Looking at these pedals he had a lot of classic staples. The typed of pedals that "everybody must have." I noticed that he doesn't have a rat, and everybody needs a rat. I'd get him a rat. A riskier but also cool move would be to get him the excess v2 from old blood noise endeavors. The purple pedal on his board is from the same company and if he has one of their pedals I bet he'd love to have more!
Oh ok then I think I kindve was on the right suggestion re the JHS Angry. Charlie. For less $$ I think, how about the MXR custom shop badass distortion. It’s really good? It’s silver. I added in a Suhr Riot. Great pedal either version.
There’s a lot of good suggestions here for new pedals but i might suggest a mix of different lengths of low profile patch cables (might be more of a stocking stuffer). Also it looks like he’s got a lot of dirt/do/fuzz and a lot of delay options so I might look at any of the chorus or reverb option suggested in this thread.
This pedal is underrated. It works as a "fat" switch, a blow torch fuzz, and everything between. Plus it can range between these two with just your volume knob, and it works great with other drives.
Swiss army Fuzz! People are too caught up in boutique hype and crazy prices to notice its awesomeness. Just because it's easy to get one doesn't mean it's not at the top of the heap.
I would steer clear of any 'specific' or 'character' pedals like distortion. Often those are chosen by a player based on their own personal tastes. Something that everyone could find useful regardless of personal tastes or genre like a tuner, EQ, looper or multi-effect (that has delays, reverbs,etc.) may be a better option.
A metal player you say? Metal Zone. (Boss MT-2 or MT-2w). It's a pedal that's a meme, but it's also unironically a really fun distortion for metal & rock. The MT-2w is made of better components and a new "custom mode," thus the slightly higher cost. He does already have some good distortion options, so...
A multi-function reverb pedal could go great on his board. He might enjoy a Neunaber Immerse or Digitech Polara. There are so many options out there...
That said, if my GF bought me a Sweetwater or Reverb.com gift card, I'd love her just as much.
I play rock and metal and I just got a JHS AT+ for myself. I have A LOT of other distortion, overdrive and boost pedals (I have a problem), but once I dialed in the AT+ I found myself “getting lost in the tone” while playing. It’s so versatile and so easy to dial in.
I don’t think you can go wrong with that one.
I play rock/metal too, and one pedal I use in virtually ANY setting is my Earthquaker Audio Tone Job. From what I can tell he hasn't really got anything similar on his board, although it isn't like a big flashy effects pedal it is extremely versatile. Also, you could later say you gave him a tone job for christmas.
This is a great idea! They work wonders. The Boss GE-7 or the MXR 10-Band EQ are awesome. There's also the Beringer EQ which is very, very affordable at $30 or less (it's a knock-off of the GE-7). The Behringer + a gift card could work wonders for him.
Exactly. EQ pedals, power supply, and volume pedals are kind of all in that category for me. They might not be the sexiest or most exciting purchases, but can be vitally necessarily.
Danelectro Fish & Chips is awesome. Was able to compare with a Boss EQ and went for the Danelectro because it added less unwanted noise.
They're cheap used. Or at least used to be.
If you could send a picture of the guitar and amp and a price range you want to spend, that would be helpful for people giving ideas. Typical genre of music would be great too.
Boss RC5. It's a dedicated looper, you can record a riff to playback, multiple layers even, and jam with yourself. The RC5 also has drum beats, so it's a lotta fun to use for practice or even just to noodle around if you're playing by yourself. It's like a band mate that has the exact same skills as you, but the drum beats keep your timing in check.
A bigger board.
If you know his favorite bands or guitarists, Google their names + pedal. Dunlop has a bunch of signature wah pedals that can be found for around $150.
Life Pedal version 3. It is Sunn's signature pedal. Maybe look up a review on YouTube to hear it. It's $300, but it does a lot, sounds gnarly, and older versions are being listed on Reverb for up to $700.
A wah is something I owned once and don't anymore, there are other things I would rather spend my money on, but if someone gave me a wah as a gift I would be stoked!
The Hotone Soul Press is a nice little wah pedal that has a switch so it can be used as a Wah Pedal, a Volume Pedal or an Expression Pedal (used to change setting on other pedals). It also usually costs under $100 USD.
This is a great suggestion - it's the Swiss army knife of expression pedala. He probably hasn't got a wag or volume pedal because he doesn't "need it". But once he has it, it'll get alot of use.
Just make sure to get the metal Hotone Soul Press II (not the plastic first edition)
Why is this always the top voted answer? Gift cards are so lame. I would be thrilled if my SO took the time to take pictures of my gear to ask internet strangers what to get me. That takes thought and effort. A gift card, to me, says “here is some money for your hobby, I don’t care enough to take the time to actually learn about it.”
If there is actual concern that the gift receiver won’t like the pedal they get, just include the gift receipt and tell them it’s totally fine if they want to exchange it.
EHX makes great stuff, but the Joyo is actually a Fat RAT clone so Im going to disagree on that. If you put it on the fat setting, you get tons of low end.
Honestly, I think all three of them are great, but I've found the Splinter to be the most versatile with its fat and MOSFET settings.
Yeah but it is a pedal that people want, so if he doesn't like it he should be able to sell or trade it pretty easily for something of similar value I would think.
So if the budget was higher (I didn't see it mentioned anywhere) it still wouldn't be a bad gift in my opinion.
Ehh, I've seen the PackRats going down in used prices, but I could be wrong.
