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[Slartibartfarst42]

I've been trying to think of what I want that is guitar related for my birthday next month and I'm just not sure. I don't need any more than the two guitars I have, I like my amp and the core effects I use are all great. It has crossed my mind to upgrade the Boss NS-2 for an ISP Decimator and it has also crossed my mind to change the Korg Pitch Black for the TC Electronics Polyphonic tuner but neither is really a pressing need. Another idea was to get a Boss GE-7 as at the moment the only EQ I use is on the amp and it strikes me that such a pedal could be really useful.

I do have two other ideas. One is to get the EHX B9 as I've tried that and it's a lot of fun but for £160, I wonder just how much I'll use it once the novelty has worn off. The other idea is to get some sort of pitch shifter/harmonizer like the EHX Pitch Fork but as I've never tried one of those and I'm not sure how useful it is in the real world of cover songs, improvised solos and covers bands. Does anybody have any experience of these pedals who could offer a perspective?

[Mr. Air]

I got two other ideas that might be interesting. 1) If you don't have one considder getting a looper. I got a TC Ditto and it's super fun for practicing and just fooling around. It can be used in a live situation as well. 2) Get the new Beatbuddy drum machine in guitar pedal enclosure. It seems like a really great invention for practicing and writing new music.

[dvorak]

I've been intrigued with the EHX Soul food lately. If you would like to try a Klon type OD, which every one should, that could be an idea.

But maybe you are set on ODs/boosters?

[Dave Sloven]

Personally out of all the things you mention I would go for the EQ pedal.

I have MXR six and ten band EQs and both are very useful indeed, and I've heard great things about the Boss 7-band.

I have an ISP Decimator G-String II but I also have a Boss NS-2.  They compliment each other very well.  I have the NS-2 in  the front end to control noise from the guitar and pedals before it reaches the preamp, and the ISP is in the loop to handle the fizz and other noises (e.g., from bad power) coming out of the preamp of my Peavey 6534+ ... I place my EQ between the loop send and the DEC IN on the ISP.

There is no great advantage to the Polytune over the Pitch Black.  The other guitarist in my band has a Korg and I've used it and like it.  I find the Polyphonic mode on the Polytune to be largely useless

[Slartibartfarst42]

The core effects I use a lot are a Mark Tremonti Wah (very happy with it) and everything else comes from a Carl Martin Quattro (Compressor, Overdrive/Distortion, Chorus, Delay), which I am also very happy with. I use all of these effects quite a bit and as I'm happy with them, I see no obvious need to replace or duplicate them. I know a lot of people use a looper but I don't immediately see any obvious application for it in what I play. Whatever I get, I'd like to be able to use it for both playing at home but also in a live Rock covers band with two guitarists in the line-up.

As I said, I've already tried the B9 and it was loads of fun and I can see me using it for some solos but I can also see the novelty wearing off and as the other guitarist in the band already has one, is there any point in me getting one? It was this thought that made me think of a pitch shifter as it seemed like you could get some vaguely organ sounds from it and it did other things too. However, I've never used one of these before so I'm not sure how useful they are in a live band situation. I had also toyed with a Phaser or a Flanger but I was guessing that a pitch shifter might have more applications. I might be wrong. Unless I spend a lot of money on some effect or other, I'll probably get the GE-7 as well as something else.

[Dave Sloven]

I get use out of a Boss LS-2 line selector.  It allows me to select a chain of effects before I actually need them, rather than stomping on two or three pedals at the start of a riff.  It also allows mixing dry signal with the wet affected signal, which is very useful.  You might find that more useful than a regular looper.  It can only run two loops but the versatility of the ways you can run them is very helpful.  For example I can turn an overdrive and phaser on before I need it and then switch to that line when I need it with a single stomp

[Slartibartfarst42]

I do have something like that already but at the moment I confess I only use it at the start of the signal chain for when I change guitars. The obvious limitation when using it later for me is that almost all of my effects (Compressor, Overdrive/Distortion, Chorus and Delay) are all housed in the one unit in the form of the Carl Martin Quattro.

[Alex]

I have an earthquaker devices tone job and love it.  I can recommend  it as a low noise, high headroom and very musical sounding EQ.
I think the ISP or tuner wouldn't be worth the upgrade.
A phaser is always a fun toy,  the MXR ones are all cool.
I think though loopers are a must for the bedroom guitar player like me. Preferably with a rhythm guide built in.

