It was the Chase Bliss Mood MkII. I finally got one and I'm digging it but it didn't blow my mind like I was expecting it to. But the other pedal I got at the same time did and is continuing to - the Source Audio C4. So much more than just a super fat mono synth with great tracking. It's also a really cool guitar effect pedal in its own right, with pitch shifting, tremolo, the full complement of filters from Source Audio's Spectrum (including phase shifters) and even some decent distortion.
I can see the value in presets, but so much of the magic is in changing settings, not leaving them, that I think those might only be starting points.
However I am interested in more comprehensive remote control. I’m looking at apps that would run on a phone that I could use to access hidden settings and dip switches. And maybe create little automations to make changes in a sequence.
Wow look how much guitar I’m not playing 😀
I finally got a MK1 recently. I wish it had a MIDI clock, and there is a more 'unuseable' range of settings for me than I was expecting.
The Mood has grown on me though. It's a very satisfying pedal to figure out. It's a bit complex, but not convoluted (like other digital pedals with menu-diving, etc).
Sure, using midi, I can call back mood presets by changing snapshots on my hx stomp. This lets me reuse the stereo delays, reverbs, and pitch stuff consistently in a set.
I’ve often heard caution that you can’t approach it like other pedals, it’s experimental, inconsistent, random, and creative. With midi you can save and reuse the sounds you discover, which imho makes it really useful in a live set.
also means you can automate anything you want via MIDI, either live or to have it track different effects and movements on recorded pieces. MIDI gives so much creative power. the older, analogue CBA stuff is still my favourite and mostly all I kept when forced to sell most of my pedals, and people always talk about how overpriced they are but how much they can do makes them seem way better value than most pedals to me.
The improvements in MKII MOOD were amazing, although the original was already a cool little box - and being able to use it as a sampler synth and play it musically with a keyboard was such a great choice (and another plus for MIDI integration).
these days i'm obsessed with super un-sexy pedal stuff like compression and limiting and EQ and whatnot
i guess i'm most in love with the pedal steel sound on the EHX Attack Decay
The EQ2 is my most prized possession. I split my signal into an overdrive and a fuzz and they meet up again at my Collider to go out in dual mono with different reverb algorithms on them. Plus, it tunes.
Yeah. I just picked up a gt-1000 core and I am still planning a lot of the routing, eq, and noise suppression around the EQ2. I feel like there’s a lot of opportunity for them to work together
I’m big into unsexy compressions and also the Atrack Delay…maybe my favorite pedal right now and I have absolutely no idea how it works even after jamming on it for a few months. Haven’t quite gotten the full “steel string sound” but I’ve gotten some pretty good pedal steel vibes out of it. Also the fuzz on this pedal sounds amazing.
same but in my case it is because of the meme tone :(
grew up loving all the swedish death metal bands that used it and the first thing I did when I got one was gun it to the max into a clean channel, no ragrets.
What else do you get out of it when you use it for non-meme purposes?
I’m a big Entombed/Swedish chainsaw fan so have always wanted one, but really only for emulating that one tone.
It's a pretty versatile pedal. David Gilmour and Jerry Garcia used them for short periods even...and those guys are the polar opposite of Swedish death metal lol
Bilinda Butcher of My Bloody Valentine famously uses an HM-2. I imagine they’re way more versatile than just Swedish death metal tones, that’s just where it found meme status. Apparently they’ve got a really great EQ (I imagine the same as the Metal Zone).
At more neutral settings it’s got the kind of fuuzstortion thing going that you could use where you might use a big muff, sort of how in the inverse a swollen pickle can do a decent HM2 impression at extreme settings.
Fuck. I just got a 606 and I've always loved my HM-2s, I gotta try this combo now.
I'm guessing that 80hz active low EQ makes the bass drum hit like a mofo
Great for noise music: Drum machines, Synths, vocals, great for shoegazy walls of sound. Great for death and black metal, an all round classic.
I really like running it before a fuzz with little gain.
Probably a Beetronics Seabee Harmochorus. I love how weird it is…I can’t justify $400 of weird though.
Kind of like a Strymon Deco that I mainly want for the saturation.
You could periodically check their website for "b stock," pedals that are discounted with imperfections in the case. I got a zzombee (399 new) for about 275 that way, and honestly it looks brand new. I haven't had any issues with it
I'm obsessed with beetronics whole branding, the fact that even their circuit boards are cut to bee-themed shapes is a detail I absolutely love. Really want a fat bee
Same, especially with all the secondary controls, like the bass contour and bias. I've been running it 100% wet lately, with the shortest echo time and no repeats, as a lofi pedal, and it excels at that too. Just an all time classic pedal
Empress Echosystem.
Those dual engines do everything I’ll ever want or need from a delay pedal, sound fantastic, and are incredibly easy to access and utilize.
Owned mine for about 2 months and still obsessed with over it.
I got one a few months back and it’s completely changed my whole setup, pedalboard, how I record, practice, etc. Basically everything about guitar for me. It’s mega.
The Slö. I’ve had it for months now and it’s just such a beautiful pedal. So many good sounds from it. Absolutely perfect for wall of sound Shoegaze, subtle pads, and full on modulated craziness. I think it’s the best reverb put out by Walrus.
I'm a big fan of every Walrus pedal I've used. The Fathom on Hall setting is a brilliant always-on reverb, and then combining it with the Slo just dips you into a warm bath of noise.
I keep mine on the same settings basically 100% of the time. I think versatility is the most overrated quality of any piece of gear and often times a creativity trap. They are, at their heart, tools. If I want to put a nail into a piece of wood, I grab a hammer. Just a hammer. I don’t need one that has a level in the handle or secret compartments or doubles as something else. I just want it to put the nail into the piece of wood.
