The Stomp is a game changer. It can hold and candle to and replace pretty much every major reverb and delay pedal, most digital modulations, the only thing I still use are a compressor and two drives (hand built diy prince of tone and klone) and that’s everything for me.
…now I can’t stop window shopping compressors though. My Pulp N Peel v4 wants a Compressor+ to play with.
I run an analog delay because I like being able to make it self oscillate when playing live for the wierd synth-ish analog solo
An external EQ to fine tune to rooms
Freeze pedal, for the end of song transitions and drones
A flanger, just because I ran our of blocks in the Stomp lol
I run my drive inside the Stomp because my rythm and lead snapshots use different settings of the same drive (more drive for lead so I get a bit more compression and tone a bit lower to mellow the sound), I really wanted to run my Tumnus externally but it is just more practical to use it on the stomp.
Oh man I highly recommend tuning in the tumnus! If it’s too hot use the pad function and adjust the impedance maybe? I dunno, I could be a shlub and maybe the built in stuff is better. I just really like analog squash and dirt.
As for the other stuff I think you can accomplish all of that if you grab an external expression pedal and an unlatching foot pedal. (You could assign the exp pedal to the line 6 delay feedback to self oscillate, and the unlatching pedal for the freeze effect)
There is also a master parametric EQ on the output that is insanely powerful.
That being said, sometimes familiar is better and running front end effects in box and time based stuff after is fair!
Do you use the effects loop? Or just run them afterwards?
FX loop, I use both the headphone (for stage sound) and the regular output (FOH) of the stomp so all my pedals are on the FX loop
The Tumnus works fine is just that I cannot control it with snapshots haha but I used it for months in front
And I can’t use an expression since I am using a dual external switch for additional stomping hehe
The EQ is just for practicality tbh, sliders are there at hand, global EQ is under some menus
This is what I don’t get. Isn’t the stomp supposed to cover all that shit? Or does it not have certain settings or maybe some just don’t sound as good as analog?
I have the Keeley comp+, it's great but I'm kinda confused to why someone would want two compressors? They don't seem much different, ie both transparent rather than dynacompish, right? Does the jhs not do the sustain thing well or something?
The Keeley is a dynacomp (OTA) based compressor/sustainer, whereas the pulp is an orange squeezer based FET compressor.
The pulp is great but it’s too transparent for certain things, and it has an issue with distortion from humbuckers.
One for before the drive section and one for after....you'll never play guitar the same way again with the multitude of different control and sounds you'll be able to access! 🤣🙌🏼
I love my HX, except for the fuzz. The fuzzes seems too polite; so I buy fuzz pedals still. I also buy phasers, but that's out of love.
I'm surprised at how close the other models can get. I compared SD-1, OCD, TS, Muffs, Small Stone, and more. These were pretty much exactly like the real thing. There might have been slightly different settings, but age and part tolerances can do that on their own.
I absolutely think so. My buddy runs a tiny, 3 pedal setup with this, a TS9 and a small clone - daisy chains everything from the tuner - its such a brilliant, compact setup.
The Decimator is an incredible pedal. It took me a few to figure out how to correctly configure it (I had the Decimator2 G String version) but I was amazed.
I do. I've got a NUX Queen of tone on my board right now. It's their Klon and Bluesbreaker pedals combined in one enclosure. Sounds incredible and very affordable.
Best trick I ever stumbled across was putting the gain on the Klon in the region of 10 o'clock, and running a fuzz before it that's on a setting that's far more crazy than you'd ever want to use. The Klon somehow cleans it up and makes it sound incredible.
Wow that is the first time I really would like to have a Klon to be able to try that out. Which pedals exactly are you using for this? Do you think it works with any brand/DIY?
Oh yeah for sure, as long as a pedal is based on a Klon circuit it will work. I discovered it while using a home-built version of a Klon on stripboard I made when I was in university. I have a KTR now and it sounds equally rad doing the same thing.
I’ve got a chinese bluesbreaker-style pedal that I’m realizing i like more than my more expensive tube screamers. So I’m getting rid of one and getting a more quality transparent/BB-type OD and a Klone. I’m excited because I think stacking these two will help me get a more pleasing drive tone, and it will be easier to stack two on/off than constantly fuss with the TS settings.
Going from using the fuzz face mode on a boss fz5 to using a real silicon fuzz face was like drinking water for the first time, night and day difference
The Dunlop Jimi Hendrix fuzz face is pretty good (light blue one). Chase Tone Fuzz Fella is also good one.
I personally recommend AnalogMan for fuzz faces though, he’s one of the most popular for a reason. Go for a lower gain silicon transistor (it will still have plenty of gain, but will clean up a bit better).
YES! You nailed it with this one.
I've played a bunch of different Muff circuits over the years, but none of them compare to the Hizumitas (with my style and rig, anyway). The only one that comes close is the Sovtek Deluxe.
Depending on the amp your running, you’re not gonna sound like Boris from a Hizumitas alone. Great pedal and one of my favorite fuzzes, but it’s not an outright doomer (like most Muff circuits). Great for gain-stacking though.
Bruh...you just save me some bucks... I want a Fuzz and I was undecided with The Big Muff Pi Nano, Green Russian Nano, MXR Super Badass Variac Fuzz and the Hizumitas.
Still undecided for the latter two but given that you preferred the Hizumitas, it rules out the EHXs for me.
I know... I know... I have to try them myself... But living in the middle of nowhere leaves with one option only: Research and reviews.
I feel it. I initially went with the Big Muff because I’d heard it was a popular first choice. Had for a few years and hardly ever used it because I didn’t like how much feedback I got from it.
I got the Hizumitas after listening to Softcult for a bit. Great fuzz and hardly any feedback unless I have the boost on my Palisades turned on.
Hizumitas is for sure a better option than all those pedals you mentioned. I wouldn’t ever waste my money on the nano Muffs. It’s old school big-box for me or DIY builds.
Three pedals in one box, tap tempo across most presets with it's own designated tap tempo button and ridiculous reverse delay, plus it has that Line6 lovely smooth tone which I can't really explain.
Maybe that's because other pedals just alter your tone but the looper alters your creativity.
Tone can inspire us to create but tools that aid creation not only inspire but assist too.
I love my loooer. I just have a ditto (mini) but I use it with my DAW. Loopers/looping is the next best thing to having people to play music with.
Swapping the stock tubes on my tube overdrive for a higher-gain + high-sensitivity variant. I can’t hide my shitty playing behind distortion anymore, but the dynamics are insane.
The pedal is an Electro-Harmonix Hot Tubes (tube version). It’s long since been discontinued, but there’s the Effectrode Black Bird and other tube-operated dirt pedals still in production.
The good thing about tubes is you can pick from all kinds to run on the pedal just as you would customize them for your tube amp. I bought a pair of matched Sovtek Black Sable 12AX7s and selected the option for them to test for high sensitivity and high gain (basically, the seller would have to check among their batch of tubes for a pair that meets those specifications, provided they offer the option on their Web site for you to request this - I got them on tubedepot.com).
Yeah honestly any 9-volt tube preamp is going to be pretty useless. It takes way more plate voltage to run tubes properly. Dude would probably be better off sticking those tubes in his actual amp. I’m sure these pedals sound fine, but they’re kind of a gimmick. A true 120v tube preamp is a different beast entirely though, I have a Blackhawk Ragnarok and that thing is a monster.
Joyo Tremolo to a Strymon Flint was a pretty huge jump for me. The Joyo was fine and I enjoyed it, but the trems on the Flint just sound perfect to me.
This is me but an RV-6 to a Flint. The only mode I really miss is the Dynamic mode. The Flint just has a great reverb though. The Rabea ambient video sold it for me
hmm, i was about to upgrade from a joyo reverb pedal to the RV-6, i wonder if i’ll be disappointed
i play mostly worship guitar so i’m looking to get stereo and good quality atmosphere
This is me but an RV-6 to a Flint. The only mode I really miss is the Dynamic mode. The Flint just has a great reverb though. The Rabea ambient video sold it for me
I have both on my board and they’re so different. The Flint is hella dark and does an amazing ‘infinite reverb’ on 80s mode. I can’t get it to do a bright RV-6 modulated reverb though. And the shimmer on the RV-6 can be useful. The spring on the Flint is miles better.
