My first pedal faux pas

Gru

Well after getting my Boss looper and considering what I think I would need as a good starter I looked into an overdrive.

I looked at the Boss Blues @£65 but then stumbled across the Digitech Screaming Blues @£20 and after listening to a very close John Mayer tone from this pedal thought I would go for it.

My mistake is that I purchased a Boss BcB-30 and the Digitech will not fit without mods to the case. I thought that the divisions were moveable but on second glance it appears that would be the BCB-60. A Huge Whoops!!

Options are:

1: mod the case, if I do that I may as well save some money and get a Digitech Digidelay at @£50, rather than the Boss DD3 @£99. But mods are not reversible.

2: send the Digitech Pedal Back and replace with Boss Blues.

3: send the case back and get a BCB-60 which straight away is getting away from a simple home fx board ( I don't gig) or a different case altogether.

I was only planning on an overdrive, delay and looper to get me going with plenty to learn (order is another question). This would also give me a nice portable case. I can always mix and match what is in there should I get any more boss pedals.

Any thoughts.

not_the_dj

Different case altogether. The Boss cases are fine if you want just Boss pedals, but you're better of not limiting yourself in the future.

hubobulous

What's going to annoy you more in the long run? I'd take the approach in terms of making a decision on this one.

Gru

hubobulous;495866" said:

What's going to annoy you more in the long run? I'd take the approach in terms of making a decision on this one.

Good question. Sending stuff back is the real pain! Already had one thing not turn up this week (damaged/lost) and still waiting for a refund.

I am shocked at the Screaming Blues price! Again it would be annoying to send it back to pay £45 more for something to do the same thing.

The case only cost £25, but includes patch leads and daisy chain. Maybe I should just mod it and say lesson learned. Velcro would solve the problem of putting a boss pedal back in (didn't realise until this week that Velcro was used a lot)

I guess my other option would be to keep the case for boss pedals, DD3 delay +1 other and run the overdrive from outside if the box?

hubobulous

Sometimes taking a financial hit in the short term is better than living with something that just pisses you off through death by 1000 cuts meaning that you either stop using it completely, or just give in a get what you really wanted.

Shortening that process can be both a lesson learned and a positive outcome......

mike_l

One of the little pedal-train boards, and a power supply should be more than enough for a home board.

Which (If my memory is ok) what Photek uses for gigging....

robinbowes

Your second faux pas was your "fopaux".

Just call me Lix

hobbio

I'd replace the board mate, it gives you more options in the long run.

lustycourtier

Sell case, get a pedal train.

Gru

robinbowes;495948" said:

Your second faux pas was your "fopaux".

Just call me Lix

I have no idea what you are talking about? ;-)

Gru

I will have a look at the pedal train. Hadn't heard about this brand before.

hobbio

I've got a Gator Pedal Tote, look at these too mate.

d8m

I put my pedals on a piece of high density foam from work.

Trade you some for the screaming blues?

:-\"

Gru

d8m;496129" said:

I put my pedals on a piece of high density foam from work.

Trade you some for the screaming blues?

:-\"

The generosity on this forum never ceases to amaze me.

Gru

Well I have thought about it some more and currently decided on the following.

The whole point of the Boss case was to be able to have a neat set up that I can pack away, psu and all. I think before I get completely carried away on buying pedals I want to focus on learning 3. The looper, overdrive and a delay.

I like the look of the pedal train nano, and feel that something like this would be good in the future, but watching Mark Lucus from NStuff music, I see that he nearly always uses an overdrive and a carbon copy and I never think that there is something lacking.

Rather than butcher the BCB-30 case, I have decided to send the Screaming Blues back (rather than swap it for some foam). And spend a little more on a Boss Blues overdrive that fits the case.

There are plenty of pedals that I like the look of (and sound of), but I think restricting myself at the moment will be a good thing.

Branshen

Hey gru, your journey seems to be incredibly similar to mine. I've been through many pedals but I always wanted a small board since my style is rather light on effects.

My current board is a pedaltrain mini with a tuner, overdrive, compressor and delay (which doubles as my looper). So your choices are almost identical to mine, bar the compressor (which I dare say you've not had the pleasure to discover!).

I upgraded from a nano board because it was a smidge too small for me. I have a tap tempo attached to my dd7 (which makes setting delay time a lot more convenient).

If the screaming blues doesn't work for you and you want a Keeley bd2, I'd be willing to let mine go for £75 delivered. It was my go to overdrive for about a year (which is a long time for me). Mr. Mayer is well known to have used this in his earlier material and some of his trio work. I'd say don't waste your time with the stock version, it may work for some people, but imo will do nothing in terms of achieving a mayer-esque tone.

On the other hand w/r to pedal board, a boss pedal board, with looper, a dd3 and Keeley bd2 or any other overdrive pedal, sounds like a great board. Lotsa great music to be made and I personally would not feel limited.

EricTheWeary

You should buy several pedals, sell them, replace them with remarkably similar but more expensive pedals, sell those at an eye watering loss, replace with the original pedals ( that you have come to regret selling) until you decide they aren't quite right and replace them with...etc...etc...

Repeat until death or bankruptcy.

mike_l

Gru said:

Well I have thought about it some more and currently decided on the following.

The whole point of the Boss case was to be able to have a neat set up that I can pack away, psu and all. I think before I get completely carried away on buying pedals I want to focus on learning 3. The looper, overdrive and a delay.

A guy I know uses aa little powertool case (as found in any DIY store) with a little bit of foam in it, which cost (probably) less than £10. Plenty for 3-4 pedals and a power supply. Enough room left over if you want to add an additional pedal. And it's big enough for 3 "normal" size pedals and a crybaby-size wah.

not_the_dj

EricTheWeary said:

You should buy several pedals, sell them, replace them with remarkably similar but more expensive pedals, sell those at an eye watering loss, replace with the original pedals ( that you have come to regret selling) until you decide they aren't quite right and replace them with...etc...etc...

Repeat until death or bankruptcy.

Have a big fat Wisdom.

Branshen

You know what, discount what I said above. most of the fun is in the process of getting new stuff and evolving your board, forget about buying sensible and all that.

Sassafras

The standard mxr size boxes will fit inside your case. This would give you plenty of choice if you're not happy with the Blues Driver.