time because of reverb GAS (the Mercury 7 is on the short-list), but I have completely settled on a TU-3W, a Chase Bliss Brothers, Warthog V2, a Jam Harmonious Monk trem and a Timeline. These days I have to absolutely love a pedal for it to stay on the board. The Caroline Somersault is very much on my radar, how is it? Does it do the lofi vibrato, Boards Of Canada thing well?

DanR

@BintyTwanger77 reverb has always been a pain to try to settle on.

My favourite is the Big Sky but I’ve neither the space nor need for something like that.

So the ones I’d be considering are the Blue Sky, Immerse and the 7, between them the Immerse is my favourite but not enough so that I can be bothered selling and buying again.

I’m afraid I have no idea who Boards of Canada are, I bought it during lockdown after seeing Yvette Young talk about it as she uses it in place of of a lofi junky which I love but is far too noisy.

So if that pedal does that bands sound this should.

MagicPigDetective

BintyTwanger77 said:

Absolutely brilliant board. I’m still not completely off the merry go round, for the Nth time because of reverb GAS (the Mercury 7 is on the short-list), but I have completely settled on a TU-3W, a Chase Bliss Brothers, Warthog V2, a Jam Harmonious Monk trem and a Timeline. These days I have to absolutely love a pedal for it to stay on the board. The Caroline Somersault is very much on my radar, how is it? Does it do the lofi vibrato, Boards Of Canada thing well?

The tape mode of the OBNE Sunlight sounds like it does the BOC thing. Very tempted 

https://youtu.be/KJhoVNPh790

Fez

Well I almost was but I still don't think I have my delay sorted out and want something with better tap tempo than the flashback 2. Also I have swapped my gunshot out to give the peacekeeper a try.

handsomerik

I feel like i'm pretty much there with this setup which has been the same for about 3 months now. (I interchange the 1981 with a Drybell The Engine depending on if I want Rat style distortion or Marshall in a box)

It has enough options to be super versatile but not so much that it's constant option paralysis.

BintyTwanger77

handsomerik said:

I feel like i'm pretty much there with this setup which has been the same for about 3 months now. (I interchange the 1981 with a Drybell The Engine depending on if I want Rat style distortion or Marshall in a box)

It has enough options to be super versatile but not so much that it's constant option paralysis.

Great set up: you’ve solved the Big Sky/Flint conundrum by having both of them! 

handsomerik

Yep. If I had to sell all pedals but one it would be the Flint that stays. I've had it the longest out of all my pedals. A record 6 years!

MrSwanson

slacker

I'm always buying selling trading lending and borrowing pedals. Some have been used a lot and some have stories.

Klon Centaur-bought in 2007 with the view of selling. It's been on and off boards since.

EH DMM-bought around 2005 when I already had an echotap and dd3. It's my only delay well I do have a delay patch on the reverb. The shop gave me discount as I apparently sold two fuzz factories by showing how to set them up.

Red Panda Context, no story just a decent reverb.

King of Tone v2 bought in 2006 off a friend. Awesome drive and boost, not as good as a Klon but good.

Prince of Tone bought 2020 see above and half it.

Pdf2 bought on a whim in 2021 during a pedal clear out

SLO reverb part of clear out not sure if I like it.

PS6 another clear out ended up buying 3 and selling 6. Not a great clear out.

Synth and mel9 fun but fiddly to use

Fuzz Factory bought in 2000 sometimes use it sometimes don't it's seen off a big cheese graphic fuzz big muff and  truly beautiful disaster.

Gigrig midi 8 bought in 2021 to minimise tapdancing when I'm singing. It works.

Fulltone trem tried a chase bliss trem for 20 frustrating minutes. Got handed this. Within 2 minutes I could footswitch between how soon is now and gimme shelter, where's me credit card,

ZVex loop junkie, fun pedal not used it much. I think it's loaded with the rhythm part to I want to make it with chu.actually if you turn it on and turn down the loop at makes your guitar sound nicer.

Fulltone Clyde deluxe cool pedal don't use it much.

Robotalk mki bought from the sadly gone sounds great on special, really fun and equally difficult to use.

Talking of which drunken Christmas purchase rastop super divider, octave down 2 octave down unison fuzz clean blend and octave up if it feels like it. Very temperamental sometimes it will nail spirit in the sky  sometimes it will sound like king Kong farting.

I think that's all. Give me a Klon and dmm and I'll be happy.add a reverb and a synth and that's me. At home it's trying not to sound like a guitar.