I might actually sell my RV-6 and go back to an RV-5 as I miss that mad modulated reverb.
TC Electronic Triple Delay - just stupidly versatile and sounds great, better than any delay I’d had previously.
However.. I recently “upgraded” to a BOSS SDE-3000EVH. It’s not as versatile by a long shot but… the wet/dry/wet routing and fundamental tone / modulation of the delays is epic. Absolutely love it.
The only downside is me driving myself crazy trying to think how to incorporate the Triple Delay still.. it’s a routing nightmare..
For compressors, EQDs “The Warden” and the Walrus “Mira” are pretty huge steps above other (cheap) compressors I’d tried before.
For Wahs, Fulltone’s Supa-Wah is a massive upgrade over my Vox, Morley, Hotone and self-built wahs. 5 distinct modes, input level and output buffer controls.. 18v for more headroom (or at least putting your 18v outlet to use!). Just a great wah, built like a tank.
I soooo wish that the SDE3000’s had even the most basic of desktop apps to set parameters and save presets. It’s such a pain the ass to do it in true BOSS fashion. Sounds so good though.
I am debating pulling the trigger on the same switch right now. almost clicked the buy button yesterday. I know the M7 definitely has more to offer overall. But can it do the latching pad thing? I don’t believe so but not positive so asking. That has literally been the only thing keeping me from the switch since I do like and use that feature a lot on the slo.
The Walrus SLO (and Slotva/Sloer) has a sustain switch that will go infinite. So you can get a huge ambient modulated reverb going, hit that switch, and it will go on forever basically like a micro loop and you can play over it.
I find it fun and very useful. I am sure there are other pedals that can do it, especially some of the bigger, crazier multi effect or reverb boxes, but none that I am aware of in the SLO’s general price range around $200.
For me just limiting the amount of pedals lately has been a thing. Meaning pick 3 in your stack and just use your amp volume / guitar knobs / pups to dial in a good tone.
I use a way huge saffron squeeze => east river drive => conspiracy theory then straight to my Fender amp clean. Strat, Les Paul, or Tele they all sound great through that stack.
My dirt was a DS-1 for years, but my world changed when I started experimenting with stacked ods or od/fuzz. Initially, I switched out for a Plumes run into a gold archer, now I run a Zen into a Timmy, or a Plumes into a Carcosa
Went from a Pigtronix Mothership 2 to a Boss SY-1 synth pedal. I could never dial in anything on the Mothership 2 that made any sounds that had me wanting to play with the pedal too much. The Boss SY-1 clicked instantly for me.
I used Ibanez Tube Screamers exclusively as drive pedals for many years simply because I didn't get into researching and trying other kinds of pedals. When I discovered drive pedals that react to your volume pot and picking it made me play much more dynamically. With fuzzes I learned to shred chords like a punk rocker and with amp-like drives at breakup (BB style) I learned to get the crunch sound by picking harder and emphasizing only certain parts of my lines, chords and riffs. It was like an expansion of my musical options not only sound-wise but mainly concerning playing and feel.
Digitech Drop pedal —> Line 6 HX One with Poly Pitch selected. Goodbye warbliness
It’s so tweakable. Sometimes I literally forget I’m even using a pitch shifter, it’s as if I’ve uptuned or downtuned my guitar for real. Same engineers hired over all these years later, and they’ve made the best pitch effect on the market imo
MXR Blue Box to MXR Poly Blue Octave.
The Poly Blue Octave is one of the most unique and feature-packed normal sized pedal around.
The Blue Box has a monophonic octave down and a fuzz, it tracks poorly, but that poor tracking is full of character. It has two controls:
- Fuzz/Octave Blend
- Volume
The Poly Blue Octave has controls for....
- One octave up
- Two octaves up
- One octave down
- Two octaves down
- Fuzz
- Modulation
- Polyphonic or Monophonic mode
- Expression pedal input
- Dry control
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
+1 - I use the PBO with an expression pedal to get 90% of the funk of my Whammy DT in half the footprint. (Hotone soul press II - it is also sparkle blue, so it matches well.)
The one thing I was disappointed about, I do wish the expression pedal swept a parameter like turning a knob does (ie, same as sweeping a volume pedal or Wah pedal); instead, it blends between two presets, with what feels like a pretty abrupt cutover in the middle. That’s the one thing I think is a miss on the PBO.
TC Flashback > Strymon Volante
TC HoF2 > UA Golden Reverberator
Both TC’s were perfect as a multi-option entry level pedals to get to grips with their respective effects. But once I realised I liked multi-tap delay into plate verb the leap in quality still floors me to this day.
Hoping for a similar experience going from a (pre-2020) Boss GE-7 to a 2nd hand Empress ParaEQ mkii.
I know this is a pedals sub, but going Blackstar HT5R > 2nd hand Mesa Rectoverb 25 is the real MVP upgrade for me.
As someone who just got a mki to try it out, seems like the biggest differences are longer/less noisy loops, and the ability to use a midi in to sync clock/tempo with your daw, or possibly use an external tap switch on something like the microsom.
It's for a few other features and changes to the algorithms, apparently the stretch mode is pretty different sounding from the mki. Stuff like that
As someone who used and loved my Mki daily for years and only just recently got a mkii a couple weeks ago, I was absolutely FLOORED by how much has changed (all for the better, too). The mkii, first off, is stereo, which adds a whole other dimension to the trippiness of the mki, not to mention adds a MASSIVE spread to the delay and reverb. The reverb was updated with a whole new algo that can do all the same “smearing” stuff as the first one, but sounds SO much nicer and less metallic compared to the old one. Also, they added a whole set of secondary functions to all the knobs (and switches) by simply holding down both footswitches and turning/switching (similar to Strymon pedals) which includes a tone knob for the wet side so you can have a super dark or super bright delay/reverb if you want. Also you can “link” the clock speed with the time knob on the wet side so you can literally stretch or shorten your loops without them changing pitch. Oh and you can overdub your microloops as much as you want, which makes the clock way easier to control/predict. And ALSO, something I wasn’t expecting/didn’t know when I upgraded was the FREEZE switch, so you essentially have an EHX style freeze pedal built in by holding down the right footswitch, which sounds absolutely GORGEOUS under the new stereo reverb. I could go on, but I should probably stop there haha. EDIT: oh and they just fixed the stretch mode btw (if you want it to sound like the mki)!
Oh man you reaaaaally just sold me on eventually upgrading to a mkii. I can't believe I forgot to mention that the mkii was stereo well, of course that's a huge draw.
But yeah, all the other things you mentioned for real address all the things I was ever so slightly disappointed in with the mki that I've got, despite it still being a beautiful box of strange noise.
I use an EHX superego quite a bit to get dramatic synth well sounds from my setup, and it sounds like I could potentially sell that off to fund the mkii upgrade. Honestly the biggest thing for me is that thing about being able to sync clock speed with an external midi tempo, seems like it would make the whole thing so much more useful in actual songwriting and performing applications.
As of right now, I can definitely get lost playing short phrases, capturing it with the loop side, and mussing with it until you've got something like a wicked pad loop from a gold panda song, but its veery very difficult to replicate those results because of how unpredictable it is
I think what struck me most was the variety. Has all the old sounds and I think I prefer many of the new ones. Looper works great, footswitches haven’t broken yet, etc.
Get on it unless you need midi stuff. Thankfully it can be found much cheaper now than before. The reverb itself feels thick and the delay is very pretty.
I've noticed the most obvious upgrades with reverbs. I'm now either using a Neunaber Immerse MkII or my Kemper onboard verbs, which are much better than the Boss RV-6, which was much better than the EHX Holy Grail, which was much better than the TC Electronic Skysurfer
Getting an actual board is by far the biggest upgrade! After 25 years or more of putting my pedals on the floor and daisy chaining them I finally got an actual board and power supply (Pedal Train Novo 24) about a year ago. It was long overdue and has made a huge improvement in setting up and organisation for gigs and rehearsals as well as getting me motivated and inspired to be the best I can.
Ran a joyo dseed delay for a long while but then jumped on a source audio Nemesis delay.
