Been playing for a year want help choosing 1st fx pedal

[partyboy]

Hello everyone.

Ive been playing for about a year and would like to get an fx pedal for some of the songs i like playing. Im looking for some distortion and kinda electronicy type sound.

I like to play Muse and RATM alot.

Im looking to spend under £100.

Hope thats some help and you can maybe help me thanks.

[dangerboy]

I'm sure lots of people will be along with recommendations. All I'd say is that £100 can buy an awful lot if you look through the classifieds on here, or buy second-hand on eBay. Plus the pedals will hold their value when you want to upgrade or try a new sound. A bit of sensible shopping could get you a decent trio of pedals in the classifieds.

[Scorchin]

For distortion you can't go wrong with either the EHX Big Muff or the slightly cheaper BOSS ODB-3. I have the boss, purely because I didn't have that much money when purchasing my first pedal. It's lasted over a year with gigging and does almost everything I want it to. The only real issue is that it doesn't hold the bottom end as nicely as i'd hoped. However I also run a SYB-5 through it, which increases the level a fair bit anyway.

[johnnylager]

Might I suggest one of [url="http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.asp?ID=210"]these[/url]? Good sounds with no loss of bottom end///

[Kev]

[quote name='Scorchin' post='192599' date='May 6 2008, 01:26 AM']For distortion you can't go wrong with either the EHX Big Muff or the slightly cheaper BOSS ODB-3. I have the boss, purely because I didn't have that much money when purchasing my first pedal. It's lasted over a year with gigging and does almost everything I want it to. The only real issue is that [b]it doesn't hold the bottom end as nicely as i'd hoped[/b]. However I also run a SYB-5 through it, which increases the level a fair bit anyway.[/quote]
it has a wet dry blend AND a bass boost eq

[cheddatom]

[quote name='BassManKev' post='192678' date='May 6 2008, 09:13 AM']it has a wet dry blend AND a bass boost eq [/quote]

Yeh, I can't get it to "hold my bottom end" it just boosts the f*ck out of it!

I wouldn't buy an ODB-3 instead of a big muff. Two different effects imo (OD and Fuzz).

EDIT: £100? Buy a B2.1U!!!!!

Edited May 6, 2008 by cheddatom

[Kev]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='192680' date='May 6 2008, 09:16 AM']EDIT: £100? Buy a B2.1U!!!!![/quote]

+1!

[Jobiebass]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='192680' date='May 6 2008, 09:16 AM']EDIT: £100? Buy a B2.1U!!!!![/quote]

+2

I love that pedal. I havent needed anything else yet.

[umph]

[quote name='BassManKev' post='192678' date='May 6 2008, 09:13 AM']it has a wet dry blend AND a bass boost eq [/quote]
haha maybe he likes to go for the lower harmonic of the E and boosts that for the fundemental frequency ;< "its no good if it doesn't make people physically ill"

[sk8]

i'd say a Zoom B2.1u and then you can use it to decide what other effects you like/dislike

[OldGit]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='192680' date='May 6 2008, 09:16 AM']EDIT: £100? Buy a B2.1U!!!!![/quote]

+1 here too .. I'm gradually replacing mine with individual units (each costing almost as much!) and after working out what I need using the Zoom,
and because it can't switch between several different channels easily on stage but for the money it's great

[Sean]

[quote name='sk8' post='192863' date='May 6 2008, 12:49 PM']i'd say a Zoom B2.1u and then you can use it to decide what other effects you like/dislike[/quote]

I have one and love it. It cabn also be used as a balanced DI into the PA in case the amp goes belly up. And it's an interface for recording into the PC too.

[queenofthedepths]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='192680' date='May 6 2008, 09:16 AM']£100? Buy a B2.1U!!!!![/quote]
+Whatevernumberitisnow - multi-effects are perfect for a first pedal and these are lots of fun!

[Jobiebass]

Bassmankev has the older zoom going for £25 shipped, doesnt have the expression pedal the b2.1 has, but that was my first pedal and I only got rid of it for the 2.1 because I broke it. pretty much the same effects but obv the newer one has better spec, drum machine etc.

for £25 quid you cant go wrong, ive just seen it in the for sale section.