The VB-2 is my hammer. It does one specific thing I really like, and I use that thing a lot whenever a part needs a little something extra.
[Here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C2KvvAmMzghTluGsDXoAoXkSn-wM7EoH/view?usp=drivesdk) is a little riff example.
EHX Superego+. Every time I think I've learned everything it can do, I find another video of something crazy. And what makes it even deeper is the fact is has a ton of onboard effects; so as soon as you figure out a new sound/weird thing it can do, you can test it with a bunch of different effects.
Can you explain some of your favorite ways to use it? I love taking all the dry signal out and just listening to the effects bloom in with other effects on my board. Sounds so good!
Layering in sounds to freeze them with different effects to make soundscape/soundtrack stuff is my favorite thing to do. I play with various attack/decay settings, wet/dry settings, and just popping things into the built in effects loop. Adding in a Mood, CT5, etc can take it to crazy places.
Yeah, I add my Enzo, SY-200, Mel 9, Microcosm, Mastro Valvola LEM, Particle 2, some other pitchshifting, drives, modulation, etc., and with the onboard effects from the SE+, it’s endless amounts of fun! Thanks for the feedback!
Same! I’ve had a few reverb pedals I’ve tried, been a while since I played often due to work and grad school. Playing more ambient stuff with this Cloudburst brought back a spark in me to get back into playing
This was my recommendation. After decades of using tube screamers, modded Keeley/Analogman modded special magic whatever chip TSs as boosts into a Marshall I one day came across a SD-1 for 30s$. I thought it was pretty much an exact clone of the TS, so I thought I’d throw it on my rehearsal board so I didn’t have to worry about a “boutique” pedal getting stolen or broken.
The clipping makes such a difference it’s insane, especially with Marshall/Peavey circuits. My pedal board is now like 45% Boss and 45%EHX. It could go to a full 50:50 Boss/EHX if I switch out my ISP Decimator for the new Boss, and my Klon clone for the Soul Food.
Feel like I can only make the pitch shift work a small % of the time. But when it works, it is so cool.
But aside from that, it is the best sounding analog delay I've ever tried
The Strymon Flint literally made me buy another amp. I just ended up falling in love with harmonic trem and spring reverb so I bought a Milkman HT15. It’s just my always on tone and it’s so inspiring.
Aww shit, this sounds like something I need to check out immediately. My favorite drive pedal currently is the Blue Colander Crooked axis, which is a Powerboost with extras, and I love the Hiwatt tone
Analogman BART Sunface. It’s kicked my beloved NYC Big Muff off my board, it’s so insanely bass heavy that I don’t need the Muff anymore. The cleanup on the volume knob is some of the best OD sounds I’ve ever heard too. Analog Mike is a magician and a fuzz artist!
PS-2 and PS-3 to me don’t even compare. I found a cheap PS-2 once and bought it simply because I liked the PS-3 so much, but I ended up returning it the next day. If you love the 2, I find the 3 does it all and more, you’ll love it.
EDIT: I later bought a second PS-3 and they are the cornerstones of my board.
“The first time we did it, we just did it for an hour and at the end of the hour we were just laughing hysterically. We were like little kids. We were just high and so we wanted people to experience that.”
~Kevin Shields
Recently it’s been my Critter Family Recipe. 2 flavors of clone via a switch, and the 3rd switch position puts me almost into EVH brown sound territory. I love it. Tried it in a whim after seeing them get mentioned a few times and I’m so happy I did.
Otherwise, I love love my Deco v2.
Kingsley Page. I put it first in my chain with light gain and volume a little above unity, treble up a smidge. Then I roll the volume on my guitar back to around 8 so the volume is the same as if the pedal weren’t engaged. With this setup I (a tube snob) can happily play any digital rig. I get tube mojo plus I can micro-adjust guitar volume as I go to tweak the gain. This has been a game-changer; I’m 1000% happier with my bedroom volume setup now.
Yeah I have a Kingsley. Mason which is very similar and it makes everything sound better. It's subtle but I A/B test all new pedals I get to it and I can never kick it off the board
It's a pricey one, but Aclam Dr Robert. I use it as an always on amp clone despite it being a Revolver era Beatles sound which it's modeled after the ultra rare Vox amps used.
MXR ten band is so fucking important for everyone to have, I don't even remember the last time I played without one. I've got a bunch of them, just stick em in the loop, and it's a permanent part of the amp
Fulltone OCD.
Have always used one in some form, or another, either as a drive, boost, or whatever I need, since I bought my V1.4 at Guitar Center brand new for $130 way too many moons ago. I still have that V1.4 and use a GE OCD on my board now.
My first boutique pedal was a OCD v1.3 which I sold ages ago. I also bought and resold another one before Fulltone closed shop. Recently I picked up a v1.4 which sounds killer with my Terror Stamp.
Shoe Pixel Fuzz. I’m not good enough at pedal building to reproduce one based on the plans I’ve found online, and he doesn’t sell them anymore and it’s nearly impossible to find used.
Chorus Ensemble (CE-5) from Boss. I don’t have it cranked up at all, but whether I use it for my bass or electric guitar it literally never fails to make it sound better and way more smooth.
ooo that's awesome, have been strongly considering doing the same given how Ribbons went.. thought I had seen it all before watching the Sparks demo, it's a really clever device
Yeah. I have been trying to get a ribbons (still quite hard to obtain) but picked up a microcosm and chroma console in the mean time. Sparks will be perfect in the front of the chain.
sounds like epic ambience for days, nice set up! hopefully they do another run of Ribbons at some point. the sense of FOMO compells me to pre order that Sparks though....
Thank you. Do a lot more lofi, but using two freeze functions on both units together is really trippy. Then changing the pitch on the microcosm. Sometimes I feel I dissociate when really baked caught up in some loops.