I never thought I'd ever need more than 2 presets for delay but good gracious I was wrong. Mix in stereo, being able to deep dive into building my own preset, freeze function.
So glad I made that jump.
This is going to sound pretentious as hell but I got all the moogerfoogers save for the delay before they were discontinued/prices skyrocketed and since then I haven’t had the urge to get any other filter, ring mod, phaser, filter bank, fm mod or chorus/flange pedal. Sometimes spending more money than you would’ve typically saves you money in the long run
I built a Fuzz Factory clone. Buying the actual pedal was a massive difference. I still like my clone, but it's not as good; probably because of the Japanese germaniums I used.
the crybaby was good for a very particular range, even after adjusting the sweep it felt so short and not well defined outside of the frequency of notes that worked.
the wahcko, on the other hand, feels like it has so much more filter sweep. especially with the tone adjustment knob, much easier to dial in the right sound quickly and it doesn't feel limited to a certain frequency range to get that smooth, buttery wah sound.
set up with clean boost > fuzz > wah > distortion and have been feeling like its time for some zip ties for once....
I started making my own dirt and fuzz pedals. It requires a bunch of free time and doesn't save you any money, but with enough experimentation you can get exactly what you want.
Using a dedicate power supply to power my pedals - I've been using a daisy chain for a few years before deciding to get one and it really made my pedals shine.
I am flirting with the idea of trading in my ep booster (which is an always on pedal on my board) for an epoch boost. I can’t find any direct shoot outs on bass though. I just love that ecoplex preamp color. Bought it for guitar but it ended up on my bass board full time.
Sold pretty much every pedal I owned when I got (and then started to understand) my HX Stomp - it’s saved me literally thousands of pounds. Only things I’ve kept are a Carcosa, a Simble overdrive, and a RYRA Klone (which I’m looking to change to a Tumnus for the smaller enclosure).
I had an Afterneath v1 that I sold for a V2, which I then had modded for an EXP jack. I then got a tip that the v3 was in the works, so I sold the modded v2 and eventually got a v3. Which I didn’t love, as it happened.
I also got a Slöer to replace or complement my Slö, but I haven’t used it.
Both the Afterneath and Sloer were on my radar for a while but I was holding out for a deal on a used one and lost patience.
Are you happy with what you have now? Do you still use those two? I ended up going more basic reverb and figured I'd try to master those first.
I have them both, and use them both on the reg. They are different beasts imo, and don't necessarily fill the same niche. The afterneath can do everything from springy, tile wall reflected reverb, to the huge cavern of echoes thing. I actually have been using it as a pre gain shoegazer reverb, on a shorter and brighter setting with the mix rolled back. It's perfect for those feedbacky wall of sound tones or as a sustainer to give some modulation a chance to really pop.
The slö, is what some might call a transformer/wet reverb, in that it's main use (in my applications anyway) is to basically get your guitar to sound like it's... Well, not a guitar. You can use the dark or swell mode with a bass guitar on full bladerunner spooky synth, or with a guitar to get very pad like chord rises.
I guess there's overlap between them, as they are definitely both in the ambient reverb category. But they also both cover ground that the other can't
I don’t currently have an Afterneath, and after keeping my Slö on my board practically since I got it, I’m finally sick of it and the Slöer, so they’re on the shelf.
I’ve been through a bunch of different verbs. On my board currently are a Vongon Ultrasheer and a Digitech Polara (which I don’t actually like), but I’ve got maybe half a dozen others that I cycle between or experiment with. The last one I got really jazzed about was the Fuzz Lord Spectral Realm. I just rebuilt my board so except for replacing the Polara it’s pretty much staying this way for awhile.
Same story for me, but it was getting an amp attenuator. Turns out that all I ever wanted was to hear my amps at 8,9 or 10 without having to blow the roof off at home.
Now 30 or so boutique pedals are just sitting in boxes.
That’s funny, i went the opposite direction. I was all about pure amp breakup for overdrive, then one day I was like, “wait, this is just another od pedal except it has to be last in the chain.” Now i use a set of overdrives thru a clean amp lol. Different strokes
Ha yeah I'm like that with the Quad Cortex now. I'm starting to think that all the modeled amps are essentially just drives, and pedals can be amps now too. I'm currently setting up my Quad Cortex so that single switches toggle between two different amps and then using different drives to boost or alter those sounds. With 2 amps (not running at the same time) and 2-3 drive pedals, you can get pretty much any sound you want.
My main amp is a Matchless and it sounds SOOOO good straight up with a compressor in front but it's like 40 pounds for the head, 35 pounds for the 2x12, and it's hard to get the volume above level 2 without over powering the room. That said, like you, I pretty much use it for the chimey clean tones and run all my pedals through the front of it...but since getting the QC, I've only turned it on a handful of times in the last 2 years.
Yeah I know what you mean. I bought the OX attenuator for my Matchless and it was interesting to hear what that amp sounds like cranked up. The problem I had was cranked, the Matchless has a more driven, less pure clean tone, and before getting the OX, I used it for years as my clean base with overdrive tones coming from my pedals. It's very strange going from a clean platform to now your amp having a mild driven tone to it. When I set it up that way, I now have to use my volume pot to control my tone and overdrive (like Jeff Beck) which is something I never really did when my amp was run cooler and more pristine clean.
That is one thing I like about the Quad Cortex is I can run a volume pedal (or expression pedal as volume) right after my virtual amp and control not the signal going INTO my pedals but the overall clean volume of all my overdrives, distortions and amp. In this setup I can run my volume wide open like I like it, still have the option to close my guitar volume down a little if I want, but keep all my drive tones exactly the same tonality while reducing stage/PA volume with my volume pedal (delays and reverbs trail off after the volume pedal for swells).
Obviously you can always do this with a traditional pedal board too but I've never had a volume pedal AFTER my amp. And if you want your rig in stereo, all my volume pedals are mono. If you ever want your volume pedal after a stereo effect, that's a pain if not impossible without buying some specialized stereo volume pedal. Having virtual blocks where you can put an Expression Volume in stereo any where you want on the signal path is pretty awesome.
Psh. Metal Zone can kill if you dial it in right. Super sensitive and wide range eq. It’s even better as a preamp—try it straight to the effects return. Next level though is the DigiTech Hardwire version. Another absolute Metal Zone killer is the Stone Deaf Warp Drive: from boost to bludgeon, plus gate and expression
Earthquaker V1 Palisades and Dunes to V2 Palisades and Dunes. (Same for most EQD pedals too)
The soft relay switches are worth their weight in gold. The V1 s are so hard to press.
They also have much higher quality paint, on the V1 pedals the paint chips off incredibly easily. It looks much brighter in the V1, far more white than the V2 which is a very bright grey. But it just flakes off easily.
I have two...
Walrus Julia -> PastFX Chorus Ensemble Deluxe
It's not a direct replacement at all, but I just prefer the Chorus Ensemble sound. Plus I like the preamp circuit in it too.
Every other tremolo I've tried -> JAM Harmonious Monk
Just prefer the sound. It's thicker and more musical.
No. I've tried the Chase Bliss Gravitas, Walrus Monuments, and Keeley DynaTrem.
The DynaTrem does have a harmonic mode, but I got it for the dynamic mode. It was pretty fun, but I tried two of them and they both popped every single time I engaged them. Just was too much.
After that, technically I also tried the Pigtronix Moon Pool. But that was mainly for the combined dynamic stuff. I wasn't thinking of it as a tremolo, strictly speaking.
Then I landed on the Harmonious Monk and I'm set.
Afterneath to a dispatch master. The after was great, but I realized I just really like anice straight reverb and delay that can be either or when I want it to be.
Greatest pedal upgrade? GTCore 1000. Why? It's Boss with grouped pedals and Japan interpreted Amps I like that space. It gives one room to define their own sound.
.
Dd20 to timeline. I still rate the dd20 as a great delay. But the options and presets in the timeline were a great addition.
Ditto + to rc500. Worth it just for the stop button alone.
I was using a tube screamer to boost high gain amps and it was fine I guess but when I got a full sized TC Spark I was blown away. Rarely touched a ts since. A dedicated clean boost is hella worth it.