BintyTwanger77

handsomerik said:

Yep. If I had to sell all pedals but one it would be the Flint that stays. I've had it the longest out of all my pedals. A record 6 years!

That’s middle-aged in Flint years!

Teetonetal

My gig board has been stable for years now

Boss sd1

Boss bd2 waza

Boss PS3

Boss dd500
Whammy 5
Dod 201
Ernie Ball wah

Boss waza tuner

Strymon flint

Still got lots of other pedals for home use, but in gigs I just don't need crazy sounds.

markblack

I wouldn't say I'm off the merry-go-round as I enjoy pedals, but as of now there's nothing I really want to try (famous last words)

I bought a Helix and go rid of all my pedals, but then over lock down I got into them, I had a bit of disposable income. And the Helix is a great unit to add pedals to, so many in and out you can set things up in interesting ways.

As a youth I used to make music, spend hours and hours. But as life and family took over (family rightly so) I just don't have the time, so I wanted to gather some pedals that if I have a hour I can make something, be creative, even if that's just a ten second loop. I never had much interest in learning to play solos perfectly, I don't really know how to play other peoples stuff.

So my board is really about how I play guitar, I like to make odd, ambient, layered noise



in not particular order:

Blooper > I love a looper and tried loads, but this is such a creative looper, layers, chops, reverses, or just loops. (and I am a CB fan boy).

Immerse > I didn't know much about reverb, so I wanted to get a good swiss army knife and I really like this, again not knowing much about reverb helps, I'm not chasing the next new thing.

Volante > My Dad was a fan of real tape echos and binsons - I still have one, but is massive and temperamental. I love this rhythmic style of echos, I just find it really musical again I can use it for an hour just making simple patterns. 

ZOIA > I've only scratch the surface - some times I just use it an effect, a trem for example, sometimes I use it to tray and create a pedal I've seen > reverb-chorus-delay-fuzz or I'll download a patch. Again you can loose yourself for an hour easily.

Fuzz Factory and TB clone > If I just want to play guitar with no oddness I find fuzz is a great, just something about it and these are more 'classic' or just more mad. and you can use the FF as a noise maker

MOOD > I'm not sure about this to be honest - it may move on. But I keep thinking I'm missing something (this is my CB fanboy coming out again).

Particle > Again it's just something you can loose yourself in for an hour. The reverse is my favourite, the freeze is interesting and stacked with the volante it's fun - it's quite a new addition.

Automatone > Is massive overkill yes. But its really good, it does it all (yes its CB again) so many drive sounds from the classics to out there. Is it expensive, yes, but I really enjoy it.

Microcosm > This is mad. But really musical, one chord can become a backing track. It loops, layers, sometimes it plays itself.

OFF BOARD

Plus Pedal > I had a freeze, and then tried this - I don't use it much, but again you can sit with it for an hour and just play.

Helix > I use that for effects that I'm not into enough to buy, a chorus for example, not really my thing but if I want to try one I can. And As I said it's great for adding pedals in different orders so have my Plus Pedal in one loop, fuzz at the front (the FF won't play nice) the blooper at the end, my board in the middle and my OP-1 in the chain as well so I can run that through my board.

I won't lie, I still go pedal hunting most days but there's nothing I really need.

personalnadir

My current pedal arrangement is a mess. I've settled on having a patchbay connecting instruments to different effect loops and interfaces with the patchbay hovering precariously on my desk. Like my setup the below is probably overcomplicated and only of interest too myself!

Keepers:

Empress Effects Zoia: every time I hear any digital pedal I always ask: how easy would it be to do that with the Zoia? It has saved me a lot of money! That is not say my patches are a patch on a professional pedal builder's pedal, but I can get close enough to scratch my own personal itch. I have not utilised it's reverbs enough though: Empress are renowned for their algorithms, and this does have their plate, room, ghost and hall algorithms. No shame in just using it as a straightforward reverb pedal, but always feels wrong to me.

Erica Synths Acidbox III: It's a super versatile stereo filter and overdrive unit. It even converts mono inputs into stereo. It's quite a dirty filter and is fantastic for pumping synths through, but sounds great on guitar. I've not yet explored it's more esoteric features.

J Rockett A.P.E.: Makes guitar sound better

Stone Deaf Syncopy: There are days where this by itself is all I need. There are days were I just can't get what I want out of it. It's a brilliant and frustrating little box with so much versatility. Wish the input gain trimpot was easier to tweak. I will borrow another analogue delay at some point as a point of comparison.

