What's your favorite "Swiss Army Knife" dirt pedal
- Thread starter jhaneyzz
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benny_profane
Well-known member
Agreed 100%. I think your point about playing at volume/with a band may come a bit of a way to explain why mid-boosts like the TS are so polarizing. I really like a muff, but I can't really use the stock circuit with a band setting without the guitars getting eaten up by the bass/cymbals.
In re jazz guitar: most jazz guitarists don't really seem to be gear heads beyond the guitar itself. I've rarely seen pedalboards and it's not uncommon to see them plug into whatever amp is there and make it work.
Harry Klippton
Well-known member
Specifically I'm thinking of Julian Lage. He plays a vintage tele, probably a cool guy amp, and gets covered a lot by gear related outlets, but sounds YUCK
jimilee
Well-known member
I just built the madbean blue steel with the Keeley mods. Sounds different than the stock. I’m digging it.
Obviously you'll never get consensus on a question like this! The Rat is one of those pedals which is hugely popular but to me is one-dimensional and severely lacking in low-end. I totally get why it's popular but it doesn't work for me at all without significant changes. And yes I have tried all the commercially available varieties made by Proco. But for others it is perfect. And that's fine!
We all have a different "sound in our heads" that we are going for. I don't like when the distortion gets to the point where there is more white noise than guitar tone. Which cuts out most distortion pedals for me!
For me versatile doesn't mean I can get a gazillion different sounds from it, or switches and knobs. For me versatile means it will work with all of my quite varied range of guitars and amps and work with bridge and neck pickups (not all dirt boxes do).
I also find that there is some kind of law of diminishing returns when it comes to the number of parts involved! Strangely enough my favourite ODs are all quite simple circuits, based on things like the Timmy or Bluesbreaker. Once you get to things like the Friedmans you've lost me. Too many parts clouding the sound. I am yet to hear a great OD for my style which uses more than two ICs, for example. The Horsemeat comes close, but is still noisier than I'd like and doesn't have the crisp, clear low end that I like for an all-round dirt pedal. It's a great sound but more specialised, not a good all-rounder.
But of course most players will have different needs and tastes. And I still admire many guitarists who get completely different sounds from me. I love Joey Santiago's playing and sound but would struggle with his rig. I saw him play recently and he's fantastic. And he sounds very different from how I play.
We all have a different "sound in our heads" that we are going for. I don't like when the distortion gets to the point where there is more white noise than guitar tone. Which cuts out most distortion pedals for me!
For me versatile doesn't mean I can get a gazillion different sounds from it, or switches and knobs. For me versatile means it will work with all of my quite varied range of guitars and amps and work with bridge and neck pickups (not all dirt boxes do).
I also find that there is some kind of law of diminishing returns when it comes to the number of parts involved! Strangely enough my favourite ODs are all quite simple circuits, based on things like the Timmy or Bluesbreaker. Once you get to things like the Friedmans you've lost me. Too many parts clouding the sound. I am yet to hear a great OD for my style which uses more than two ICs, for example. The Horsemeat comes close, but is still noisier than I'd like and doesn't have the crisp, clear low end that I like for an all-round dirt pedal. It's a great sound but more specialised, not a good all-rounder.
But of course most players will have different needs and tastes. And I still admire many guitarists who get completely different sounds from me. I love Joey Santiago's playing and sound but would struggle with his rig. I saw him play recently and he's fantastic. And he sounds very different from how I play.
hamerfan
Well-known member
My swiss army knife is a double pedal. A TS into a Rat. The TS makes the Rat a bit smoother and gives also a stellar slide sound.
hamerfan
Well-known member
I use the FatRat mod on my clone and its great this way playing all alone. With the band the normal Rat works better imo.
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jhaneyzz
Well-known member
You make some really excellent points in here.
Your point about parts count was an ah-ha moment for me. I realized that I had been nearly to the point of realizing the same thing.
One of my goals with the whole pedal building thing has been to have my very own little "Pedal Show" moment for myself where I can side by side all of the pedals I hear about, wonder about, and seriously doubt and see for myself. I was raised in the "Show Me" state after all...
I'm pretty far down that road at this point and it has been very educational and relevatory.
Interestingly, I am finding gradually over time that I tend to prefer simpler circuits, generally don't like all of the ultra hyped dual pedals (except for the KOT which kinda rocks...) and for some reason, the Tube Screamer just doesn't do it for me.
I will have to defer to folks like yourself on the "one pedal, many guitars" point.