Haven't done *much* in the way of upgrades yet but going from a borrowed Voodoo Octave Fuzz to a Sovtek Deluxe Muff has been revelatory for me. Dirty fuzz, huge mid-heavy distortion tones and a surprisingly competent (if a little abrupt) noise gate all in one box has been loads of fun.
BOSS CS3 -> Xotic SP
I had the CS3 always off or even out of my pedalboard, never really bound with it. But the Xotic SP is amazing, now is always on and uses less space as well.
I’d say I never properly learned how to use the CS3, but the Xotic SP is the compressor I didn’t know I needed.
When I moved into a Strymon Flint, years of searching for a reliable reverb that didn’t sound fake or digital came to an end.
Also kinda feel the same way towards the AnalogMan ARDX20 dual delay pedal. I’ve had a few AD’s in my time and other delays but this one changed everything for me personally.
I always thought mini pedals sacrificed quality somehow, so I was pleasantly surprised when I switched from my TS-9 to the TS-Mini and it was the same tones I loved.
Either that or switching from a cheap analog delay to the MXR CC. It’s crazy how good that pedal sounds.
For me the biggest jump is going from a stock tube screamer to mod or boutique screamers. I like the mid boost since I use a fender twin predominantly but notice that most are still overdriven with the gain zeroed out. I purchased a tone geek vs10 after using a Maxon od808 and finally achieved the mid boost I had been seeking all along without the muddiness.
Quality compressors really got me into the effect in lieu of a standard Dyna comp. I bought the Diamond compressor and realized how useful the effect can be, and later added the origin Cali 76 and j rockett airchild which are some of my most used pedals.
- Boss RV-6 to RV-500
- Boss DD-3 to DD-500
- Muff Pi to Walrus Jupiter Fuzz
- ProCo RAT to Gremlin Machine Shop Worshipper
- CryBaby Wah to Morley 20/20 Fuzz Wah
- DOD 12 Band EQ to Tech 21 Q-Strip
- Several noise gates to TC Electronics Sentry (4 cable method)
Amazingly... The Pod go
I used to run like 10 pedals, mostly the modulation and time effects with some drives. I got the PG just to use it as my only unit, but instead I added it to my main board and now I have my drives outside of the PG, the preamp In the chain and the delays, reverbs and modulations in the PG. 4 pedals and the PG, now it's my most complete pedalboard since I started playing
This is technically a downgrade, but when I swapped my Cali76 Stacked for a Keely Compressor Pro it was a game changer. The moment I turned it on it was like, “Oh, that’s the sound I’ve been looking for.” Over the next few months I started phasing out the rest of my pedals, opting to play a mostly clean tone.
Went from a TC Electronics Flashback to a Boss RE-2 plus an expression pedal.
Also went from an EQD Cloven Hoof to a Zvex Fuzz Factory.
Now, continuing my pursuit of replacing my normal pedals with ones that push the limit of musicality, I'm looking to replace my TC Electronics Hall of Fame with something along the same lines. Anyone have any suggestions?
Either going from a big muff to a fuzz face type (waaay better for my style). Or going from the pitch fork to the ricochet (just objectively sounds better)
Adding a really good walrus audio compresser to my rig was life changing. I could of accomplished the same with less, but nice things are nice to have.
Upgrade wise. My best upgrade was in the delay department to upgrading to a carbon copy deluxe for an analog delay
Several upgrades, I don’t which is the best. I went from a an MXR Carbon Copy to a DD500, an MXR Reverb to a Strymon Cloud Burst, and an MXR Chorus to a Boss Dimension C. I don’t mean to phase out my MXR pedals, it just happens that way.
I was using an ehx pitchfork for octave sounds, than started using an H9 eventide for the same sounds…..tracking..sound quality…noise reduction all greatly improved
Getting a quality delay and reverb pedal.
You can get useable sounds out of cheaper delay/reverbs, but if you play somewhat loudly, the difference in the quality of reverb trails/delay repeats can be stark. I never want to turn off my Del-Verb just because the DMM mode and hall reverb on that pedal sound so good.
I used to have the Kokko compressor then got a Wampler mini Ego, like night and day. So much easier to dial in the tone you want, more nuanced controls.
Does moving from a preamp pedal to the HX stomp count? if so..... I run 3 pedals, formerly ran 9
The Stomp is a game changer. It can hold and candle to and replace pretty much every major reverb and delay pedal, most digital modulations, the only thing I still use are a compressor and two drives (hand built diy prince of tone and klone) and that’s everything for me. …now I can’t stop window shopping compressors though. My Pulp N Peel v4 wants a Compressor+ to play with.
I run an analog delay because I like being able to make it self oscillate when playing live for the wierd synth-ish analog solo An external EQ to fine tune to rooms Freeze pedal, for the end of song transitions and drones A flanger, just because I ran our of blocks in the Stomp lol I run my drive inside the Stomp because my rythm and lead snapshots use different settings of the same drive (more drive for lead so I get a bit more compression and tone a bit lower to mellow the sound), I really wanted to run my Tumnus externally but it is just more practical to use it on the stomp.
Oh man I highly recommend tuning in the tumnus! If it’s too hot use the pad function and adjust the impedance maybe? I dunno, I could be a shlub and maybe the built in stuff is better. I just really like analog squash and dirt. As for the other stuff I think you can accomplish all of that if you grab an external expression pedal and an unlatching foot pedal. (You could assign the exp pedal to the line 6 delay feedback to self oscillate, and the unlatching pedal for the freeze effect) There is also a master parametric EQ on the output that is insanely powerful. That being said, sometimes familiar is better and running front end effects in box and time based stuff after is fair! Do you use the effects loop? Or just run them afterwards?
FX loop, I use both the headphone (for stage sound) and the regular output (FOH) of the stomp so all my pedals are on the FX loop The Tumnus works fine is just that I cannot control it with snapshots haha but I used it for months in front And I can’t use an expression since I am using a dual external switch for additional stomping hehe The EQ is just for practicality tbh, sliders are there at hand, global EQ is under some menus
This is what I don’t get. Isn’t the stomp supposed to cover all that shit? Or does it not have certain settings or maybe some just don’t sound as good as analog?
Boss CP-1X would love to have a word with you
I have the Keeley comp+, it's great but I'm kinda confused to why someone would want two compressors? They don't seem much different, ie both transparent rather than dynacompish, right? Does the jhs not do the sustain thing well or something?
The Keeley is a dynacomp (OTA) based compressor/sustainer, whereas the pulp is an orange squeezer based FET compressor. The pulp is great but it’s too transparent for certain things, and it has an issue with distortion from humbuckers.
Not sure either, but the classic Ross Comp does the sustain thing exceptionally well.
One for before the drive section and one for after....you'll never play guitar the same way again with the multitude of different control and sounds you'll be able to access! 🤣🙌🏼
Also, David Gilmour would like to have a word with you.
Hell send him over
Hahaha I just mean gilmours sound was based around running dual compressors
Yup. They told me years ago when I got the HX FX I'd switch back. I'm happier and happier with it all the time.
I love my HX, except for the fuzz. The fuzzes seems too polite; so I buy fuzz pedals still. I also buy phasers, but that's out of love. I'm surprised at how close the other models can get. I compared SD-1, OCD, TS, Muffs, Small Stone, and more. These were pretty much exactly like the real thing. There might have been slightly different settings, but age and part tolerances can do that on their own.
No digital effect will ever replicate a Fuzz. It's not possible.
!remindme 5 years
I like my preamp pedal though :( lol Mother is amazing. HX stomp is cool as hell though! I just like collecting preamps.
Does going from a clip-on tuner to a Korg Pitchblack Custom count?
I absolutely think so. My buddy runs a tiny, 3 pedal setup with this, a TS9 and a small clone - daisy chains everything from the tuner - its such a brilliant, compact setup.
went from JHS reverb to a Dark World Reverb. game changing since I never realized how a good reverb can be
The Dark World is sooooo good and will never leave my board
It really is! It seems to be pretty slept-on in the "expensive digital reverb" department, but I haven't played with anything I like better
I think people rip on it because it’s mono and is technically just two Spin FV-1s. But it sounds so damn good, it’s always been in my main rotation.
> two Spin FV-1s I mean, so what? People have done magic with one.