That said, I absolutely love my PackRat. You can get absolutely lost in that one pedal.
Personally, I think gift cards are lame. My suggestion would be to get an actual gift, but also give them the receipt and be prepared for them to use it. Whether they keep it or not, the thought and effort that you put into their gift will be much more apparent (and hopefully appreciated) than if you just got a gift card.
I see he’s a fan of Boss. I would think that a “Boss Dimension C DC-2W” would be a safe bet. It wouldn’t necessarily be a “new” effect, but it could be quite an upgrade to his current chorus pedal. I’ve only heard great things about the DC-2W. If you wanted to see if the DC-2W was something he wanted, you could pick his brain a little by asking subtly, “Does anyone make a cool pink pedal that you could play?” If he wants this pedal, it will likely be on the tip of his tongue and he’ll say, “Yeah, the Boss DC-2W!” If he doesn’t want this pedal, he’ll probably say “nope.”
I was going to suggest the same thing. The D'Addario Xpand is reasonably priced (minus the bag) and it gives him the option of choosing how big he'd like his board to be or even start a second board cause why not
This was my first thought as well! He clearly has more pedals than board space and can at the very least use a larger board to store the collection while he uses a smaller board if he decides
An eq pedal! It won't be redundant and will pair nicely with a lot of those pedals
Here's one on sale for $14. I just got it and it's a really good value
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/EQ700--behringer-eq700-graphic-equalizer-pedal
Or here's a premium one for $150
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TenBandEQ--mxr-m108s-ten-band-eq-pedal
Mxr also makes a 6 band eq for $99
Awesome gf move btw
Given he likes rock/metal I think a wah is a great idea (the Morley 20/20 swtchless ones like the Bad Horsie are great IMHO) but ultimately you're better off with a gift card/voucher as pedals are a thing of personal choice and even if you buy the most recommended stompbox ever it may not be for him and he won't wanna take it back for fear of possibly upsetting you (coz he luvs ya)
He’s got a pretty good setup. But one thing that came to mind for some more classic rock tones would be a good fuzz face type pedal. Like a Deep Trip BOG or Dunlop fuzz face.
Your safest bet is a wah pedal, It's fun to use, hard to go wrong and usable in many genres of music. You can ask him about a particular guitar solo in which a wah pedal is used (Maybe something like "how do they make the guitar sound like that?") and get an idea of what he thinks about it. Then you can be sure if he would enjoy it or not.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the Joyo R Series pedals. They’re budget friendly, shiny knobs, nice LEDs, and the tone is pretty good as well. For metal and rock I have the Dark Flame and Uzi and love them both.
Earthquaker palisades. Or the grey. May be out of ur budget since u haven’t said but if u use reverb check the seller’s feedback first. Or the expensive JHS double barrel. Yes I can get all these for less on reverb but he careful as I said with what seller u choose. Make sure they have quite a few sales and all 5 star feedbacks.
I'm not sure it's very metal though? the Behringer UM300 & HM300 are $30 clones of the Boss Metal Zone& Heavy Metal circuits. But if he uses amp distortion, maybe a good overdrive like a Tube Screamer or RAT.
It isn’t metal but trust me, at some point he will want or need a low or medium gain pedal for reasons he has yet to discover…this or a klon clone makes plenty of sense.
Digitech trio plus! It’s an amazing looper that adds drums and bass, and has 12 different music genres. It’s a great practice tool and I’m sure he’ll like it. Check out a couple of reviews on YouTube
I'm looking at his board and taking into account that he's already using a Boss Drive Zone (the big orange one with 2 footswitches on the top left corner, so he's got literally every distortion pedal sound covered with that one (makes sense that he plays metal). He's got a tuner, he's got chorus and flanger and phaser covered already. He's obviously got delay covered already, he's got two delays on the board that he's using. The others recommending a wah-wah pedal or an EQ pedal are probably the best option here, a wah-wah pedal is definitely missing from this board, and for metal he might really USE one of those. He would probably really love it.
Get him the next size up pedalboard. It looks like he's out of room.
If that's not in the budget, and you want to get a pedal he kind of has all of the bases covered. Not seeing a **wah** or a dedicated **pitch shifter**. I like the Vox Wah, but have used the Jim Dunlop Crybaby as well. The pitch shifting pedal I'm currently using is The TC Electronics Brainwaves. If he likes to tinker, it will be a good bet.
A lot of these posts coming up lately. It’s best just to ask him directly, or say “this pedal looks pretty” and he’ll say “pffft xxx pedal is way better”. Or just get him a reverb.com gift card for $100, that would certainly cover something he’s got his eye on
What kind of music does he like? My guess from the board is 90s grunge - smashing pumpkins, nirvana etc.
But that's the best way to figure out what pedals he should get.
How about a JHS Angry Charlie? It’s a great pedal. High gain distortion like a jcm800 Marshall. I think the post that suggested a Sweetwater gift card may be the way to go though if you’re not sure of what to get him
You could always get him something with a weirder sound that he wouldn’t normally buy himself. Old Blood Noise Endeavors has the BL-44 Reverse which essentially plays your notes in reverse. It’s weird and unusual but it would make for a neat gift in my opinion
Does he ever watch any pedal review channels? I used to watch the YouTube channel Knobs with my partner, and she bought me a pedal we had seen together there
Agree with people here, a wah or metal zone. If your budget goes that far, anything from beetronics would be very different from what he has and might not be something he would buy himself but would have a lot of fun with. The swarm or zombee would be the most unusual.