Stone Deaf Tremotron: I can't fathom ever needing another tremolo. It even has a low pass filter. Perhaps the only issue is that it does so much, it can be easy (as with so many pedals) to max everything out and forget that it can do the basics too. This thing chops! Throw a fuzz into it

Bigfoot Engineering King Fuzz: An unfussy fuzz that sounds great. Lots of fun. If I'm not playing clean I'm using this.

Surfybear Metal: I never like the sound of spring reverbs, so I bought a massive one. Does the surf guitar thing, sounds good. Often spring reverbs sound too metallic for me; with this I can get a tone I am comfortable with. A little underutilised at the moment, but will be keeping it.

Trex Replicator Jr: Actually chugs when switched on, so much so that I sent it in to be serviced. Fiddly, needs adjusting now and again, but I'd only replace it with a newer model. It's the opposite of the Syncopy. Where the Syncopy's repeats can die off a little too fast for me on this they can hang around too long on occasion. Between the two I can cover all the delay sounds I want.

Tate FX Antares: I'm always amazed at how good this sounds when switched on, a gritter Tubescreamer. Knocked the Berhingher TO800 off the board, likely forever.

Liable to go in a year or two:

Rainger FX Reverb-X: It's tiny, so there's always room for it on the board. Mine has at times had a slightly warble in the trails which has annoyed me, it also occasionally starts up in a hyper modulated mode - like an LFO depth or rate is set too high (although this can be fun to play with) Great little pedal though, does so much, looks great and is small. I am thinking about replacing it with a more ambient reverb delay pedal in the long term.

Subdecay - Starlight: It's a versatile flanger that I think can do a chorus (delay times can be adjusted). Miss the lack of a blend knob. Liable to be replaced with a phaser (either Empress, Dreadbox or Thorpy)

Keeley GC2: Bought to be a limiter at the end of the chain, but not really used these days.

Marchal ED-1: Bought to play with a compressor. Will replace with with a Cali at some point.

Off the board:

Tate FX BMB Drive: Would be on my board if I had more room. It sounds really useful in a mix, but it's just third choice behind the King Fuzz and Antares

Nux Roctary: Great fun, but just not a lot of use to me at the moment. Have decided that rotary isn't something I am currently excited by and that I will try an octave fuzz for octave effects.

Caline CP-54 The Big Orange: Because its so cheap I've probably not given this the time of day it deserves. Need to put it back on and properly explore it again.

Berhinger TO800: Replaced by the Antares. Nice to have around if I want a Tubescreamer.

Creed_Clicks

No pics, but this is what I have settled on for now after going through a bad case of buying and selling over the last few years, the last year especially.

A mix of overdrives and distortions depending on what is needed. Gone back to basics somewhat:
Boss DS1: Modded so it's louder than the stock. Might go back stock yet...
Boss Blues Driver: No explanation needed
TC Spark mini for boost
FuzzDog fuzz with octave fuzz switch
EQD Erupter: does that spitty fuzz. Interesting, but might not get huge use, but will keep it
Behringer UV300 vibrato modded to slow the rate down. Sounds fantastic! Love it!
Boss DD3T: Basic delay. Perfect.
EHX Cathedral reverb: Overkill, but staying for now
Catlinbread CSIDman: glitch delay

Also have a Line 6 M5 for random mod effects if needed and a Digitech whammy which may or may not stay.

On the way is a JPTR FX Kaleidoscope reverb.

Bar clearing out 1 or 2 I am happy to work with this collection for the foreseeable future. I have found a lot can be done to shape overall sound with just a delay or just a reverb.

In a live scenario I'd likely be Boss BD > TC Spark Mini > Delay > Reverb

hotpickups

I’m off it in the sense that one doesn’t scrutinise a sound being exactly like I’ve heard in the past etc I.e. vintage sounding etc. I’m more into new sounds that aren’t in other pedals if you know what I mean. Really don’t get this endless search of OD/Dirt pedals anymore. Utter pointless imo but we’re all different, at least I want to be   

Paul_C

I'm a little nearer today. . .

I've got a second stand with (currently) the following on it:

Rubberneck (with Miku in the loop)

Ghost Fax

Mood

BubbleTron

Fabrikat

BitQuest

Count To 5

. . . and I reckon those could keep me amused indefinitely.

AntonHunter

Paul_C said:

I'm a little nearer today. . .

I've got a second stand with (currently) the following on it:

Rubberneck (with Miku in the loop)

Ghost Fax

Mood

BubbleTron

Fabrikat

BitQuest

Count To 5

. . . and I reckon those could keep me amused indefinitely.

A third Beebo!? Where's that sit in the signal chain?