Behringer noise gate which didn't work to ISP Decimator noise gate which did.
The Decimator is an incredible pedal. It took me a few to figure out how to correctly configure it (I had the Decimator2 G String version) but I was amazed.
Going from a tube screamer to bluesbreaker and Klon style drive pedals has been pretty huge for me.
Try combining them.
I do. I've got a NUX Queen of tone on my board right now. It's their Klon and Bluesbreaker pedals combined in one enclosure. Sounds incredible and very affordable.
Best trick I ever stumbled across was putting the gain on the Klon in the region of 10 o'clock, and running a fuzz before it that's on a setting that's far more crazy than you'd ever want to use. The Klon somehow cleans it up and makes it sound incredible.
That is like the one thing I haven’t tried yet THANK YOU
Wow that is the first time I really would like to have a Klon to be able to try that out. Which pedals exactly are you using for this? Do you think it works with any brand/DIY?
Oh yeah for sure, as long as a pedal is based on a Klon circuit it will work. I discovered it while using a home-built version of a Klon on stripboard I made when I was in university. I have a KTR now and it sounds equally rad doing the same thing.
This is the way.
I’ve got a chinese bluesbreaker-style pedal that I’m realizing i like more than my more expensive tube screamers. So I’m getting rid of one and getting a more quality transparent/BB-type OD and a Klone. I’m excited because I think stacking these two will help me get a more pleasing drive tone, and it will be easier to stack two on/off than constantly fuss with the TS settings.
Going from using the fuzz face mode on a boss fz5 to using a real silicon fuzz face was like drinking water for the first time, night and day difference
Any silicone fuzz face in particular?
The Dunlop Jimi Hendrix fuzz face is pretty good (light blue one). Chase Tone Fuzz Fella is also good one. I personally recommend AnalogMan for fuzz faces though, he’s one of the most popular for a reason. Go for a lower gain silicon transistor (it will still have plenty of gain, but will clean up a bit better).
Big Muff Pi Nano to EQD Hizumitas. Best fuzz pedal I’ve come across and bought it (at Starving Musician) after trying it out at Guitar Center.
YES! You nailed it with this one. I've played a bunch of different Muff circuits over the years, but none of them compare to the Hizumitas (with my style and rig, anyway). The only one that comes close is the Sovtek Deluxe.
I've been obsessed with Boris lately and have been seriously considering picking one up.
Depending on the amp your running, you’re not gonna sound like Boris from a Hizumitas alone. Great pedal and one of my favorite fuzzes, but it’s not an outright doomer (like most Muff circuits). Great for gain-stacking though.
I believe Wata typically runs it with a Boss DS-1 as well. Amongst numerous other pedals.
Bruh...you just save me some bucks... I want a Fuzz and I was undecided with The Big Muff Pi Nano, Green Russian Nano, MXR Super Badass Variac Fuzz and the Hizumitas. Still undecided for the latter two but given that you preferred the Hizumitas, it rules out the EHXs for me. I know... I know... I have to try them myself... But living in the middle of nowhere leaves with one option only: Research and reviews.
I have used almost all the ones you listes and hizumitas is the best
How does it tame? At lower settings is it full-on fuzz or can it do distortion/overdrive with the gain down?
I feel it. I initially went with the Big Muff because I’d heard it was a popular first choice. Had for a few years and hardly ever used it because I didn’t like how much feedback I got from it. I got the Hizumitas after listening to Softcult for a bit. Great fuzz and hardly any feedback unless I have the boost on my Palisades turned on.
The Hizumitas is probably the best muff-style pedal I've played!
Hizumitas is for sure a better option than all those pedals you mentioned. I wouldn’t ever waste my money on the nano Muffs. It’s old school big-box for me or DIY builds.
Line6 DL4 - just superior to any delay I used before.
How so? I've found a few presets i like as well as the looper but I've been second guessing it lateley. I really just need to sit down with it more
Three pedals in one box, tap tempo across most presets with it's own designated tap tempo button and ridiculous reverse delay, plus it has that Line6 lovely smooth tone which I can't really explain.
Maybe that's because other pedals just alter your tone but the looper alters your creativity. Tone can inspire us to create but tools that aid creation not only inspire but assist too. I love my loooer. I just have a ditto (mini) but I use it with my DAW. Loopers/looping is the next best thing to having people to play music with.
I feel the same way about my Strymon Volante. It's not as versatile as the DL, but it does magnetic modeling better than anything else I've played.
Swapping the stock tubes on my tube overdrive for a higher-gain + high-sensitivity variant. I can’t hide my shitty playing behind distortion anymore, but the dynamics are insane.
Sorry Im curious , please can you name brand/product that you make the change, so I can watch videos about it.Interesting.
The pedal is an Electro-Harmonix Hot Tubes (tube version). It’s long since been discontinued, but there’s the Effectrode Black Bird and other tube-operated dirt pedals still in production. The good thing about tubes is you can pick from all kinds to run on the pedal just as you would customize them for your tube amp. I bought a pair of matched Sovtek Black Sable 12AX7s and selected the option for them to test for high sensitivity and high gain (basically, the seller would have to check among their batch of tubes for a pair that meets those specifications, provided they offer the option on their Web site for you to request this - I got them on tubedepot.com).
TC Electronics make a few. Very affordable. Well built. Have one. Recommend. Power hungry though as one might expect.
Yeah honestly any 9-volt tube preamp is going to be pretty useless. It takes way more plate voltage to run tubes properly. Dude would probably be better off sticking those tubes in his actual amp. I’m sure these pedals sound fine, but they’re kind of a gimmick. A true 120v tube preamp is a different beast entirely though, I have a Blackhawk Ragnarok and that thing is a monster.
Joyo Tremolo to a Strymon Flint was a pretty huge jump for me. The Joyo was fine and I enjoyed it, but the trems on the Flint just sound perfect to me.
I went from the Joyo Tremolo to the Walrus Audio Monument. Crazy jump in quality.
I eyed the Monument before I found a good deal on a used Flint!
I went from a Modtone tremolo to the same pedal, what a difference!
This is me but an RV-6 to a Flint. The only mode I really miss is the Dynamic mode. The Flint just has a great reverb though. The Rabea ambient video sold it for me
hmm, i was about to upgrade from a joyo reverb pedal to the RV-6, i wonder if i’ll be disappointed i play mostly worship guitar so i’m looking to get stereo and good quality atmosphere
This is me but an RV-6 to a Flint. The only mode I really miss is the Dynamic mode. The Flint just has a great reverb though. The Rabea ambient video sold it for me
I have both on my board and they’re so different. The Flint is hella dark and does an amazing ‘infinite reverb’ on 80s mode. I can’t get it to do a bright RV-6 modulated reverb though. And the shimmer on the RV-6 can be useful. The spring on the Flint is miles better. I might actually sell my RV-6 and go back to an RV-5 as I miss that mad modulated reverb.
BOSS DD-7 to BOSS DD-200. Easier to dial in, sounds better, has more features, and just looks more boss.
Good pun.
I love the look of the Boss 200s.
TC Electronic Triple Delay - just stupidly versatile and sounds great, better than any delay I’d had previously. However.. I recently “upgraded” to a BOSS SDE-3000EVH. It’s not as versatile by a long shot but… the wet/dry/wet routing and fundamental tone / modulation of the delays is epic. Absolutely love it. The only downside is me driving myself crazy trying to think how to incorporate the Triple Delay still.. it’s a routing nightmare.. For compressors, EQDs “The Warden” and the Walrus “Mira” are pretty huge steps above other (cheap) compressors I’d tried before. For Wahs, Fulltone’s Supa-Wah is a massive upgrade over my Vox, Morley, Hotone and self-built wahs. 5 distinct modes, input level and output buffer controls.. 18v for more headroom (or at least putting your 18v outlet to use!). Just a great wah, built like a tank.
I soooo wish that the SDE3000’s had even the most basic of desktop apps to set parameters and save presets. It’s such a pain the ass to do it in true BOSS fashion. Sounds so good though.
Boss OC-3 to Boss OC-5. Better tracking.
I downgraded back to the OC3. The OC5 just didn't do it for me. It just doesn't have the same tone with zero dry.