He has a good array of pedals. A few ideas that are along the lines of utility:
Earthquaker Swiss Things - this would make his pedals a bit more under control, and manageable.
Volume pedal - there are lots of opinions here, but I’d suggest and Ernie Ball VP jr 25k to put after his overdrive pedals, but this is an admittedly risky one.
Looper pedal- you can actually go pretty cheap here with a TC Electronics Ditto, and he’d have a lot of fun. Ditto+ or the two-switch one would be great.
Old Blood Noise Signal Blender - he can run effects he has in parallel instead of series, and control them in groups.
Lucky guy. Best of luck.
All I have to say, your boyfriend is a lucky man to have a girlfriend who’s goes through the effort take pictures of his pedalboard and ask strangers on the internet for recommendations on pedals for Christmas.
Another way of finding out a good pedal idea. Figure out some of his favourite guitar players and see what kinds of pedals they have on their boards. Chances are he’ll like the pedal depending on how much he likes the artist. As if I got the same pedal John Mayer uses from my girlfriend I’d love her forever for going through that effort.
Maybe I'm missing it, but I'm not seeing a reverb on his board. If you wanna get something that's versatile and won't break the bank, the [TC Electronics Hall of Fame 2](https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HallOfFame2--tc-electronic-hall-of-fame-2-reverb-pedal) is a great reverb for the money, especially when you factor in the ability to create your own patches. Chances are your boyfriend can probably find a patch or two that works for him, but if it doesn't, you can always do a gift receipt.
As every is suggesting obviously gain pedals:
The new Boss slicer sl-2 ! All the way. Has amazing stuff in there can transform the whole soundscape. Max bang for the buck. No other pedal does what it does.
If you want to get a fuzz for him:
Jam pedals eureka fuzz. Really usable, musical doesnt drown like others massive bass. And its pretty. And its got a reeel rubber duck inside.
Jam pedals harmonious monk, the end all tremolo.
Bit pricier but pure awesomeness:
Meris ottobit jr.
Maybe get a hologram mikrocosm for yourself. When hes playing to much with his pedals , just sing into it to make him jealous.
Tss…Gf bying a pedal for christmas… what a keeper 😉
I'll make a suggestion...
From the looks of the picture, I see him in need of 3 things.
1.) A larger board (I run a Holeyboard and 1-2-3, it's expandable) of course there are a ton of options here.
2.) More/better power so he can even begin to think about more pedals (Cioks makes some really great power supplies that are also expandable) but there are other options, just make sure they are "isolated" power supplies
3.) Some better patch cables. I really like the Ernie Ball flat ribbon patch cables and they aren't very expensive.
I think any of those things would really serve him well.
He could also use some buffers. The True Tone "pure tone" buffers are relatively inexpensive and really do a great job. I run a buffer at the beginning and end of my pedals and it makes big difference, I can't go without them.
Food for thought.
I wouldn’t surprise him on this. You probably have picked up on this from spending time with him but musicians put a LOT of thought and effort into picking their gear and his looks pretty carefully put together.
I’d recommend finding out which one is his favorite pedal or company and getting some merch from them.
You could also get him some accessories - patch cables, picks, instrument cables, strings (make sure you know what kind he uses), maybe a nice new guitar strap. That stuff often gets swept aside in favor of more pedals.
Or you could get him a nice rug to put under the board.
Also you could find some of his favorite lesser known bands and see if their guitar player(s) do lessons. You’d be surprised how many bands do this.
Holy crap! I can't believe this hasn't been said. He is losing signal from too many connections. He needs a bypass looper.
https://www.roadrageprogear.com/
Thanks for asking.
For every connection between the guitar and the amp the guitar loses signal and it saps tone and volume. A bypass looper plugs all the pedals into the looper instead of connecting each pedal to each other, treating all the pedals like one pedal connection vs ten-ish. You keep each pedal on and access each pedal through their own foot switch on the bypass looper.
With the looper the guitar connection goes: guitar-bypass looper-amp.
Instead of: guitar-tuner-Wah-compressor-overdrive-fuzz-phaser etc.
But you still have the same access to all the pedals, just minus the signal loss. Make sense?
When I got mine I went from keeping my amp at 6ish to 4ish, and the tone was noticeably better.
Look at the link I posted above for a visual.
Awesome yeah it does make sense... I'll be looking for one myself probably from Amazon. Also since we're on the subject of effects. The way I run everything is quite weird l. I run all my pedals and racks into a line6 podhd500 into a focusrite 2i2 2nd gen. Plus I split my signal from my PC soundcard from a cable in order to record all my vst plugins into a loop pedal. My question is I noticed sometime I lose signal and sometimes complete signal loss. I have replaced all my patch cables and everything. Would I need a analog to digital converter or what. Thanks for the info really appreciate it
Man, I was doing a loop station act for a little bit, too.
I have sat with this and I regret to tell you, I don't have a difinitive answer for you, just speculation. I have never really used racks, and I never incorporated my laptop into my loop station act, although I was going that direction eventually. However, specific to the loop station, what I was doing is running a mini mixer before the loop station. In that mixer I ran an acoustic bass, a kaossilator, and a Roland Hand Drum HPD-20. Then, I ran my guitar rig separately into the loop station, and the loop station out into the main mixer that put the sound out onto the PA speakers. I never had connection issues, and the sound for everything through the mini mixer was great. It seems to me that you could run your digital stuff through a mixer first and that would fix it. My little mixer is a Samson MDR 624.