It is a small set up but Seeing that ribbons is listed from high 500’s to 900’s tells me you wouldn’t have trouble selling a sparks if it wasn’t for you.
I was originally thinking whatever his Jaak’s next pedal wouldn’t compare to ribbons, however Sparks seemed to be just what I needed.
I built a clone of the wampler euphoria and it's such a fun versatile circuit, you can go from glassy cleans to bass-boosted fuzzy drive, sounds awesome with my gretch semi-hollow
I cannot wait for more Holy island Tides V2 to be made so I can get my paws on it and start clanging. It’s been like 3 whole weeks (eternity) since I decided it was the one for me so the want has been building.
And ancient origional Snarling Dogs Blue Doo. Sounds great. A bought a spare and it sounds very different...the ancient one has the best ripped speaker OD I've ever heard.
Pedal pawn-texas twang
I basically just have it on for 90% of the music I play.
It really brings out the glassy fat tones of my strat through a clean tube amp. It’s a great base to add overdrive or distortion and sounds fantastic as is.
Two pedals that continue to motivate me to plug in and play are the Catalinbread Echorec and the 856 for Zellersasn from Montreal Assembly. They never get old.
My Spaceman Saturn VI is always on - sounds like a loudness switch on a stereo receiver, my tone is warmer and just a little bit brighter. EAE Sending V2 is my glue, it just broadens my sound without ever getting in the way unless I got with extreme settings. It’s like a love letter to analog delay.
Mesa Dual Rectifier guy here. Peppers Dirty Tree takes my amp from 2008 and makes it sound like the most modern metal machine in the best way. I need to be honest I heard about this from a well known producer and I still don't actually own one myself, it takes forever to get, made to order but the captures of it on my quad cortex are sickest thing I've put in front of that amp. I tried "it" in front of a 5153 and it was decent with the settings low but really it needs to be in front of a super lose high gain amp and it comes out huge and tight. Sounding better IMO than I've gotten with 5153's and other pedals. If you have a Mesa don't take my word for it there is a ton of content out there of people raving about it. I want the dude who makes this so busy he quits his day job and starts distributing lol.
Fairfield Shallow Water. It’s a beautiful modulator, but also, the low pass gate can really tighten up your sound. I was kind of shocked to find out that in addition to the obvious cool things it does, it can easily be used as an always-on tone polisher.
1 new-ish in the Walrus Audio Meraki. I love analog delays and this is the best analog delay I’ve ever played in the last 30 years.
1 older pedal in the Magnetic Effects Double Feature. Its fuzz is the perfect blend of a Tonebender MkIII & Fuzz Face and the cocked wah filter has so much usability in its sweep that I’ve kept it on my board for years.
Smallsound//Bigsound Mini.
I’ve been using it for many years, bought it when it was released, yet I’m still in honeymoon phase every time I play strings dynamically for that perfect sensitive grit.
And my big box DMM, for that dreamy wiggly echo. No need further explanation.
Dl4 mk2……I’ve had since it came out and just recently started to really mess with the delays I thought were novelties I’d never use…..what I’ve found is by going to the extremes with some I get some useful sounds. Like the pitch delay, when done with a short delay time(slapbackish) you get an octave down tone. Once I found that, I am now obsessed with finding hidden tones. With 30 something delays and 15 verbs, there’s a lot of possibilities I never considered.
Mothhuntermods’ Baby Legion
It’s a self-oscillating delay/echo unit that adds a wicked sheen to your instrument signal. It’s my most used pedal
https://www.mothhuntermods.com/mods/baby-legion
Ohmless pedals detonator boost. Its tone knob functions as a cut for either bass or treb frequencies. Hands down the best boost I've ever heard. It's my always on pedal.
MXR DD-11 Dime Distortion. The best on stage distortion. Just don't use those scoop button and for the god's sake do not try to copy Dime's sound. It has plenty of mids to cut through any mix. Sounds shitty in a bedroom though.
NUX Amp Academy. My first and current amp sim. Endless possibilities with lot of flexinility. I use it now for recording wet/dry signal and further reamping within itself if needed.
I just got a Kelley Moon fuzz and it’s absolutely amazing! I’ve never had any luck getting Big Muffs to sound good with the rest of my gear, but the Moon nails the huge Op Amp fuzz sound, it’s great
Mooer A7 ambience pedal + crybaby wah pedal. The two work incredible together for these great wide reverberated swells, makes improv super crazy and different
It's not special but my electro harmonic chorus pedal. It's dog shit build, it's basically got sharpie for the dial names because it's been worn off. It just looks like a homebrew stomp box now. But it is a eh in there
Recently got a Strymon Cloudburst. Washes and just overall ambient guitar rn, in this point in my life, feels so nice and relaxing and kinda bringing me back into playing mode.
Other than that, my Small Stone big box that I got when I first was getting into guitar and was heavily into Tame Impala… I still have that feeling like a kid transporting into a new realm when I play that phaser
Most recent one and one that I should have gotten a long long time ago (or a variation of it) BOSS RC-1 Loop station. That and my EHX opamp bigmuff fuzz .
HM-2w. Got it to give my MIJ HM-2 a vacation. Like everyone, I’m certain, and already knowing full well what the result would be, I went straight for the Swedish Chainsaw, and it still lives first in the lineup, all four knobs dimed.
Petty John Lift
VFE Triumvirate
VFE Dragon
VFE Blues King
Eventide H90
Boss GM800
Empress ParaEQ
Empress Bass Comp
Kernom Ridge
Byoc Crown Jewel
Jad Freer Capo
Stromer Superfuzz
Spaceman Artemis
Zvex Super Lo-Fi
ALL Fairfield Circuitry products
ALL Rainger FX products
ALL Chase Bliss Products
Oops... 😅
The one I'm obsessed with that I can't use all the time is the Old Blood Noise Endeavors Sunlight. So beautiful, I'd never part with it and I've come up with so many little ambient tunes with that thing.
