i've been thinking about upgrading my pedals

[logansc]

Here's what I have:

boss dd-3 digital delay, boss chorus ensemble ce-5, ernie ball volume jr., digitech metal master, crybaby 535q, bbe sonic maximiser.

 

Out of these the only ones that I really like are the volume pedal, the wah, and the maximizer.

 

So I need to upgrade my chorus, delay, and distortion, and i'd like to add an overdrive. I don't ever use these kind of pedals on my tube amps, except the overdrive maybe if I get one. so I need pedals that will bring the most out of a solid state amp, and not sound crazy unnatural and frail. I would like to not spend a ton on each of these, but i'm gonna aquire them overtime anyways so i'm open minded.

 

so I know very little about whats good in a delay chorus, but for the distortion I need something with good crushing metal tone. Not that overly smooth line6 like tone that my metal master gives me. Something with some breakup. All these newer pedals with tubes in them are interesting looking. For the overdrive I need something that'll give me a nice overdrive tone and can bring out fullness in an amp. Something that would boost my peavey XXX would be nice too, but I already use the sonic maximizer.

 

 

So okay, go for it! give me some recommendations!

[kishjor]

well... for metal distortion, a lot of people like the EHX metal muff.

 

 

Delay- People have raved about the RE-20, but that's kind of costly. Defintly worth it though. Some like the DD-20. A good solid workhorse digital delay. Of course the best thing you could probably get without getting ridiculously exspensive is the EHX DMM. A lot of people like the Danelectro reel echo, if you want the echoplex thing.

 

 

You mentioned boosting... I love my LPB-1. EHX again...

 

 

The world is your oyster man, go out to some stores and try stuff out. You can only know a pedal so well listening to soundclips and reading descriptions.

Chorus- Boss has some decent units, but I'd reccomend the EHX small clone or Polychorus.

[killyridols]

It seems to me that pedals generally (esp. overdrives) sound better through tube amps. Not really sure what you're looking to do here, since you don't use the pedals you would like to "upgrade" with your tube amps, I'm not sure if it's really worth it spending additional money to upgrade the pedals on your (or what I'm assuming is your) practice rig. Also consider that most boutique builders voice their pedals around tube amps. Just remember that the amp is the final (and most important variable) in your sound. Running a Klon through a gorrilla, isn't going to transform the gorrilla into a dumble.

 

That being said; for metal I'd go with the EHX metal muff. For me, the pocket metal muff serves my needs, however the full size metal muff is the way to go if you need more versatile eq options. Z-Vex's box of metal sounds pretty good (never tried it), but is pricy @ $300. For chorus, believe it or not the dano FAB chorus is an excellent sounding mono chorus pedal for cheap money. I got one in a 4-pack of dano pedals and it will be going on my board soon. If your using chorus strictly in mono, I would put it up against anything under $100. Other good choices are the EXH small clone, and the Ibanez cs-9. I find boss choruses to be sterile. Tubescreamers are tried and true as overdrive/booster devices, however I've never liked the sound of them through solid state.

[josh27]

The Boss DD-3 is a pretty good digital delay. You could upgrade to DD-5 or DD-6 though.

[Rock_and_roll]

for delays I dig my marshall echohead, might be worth trying one out

[Seth Carmody]

Chorus: There's not a lot of middle-ground in the chorus department - there's basic then top-of-the-line. If you have the money ($200 +) some pedals to look at would be the Analogman Chorus, the RedWitch Empress, the Retro-Sonic Chorus Ensemble or the Diamond Halo. The BBE Mind Bender has had some positive reviews, and accupies a more mid-tier position (I think its $150).

 

Delay: Unless you want something that does looping and has a million different tone patches, or else does a simple analogue delay simulation, then there really isn't much to upgrade to. The Boss 20 series has been mentioned, and there's been a lot of positive talk on EHX's new blue Stereo Memory Man, but if you want to stick with a basic compact delay, the DD-3 is pretty much all you need.

[logansc]

 

It seems to me that pedals generally (esp. overdrives) sound better through tube amps. Not really sure what you're looking to do here, since you don't use the pedals you would like to "upgrade" with your tube amps, I'm not sure if it's really worth it spending additional money to upgrade the pedals on your (or what I'm assuming is your) practice rig. Also consider that most boutique builders voice their pedals around tube amps. Just remember that the amp is the final (and most important variable) in your sound. Running a Klon through a gorrilla, isn't going to transform the gorrilla into a dumble. That being said; for metal I'd go with the EHX metal muff. For me, the pocket metal muff serves my needs, however the full size metal muff is the way to go if you need more versatile eq options. Z-Vex's box of metal sounds pretty good (never tried it), but is pricy @ $300. For chorus, believe it or not the dano FAB chorus is an excellent sounding mono chorus pedal for cheap money. I got one in a 4-pack of dano pedals and it will be going on my board soon. If your using chorus strictly in mono, I would put it up against anything under $100. Other good choices are the EXH small clone, and the Ibanez cs-9. I find boss choruses to be sterile. Tubescreamers are tried and true as overdrive/booster devices, however I've never liked the sound of them through solid state.

 

 

I know that overdrives respond well in tubes, but i've found that for especially for chorus like effects I don't like them in tubes. I like their response much better in a solid state amp, they seem to just suck the tone out of a tube amp.

 

delays do sound fine in the loop of my XXX, but I just never use them in metal music. In my palomino my delay doesn't sound so hot. In my peavey transtube and my vox advx100 these effects do much better, but I suppose it could just be how those effects respond to the amp?

 

I am gonna go out to guitar center and try what they have, but the stuff they have plugged in is just the boss and digitech mostly. they'll get something out for me to try if its a specific pedal i'm interested in but I can't do that with a bunch of them, that's why suggestions are needed.

 

So i've heard metal muff a lot, and I have liked a lot of the electro harmonix stuff I've tried, but are there any other options? What do you guys think about the pedals with the tubes in them (silver dragon, monster, etc.)

[kishjor]

I'd upgrade your amp. Peavey makes some nice cheap tube amps that will sound a lot better than what you have now... like the valveking!

[Geno_xl]

I would upgrade to a DD-20 if it was me. I have both the DD-20 and the Triple XXX.

 

I know you already have a sonic maximizer in there but have you tried an eq in the loop. It really makes this amp shine.

[justintee]

another one to think of is mi audio's tube zone.. nice overdrive, but imho with the right amp it could well do metal.. i would stick with the dd3 though, unless you want something with a lot more options such as the dd20.

[logansc]

 

I would upgrade to a DD-20 if it was me. I have both the DD-20 and the Triple XXX. I'm not really interested in more delay features as I am in a more natural sounding delay. Does this do this? I know you already have a sonic maximizer in there but have you tried an eq in the loop. It really makes this amp shine.

 

No, I haven't really, and I probably should. But the sonic maximizer to my understanding is basically sort of a combination of a compressor and eq right? Would using these together work?

 

 

 

oh, and what about the jekyl and hyde pedal? I like the idea of this, because it can simulate the tubescreamer on one side or be used as a clean boost, or it can add your high gain stuff with the other button. If this does what its supposed to that would be nice. Kill three birds with one stone and all.

[logansc]

I just got the jekyl and hyde today. I'm gonna get an eq and probably a delay in a little while for christmas but the jekyll and hyde is pretty cool. The left tube screamer side is nice for boosting my xxx and my other amps too. and The distortion side sounds better on my solid state stuff than my crappy metal master, and when you blend the too it gets a nice full tone, but it is a lot less aggressive sounding that way. I've gotta play around with it.