Newbie to guitar pedals- suggestions?

Hello there,

I see you have posted this question more than once. Please refer to your other question to see the details of my answer regarding pedal suggestion.

I will add some additional comments here.

One answer suggested a better amp. There is nothing wrong with a Line 6 amp. Don't know which model you have. Some are better than others. But Line 6 makes a decent amp. I don't use mine a lot, but I do have a Spider 2x12 150 watt combo. So I do have some actual experience playing through a Line 6 amp.

Another answer suggested you get a multi-effects pedal. If you have a Line 6 Spider, you really don't need that. The Spider already has most of the basic commonly used effects built into it. A multi-fx pedal does not gain you much. Just different tone to the effects you already have.

Distorted amp settings? Not sure what you mean. I am guessing you are referring to the built in distortion effects in most Line 6 amps. (They may all have built in distortion. I have not played the Flextone). Yes, sort of. The built in distortion does take the place of an external distortion pedal. It gives you distortion. The thing is that each distortion pedal (and each built in distortion) has their own individual sound. I am not overly fond of the built in distortion in the Line 6 Spider. Also, I found it hard to adjust. There are so many different distortion pedals. You find the one that has the exact sound you want. Then you use it chained between your guitar and amp. (I don't think any of the Spider series has an effects loop). When you use an external distortion pedal, it is best to play through a clean channel. Avoids any conflicts with the built in distortion. That is not the case with some other effects pedals. If you use a pedal for an effect that is not built into the Line 6, you don't have that conflict. So you can use in on just about any channel or preset. For instance a wah pedal. There is nothing like that built in. You can use the wah in just about any channel or preset in a Line 6 without an issue. But the distortion pedal is a different matter.

In general, I am not a fan of Digitech products. They seem rather cheaply constructed to me. Their whammy pedal seems to be okay. I know it is popular with other guys. The whammy pedal is more of a pitch bending effect than a straight distortion effect. A distortion effect shapes the sound waves (clipping). The whammy bends the pitch sort of like what a whammy bar (tremolo bridge) does.

Later,

Do you have a budget? Kind of hard to recommend much without know what you want to spend. There are great $300 boutique pedals out there but maybe that's beyond your reach.

If you're not happy with the modeling amp's effects, I would suggest you sell your amp and buy a straight non-modeling amp to start with - keep things simpler. Something like a Fender Frontman or Peavey Envoy. You can go for distortion the old-fashioned way if you like the sound - overdrive your gain without cranking up your volume.

Nothing wrong with Electro-Harmonix pedals. I agree that Digitech's effects tend to be kind of "tinny" and artificial sounding. You might look at a Boss DS-1 for distortion, kind of a basic workhorse pedal. Boss in general is a good fundamental company to look at for effects, and another one to take a look at is MXR.

the digitech compressor pedals are a pretty good pedal to use with others like the zakk wylde distortion pedal or the "death metal" distortion pedal. i like to run a equalizer and a compressor pedal with a wah wah cry baby pedal and a nice distortion pedal. or you can get an all in one pedal board that may actually give you a better shot at all the different kind of varieties that you will need for all the different songs you like to play. best of luck. peace.

Crate amps are really good and not hissy - highly recommended