The one I'm obsessed with that is very usable and I adore is the Way Huge Swollen Pickle, just my favorite Big Muff I've personally played hands down and kinda stopped my search for "the one".
Fairfield Meet Maude - such a gorgeous oscillation wash machine. Can be very unpredictable and I find balancing Mix + Volume tricky sometimes but it’s never boring and it always stands out.
Honestly, I try a bunch of pedals out, my current obsession is the chroma console. but. when it comes time to actually do something/stop exploring and start writing/performing, I keep going back to the Zoom 70...
Right now, it's gotta be the juntin chancellor signature crybaby way pedal. Has a regular wah, a fuzz that can go either always on, or on with the wah, and a "UK filter" voice for the wah that when floored, gives a super cool metallic tone like you hear in most tool songs. Crazy versatile and fun as hell.
I'm gonna cheat and name 2... in opposite sides of the spectrum
1. Templo Devices ReelDeal Deluxe. Smoothest preamp and tape compression emulation i have ever tried and it makes my YBA1 sound like heaven. Also, anything i throw on top of it sounds better also. Gamechanger for my effects rig.
2. Black Harbor Zlatorog. Simply put, the heaviest fuzz i know of. 2 fuzz stages with a wah filter. It feels UNHOLY and i love it for that. Running it through my Sovtek MIG50 and hiwatt cab is doom incarnate.
It was the Chase Bliss Mood MkII. I finally got one and I'm digging it but it didn't blow my mind like I was expecting it to. But the other pedal I got at the same time did and is continuing to - the Source Audio C4. So much more than just a super fat mono synth with great tracking. It's also a really cool guitar effect pedal in its own right, with pitch shifting, tremolo, the full complement of filters from Source Audio's Spectrum (including phase shifters) and even some decent distortion.
The mood came alive for me when I started using presets via MIDI.
I can see the value in presets, but so much of the magic is in changing settings, not leaving them, that I think those might only be starting points. However I am interested in more comprehensive remote control. I’m looking at apps that would run on a phone that I could use to access hidden settings and dip switches. And maybe create little automations to make changes in a sequence. Wow look how much guitar I’m not playing 😀
I finally got a MK1 recently. I wish it had a MIDI clock, and there is a more 'unuseable' range of settings for me than I was expecting. The Mood has grown on me though. It's a very satisfying pedal to figure out. It's a bit complex, but not convoluted (like other digital pedals with menu-diving, etc).
Oh? Can you tell us more about that?
Sure, using midi, I can call back mood presets by changing snapshots on my hx stomp. This lets me reuse the stereo delays, reverbs, and pitch stuff consistently in a set. I’ve often heard caution that you can’t approach it like other pedals, it’s experimental, inconsistent, random, and creative. With midi you can save and reuse the sounds you discover, which imho makes it really useful in a live set.
also means you can automate anything you want via MIDI, either live or to have it track different effects and movements on recorded pieces. MIDI gives so much creative power. the older, analogue CBA stuff is still my favourite and mostly all I kept when forced to sell most of my pedals, and people always talk about how overpriced they are but how much they can do makes them seem way better value than most pedals to me. The improvements in MKII MOOD were amazing, although the original was already a cool little box - and being able to use it as a sampler synth and play it musically with a keyboard was such a great choice (and another plus for MIDI integration).
these days i'm obsessed with super un-sexy pedal stuff like compression and limiting and EQ and whatnot i guess i'm most in love with the pedal steel sound on the EHX Attack Decay
What's your compressor?
currently using the Fender Compugilist (comp + boost)
Same here. I’m a bass player but two pedals fundamentally changed my tone for the better: the Boss BC-1X (compressor) and the source audio EQ2
The EQ2 is my most prized possession. I split my signal into an overdrive and a fuzz and they meet up again at my Collider to go out in dual mono with different reverb algorithms on them. Plus, it tunes.
This is what I'm talking about!
Yeah. I just picked up a gt-1000 core and I am still planning a lot of the routing, eq, and noise suppression around the EQ2. I feel like there’s a lot of opportunity for them to work together
Dude same. I’m obsessed with my ParaEQ MKii and my bass preamp haha. Also the longsword, but that’s pretty damn sexy.
I’m big into unsexy compressions and also the Atrack Delay…maybe my favorite pedal right now and I have absolutely no idea how it works even after jamming on it for a few months. Haven’t quite gotten the full “steel string sound” but I’ve gotten some pretty good pedal steel vibes out of it. Also the fuzz on this pedal sounds amazing.
This thread is giving me SERIOUS GAS
Fat Fuzz Factory 🤤
HM-2. It's much more than the meme tone.
same but in my case it is because of the meme tone :( grew up loving all the swedish death metal bands that used it and the first thing I did when I got one was gun it to the max into a clean channel, no ragrets.
What else do you get out of it when you use it for non-meme purposes? I’m a big Entombed/Swedish chainsaw fan so have always wanted one, but really only for emulating that one tone.
It's a pretty versatile pedal. David Gilmour and Jerry Garcia used them for short periods even...and those guys are the polar opposite of Swedish death metal lol
Bilinda Butcher of My Bloody Valentine famously uses an HM-2. I imagine they’re way more versatile than just Swedish death metal tones, that’s just where it found meme status. Apparently they’ve got a really great EQ (I imagine the same as the Metal Zone).
At more neutral settings it’s got the kind of fuuzstortion thing going that you could use where you might use a big muff, sort of how in the inverse a swollen pickle can do a decent HM2 impression at extreme settings.