A. I don't have that many guitars
B. I'm not really that good of a guitar player.
But that's exactly why forums like this are great.
benny_profane
Well-known member
Bit tangential, but I think it’s a great experience to work with a limited set of pedals and make them work. Swapping out endlessly means more time away from actual creation. I haven’t changed my board in over a year despite making many pedals, and I’ve found that I’m much more productive that way.
dawson
Well-known member
I swear this is my goal
..however with all the PCB offerings these days I'm easily sidetracked by the most-recent glorious distraction.In general I have also found a "law of diminishing returns" in trying out so many dirt pedals. I have built so many! I think I'm getting to a point where dammit I've tried enough and have a few which sound great I will stop. And then I will try just one more which prompts a bunch of modding and I get a killer OD.
Modifying existing designs is a very worthwhile endeavour. Whether by yourself or someone else it's amazing how much better a circuit can become with some judicious mods. At them moment I'm really enjoying a modified The Dane which in turn is a modified Timmy. The Timmy is a good pedal but a bit bland for me. The Dane is anything but bland. All I have done is reintroduce a bass pot and it's a very versatile OD indeed.
And then I have built a couple of the more complex Thorpy designs with Victory amps, the Bobby and the John. Both are decent sounding ODs but sound like they could have come out about 20-30 years ago. They remind me of The Guv'nor - good but very "pedal" sounding.
Modifying existing designs is a very worthwhile endeavour. Whether by yourself or someone else it's amazing how much better a circuit can become with some judicious mods. At them moment I'm really enjoying a modified The Dane which in turn is a modified Timmy. The Timmy is a good pedal but a bit bland for me. The Dane is anything but bland. All I have done is reintroduce a bass pot and it's a very versatile OD indeed.
And then I have built a couple of the more complex Thorpy designs with Victory amps, the Bobby and the John. Both are decent sounding ODs but sound like they could have come out about 20-30 years ago. They remind me of The Guv'nor - good but very "pedal" sounding.
ChrsGuit
Active member
I'm about to cause a stink... You know what pedals I consider the ultimate Swiss Army Knife pedals without going full programable/Kemper/Helix/etc?
The Line 6 DM4, DL4, and MM4...
Had those three on my board for YEARS, with a Way Huge Green Rhino and Aquapuss... just as a backup.
You could seriously get about any drive, delay, or modulation you could need. you could make 4 presets... It was just so easy to deal with... ESPECIALLY if you only needed each effect for just a few seconds in a song... You could buy one box and cover all the ground. Highly underrated pedals. Even Mike Campbell (tom petty) and Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters) had some of them on their boards
The Line 6 DM4, DL4, and MM4...
Had those three on my board for YEARS, with a Way Huge Green Rhino and Aquapuss... just as a backup.
You could seriously get about any drive, delay, or modulation you could need. you could make 4 presets... It was just so easy to deal with... ESPECIALLY if you only needed each effect for just a few seconds in a song... You could buy one box and cover all the ground. Highly underrated pedals. Even Mike Campbell (tom petty) and Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters) had some of them on their boards
Barry
Well-known member
That's not a Swiss Army Knife, that's a Swiss Army!
Still have mine.
ChrsGuit
Active member
I sorta jumped the shark and missed the "dirt" part
Read through the thread and am shocked there's no mention of the Smallsound/Bigsound Mini! That's my desert island/swiss army knife dirt pedal, the range of textures you can get with its bias knob and EQ section is *huge*, from clean boost to splatty fuzz, and its voice is wide enough to accommodate bass guitar, hot humbuckers, whatever (I mostly use offsets with low-output single coils, perfect match).
I've got two original one-offs (top-jack ones with funky acid-etched finishes) built by Brian before he sadly disappeared, the circuit is pretty easy to do on protoboard (I think Brian put the schematic and biasing guidelines up on either DIYSB or FSB at some point?), if you want a PCB then EffectsLayouts has one (very straightforward build, only annoyance was that the bias pots weren't laid out for 3362 trimpots) and I think @Robert said he might do one too?
I've got two original one-offs (top-jack ones with funky acid-etched finishes) built by Brian before he sadly disappeared, the circuit is pretty easy to do on protoboard (I think Brian put the schematic and biasing guidelines up on either DIYSB or FSB at some point?), if you want a PCB then EffectsLayouts has one (very straightforward build, only annoyance was that the bias pots weren't laid out for 3362 trimpots) and I think @Robert said he might do one too?