[Slartibartfarst42]

Although I play at home, it's only really practising songs I play with the band usually so a looper will have limited use. I'm inclined to get an EQ pedal as well as something else and in terms of cost, the Boss looks like a solid buy.

That leaves me with the Phaser, Flanger or Pitch Shifter (EHX Pitch Fork?), all of which would be fun to own so it's more a case of which one is likely to get most use. If I get the EQ pedal as well, I think the B9 is sadly out as it's just too expensive to get both.

[blue]

The Electro Harmonix POG 2 is very good, although maybe you mean more like whammy pedal type pitch shifting?  The POG can do some of the organ sounds, and also 12 and 18 string guitar sounds, and big thick octaves.  It is maybe a bit pricey though

[richard]

I've had a GE7 for years. I'm not using it at the moment but I won't part with it because I've lost count of the times it has come in useful. For a long time I used it to poke an amp on medium drive into more saturated lead sounds.  You can really shape the lead tone you want. I've used it in the loop as a clean volume boost and it does this really well. It's very useful but I wouldn't say it's fun. The Ditto Looper supplies unending fun.  I'm definitely going to use it live but haven't worked out the details yet. I find it help you think creatively when constructing complimentary parts. You can also create some very weird timings.

[Slartibartfarst42]

The Electro Harmonix POG 2 is very good, although maybe you mean more like whammy pedal type pitch shifting?  The POG can do some of the organ sounds, and also 12 and 18 string guitar sounds, and big thick octaves.  It is maybe a bit pricey though

The POG2 is fantastic but you're right; it's a bit pricey. The expression pedal on a Whammy is great and if I got the Pitch Fork I may also get the expression pedal to go with it. To be honest, I'm intrigued by a lot of what a pitch shifter will do. Playing an octave above and/or below seems to give some huge sounds in itself but I'm also really interested in a pedal that will do harmonies as that must open up some great sounds too. I assume the Pitch Fork, Whammy and Harmonizer all do everything I've mentioned. Is that right?

Is there a pedal in existence that combines pitch shifting, harmonizing and wah all into one pedal? If not, I'll need to invent one 

[Dave Sloven]

Although I play at home, it's only really practising songs I play with the band usually so a looper will have limited use. I'm inclined to get an EQ pedal as well as something else and in terms of cost, the Boss looks like a solid buy.

That leaves me with the Phaser, Flanger or Pitch Shifter (EHX Pitch Fork?), all of which would be fun to own so it's more a case of which one is likely to get most use. If I get the EQ pedal as well, I think the B9 is sadly out as it's just too expensive to get both.

Of those three, I suspect you will get the most use out of the flanger.  Flangers can get close to a chorus or a phaser in terms of effects and have their own thing going on as well.  Phasers are a one trick pony.  I have the EVH flanger by MXR and can recommend it.  Bulky though and it runs on 18V

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKfD8U_gzpY

[blue]

Is there a pedal in existence that combines pitch shifting, harmonizing and wah all into one pedal? If not, I'll need to invent one 

The Electro harmonix HOG2 does, but that's getting crazy expensive :)  have you looked at the Digitech Whammy DT?  combines the harmonising and pitch shifting of the standard whammy with a drop tune/capo section, and it's polyphonic.  brilliant pedal

[Slartibartfarst42]

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of some sort of harmonizer. Here's my current thinking:

Boss PS-6

I LOVE the way it does 3-part harmonies but I find the fact that you have to select the key you're playing in rather than simply play and let the pedal sort it all out to be a pain in the backside. It's also the most expensive of the three options I'm currently considering so for these two reasons I think this one is out of the equation.

EHX Pitch Fork

Again, I LOVE the idea of 3-part harmonies and with this one I don't have to worry about selecting the key in advance so it's a very handy package for a very reasonable price, though the expression pedal is extra.

Digitech Whammy 5

The big drawback for me with the Whammy is that it can't do 3-part harmonies but having said that, it does offer a LOT of other features and tons of settings and with the expression pedal included, it's arguably the cheapest here. It seems to offer many more harmony and pitch options than the EHX so has to be worthy of consideration even without the 3-part harmony facility.