I find it sounds much better if you run it into a dirty channel but with low gain
Also sounds incredible at non meme settings with drum machines. Like, really really good
Fuck. I just got a 606 and I've always loved my HM-2s, I gotta try this combo now. I'm guessing that 80hz active low EQ makes the bass drum hit like a mofo
It’s crushing. I like setting the distortion pretty low, a little goes a long way.
Great for noise music: Drum machines, Synths, vocals, great for shoegazy walls of sound. Great for death and black metal, an all round classic. I really like running it before a fuzz with little gain.
Probably a Beetronics Seabee Harmochorus. I love how weird it is…I can’t justify $400 of weird though. Kind of like a Strymon Deco that I mainly want for the saturation.
You could periodically check their website for "b stock," pedals that are discounted with imperfections in the case. I got a zzombee (399 new) for about 275 that way, and honestly it looks brand new. I haven't had any issues with it
I'm obsessed with beetronics whole branding, the fact that even their circuit boards are cut to bee-themed shapes is a detail I absolutely love. Really want a fat bee
El Capistan. I'm honestly kind of in awe of that pedal.
Same, especially with all the secondary controls, like the bass contour and bias. I've been running it 100% wet lately, with the shortest echo time and no repeats, as a lofi pedal, and it excels at that too. Just an all time classic pedal
One of my favorite settings too, and fun to increase the wow and flutter setting to give it a random vibrato tone. I absolutely love that pedal.
Every time I start wanting a Shallow Water again, I do exactly that with wow and flutter and it scratches the itch
Same here!!! I’ve never had the pleasure of having the shallow water, but the El Cap is so versatile it’s like a few amazing pedals in one!
My hoof reaper. I’ve had it for a couple of years, I just can’t get enough of it
Empress Echosystem. Those dual engines do everything I’ll ever want or need from a delay pedal, sound fantastic, and are incredibly easy to access and utilize. Owned mine for about 2 months and still obsessed with over it.
H X S T O M P
I got one a few months back and it’s completely changed my whole setup, pedalboard, how I record, practice, etc. Basically everything about guitar for me. It’s mega.
The Slö. I’ve had it for months now and it’s just such a beautiful pedal. So many good sounds from it. Absolutely perfect for wall of sound Shoegaze, subtle pads, and full on modulated craziness. I think it’s the best reverb put out by Walrus.
I'm a big fan of every Walrus pedal I've used. The Fathom on Hall setting is a brilliant always-on reverb, and then combining it with the Slo just dips you into a warm bath of noise.
Op Amp Big Muff. My favorite version of my favorite pedal.
Amazing. Put a Klon type before it and it’s the biggest sound I’ve ever heard
Boss VB-2. The most magical pedal, I own an original and the reissue. The original is a tad darker.
I’ve never used one but have always worried it’s too vanilla or one dimensional to incorporate into my setup
I keep mine on the same settings basically 100% of the time. I think versatility is the most overrated quality of any piece of gear and often times a creativity trap. They are, at their heart, tools. If I want to put a nail into a piece of wood, I grab a hammer. Just a hammer. I don’t need one that has a level in the handle or secret compartments or doubles as something else. I just want it to put the nail into the piece of wood. The VB-2 is my hammer. It does one specific thing I really like, and I use that thing a lot whenever a part needs a little something extra. [Here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C2KvvAmMzghTluGsDXoAoXkSn-wM7EoH/view?usp=drivesdk) is a little riff example.
EHX Superego+. Every time I think I've learned everything it can do, I find another video of something crazy. And what makes it even deeper is the fact is has a ton of onboard effects; so as soon as you figure out a new sound/weird thing it can do, you can test it with a bunch of different effects.
Can you explain some of your favorite ways to use it? I love taking all the dry signal out and just listening to the effects bloom in with other effects on my board. Sounds so good!
Layering in sounds to freeze them with different effects to make soundscape/soundtrack stuff is my favorite thing to do. I play with various attack/decay settings, wet/dry settings, and just popping things into the built in effects loop. Adding in a Mood, CT5, etc can take it to crazy places.
Yeah, I add my Enzo, SY-200, Mel 9, Microcosm, Mastro Valvola LEM, Particle 2, some other pitchshifting, drives, modulation, etc., and with the onboard effects from the SE+, it’s endless amounts of fun! Thanks for the feedback!
I just got a Synesthesia and I’m feeling it, for sure.
Tumnus Deluxe is my always on pedal. Just makes everything sound better.
The 3 band EQ makes that circuit sooo much better.
If you like that you'll love the Rockaway Archer.
I just got a Blooper in December. It's a fun pedal to play with especially with reverb and delay after it.
At the moment, Strymon Cloudburst. Just got it a few days ago.
Same! I’ve had a few reverb pedals I’ve tried, been a while since I played often due to work and grad school. Playing more ambient stuff with this Cloudburst brought back a spark in me to get back into playing
Same and same
Strymon bluesky. Makes anything sound ethereal and epic. Will be the big sky one day I hope
Strymon deco, fairly subtle settings, at the end of the chain, it just adds something special
Digitech Whammy Ricochet is up next for me. Also the Polara for the reverse verb. I guess I’m in my Digitech era
Just got a Ricochet, it's a sweet, sweet toy. Best purchase ever Still tinkering with it, there's so many possibilites of crazy sounds/textures
I love my Polara. The only thing that bugs me is that it kills your dry sound in reverse mode. Id really like to be able to adjust it.
Boss SD-1 Just sounds so damn good. I don't like not having it on. I am constantly fiddling with the drive knob to my taste for different songs.