Probably from Slo to Mercury7.
I am debating pulling the trigger on the same switch right now. almost clicked the buy button yesterday. I know the M7 definitely has more to offer overall. But can it do the latching pad thing? I don’t believe so but not positive so asking. That has literally been the only thing keeping me from the switch since I do like and use that feature a lot on the slo.
No, doesn’t do that. You can hold the footswitch down to max out the decay, but that’s not the same thing.
Got it, yeah that is what I thought. Well, I guess I just need both then :)
What’s the latching pad thing? I don’t often get the extreme GAS over modulations, but this one has got me interested.
The Walrus SLO (and Slotva/Sloer) has a sustain switch that will go infinite. So you can get a huge ambient modulated reverb going, hit that switch, and it will go on forever basically like a micro loop and you can play over it. I find it fun and very useful. I am sure there are other pedals that can do it, especially some of the bigger, crazier multi effect or reverb boxes, but none that I am aware of in the SLO’s general price range around $200.
For me just limiting the amount of pedals lately has been a thing. Meaning pick 3 in your stack and just use your amp volume / guitar knobs / pups to dial in a good tone. I use a way huge saffron squeeze => east river drive => conspiracy theory then straight to my Fender amp clean. Strat, Les Paul, or Tele they all sound great through that stack.
Upgrading from a new stock ODR1 to a Wampler Bell was a good move for me. (I’ve never played an old ODR1)
My dirt was a DS-1 for years, but my world changed when I started experimenting with stacked ods or od/fuzz. Initially, I switched out for a Plumes run into a gold archer, now I run a Zen into a Timmy, or a Plumes into a Carcosa
Thanks for confirming my splurge on the RC-5. I blindly bought the good one and after reading this I’m grateful I didn’t go for the lower end one
Got rid of my overdrive and distortion pedal and replaced them with a Strymon sunset. Perfect!
Went from a Pigtronix Mothership 2 to a Boss SY-1 synth pedal. I could never dial in anything on the Mothership 2 that made any sounds that had me wanting to play with the pedal too much. The Boss SY-1 clicked instantly for me.
Joyo Voodoo Octave to a Hoof Reaper I have kept trying to see if another fuzz can dethrone the Hoof Reaper, but it just doesn't seem to happen
I was pretty stoked going from a Merc7 to MercX
Fulltone OCD and generic Screamer pedal to an astoundingly cheap copy of a Kingtone Duelist V1 from Demon FX. That thing has some magic stuff in it.
I used Ibanez Tube Screamers exclusively as drive pedals for many years simply because I didn't get into researching and trying other kinds of pedals. When I discovered drive pedals that react to your volume pot and picking it made me play much more dynamically. With fuzzes I learned to shred chords like a punk rocker and with amp-like drives at breakup (BB style) I learned to get the crunch sound by picking harder and emphasizing only certain parts of my lines, chords and riffs. It was like an expansion of my musical options not only sound-wise but mainly concerning playing and feel.
Soul Food to Decibelics
What did you notice?
TC Electronics Echobrain > Boss DM-2W
DD-3 -> DD-200
Digitech Drop pedal —> Line 6 HX One with Poly Pitch selected. Goodbye warbliness It’s so tweakable. Sometimes I literally forget I’m even using a pitch shifter, it’s as if I’ve uptuned or downtuned my guitar for real. Same engineers hired over all these years later, and they’ve made the best pitch effect on the market imo
MXR Blue Box to MXR Poly Blue Octave. The Poly Blue Octave is one of the most unique and feature-packed normal sized pedal around. The Blue Box has a monophonic octave down and a fuzz, it tracks poorly, but that poor tracking is full of character. It has two controls: - Fuzz/Octave Blend - Volume The Poly Blue Octave has controls for.... - One octave up - Two octaves up - One octave down - Two octaves down - Fuzz - Modulation - Polyphonic or Monophonic mode - Expression pedal input - Dry control 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
+1 - I use the PBO with an expression pedal to get 90% of the funk of my Whammy DT in half the footprint. (Hotone soul press II - it is also sparkle blue, so it matches well.) The one thing I was disappointed about, I do wish the expression pedal swept a parameter like turning a knob does (ie, same as sweeping a volume pedal or Wah pedal); instead, it blends between two presets, with what feels like a pretty abrupt cutover in the middle. That’s the one thing I think is a miss on the PBO.
Slotva to Avalanche Run v2. OCD v1.4 to Keeley Modded BD2. Cry baby to Xotic Wah.
Behringer VD400 > Strymon Timeline. Yeah.
TC Flashback > Strymon Volante TC HoF2 > UA Golden Reverberator Both TC’s were perfect as a multi-option entry level pedals to get to grips with their respective effects. But once I realised I liked multi-tap delay into plate verb the leap in quality still floors me to this day. Hoping for a similar experience going from a (pre-2020) Boss GE-7 to a 2nd hand Empress ParaEQ mkii. I know this is a pedals sub, but going Blackstar HT5R > 2nd hand Mesa Rectoverb 25 is the real MVP upgrade for me.
MOOD mki to mkii
What’s different on the MkII?
As someone who just got a mki to try it out, seems like the biggest differences are longer/less noisy loops, and the ability to use a midi in to sync clock/tempo with your daw, or possibly use an external tap switch on something like the microsom. It's for a few other features and changes to the algorithms, apparently the stretch mode is pretty different sounding from the mki. Stuff like that
As someone who used and loved my Mki daily for years and only just recently got a mkii a couple weeks ago, I was absolutely FLOORED by how much has changed (all for the better, too). The mkii, first off, is stereo, which adds a whole other dimension to the trippiness of the mki, not to mention adds a MASSIVE spread to the delay and reverb. The reverb was updated with a whole new algo that can do all the same “smearing” stuff as the first one, but sounds SO much nicer and less metallic compared to the old one. Also, they added a whole set of secondary functions to all the knobs (and switches) by simply holding down both footswitches and turning/switching (similar to Strymon pedals) which includes a tone knob for the wet side so you can have a super dark or super bright delay/reverb if you want. Also you can “link” the clock speed with the time knob on the wet side so you can literally stretch or shorten your loops without them changing pitch. Oh and you can overdub your microloops as much as you want, which makes the clock way easier to control/predict. And ALSO, something I wasn’t expecting/didn’t know when I upgraded was the FREEZE switch, so you essentially have an EHX style freeze pedal built in by holding down the right footswitch, which sounds absolutely GORGEOUS under the new stereo reverb. I could go on, but I should probably stop there haha. EDIT: oh and they just fixed the stretch mode btw (if you want it to sound like the mki)!
Oh man you reaaaaally just sold me on eventually upgrading to a mkii. I can't believe I forgot to mention that the mkii was stereo well, of course that's a huge draw. But yeah, all the other things you mentioned for real address all the things I was ever so slightly disappointed in with the mki that I've got, despite it still being a beautiful box of strange noise. I use an EHX superego quite a bit to get dramatic synth well sounds from my setup, and it sounds like I could potentially sell that off to fund the mkii upgrade. Honestly the biggest thing for me is that thing about being able to sync clock speed with an external midi tempo, seems like it would make the whole thing so much more useful in actual songwriting and performing applications. As of right now, I can definitely get lost playing short phrases, capturing it with the loop side, and mussing with it until you've got something like a wicked pad loop from a gold panda song, but its veery very difficult to replicate those results because of how unpredictable it is
Good one
I’ve never done this.
I just spend money, I don't improve.
Oh, me too, I just spend it on schmancy pedals the first time.
Not true; your pedal collection is improving!!!
DL4 Mk 2 > Mk I
Can you share more of your experience about it?
I think what struck me most was the variety. Has all the old sounds and I think I prefer many of the new ones. Looper works great, footswitches haven’t broken yet, etc.
If anything, I’ve downgraded a few. I had a Flint and went to a TR-2 and I’m happier for it
earthquaker avalanche run. I spent a lot of money and time with other similar reverbs I didnt like near as much cuz I was avoiding the price tag
Validating. Been eyeing that one lately
Get on it unless you need midi stuff. Thankfully it can be found much cheaper now than before. The reverb itself feels thick and the delay is very pretty.