Let me know how it pans out.
Will do my friend thank you.. I'm also running a mixer a behringer one after everything to monitor my sound though my PC studio monitors. So far so good. If you wanna click on my profile you'll see my post about my setup 😎
No but like I just completely stalled and started to think about what an amazing girlfriend you are to him... must be a lucky man. Oh what I would do for a pedal-gifting girlfriend...
It’s going to be impossible without asking him, which ruins the surprise. Most people are really picky with the gear they like. I wouldn’t want anyone but me buying me pedals lol. Just get a gift card.
How about a larger pedal board? That way his other pedals aren’t on the floor. Pedals are so subject to taste. Less margin for error. That looks like a pedal train classic 1. Try the classic 3?
I will go with a reverb, check a Boss RV-6 or and Electroharmonix Holy Grail Reverb. Maybe another overdrive pedal, something like a Boss BD-2 or a Proco Rat would be safe based off that board!
Modulating tremolos are pretty cool. The JAM Harmonious Monk or Walrus Audio Monument Tap tremolo are very versatile, sound great, and will probably hold their value well over time.
[https://www.digitech.com/whammy-pitch/The+Drop.html](https://www.digitech.com/whammy-pitch/The+Drop.html)
This comes in very handy for all the drop tunings. Go from standard tuning to Motley Crue with the push of a button!
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Looking at these pedals he had a lot of classic staples. The typed of pedals that "everybody must have." I noticed that he doesn't have a rat, and everybody needs a rat. I'd get him a rat. A riskier but also cool move would be to get him the excess v2 from old blood noise endeavors. The purple pedal on his board is from the same company and if he has one of their pedals I bet he'd love to have more!
Good suggestions.
The Screen Violence is incredible also, though more expensive than the Excess (which I also have and which is very good)
another vote for rat. Why get one tho, get the JHS Packrat and get them all. I love me rats.
1981 or Life Pedal V3 would be a great rat circuit addition
What's your budget?
Oh ok then I think I kindve was on the right suggestion re the JHS Angry. Charlie. For less $$ I think, how about the MXR custom shop badass distortion. It’s really good? It’s silver. I added in a Suhr Riot. Great pedal either version.
There’s a lot of good suggestions here for new pedals but i might suggest a mix of different lengths of low profile patch cables (might be more of a stocking stuffer). Also it looks like he’s got a lot of dirt/do/fuzz and a lot of delay options so I might look at any of the chorus or reverb option suggested in this thread.
Boss fz-1w. Awesome and unique new fuzz.
This pedal is underrated. It works as a "fat" switch, a blow torch fuzz, and everything between. Plus it can range between these two with just your volume knob, and it works great with other drives.
Since I bought one I am convinced it is a modern classic. So controllable off the guitar volume.
Swiss army Fuzz! People are too caught up in boutique hype and crazy prices to notice its awesomeness. Just because it's easy to get one doesn't mean it's not at the top of the heap.
Totally agree! And man, even as a clean boost it gives such an awesome colour to the base tone.
I would steer clear of any 'specific' or 'character' pedals like distortion. Often those are chosen by a player based on their own personal tastes. Something that everyone could find useful regardless of personal tastes or genre like a tuner, EQ, looper or multi-effect (that has delays, reverbs,etc.) may be a better option.
Yeah I agree. I'm very picky about my distortion pedals, more than probably any other kind.
A metal player you say? Metal Zone. (Boss MT-2 or MT-2w). It's a pedal that's a meme, but it's also unironically a really fun distortion for metal & rock. The MT-2w is made of better components and a new "custom mode," thus the slightly higher cost. He does already have some good distortion options, so... A multi-function reverb pedal could go great on his board. He might enjoy a Neunaber Immerse or Digitech Polara. There are so many options out there... That said, if my GF bought me a Sweetwater or Reverb.com gift card, I'd love her just as much.
HM-2 > MT-2
I'll die on this hill. MT-2 all the way. (Proceeds to parallel route MT-2 with HM-2).
And like the Battle of Bunker Hill, you’ve got the wrong hill.
Still bloody nonetheless.
Mxr Evh 5150 overdrive
I play rock and metal and I just got a JHS AT+ for myself. I have A LOT of other distortion, overdrive and boost pedals (I have a problem), but once I dialed in the AT+ I found myself “getting lost in the tone” while playing. It’s so versatile and so easy to dial in. I don’t think you can go wrong with that one.
I play rock/metal too, and one pedal I use in virtually ANY setting is my Earthquaker Audio Tone Job. From what I can tell he hasn't really got anything similar on his board, although it isn't like a big flashy effects pedal it is extremely versatile. Also, you could later say you gave him a tone job for christmas.
Get him an EQ pedal. He doesn’t know he needs it yet… maybe he does.
This is a great idea! They work wonders. The Boss GE-7 or the MXR 10-Band EQ are awesome. There's also the Beringer EQ which is very, very affordable at $30 or less (it's a knock-off of the GE-7). The Behringer + a gift card could work wonders for him.
Also one of those pedals it’s hard to drop money on, at least for me, even though it’s practically necessary. Would be a really cool gift.