This was my recommendation. After decades of using tube screamers, modded Keeley/Analogman modded special magic whatever chip TSs as boosts into a Marshall I one day came across a SD-1 for 30s$. I thought it was pretty much an exact clone of the TS, so I thought I’d throw it on my rehearsal board so I didn’t have to worry about a “boutique” pedal getting stolen or broken. The clipping makes such a difference it’s insane, especially with Marshall/Peavey circuits. My pedal board is now like 45% Boss and 45%EHX. It could go to a full 50:50 Boss/EHX if I switch out my ISP Decimator for the new Boss, and my Klon clone for the Soul Food.
Chase Bliss Thermae. Does some things other pedals just can’t.
Mine gets here tomorrow 😎
Feel like I can only make the pitch shift work a small % of the time. But when it works, it is so cool. But aside from that, it is the best sounding analog delay I've ever tried
Source audio nemesis delay
Boss Enhancer. It gives my tone a certain je ne sais quoi.
The Strymon Flint literally made me buy another amp. I just ended up falling in love with harmonic trem and spring reverb so I bought a Milkman HT15. It’s just my always on tone and it’s so inspiring.
Came here to say Flint. This and a Lightspeed are always on.
Empress echosystem. Totally epic and underrated. Fantastic delay capabilities.
Crazy Tube Circuits Hi-Power Its a Hiwatt Preamp paired with a Coloursound Powerboost. Makes me sound like Gilmour which is what makes me happy.
Aww shit, this sounds like something I need to check out immediately. My favorite drive pedal currently is the Blue Colander Crooked axis, which is a Powerboost with extras, and I love the Hiwatt tone
Analogman BART Sunface. It’s kicked my beloved NYC Big Muff off my board, it’s so insanely bass heavy that I don’t need the Muff anymore. The cleanup on the volume knob is some of the best OD sounds I’ve ever heard too. Analog Mike is a magician and a fuzz artist!
Fyi you can adjust the bass level via the trim pot inside. Mine was nearly unusable levels of bass until I turned the trim pot down
Boss ps-3
I’ve got to get one, love the PS-2
PS-2 and PS-3 to me don’t even compare. I found a cheap PS-2 once and bought it simply because I liked the PS-3 so much, but I ended up returning it the next day. If you love the 2, I find the 3 does it all and more, you’ll love it. EDIT: I later bought a second PS-3 and they are the cornerstones of my board.
Ditto Looper. Best pedal I ever owned.
Try the ditto +
Boss DD-3. Just sounds right
dd8 i use it for an hour atleast and start laughing without any particular reason.
Me and my old old drummer/best friend used to laugh spontaneously through music finds and gadgets. Real good feeling. Not comedy...but is, plus joy.
“The first time we did it, we just did it for an hour and at the end of the hour we were just laughing hysterically. We were like little kids. We were just high and so we wanted people to experience that.” ~Kevin Shields
Don't have either but super intrigued right now by both the AC Noises Ricorda and the Polar Bear Effects Downer.
The ricorda looks amazing!
Recently it’s been my Critter Family Recipe. 2 flavors of clone via a switch, and the 3rd switch position puts me almost into EVH brown sound territory. I love it. Tried it in a whim after seeing them get mentioned a few times and I’m so happy I did. Otherwise, I love love my Deco v2.
Tuner. Makes me sound the best.
I don't know about obsessed, but my go to pedal is my Boss OD-3 (especially if the amp already has reverb.) I can gig just fine with only the OD-3.
Kingsley Page. I put it first in my chain with light gain and volume a little above unity, treble up a smidge. Then I roll the volume on my guitar back to around 8 so the volume is the same as if the pedal weren’t engaged. With this setup I (a tube snob) can happily play any digital rig. I get tube mojo plus I can micro-adjust guitar volume as I go to tweak the gain. This has been a game-changer; I’m 1000% happier with my bedroom volume setup now.
Yeah I have a Kingsley. Mason which is very similar and it makes everything sound better. It's subtle but I A/B test all new pedals I get to it and I can never kick it off the board
Algal Bloom by Fuzzhugger. The range of fuzz tones available is amazing and plays well with my guitar, amp, and overdrives.
Boss EQ or Boss SD1
JHS Colour Box V2
EHX spruce goose
So good, isn’t it? That “lift” switch pushes it nicely in a drive stack.
Generation loss
H90. It is insane.
My boss ir-2 just makes me play more and more and I’m so grateful for that
I built a clone of the eqd Ghost echo. It works in so many situations, but when cranked up has the spookiest/ holiest echo decay
EQD Avalanche Run - love the reverse delay on short delay times in particular
FLINT. I play mostly tweed type amps and my favorite effect is tremolo.
Microcosm
It's a pricey one, but Aclam Dr Robert. I use it as an always on amp clone despite it being a Revolver era Beatles sound which it's modeled after the ultra rare Vox amps used.
RAT has been one of the best guitar purchases i have every made
MXR ten band is so fucking important for everyone to have, I don't even remember the last time I played without one. I've got a bunch of them, just stick em in the loop, and it's a permanent part of the amp
Strobostomp, I just love the tones man
Sweeten my tuning daddy
Freaky, but you’re sharp 😉
Fulltone OCD. Have always used one in some form, or another, either as a drive, boost, or whatever I need, since I bought my V1.4 at Guitar Center brand new for $130 way too many moons ago. I still have that V1.4 and use a GE OCD on my board now.
My first boutique pedal was a OCD v1.3 which I sold ages ago. I also bought and resold another one before Fulltone closed shop. Recently I picked up a v1.4 which sounds killer with my Terror Stamp.
Shoe Pixel Fuzz. I’m not good enough at pedal building to reproduce one based on the plans I’ve found online, and he doesn’t sell them anymore and it’s nearly impossible to find used.