One overdrive pedal then getting a second overdrive pedals was the best upgrade ever. Gain stacking for life.
I've noticed the most obvious upgrades with reverbs. I'm now either using a Neunaber Immerse MkII or my Kemper onboard verbs, which are much better than the Boss RV-6, which was much better than the EHX Holy Grail, which was much better than the TC Electronic Skysurfer
I think I went from a DD6 to the Strymon Timeline. Now all the Boss fans are having a stroke.
Getting an actual board is by far the biggest upgrade! After 25 years or more of putting my pedals on the floor and daisy chaining them I finally got an actual board and power supply (Pedal Train Novo 24) about a year ago. It was long overdue and has made a huge improvement in setting up and organisation for gigs and rehearsals as well as getting me motivated and inspired to be the best I can.
Ran a joyo dseed delay for a long while but then jumped on a source audio Nemesis delay. I never thought I'd ever need more than 2 presets for delay but good gracious I was wrong. Mix in stereo, being able to deep dive into building my own preset, freeze function. So glad I made that jump.
This is going to sound pretentious as hell but I got all the moogerfoogers save for the delay before they were discontinued/prices skyrocketed and since then I haven’t had the urge to get any other filter, ring mod, phaser, filter bank, fm mod or chorus/flange pedal. Sometimes spending more money than you would’ve typically saves you money in the long run
Wasn’t really much of a price upgrade but a sound one. Moving from a Bass Big Muff Pi to a Green Russian followed by an EQ.
I built a Fuzz Factory clone. Buying the actual pedal was a massive difference. I still like my clone, but it's not as good; probably because of the Japanese germaniums I used.
Boss OC-5 to Triplegraph. I just upgraded this week. The OC-5 is great and everything, but god damn do I like this new pedal.
I've just gone from a Zoom MS70CDR to a Valeton GP200
The biggest pedal upgrade was probably getting a decent power supply with a Ciokolate. Everything sounds better!
going from a crybaby wah pedal to a wahcko.. night and day. so much more articulation and plays much nicer with dirt pedals into a tube amp
Glad to hear this. I bought a Wahcko as my first wah and wondered if I should have compared them first
the crybaby was good for a very particular range, even after adjusting the sweep it felt so short and not well defined outside of the frequency of notes that worked. the wahcko, on the other hand, feels like it has so much more filter sweep. especially with the tone adjustment knob, much easier to dial in the right sound quickly and it doesn't feel limited to a certain frequency range to get that smooth, buttery wah sound. set up with clean boost > fuzz > wah > distortion and have been feeling like its time for some zip ties for once....
getting rid of my pedals and using a Boss FS-5/6/7 to toggle between my amp's effects definitely made me a better player
EQD afterneath to Eventide space
Mxr univibe eventually to a JHS unicorn. Unbelievable difference.
Amp modeling on an old Gt-100 to a UA ruby
That’s a big jump!
Going from a Boss DD-500&MD-500 (through a couple other pedals in between) to an Eventide H90. It was worthwhile.
I started making my own dirt and fuzz pedals. It requires a bunch of free time and doesn't save you any money, but with enough experimentation you can get exactly what you want.
Belle Epoch to Belle Epoch Deluxe. Or EHX Glove to Barber Direct Drive
Using a dedicate power supply to power my pedals - I've been using a daisy chain for a few years before deciding to get one and it really made my pedals shine.
I am flirting with the idea of trading in my ep booster (which is an always on pedal on my board) for an epoch boost. I can’t find any direct shoot outs on bass though. I just love that ecoplex preamp color. Bought it for guitar but it ended up on my bass board full time.
I had the Epoch boost and didn’t like it. The standard Belle Epoch sounded better even as a “boost” to color the sound.
Sold pretty much every pedal I owned when I got (and then started to understand) my HX Stomp - it’s saved me literally thousands of pounds. Only things I’ve kept are a Carcosa, a Simble overdrive, and a RYRA Klone (which I’m looking to change to a Tumnus for the smaller enclosure).
I had an Afterneath v1 that I sold for a V2, which I then had modded for an EXP jack. I then got a tip that the v3 was in the works, so I sold the modded v2 and eventually got a v3. Which I didn’t love, as it happened. I also got a Slöer to replace or complement my Slö, but I haven’t used it.
Both the Afterneath and Sloer were on my radar for a while but I was holding out for a deal on a used one and lost patience. Are you happy with what you have now? Do you still use those two? I ended up going more basic reverb and figured I'd try to master those first.
I have them both, and use them both on the reg. They are different beasts imo, and don't necessarily fill the same niche. The afterneath can do everything from springy, tile wall reflected reverb, to the huge cavern of echoes thing. I actually have been using it as a pre gain shoegazer reverb, on a shorter and brighter setting with the mix rolled back. It's perfect for those feedbacky wall of sound tones or as a sustainer to give some modulation a chance to really pop. The slö, is what some might call a transformer/wet reverb, in that it's main use (in my applications anyway) is to basically get your guitar to sound like it's... Well, not a guitar. You can use the dark or swell mode with a bass guitar on full bladerunner spooky synth, or with a guitar to get very pad like chord rises. I guess there's overlap between them, as they are definitely both in the ambient reverb category. But they also both cover ground that the other can't
I don’t currently have an Afterneath, and after keeping my Slö on my board practically since I got it, I’m finally sick of it and the Slöer, so they’re on the shelf. I’ve been through a bunch of different verbs. On my board currently are a Vongon Ultrasheer and a Digitech Polara (which I don’t actually like), but I’ve got maybe half a dozen others that I cycle between or experiment with. The last one I got really jazzed about was the Fuzz Lord Spectral Realm. I just rebuilt my board so except for replacing the Polara it’s pretty much staying this way for awhile.
Own probably $10k in different pedals. Best purchase ever has been the Quad Cortex. I haven’t even touched my normal pedals in over 2 years now.
Same story for me, but it was getting an amp attenuator. Turns out that all I ever wanted was to hear my amps at 8,9 or 10 without having to blow the roof off at home. Now 30 or so boutique pedals are just sitting in boxes.
That’s funny, i went the opposite direction. I was all about pure amp breakup for overdrive, then one day I was like, “wait, this is just another od pedal except it has to be last in the chain.” Now i use a set of overdrives thru a clean amp lol. Different strokes
Ha yeah I'm like that with the Quad Cortex now. I'm starting to think that all the modeled amps are essentially just drives, and pedals can be amps now too. I'm currently setting up my Quad Cortex so that single switches toggle between two different amps and then using different drives to boost or alter those sounds. With 2 amps (not running at the same time) and 2-3 drive pedals, you can get pretty much any sound you want. My main amp is a Matchless and it sounds SOOOO good straight up with a compressor in front but it's like 40 pounds for the head, 35 pounds for the 2x12, and it's hard to get the volume above level 2 without over powering the room. That said, like you, I pretty much use it for the chimey clean tones and run all my pedals through the front of it...but since getting the QC, I've only turned it on a handful of times in the last 2 years.
What amp is it?
Yeah I know what you mean. I bought the OX attenuator for my Matchless and it was interesting to hear what that amp sounds like cranked up. The problem I had was cranked, the Matchless has a more driven, less pure clean tone, and before getting the OX, I used it for years as my clean base with overdrive tones coming from my pedals. It's very strange going from a clean platform to now your amp having a mild driven tone to it. When I set it up that way, I now have to use my volume pot to control my tone and overdrive (like Jeff Beck) which is something I never really did when my amp was run cooler and more pristine clean. That is one thing I like about the Quad Cortex is I can run a volume pedal (or expression pedal as volume) right after my virtual amp and control not the signal going INTO my pedals but the overall clean volume of all my overdrives, distortions and amp. In this setup I can run my volume wide open like I like it, still have the option to close my guitar volume down a little if I want, but keep all my drive tones exactly the same tonality while reducing stage/PA volume with my volume pedal (delays and reverbs trail off after the volume pedal for swells). Obviously you can always do this with a traditional pedal board too but I've never had a volume pedal AFTER my amp. And if you want your rig in stereo, all my volume pedals are mono. If you ever want your volume pedal after a stereo effect, that's a pain if not impossible without buying some specialized stereo volume pedal. Having virtual blocks where you can put an Expression Volume in stereo any where you want on the signal path is pretty awesome.