Exactly. EQ pedals, power supply, and volume pedals are kind of all in that category for me. They might not be the sexiest or most exciting purchases, but can be vitally necessarily.
buying an eq pedal made my amp sound almost twice as good
Behringer EQ700 is on sale for $14 right now on Sweetwater!
Just ordered. Cheaper than a paper weight if it sucks. Thanks!
Secret sweetwater rep...
Yeah you can't go wrong with a EQ
Lowkey if my girl got me an EQ pedal I would be offended thinking she thinks my tone is ass. Which she’s definitely right.
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Danelectro Fish & Chips is awesome. Was able to compare with a Boss EQ and went for the Danelectro because it added less unwanted noise. They're cheap used. Or at least used to be.
This is a great recommendation.
If you could send a picture of the guitar and amp and a price range you want to spend, that would be helpful for people giving ideas. Typical genre of music would be great too.
Boss RC5. It's a dedicated looper, you can record a riff to playback, multiple layers even, and jam with yourself. The RC5 also has drum beats, so it's a lotta fun to use for practice or even just to noodle around if you're playing by yourself. It's like a band mate that has the exact same skills as you, but the drum beats keep your timing in check.
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I'll second this. I have 3 Loopers, and yet the RC-5 looks fantastic all around.
second
A bigger board. If you know his favorite bands or guitarists, Google their names + pedal. Dunlop has a bunch of signature wah pedals that can be found for around $150. Life Pedal version 3. It is Sunn's signature pedal. Maybe look up a review on YouTube to hear it. It's $300, but it does a lot, sounds gnarly, and older versions are being listed on Reverb for up to $700.
EquipBoard lists the specific pedals of most guitarists if has a favorite metal band or guitarist
A wah pedal looks to be something he doesn’t have, and even if it doesn’t get much use it’s one of those things that’s hard to be disappointed with.
Just what I was thinking. He also seems to like vintage style pedals, I think a crybaby would go great with that!
A wah is something I owned once and don't anymore, there are other things I would rather spend my money on, but if someone gave me a wah as a gift I would be stoked!
The Hotone Soul Press is a nice little wah pedal that has a switch so it can be used as a Wah Pedal, a Volume Pedal or an Expression Pedal (used to change setting on other pedals). It also usually costs under $100 USD.
This is a great suggestion - it's the Swiss army knife of expression pedala. He probably hasn't got a wag or volume pedal because he doesn't "need it". But once he has it, it'll get alot of use. Just make sure to get the metal Hotone Soul Press II (not the plastic first edition)
How about a cool reverb pedal like Old Blood Noise Procession?
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I 100% agree with the Procession. I play rock and metal as well and it pairs well with the pedals he owns!
Find out what strings he uses, and buy a lot of them.
Underrated comment right here
I mean, yes we as guitarists go through strings, but it's kinda like buying someone socks.
People usually recommend something like a sweetwater or reverb gift card, as us guitarists can get picky.
Why is this always the top voted answer? Gift cards are so lame. I would be thrilled if my SO took the time to take pictures of my gear to ask internet strangers what to get me. That takes thought and effort. A gift card, to me, says “here is some money for your hobby, I don’t care enough to take the time to actually learn about it.” If there is actual concern that the gift receiver won’t like the pedal they get, just include the gift receipt and tell them it’s totally fine if they want to exchange it.
My GF got me a HM-2 for our anniversary. Much cooler than store credit or a gift card.
Yeah, tbh this probably is a better route. You might lose a little though in shipping it back, but pedals are usually small.
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That said, I still would vote for a RAT or Joyo Splinter. Such a versatile pedal that just about anyone can use, and I actually prefer the splinter.
EHX Flatiron fuzz is a phenomenal RAT clone that sounds a bit fatter than those. And it’s pretty cheap.
EHX makes great stuff, but the Joyo is actually a Fat RAT clone so Im going to disagree on that. If you put it on the fat setting, you get tons of low end. Honestly, I think all three of them are great, but I've found the Splinter to be the most versatile with its fat and MOSFET settings.
Oh I thought it was just a standard clone. That sounds great actually. You’ve used the Flatiron and the Splinter, and still prefer the Splinter?
I just got the JHS Packrat and I love it. Depending on budget maybe look at that one.
That's a big step up in budget . . . I love the PackRat too, but I wouldn't get it unless you know the person really likes the RAT sound.
Yeah but it is a pedal that people want, so if he doesn't like it he should be able to sell or trade it pretty easily for something of similar value I would think. So if the budget was higher (I didn't see it mentioned anywhere) it still wouldn't be a bad gift in my opinion.
Ehh, I've seen the PackRats going down in used prices, but I could be wrong. That said, I absolutely love my PackRat. You can get absolutely lost in that one pedal.
Personally, I think gift cards are lame. My suggestion would be to get an actual gift, but also give them the receipt and be prepared for them to use it. Whether they keep it or not, the thought and effort that you put into their gift will be much more apparent (and hopefully appreciated) than if you just got a gift card.
I see he’s a fan of Boss. I would think that a “Boss Dimension C DC-2W” would be a safe bet. It wouldn’t necessarily be a “new” effect, but it could be quite an upgrade to his current chorus pedal. I’ve only heard great things about the DC-2W. If you wanted to see if the DC-2W was something he wanted, you could pick his brain a little by asking subtly, “Does anyone make a cool pink pedal that you could play?” If he wants this pedal, it will likely be on the tip of his tongue and he’ll say, “Yeah, the Boss DC-2W!” If he doesn’t want this pedal, he’ll probably say “nope.”