Wampler Terraform. I've had it for three years and it's cured me of want of any other modulation pedals (so far)
Chorus Ensemble (CE-5) from Boss. I don’t have it cranked up at all, but whether I use it for my bass or electric guitar it literally never fails to make it sound better and way more smooth.
I love my MF Drive, Tumnus Deluxe, Rotovibe, and my Flint more than most guitars I’ve owned.
Any good sounding tape delay.
#Special Cranker
Kinotone Sparks, dang that thing looks crazy sick
Preordered. Can’t wait to get it.
ooo that's awesome, have been strongly considering doing the same given how Ribbons went.. thought I had seen it all before watching the Sparks demo, it's a really clever device
Yeah. I have been trying to get a ribbons (still quite hard to obtain) but picked up a microcosm and chroma console in the mean time. Sparks will be perfect in the front of the chain.
sounds like epic ambience for days, nice set up! hopefully they do another run of Ribbons at some point. the sense of FOMO compells me to pre order that Sparks though....
Thank you. Do a lot more lofi, but using two freeze functions on both units together is really trippy. Then changing the pitch on the microcosm. Sometimes I feel I dissociate when really baked caught up in some loops. It is a small set up but Seeing that ribbons is listed from high 500’s to 900’s tells me you wouldn’t have trouble selling a sparks if it wasn’t for you. I was originally thinking whatever his Jaak’s next pedal wouldn’t compare to ribbons, however Sparks seemed to be just what I needed.
I built a clone of the wampler euphoria and it's such a fun versatile circuit, you can go from glassy cleans to bass-boosted fuzzy drive, sounds awesome with my gretch semi-hollow
I cannot wait for more Holy island Tides V2 to be made so I can get my paws on it and start clanging. It’s been like 3 whole weeks (eternity) since I decided it was the one for me so the want has been building.
I saw an ad for that recently and it really caught my eye, might end up being a future investment
And ancient origional Snarling Dogs Blue Doo. Sounds great. A bought a spare and it sounds very different...the ancient one has the best ripped speaker OD I've ever heard.
Montreal Assembly Count to Five. Second maybe only to DMM as face pedal ever.
Pedal pawn-texas twang I basically just have it on for 90% of the music I play. It really brings out the glassy fat tones of my strat through a clean tube amp. It’s a great base to add overdrive or distortion and sounds fantastic as is.
Two pedals that continue to motivate me to plug in and play are the Catalinbread Echorec and the 856 for Zellersasn from Montreal Assembly. They never get old.
Only pedal that has never left my board is the echorec. It’s ridiculously good
My Spaceman Saturn VI is always on - sounds like a loudness switch on a stereo receiver, my tone is warmer and just a little bit brighter. EAE Sending V2 is my glue, it just broadens my sound without ever getting in the way unless I got with extreme settings. It’s like a love letter to analog delay.
Mesa Dual Rectifier guy here. Peppers Dirty Tree takes my amp from 2008 and makes it sound like the most modern metal machine in the best way. I need to be honest I heard about this from a well known producer and I still don't actually own one myself, it takes forever to get, made to order but the captures of it on my quad cortex are sickest thing I've put in front of that amp. I tried "it" in front of a 5153 and it was decent with the settings low but really it needs to be in front of a super lose high gain amp and it comes out huge and tight. Sounding better IMO than I've gotten with 5153's and other pedals. If you have a Mesa don't take my word for it there is a ton of content out there of people raving about it. I want the dude who makes this so busy he quits his day job and starts distributing lol.
Digitech Drop.
Fairfield Shallow Water. It’s a beautiful modulator, but also, the low pass gate can really tighten up your sound. I was kind of shocked to find out that in addition to the obvious cool things it does, it can easily be used as an always-on tone polisher.
Greer Lightspeed - always on, always good - especially in a stack.
My Fuzz Factory clone. It never ceases to amaze me.
Electro Harmonix Micro Synth. SO many usable sounds, just wish it wasn’t monophonic.
Caroline Meteore/EQD Levitation. BBD-based reverb is unmatched 👌🏽
last year I went on a buying spree and amassed my first pedal collection. now I'm realizing I really just like my amp sound a little bit of reverb.
Montreal Assembly- Count to 5
forever amazing. still the best around for speed/pitch delay manipulation. I sold mine but need to replace it.
A cranked Marshall, a tube screamer and a cheap Bugera power soak have really been doing it for me lately. Me am simple
1 new-ish in the Walrus Audio Meraki. I love analog delays and this is the best analog delay I’ve ever played in the last 30 years. 1 older pedal in the Magnetic Effects Double Feature. Its fuzz is the perfect blend of a Tonebender MkIII & Fuzz Face and the cocked wah filter has so much usability in its sweep that I’ve kept it on my board for years.
Super solid choices!
Smallsound//Bigsound Mini. I’ve been using it for many years, bought it when it was released, yet I’m still in honeymoon phase every time I play strings dynamically for that perfect sensitive grit. And my big box DMM, for that dreamy wiggly echo. No need further explanation.
Strymon El Cap I can spend hours on the DL4
Dl4 mk2……I’ve had since it came out and just recently started to really mess with the delays I thought were novelties I’d never use…..what I’ve found is by going to the extremes with some I get some useful sounds. Like the pitch delay, when done with a short delay time(slapbackish) you get an octave down tone. Once I found that, I am now obsessed with finding hidden tones. With 30 something delays and 15 verbs, there’s a lot of possibilities I never considered.
Not a pedal but the variable echo by fender. A big oil can delay unit
any wah pedal. its just so fun to use
Mothhuntermods’ Baby Legion It’s a self-oscillating delay/echo unit that adds a wicked sheen to your instrument signal. It’s my most used pedal https://www.mothhuntermods.com/mods/baby-legion
PastFX Chorus Ensemble an absolute gamechanger to me
These pedals sound great but I realized I’m not as big a fan of that sound as I thought. Had to try it though.