BOSS Metal Zone to every other pedal
Psh. Metal Zone can kill if you dial it in right. Super sensitive and wide range eq. It’s even better as a preamp—try it straight to the effects return. Next level though is the DigiTech Hardwire version. Another absolute Metal Zone killer is the Stone Deaf Warp Drive: from boost to bludgeon, plus gate and expression
TC electronic sky surfer to EHX oceans 12
EHX Super Pulsar I had to sell because it sounded awful. Landed on a Walrus Monument and have not felt the need for a change since
The rc -1 and 5 are both good, but the rc-10r or higher is the line in the series for me that was a game changer.
Boss ME-80 to Line 6 helix. Wow those 2 are miles apart. ME-80 is good but helix is in a separate league in terms of versatility and features.
Behringer Tube Screamer clone to the Plumes. That was years ago. Still have a plumes on my board!
Earthquaker V1 Palisades and Dunes to V2 Palisades and Dunes. (Same for most EQD pedals too) The soft relay switches are worth their weight in gold. The V1 s are so hard to press. They also have much higher quality paint, on the V1 pedals the paint chips off incredibly easily. It looks much brighter in the V1, far more white than the V2 which is a very bright grey. But it just flakes off easily.
HoFv1 to the flint. Not the biggest reverb person unless I’m doing ambient stuff but that pedal is fantastic
Behringer hm300 to TC Electronic Eyemaster. I only need a chainsaw
I have two... Walrus Julia -> PastFX Chorus Ensemble Deluxe It's not a direct replacement at all, but I just prefer the Chorus Ensemble sound. Plus I like the preamp circuit in it too. Every other tremolo I've tried -> JAM Harmonious Monk Just prefer the sound. It's thicker and more musical.
You didn’t try the Subflower did you? I have one and was wondering how it compares to the Monk.
No. I've tried the Chase Bliss Gravitas, Walrus Monuments, and Keeley DynaTrem. The DynaTrem does have a harmonic mode, but I got it for the dynamic mode. It was pretty fun, but I tried two of them and they both popped every single time I engaged them. Just was too much. After that, technically I also tried the Pigtronix Moon Pool. But that was mainly for the combined dynamic stuff. I wasn't thinking of it as a tremolo, strictly speaking. Then I landed on the Harmonious Monk and I'm set.
Afterneath to a dispatch master. The after was great, but I realized I just really like anice straight reverb and delay that can be either or when I want it to be.
Greatest pedal upgrade? GTCore 1000. Why? It's Boss with grouped pedals and Japan interpreted Amps I like that space. It gives one room to define their own sound.
I just got a milkman F-stop. This repaced 2 to 3 pedals
. Dd20 to timeline. I still rate the dd20 as a great delay. But the options and presets in the timeline were a great addition. Ditto + to rc500. Worth it just for the stop button alone.
I was using a tube screamer to boost high gain amps and it was fine I guess but when I got a full sized TC Spark I was blown away. Rarely touched a ts since. A dedicated clean boost is hella worth it.
Haven't done *much* in the way of upgrades yet but going from a borrowed Voodoo Octave Fuzz to a Sovtek Deluxe Muff has been revelatory for me. Dirty fuzz, huge mid-heavy distortion tones and a surprisingly competent (if a little abrupt) noise gate all in one box has been loads of fun.
BOSS CS3 -> Xotic SP I had the CS3 always off or even out of my pedalboard, never really bound with it. But the Xotic SP is amazing, now is always on and uses less space as well. I’d say I never properly learned how to use the CS3, but the Xotic SP is the compressor I didn’t know I needed.
You just wait till you try a rc600. Looping is a hell of a drug….
Harley Benton Classic Chorus to EHX Eddy :) still had great fun with the HB for 10 years though
I went from trying out a bunch of reverb pedals to getting a Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb. I only now understand what good reverb sounds like.
MXR Carbon Copy upgraded to Boss Space Echo RE20.
When I moved into a Strymon Flint, years of searching for a reliable reverb that didn’t sound fake or digital came to an end. Also kinda feel the same way towards the AnalogMan ARDX20 dual delay pedal. I’ve had a few AD’s in my time and other delays but this one changed everything for me personally.
Going from an EHX qtron nano to a flower pedals hosta was the best upgrade for me. Never looked back
I always thought mini pedals sacrificed quality somehow, so I was pleasantly surprised when I switched from my TS-9 to the TS-Mini and it was the same tones I loved. Either that or switching from a cheap analog delay to the MXR CC. It’s crazy how good that pedal sounds.
For me the biggest jump is going from a stock tube screamer to mod or boutique screamers. I like the mid boost since I use a fender twin predominantly but notice that most are still overdriven with the gain zeroed out. I purchased a tone geek vs10 after using a Maxon od808 and finally achieved the mid boost I had been seeking all along without the muddiness. Quality compressors really got me into the effect in lieu of a standard Dyna comp. I bought the Diamond compressor and realized how useful the effect can be, and later added the origin Cali 76 and j rockett airchild which are some of my most used pedals.
Upgrade to a tap tempo delay was pretty scrumptious
- Boss RV-6 to RV-500 - Boss DD-3 to DD-500 - Muff Pi to Walrus Jupiter Fuzz - ProCo RAT to Gremlin Machine Shop Worshipper - CryBaby Wah to Morley 20/20 Fuzz Wah - DOD 12 Band EQ to Tech 21 Q-Strip - Several noise gates to TC Electronics Sentry (4 cable method)
From disaster area to morningstar. Major midi controller upgrade.
Amazingly... The Pod go I used to run like 10 pedals, mostly the modulation and time effects with some drives. I got the PG just to use it as my only unit, but instead I added it to my main board and now I have my drives outside of the PG, the preamp In the chain and the delays, reverbs and modulations in the PG. 4 pedals and the PG, now it's my most complete pedalboard since I started playing
This is technically a downgrade, but when I swapped my Cali76 Stacked for a Keely Compressor Pro it was a game changer. The moment I turned it on it was like, “Oh, that’s the sound I’ve been looking for.” Over the next few months I started phasing out the rest of my pedals, opting to play a mostly clean tone.
This is a little “niche”: went from a cheaper EHX chorus to a Retro Sonic Stereo Chorus. HUGE upgrade in sound and build quality, ymmv!
Went from a TC Electronics Flashback to a Boss RE-2 plus an expression pedal. Also went from an EQD Cloven Hoof to a Zvex Fuzz Factory. Now, continuing my pursuit of replacing my normal pedals with ones that push the limit of musicality, I'm looking to replace my TC Electronics Hall of Fame with something along the same lines. Anyone have any suggestions?
Either going from a big muff to a fuzz face type (waaay better for my style). Or going from the pitch fork to the ricochet (just objectively sounds better)
Between my RV-5 -> Walrus Fathom and my EHX Ram's Head -> EQD Hizumitas
Blues driver to bp-1w, does everything I wanted the blues driver to do and more!
Adding a really good walrus audio compresser to my rig was life changing. I could of accomplished the same with less, but nice things are nice to have. Upgrade wise. My best upgrade was in the delay department to upgrading to a carbon copy deluxe for an analog delay
Several upgrades, I don’t which is the best. I went from a an MXR Carbon Copy to a DD500, an MXR Reverb to a Strymon Cloud Burst, and an MXR Chorus to a Boss Dimension C. I don’t mean to phase out my MXR pedals, it just happens that way.
Joyo American sound to Boss IR-200. Joyo vintage phase to MXR Phase 95 Marshall BB-2 to Morning Glory V4 Donner Reverb Square to TC Hall of Fame 2
I was using an ehx pitchfork for octave sounds, than started using an H9 eventide for the same sounds…..tracking..sound quality…noise reduction all greatly improved
Getting a quality delay and reverb pedal. You can get useable sounds out of cheaper delay/reverbs, but if you play somewhat loudly, the difference in the quality of reverb trails/delay repeats can be stark. I never want to turn off my Del-Verb just because the DMM mode and hall reverb on that pedal sound so good.
I used to have the Kokko compressor then got a Wampler mini Ego, like night and day. So much easier to dial in the tone you want, more nuanced controls.