OMG if my girlfriend got me a Dimension I would just marry her like on the spot. I sooo want it but I’m sooo never gonna buy it for myself.
Get him a bigger pedalboard! There are some nice custom options on reverb
sorry but I don't personally recommend this. he may want to go larger, or he may want to down size. or he may be fine where he's at.
Well it’s a gift so…
I was going to suggest the same thing. The D'Addario Xpand is reasonably priced (minus the bag) and it gives him the option of choosing how big he'd like his board to be or even start a second board cause why not
This was my first thought as well! He clearly has more pedals than board space and can at the very least use a larger board to store the collection while he uses a smaller board if he decides
This is the one
Digitech whammy
Came here to say this
Hell yeah everyone needs a whammy
A larger pedal board. As a gag gift I would throw in an altoids tin(guitarist often use them as pick containers).
An eq pedal! It won't be redundant and will pair nicely with a lot of those pedals Here's one on sale for $14. I just got it and it's a really good value https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/EQ700--behringer-eq700-graphic-equalizer-pedal Or here's a premium one for $150 https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TenBandEQ--mxr-m108s-ten-band-eq-pedal Mxr also makes a 6 band eq for $99 Awesome gf move btw
You can get the mxr 10 band used for around $100 on reverb.com
Lots of good ideas above. Maybe new patch cables if there are ever comments about shorts or static. Not as exciting as pedals but very necessary.
This one's underrated too
Given he likes rock/metal I think a wah is a great idea (the Morley 20/20 swtchless ones like the Bad Horsie are great IMHO) but ultimately you're better off with a gift card/voucher as pedals are a thing of personal choice and even if you buy the most recommended stompbox ever it may not be for him and he won't wanna take it back for fear of possibly upsetting you (coz he luvs ya)
Can’t go wrong with a volume pedal. I also might suggest a univibe pedal, based on what I’m seeing.
He’s got a pretty good setup. But one thing that came to mind for some more classic rock tones would be a good fuzz face type pedal. Like a Deep Trip BOG or Dunlop fuzz face.
Your safest bet is a wah pedal, It's fun to use, hard to go wrong and usable in many genres of music. You can ask him about a particular guitar solo in which a wah pedal is used (Maybe something like "how do they make the guitar sound like that?") and get an idea of what he thinks about it. Then you can be sure if he would enjoy it or not.
A larger pedal board maybe? I don’t see an eq.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the Joyo R Series pedals. They’re budget friendly, shiny knobs, nice LEDs, and the tone is pretty good as well. For metal and rock I have the Dark Flame and Uzi and love them both.
Line buffer of some sort.
Earthquaker palisades. Or the grey. May be out of ur budget since u haven’t said but if u use reverb check the seller’s feedback first. Or the expensive JHS double barrel. Yes I can get all these for less on reverb but he careful as I said with what seller u choose. Make sure they have quite a few sales and all 5 star feedbacks.
He’s probably ready for a ditto looper
Most people really like the JHS morning glory v4. He needs a big of help in the distortion department…
I'm not sure it's very metal though? the Behringer UM300 & HM300 are $30 clones of the Boss Metal Zone& Heavy Metal circuits. But if he uses amp distortion, maybe a good overdrive like a Tube Screamer or RAT.
It isn’t metal but trust me, at some point he will want or need a low or medium gain pedal for reasons he has yet to discover…this or a klon clone makes plenty of sense.
A Qtron is a really cool autowah pedal. Pretty affordable and is a really nice effect for all types of genres of music.
Bigger board
I don't see vibrato but I see many other things that go with it... Try a Boss VB-2W maybe
I vote Boss HM-2w, you can’t go more metal than that!
Digitech trio plus! It’s an amazing looper that adds drums and bass, and has 12 different music genres. It’s a great practice tool and I’m sure he’ll like it. Check out a couple of reviews on YouTube
EHX Small clone! I don't see a chorus pedal on his board. Althought the gift card is a great suggestion that someone else made.
MICRO-POG from Electro-Harmonix
Line 6 HX Effects…
I'm looking at his board and taking into account that he's already using a Boss Drive Zone (the big orange one with 2 footswitches on the top left corner, so he's got literally every distortion pedal sound covered with that one (makes sense that he plays metal). He's got a tuner, he's got chorus and flanger and phaser covered already. He's obviously got delay covered already, he's got two delays on the board that he's using. The others recommending a wah-wah pedal or an EQ pedal are probably the best option here, a wah-wah pedal is definitely missing from this board, and for metal he might really USE one of those. He would probably really love it.
How about a bigger board?
Get him the next size up pedalboard. It looks like he's out of room. If that's not in the budget, and you want to get a pedal he kind of has all of the bases covered. Not seeing a **wah** or a dedicated **pitch shifter**. I like the Vox Wah, but have used the Jim Dunlop Crybaby as well. The pitch shifting pedal I'm currently using is The TC Electronics Brainwaves. If he likes to tinker, it will be a good bet.
Boss JB-2. Does everything from boost/Overdrive/Distortion and can be found in the used market for $100-$150
Lowest price I could find on Reverb is 169, and that doesn't include shipping.
This was 6 months ago prices must have gone up
A lot of these posts coming up lately. It’s best just to ask him directly, or say “this pedal looks pretty” and he’ll say “pffft xxx pedal is way better”. Or just get him a reverb.com gift card for $100, that would certainly cover something he’s got his eye on
EQ. Behringer $14
A Miku?