[Kev]

im doin it for £20 now

Edited May 6, 2008 by BassManKev

[Jobiebass]

well there you go then, £20 for a pedal you can mess about with, find what you actually need and use untill you decide to buy single pedals and link them up, what one person likes another hates, I used a forum to get other peoples set ups for my 2.1 because they said it sounded amazing on a fretless Jazz, I thought it was terrible. So find out what you like and move on from there.

[OldGit]

[quote name='BassManKev' post='192978' date='May 6 2008, 03:17 PM']im doin it for £20 now [/quote]


get an Ibanez weepin' demon wah off ebay and a few good cables with the rest of your 100 quid

[Flintlock]

[quote name='OldGit' post='193012' date='May 6 2008, 03:49 PM']get an Ibanez weepin' demon wah off ebay and a few good cables with the rest of your 100 quid [/quote]

Nah fuzz it up man!! You can never have too many distortions!

[size=1]Disclaimer: There is such a thing as too many distortions. Check guitarist pedalboard for further details.[/size]

[partyboy]

I am just checking out the Zoom B2 now looks like it could be a good starting point with it being mutli effects and all.

Although ive not been able to find one for under a ton yet.

Thanks for all the advice up to now.

[partyboy]

Can someone explain how the expression pdeal effects things to.

Thanks

[vegas_hooker]

Aye up, keep skirting around evil bay, something will come up.
I think the Zoom is probably a great idea given what you need. I still have my first one and it served me well for getting to know what each effect did or didnt do. The thing about the expression pedal is its kinda difficult to explain what it does since it did different thing to different settings.

The boss ODB-3 is a neat little pedal too (though its kinda like the Marmite of OD pedals! - hell...its even the same colours). It covers all of the basics and does subtle or extreme plus they crop up on here regularly for around £30/35.

[OldGit]

[quote name='partyboy' post='193434' date='May 6 2008, 10:19 PM']I am just checking out the Zoom B2 now looks like it could be a good starting point with it being mutli effects and all.

Although ive not been able to find one for under a ton yet.

Thanks for all the advice up to now.[/quote]

Zoom B2.1u
£80 new
[url="http://www.yonies.com/pidD.asp?chk=1&PID=1688&manf=Zoom&model=B2.1U&prd=Bass+Pedal&lv1=Electronics&lv2=Musical+Instrument+Accessories&lv3=Bass+Pedals&rf=frguk"]Here from www.yonies.com [/url]

One on Ebay at £70 Item number: 200220691566

[Jobiebass]

[quote name='partyboy' post='193444' date='May 6 2008, 10:23 PM']Can someone explain how the expression pdeal effects things to.

Thanks[/quote]

well with the Zoom b2.1u you have about 8 things you can set the expression pedal as, volume, chorus, reverb etc etc, so if you have the pedal up then its the normal effect and the more you press it down the more of the desired 8 effects kicks in more. for example, we play I wanna be your dog by Iggy but we blend it into the slayer version half way through. I start with it up so I get a clean tone, then I slowly blend it in to get loads of destortion for the slayer version "I wanna be your god"


Regarding under £100, I paid £79 + £5 postage off evilbay, note though, it doesnt come with a cable to hook it up to your pc, so you;ll have to shell out £10, although I did this and I STILL cant get it to work, ive totaly gave up on it cause I get so much feedback its untrue, Its something im doing wrong but I cant figure out what. (if someone knows how to fix this pm me pweeeeze)

[karlbbb]

Pah. Last week I was looking at the Zoom B2.1u, and the cheapest was Soundslive at £83 + postage. The website said it included power supply. Now I'm looking around and it seems to have gone up in price everywhere, and doesn't include a power supply? SoundsLive now has it for £109. Shame.


But I agree with getting the b2.1u, it seems like a great FX pedal, and have got nothing but fun from previous Zoom guitar FX pedals I've used.

[sk8]

[quote name='OldGit' post='193012' date='May 6 2008, 03:49 PM']get an Ibanez weepin' demon wah off ebay and a few good cables with the rest of your 100 quid [/quote]

I've got one of them for sale