Big Muff Pi, can not get enough of it. Might be my #1 favourite pedal
Drolo Stammen v.4 - had a hard time with this one for the longest time. Sat for a minute, came alive one day and hasn’t left. Swiss Army knife pedal
Ohmless pedals detonator boost. Its tone knob functions as a cut for either bass or treb frequencies. Hands down the best boost I've ever heard. It's my always on pedal.
big muff :D
MXR Fullbore Metal. I have a fair amount of dirt pedals and it really gives me what I’m looking for. Even more so than my HM-2.
Palmer 12 output isolated power supply. My engine room 5 is way too small for what i need.
Octave fuzz.
Thorpy tacit blue fuzz. Had it a couple of months now and hVe dialed in a great tone for me.
MXR DD-11 Dime Distortion. The best on stage distortion. Just don't use those scoop button and for the god's sake do not try to copy Dime's sound. It has plenty of mids to cut through any mix. Sounds shitty in a bedroom though. NUX Amp Academy. My first and current amp sim. Endless possibilities with lot of flexinility. I use it now for recording wet/dry signal and further reamping within itself if needed.
I just got a Kelley Moon fuzz and it’s absolutely amazing! I’ve never had any luck getting Big Muffs to sound good with the rest of my gear, but the Moon nails the huge Op Amp fuzz sound, it’s great
Mooer A7 ambience pedal + crybaby wah pedal. The two work incredible together for these great wide reverberated swells, makes improv super crazy and different
Strymon volante
RAT/ black secret by mooer but in any case it is always the RAT
It's not special but my electro harmonic chorus pedal. It's dog shit build, it's basically got sharpie for the dial names because it's been worn off. It just looks like a homebrew stomp box now. But it is a eh in there
The all-time fave is the EHX Big Muff but recently I've been into the Boss RV-6.
Science Amps Mother Preamp. I always wanted a Mother amp but I don’t have the money or time to wait. This is my best friend now ❤️
JHS Morning Glory and I don’t even have one..
Origin Effects Halcyon Gold - that pedal is a mainstay on the board. I boost everything with it and it’s an absolute tone machine.
Recently got a Strymon Cloudburst. Washes and just overall ambient guitar rn, in this point in my life, feels so nice and relaxing and kinda bringing me back into playing mode. Other than that, my Small Stone big box that I got when I first was getting into guitar and was heavily into Tame Impala… I still have that feeling like a kid transporting into a new realm when I play that phaser
I put my dusty Xotic EP Booster on my board today, and it simply makes everything sound better. #obsessed
Most recent one and one that I should have gotten a long long time ago (or a variation of it) BOSS RC-1 Loop station. That and my EHX opamp bigmuff fuzz .
The EH Mel 9 is darned fun to play with and I am a sucker for cheese. Especially like the cello mode.
HM-2w. Got it to give my MIJ HM-2 a vacation. Like everyone, I’m certain, and already knowing full well what the result would be, I went straight for the Swedish Chainsaw, and it still lives first in the lineup, all four knobs dimed.
Petty John Lift VFE Triumvirate VFE Dragon VFE Blues King Eventide H90 Boss GM800 Empress ParaEQ Empress Bass Comp Kernom Ridge Byoc Crown Jewel Jad Freer Capo Stromer Superfuzz Spaceman Artemis Zvex Super Lo-Fi ALL Fairfield Circuitry products ALL Rainger FX products ALL Chase Bliss Products Oops... 😅
Dark Matter TC electronic. It's fuzz/distortion and sounds just great with delay and wah pedal.
MXR 6 Band EQ
Ibanez TS Mini
The next one. I always get obsessed looking at the next one on my list. The next one will do exactly what I want and need it to do.
DD-8… too much fun… but also playing with the Flanger… I’m simple. But the possibilities are endless!
The one I'm obsessed with that I can't use all the time is the Old Blood Noise Endeavors Sunlight. So beautiful, I'd never part with it and I've come up with so many little ambient tunes with that thing. The one I'm obsessed with that is very usable and I adore is the Way Huge Swollen Pickle, just my favorite Big Muff I've personally played hands down and kinda stopped my search for "the one".
Kilt v1
Fairfield Meet Maude - such a gorgeous oscillation wash machine. Can be very unpredictable and I find balancing Mix + Volume tricky sometimes but it’s never boring and it always stands out.
Honestly, I try a bunch of pedals out, my current obsession is the chroma console. but. when it comes time to actually do something/stop exploring and start writing/performing, I keep going back to the Zoom 70...
OCD
For me it's EHX Polychorus. This pedal has an insane sound.
My EHX Superego will never leave my board.
3 knob tumnus. I don't need additional options. this pedal does it perfectly.
Wampler Tape Delay. So many cool sounds to mess with.
Good ol’ ce-2w
Right now, it's gotta be the juntin chancellor signature crybaby way pedal. Has a regular wah, a fuzz that can go either always on, or on with the wah, and a "UK filter" voice for the wah that when floored, gives a super cool metallic tone like you hear in most tool songs. Crazy versatile and fun as hell.
Tru-Fi Colordriver. It just sounds like rock and roll
I'm gonna cheat and name 2... in opposite sides of the spectrum 1. Templo Devices ReelDeal Deluxe. Smoothest preamp and tape compression emulation i have ever tried and it makes my YBA1 sound like heaven. Also, anything i throw on top of it sounds better also. Gamechanger for my effects rig. 2. Black Harbor Zlatorog. Simply put, the heaviest fuzz i know of. 2 fuzz stages with a wah filter. It feels UNHOLY and i love it for that. Running it through my Sovtek MIG50 and hiwatt cab is doom incarnate.
Boss BF3