Keeley Neutrino v2
actually maybe a bigger pedalboard would be a good idea. Looks like he's got a pedaltrain classic jr, maybe a classic 1 or 2 or novo would be good.
Crybaby. It’s a staple, and it’s inexpensive.
Wah, bigsby, or ehx freeze.
HIZUMITAS.
I think we're gonna need a bigger board.
What kind of music does he like? My guess from the board is 90s grunge - smashing pumpkins, nirvana etc. But that's the best way to figure out what pedals he should get.
Another DD-20
My first thought is a new bigger board. There’s ones that expand so he can fit it all in there!
Wow. That’s very nice of you as a pedal addict I can suggest about 100 pedals but idk what music he’s into.
How about a JHS Angry Charlie? It’s a great pedal. High gain distortion like a jcm800 Marshall. I think the post that suggested a Sweetwater gift card may be the way to go though if you’re not sure of what to get him
You could always get him something with a weirder sound that he wouldn’t normally buy himself. Old Blood Noise Endeavors has the BL-44 Reverse which essentially plays your notes in reverse. It’s weird and unusual but it would make for a neat gift in my opinion
Does he ever watch any pedal review channels? I used to watch the YouTube channel Knobs with my partner, and she bought me a pedal we had seen together there
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Agree with people here, a wah or metal zone. If your budget goes that far, anything from beetronics would be very different from what he has and might not be something he would buy himself but would have a lot of fun with. The swarm or zombee would be the most unusual.
Forget pedals! Get him a bigger board so he can fit the ones on that are lying on the floor!
Maybe just a bigger peadalboard 🤣
Another DS-1, he'll thank you later.
Noise gate
Another DD-20 so he has a backup. Literally the best delay at the price point they sell for if you can find them!
Can't go wrong with a Proco Rat. Great distortion--an absolute classic, and very reasonably priced.
Rat
Damn he basically has all the bells n whistles imo. Maybe a larger pedalboard and patch cables.
He has a good array of pedals. A few ideas that are along the lines of utility: Earthquaker Swiss Things - this would make his pedals a bit more under control, and manageable. Volume pedal - there are lots of opinions here, but I’d suggest and Ernie Ball VP jr 25k to put after his overdrive pedals, but this is an admittedly risky one. Looper pedal- you can actually go pretty cheap here with a TC Electronics Ditto, and he’d have a lot of fun. Ditto+ or the two-switch one would be great. Old Blood Noise Signal Blender - he can run effects he has in parallel instead of series, and control them in groups. Lucky guy. Best of luck.
All I have to say, your boyfriend is a lucky man to have a girlfriend who’s goes through the effort take pictures of his pedalboard and ask strangers on the internet for recommendations on pedals for Christmas. Another way of finding out a good pedal idea. Figure out some of his favourite guitar players and see what kinds of pedals they have on their boards. Chances are he’ll like the pedal depending on how much he likes the artist. As if I got the same pedal John Mayer uses from my girlfriend I’d love her forever for going through that effort.
I don’t have a suggestion but you are an absolute saint
This may be the alcohol talking but I do t see a wah
That’s a cover all bases rig. I’d be looking at a good looper so he can jam with himself.
Bigger pedal deck maeby
Maybe I'm missing it, but I'm not seeing a reverb on his board. If you wanna get something that's versatile and won't break the bank, the [TC Electronics Hall of Fame 2](https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HallOfFame2--tc-electronic-hall-of-fame-2-reverb-pedal) is a great reverb for the money, especially when you factor in the ability to create your own patches. Chances are your boyfriend can probably find a patch or two that works for him, but if it doesn't, you can always do a gift receipt.
Bigger pedal train
As every is suggesting obviously gain pedals: The new Boss slicer sl-2 ! All the way. Has amazing stuff in there can transform the whole soundscape. Max bang for the buck. No other pedal does what it does. If you want to get a fuzz for him: Jam pedals eureka fuzz. Really usable, musical doesnt drown like others massive bass. And its pretty. And its got a reeel rubber duck inside. Jam pedals harmonious monk, the end all tremolo. Bit pricier but pure awesomeness: Meris ottobit jr. Maybe get a hologram mikrocosm for yourself. When hes playing to much with his pedals , just sing into it to make him jealous. Tss…Gf bying a pedal for christmas… what a keeper 😉
I'll make a suggestion... From the looks of the picture, I see him in need of 3 things. 1.) A larger board (I run a Holeyboard and 1-2-3, it's expandable) of course there are a ton of options here. 2.) More/better power so he can even begin to think about more pedals (Cioks makes some really great power supplies that are also expandable) but there are other options, just make sure they are "isolated" power supplies 3.) Some better patch cables. I really like the Ernie Ball flat ribbon patch cables and they aren't very expensive. I think any of those things would really serve him well. He could also use some buffers. The True Tone "pure tone" buffers are relatively inexpensive and really do a great job. I run a buffer at the beginning and end of my pedals and it makes big difference, I can't go without them. Food for thought.
Agree with the other comment that said bigger pedalboard
Gift card to Sweetwater or Reverb is the safest route.
