Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Miracle Man Matt on September 20, 2005, 02:28:37 PM
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Im looking to start my set up, as I play heavy metal and rock I need a versatile metal setup to range from ZW, Mettalica, Opeth, Steve Vai...
I was thinking..
MXR Zakk Wylde pedal or Boss SD-1, or MXR kerry King graphic eq boost
Crybaby from Hell wah, or WD-7 weeping deamon, or another
Anything else cheap but effective
Does anyone have any suggestions?
I want the Crybaby from Hell, but its a bit expensive so im open to cheaper options, as well as the Kerry King EQ
Thanks
MMM
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The SD1 and Wylde OD1 need to drive into an already overdriven amp to get close to the sounds you're after - what's your amp?
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FWIW:
For wah, you can get the GCB-95 bog standard CryBaby for about £70-80, less if you buy 2nd hand, and these can be modded if you're willing to wield a soldering iron. It's not the greatest tone machine out there, but it sounds reasonably good.
For OD/Distortion, I really like the new Marshall pedals. Built like tanks and incredibly cheap, the sound is not too bad either (IMO). For a really "metal" sound, the JackHammer (JH-1) is pretty damn good, plenty of EQ on the pedal, switchable between OD & Distortion modes. The Guv'nor (GV-2) is OK if you're after a classic OD type tone, again plenty of EQ options. My current fave is the BluesBreaker 2 (BB-2). This has a blues flavoured OD type tone (get away...), but the bit I like is the switchable mode, from the OD to pure clean boost. Great if you're running a valve amp, switch to boost mode, put the volume/level on full, and drive those pre-amp valves! :D I looked into EQ pedals and boost pedals, but they weren't cheap. The BB-2 is about £40-45 new. My personal favourite though is the ProCo Vintage RAT, this gives a really dirty dirty tone, and is pure nastiness in a box. Great fun, but you're probably after something that gives a tighter sound.
Others? I can highly recommend the Danelectro DJ-25 Chromatic Tuner pedal. I got one off eBay from the US for about £20, you can't buy them in the UK for some reason. Plug it into your pedal power supply, and when activated, the screen lights up so you can see it. Another fave of mine is the Electro Harmonix Small Stone phaser. Lush and with a wide sweep, great stuff.
If you're running more than 1 pedal, get a power supply that can run a few at once. I got one that runs 5 9v pedals for about £25. Also, Electro Harmonix do a really useful pedal board gig bag, again, it's around £20-30, but well worth it IMO.
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For an affordable OD/distortion pedal, you can't beat the RAT.
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i wouldn't touch the crybaby from hell or weeping demon with a shitety stick... there are much better pedals, the WD7 is far too harsh IMO and the crybaby series is complete cr@p, for lack of a better phrase (poor sweep, tone-sucking bypass, etc). i really like morley wahs, the steve vai bad horsie 2 wah could serve you well, the mark tremonti power wah has a lot of good reviews too. there are other more obscure makes that are very good too, but i don't know as much about them.
good luck
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For an affordable OD/distortion pedal, you can't beat the RAT.
Or even a Keeley RAT if you have an extra £40 or so. I got a good deal from HJM, its so much better for boosting my amp than a Tubescreamer!
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For an affordable OD/distortion pedal, you can't beat the RAT.
Or even a Keeley RAT if you have an extra £40 or so. I got a good deal from HJM, its so much better for boosting my amp than a Tubescreamer!
Glad you like it!
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yeah I kinda forgot to PM you to tell you how I was getting on with it :roll: If only someone would offer me a cheap Hotplate now :lol:
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Sobbat Drivebreaker is supposed to be real good; Vai and Kotzen have used them. It seems to be able to go from mild overdrive to full on power madness. I also really like the Catalinbread line of pedals, and the Super Charged Overdrive sounds really tasty!
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I thought Vai and Kotzen just use the vibe pedal??
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I thought Vai and Kotzen just use the vibe pedal??
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Kotzen endorsed the Drivebreaker series, although i can't be certain... :?
Either way, I think it sounds pretty good!
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Yeah... 8)
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:idea:
Take a look at some of the reviews for the Zoom (keep reading :lol: ) HL-01 Hyperlead and perhaps the TM-01 Tri metal on Harmony Central. Never played one, but they would appear to be very good quality. The PD-01, the lower overdrive pedal in the range, had some H'Central-ers comparing it to a Klon.
They're now unfortunately out of production, but very regularly on ebay for ever-increasing but still pretty cheap prices.
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cheers guys.
Yea they will be going if front of a Vox Valvetronix 30W so im intending to send the preamp into meltdown.
I think I might go for a Morley power wah and get a ZW or jackhammer pedal.
Im also interested in some of the other MXR pedals such as the Dime pedal. I need something that will reflect my Miraclman.... i.e. huge low tight bass, but a really pushed grinding mid and high end with great pinch harmonics.....
-does anyone know the differences between the Boss SD-1 and MXR wylde OD considering its based on it?
Thing is with Crybabies, although they might not be the best, if its good enough for zakk or Dime then its good enough for me.
cheers
MMM
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I'd suggest trying one first - digital modelers have an input stage it is possible to clip (and when it does it's nasty digital square distortion)it's the Analogue to digital converter that all of these amps have - some high output pedals may have too much juice for the vox!
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I can testify to HJM's comment - on my Vox (somewhat of a problem amp I think) not too high-ish gain pedals (Digitech Bad Monkey and Boss Blues Driver) create a nasty, clipped sound with a lot of background fuzz on all but the highest volumes.
The sound gets worse the more high gain the model is (i.e. the Bassman tone gets away with it, but the Mesa tone is just unusable)
- the modeller just doesn't like distortion pedals in otherways. For some reason they also play havoc with the modelling of picking dynamics and you get a far more staccato sound than you would expect.
So I would borrow one first (don't matter if its a cheapo Dano) just so you know how your amp behaves with a od/dist pedal.
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I think that you guys are right, I have a digitec pedal thing that I got given which i thought sounded just plan cr@p, but Some of this could be due to what you are mentioning, also I find my MM doesn'ty sound as pushed as my brothers Aria pro 2 when i crank it up.
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I dinno about driving the vox, but as mentioned before the Marshall Bluesbreaker 2 is a gem of a pedal.
It's cheap, well built and sounds way better than any Tubescreamer I have ever heard.
It worked well infront of both my AVT 50 (semi valve preamp thingie), and my Fender Blues Jr. It also gave a friends Crate solid state amp a new lease of life.
Probably the most underrated OD pedal out there.
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How about the twin Keeley TS-9 setup? One 'normal' and one baked.