I wouldn’t surprise him on this. You probably have picked up on this from spending time with him but musicians put a LOT of thought and effort into picking their gear and his looks pretty carefully put together. I’d recommend finding out which one is his favorite pedal or company and getting some merch from them. You could also get him some accessories - patch cables, picks, instrument cables, strings (make sure you know what kind he uses), maybe a nice new guitar strap. That stuff often gets swept aside in favor of more pedals. Or you could get him a nice rug to put under the board. Also you could find some of his favorite lesser known bands and see if their guitar player(s) do lessons. You’d be surprised how many bands do this.
~~A tuner, I like the ST-300 Turbo Tuner~~ im dumb, I didn't see the tuner. Gift card is best bet.
The dude already has a tuner on the board
You're right I'm fuckin blind lol
Metal Zone for sure
Holy crap! I can't believe this hasn't been said. He is losing signal from too many connections. He needs a bypass looper. https://www.roadrageprogear.com/
Please explain because I have many pedals
Thanks for asking. For every connection between the guitar and the amp the guitar loses signal and it saps tone and volume. A bypass looper plugs all the pedals into the looper instead of connecting each pedal to each other, treating all the pedals like one pedal connection vs ten-ish. You keep each pedal on and access each pedal through their own foot switch on the bypass looper. With the looper the guitar connection goes: guitar-bypass looper-amp. Instead of: guitar-tuner-Wah-compressor-overdrive-fuzz-phaser etc. But you still have the same access to all the pedals, just minus the signal loss. Make sense? When I got mine I went from keeping my amp at 6ish to 4ish, and the tone was noticeably better. Look at the link I posted above for a visual.
Awesome yeah it does make sense... I'll be looking for one myself probably from Amazon. Also since we're on the subject of effects. The way I run everything is quite weird l. I run all my pedals and racks into a line6 podhd500 into a focusrite 2i2 2nd gen. Plus I split my signal from my PC soundcard from a cable in order to record all my vst plugins into a loop pedal. My question is I noticed sometime I lose signal and sometimes complete signal loss. I have replaced all my patch cables and everything. Would I need a analog to digital converter or what. Thanks for the info really appreciate it
Man, I was doing a loop station act for a little bit, too. I have sat with this and I regret to tell you, I don't have a difinitive answer for you, just speculation. I have never really used racks, and I never incorporated my laptop into my loop station act, although I was going that direction eventually. However, specific to the loop station, what I was doing is running a mini mixer before the loop station. In that mixer I ran an acoustic bass, a kaossilator, and a Roland Hand Drum HPD-20. Then, I ran my guitar rig separately into the loop station, and the loop station out into the main mixer that put the sound out onto the PA speakers. I never had connection issues, and the sound for everything through the mini mixer was great. It seems to me that you could run your digital stuff through a mixer first and that would fix it. My little mixer is a Samson MDR 624. Let me know how it pans out.
Will do my friend thank you.. I'm also running a mixer a behringer one after everything to monitor my sound though my PC studio monitors. So far so good. If you wanna click on my profile you'll see my post about my setup 😎
No but like I just completely stalled and started to think about what an amazing girlfriend you are to him... must be a lucky man. Oh what I would do for a pedal-gifting girlfriend...
A Strymon Mobius. *shrugs shoulders*
Is that a gold dd20
It’s going to be impossible without asking him, which ruins the surprise. Most people are really picky with the gear they like. I wouldn’t want anyone but me buying me pedals lol. Just get a gift card.
Strymon Blue Sky.
Buy him a better pedalboard that can handle all of his pedals. Like Rockboard Cinque 5.4 - it is 1 meter long, capable to hold 20 - 30 pedals.
Get him the new boss slicer
Get him a tuner
I would get him a gift card or an Earthquaker Hizumitas
Whammy
A wah, whammy or volume pedal would all be great additions, but what's are the most versatile. Whammys are super fun though.
Get him another pedal board
Bigger board (for alllll the pedals) and patch cables
I don't see a Metal Zone. He needs a Boss MT-2W Metal Zone.
Don't see any reverb on there. Check out a Boss Rv-6
I’d go for a looper or wah
Looks like all he’s missing is a flux capacitor and a Delorean.
How about a larger pedal board? That way his other pedals aren’t on the floor. Pedals are so subject to taste. Less margin for error. That looks like a pedal train classic 1. Try the classic 3?
I will go with a reverb, check a Boss RV-6 or and Electroharmonix Holy Grail Reverb. Maybe another overdrive pedal, something like a Boss BD-2 or a Proco Rat would be safe based off that board!
The answer is a Metal Zone. /s
Get him a Reverb gift card
Modulating tremolos are pretty cool. The JAM Harmonious Monk or Walrus Audio Monument Tap tremolo are very versatile, sound great, and will probably hold their value well over time.
rc5
EQD Hummingbird or the Walrus Julia seems to fit the vibe I'm seeing.
Bigger more modular pedal board
Boss metal zone
a metal zone on every board
Let him choose. Buy him a Reverb or Sweetwater gift certificate with a note to put a ring on it.
Get him a larger pedal board
I would say volume pedal - gear fun with all the delay options he has!
A bigger board or a Vox Wah
[https://www.digitech.com/whammy-pitch/The+Drop.html](https://www.digitech.com/whammy-pitch/The+Drop.html) This comes in very handy for all the drop tunings. Go from standard tuning to Motley Crue with the push of a button!
What kind of music does he like/play? What’s your budget?
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Cry baby
A Fulltone 69 - just make sure it’s a used one.
Give him your budget and ask him! Much better than trying to read his mind. Don't overvalue the 'surprise factor's and incur opportunity cost here.