The Ugly Guide To Buying Your First Guitar Pedal

Let me start by saying that the previous post about "Your First Guitar Pedal" was just awful, and not very helpful at all. Having said that, lets try it again...


So there you are, standing in the store or, more likely, looking at a website. Let's do this: find the guitar effect page, then select the box that sorts everything in order of cheap to not-cheap. Now we should be looking at some very reasonably priced items. The first pedals you might see are some by Danelectro. There are some of these pedals that are diamonds in the rough, however we are going to move past most of these because of their durability. They are affordable, but they are made from plastic and won't stand up to much rough housing. For the same reason, we are going to skip past the Behringer pedals. These aren't bad choices, but I'd prefer to have a pedal that I can grow into rather one that I'll quickly out grow.


Now we are up to pedals that cost right at $50. This gives you a lot of options. There is a pedal that you are going to want to buy. It is a Boss Distortion. It is Orange. Do not buy this pedal. For some reason, every guitarist wants to buy this pedal. I bought one. Everyone who has played pedals has been temped to pick up one of these pedal. resist that urge. Put. The pedal. Down. So you have a choice to make, but don't worry, I'll help you. There are four pedals: Boss SD-1, TC Mojomojo, TC Dark Matter, DOD 250* (*currently at $50, but I've seen it at $99 when not on "sale", but it can be regularly found for $50 new) All of these pedals are very solid, but you have to know what you are looking for. These are all overdrive/distortion pedals. So decide how much grit you want and pick your pedal. Just want a little grit? DOD 250. Little more? SD-1 or the Mojomojo (the mojo has bass and treble control, the SD-1 has a more classic sound) The Dark Matter is a flexible distortion that punches about it's price tag.


But wait, what about BandX pedal that cost (<50 and="" best="" bread="" distortion="" it="" overdrive="" s="" says="" since="" sliced="" strong="" the="">


Most of the pedals that fit into that statement above have a few things going against it. Modtone, Outlaw, and many others aren't going to offer the type of support that the larger established makers can. It's important that your first experience with effects be a smooth one, otherwise you might get a bad impression due to a bad QC or customer support. Boss (Roland), TC Electronic, and DOD (Digitech/Harman) are going to stand behind their product and offer warranties.


What about this one guy that makes a pedal that's the greatest thing since sliced bread?


 Again, there are reasons why your first pedal shouldn't be one that fits into the previous statement. Not to say that boutique pedals, I like them. The main thing that deters me from recommending these pedal is the price. Many people just getting into effect don't want to invest more than they have to. Also, there are so many builders and sometimes their products can be a little cryptic. You might want to buy a light overdrive and end up with a over the top fuzz pedal. It might be exciting to buy from a boutique builder, but when it's your first go-round, then you should get your feet wet before jumping into the deep end.


Should I only buy Boss/TC/DOD pedals, of course not. But these are good pedals to get your start. It is a new experience to have the capability to adjust your tone without taking you hands off the guitar. These are great pedals that can serve as a great jumping off point for anyone looking into guitar effect pedals.

Ugly Truth: TC Electronic Sentry

TC Electric is at it again with the new Sentry Noise Gate. Known for their quality effect, TC Electronic has put together a line of effect that are praised by many for their quality and flexibility. This pedal appears to be no different. The force is strong with this one due to the Toneprint technology. Not only doe it appear to be a smart noise gating pedal, but it's features are unlocked by its editable setting via linking to your computer or smart-device. Just like TC Electronic's other formidable offerings, this pedal is has been well though out. It looks like a pretty favorable picture, or is it?

It's A Yawn

Let's take a look at TC Electronic's new offerings lately: clip-on tuner, acoustic pre-amp and noise gate. Not exactly exciting stuff. But let's not forget that this is what TC Electronic is good at. Yes, the Polytune clip-on and BodyRez aren't flashy, but those are tools that are indispensable. Honestly, these are what TC Electronic are best at. The Mojo Mojo and Dark Matter are not as highly praise as their other offerings. Their Hall Of Fame reverb and Flashback delay are highly desired effect. Their Toneprint technology is a exciting feature that lets you apply famous artist's actual settings.

What It Does Is Nothing

Sure, it is a noise gate. It does what it does. It takes the noise that you don't want out of the signal. When you engage it, all your problems should go away, but what ends up happening with most of these pedal is that your tone ends up going away with it. When you watch the promotional video (because that is a thing now) you hear all about how it won't effect your tone at all. Does it work like that? Maybe.

Conclusion

Let's get down to business, this pedal comes from an impressive pedigree. Priced at around the cost of a comparable unit and promising performance that is unparalleled, This pedal is posed to take the noise gate pedal market in a fell swoop. This comes at a great time. I've recently added compression to my pedal rig and it can get a little noisy. This pedal would be my pick for a noise gate.

The Ugly Truth About TC Electonic's Dark Matter Distortion

If there is anything in the world that gets my attention, it is guitar gear that's cheap. I'll rummage through a whole heap of junk to get to a great pedal that is reasonably priced. There are tonnes of great options in the $150-200 range, but lets get real, I got about $50 to spare, so I'm looking a lot lower than a car payment when shopping for pedals. That being said, I came across TC Electronic's Dark Matter Distortion for $50 and did a double take. Normally priced north of a hundred US bones, the Dark Matter is one of only 2 distortion boxes made by the highly praised effects company. These people put out quality stuff, but they are more known for their Hall of Fame reverb and Dito Loopers, than their dirt.

If you watch their promotion video about the Dark Matter Distortion, then you notice that they came how uncompressed the pedal sounds. This was great news because the only real complaint that I had about my current distortion pedal is that it tended to get rather compressed when the gain was turned up. If you've read about my adventures with back-orders, you know that I originally ordered this pedal online. It never came, but I was able to find it at a local music store. I ran through a clean fender amp and used a double humbucker equipped guitar. Setting the EQ flat on the amp, I started the pedal off with low gain. These sounds are nice. Compared to the Rottweiler, this pedal can actually clean up quite a bit. It's not going to be a very "clean" boost, but if you want to punch up a lead with more volume and a bit of dirt, this could do it.

Where this pedal comes alive is when the gain is past noon. It wants to rock. I found myself messing around with heavy metal riffs and chunking along like I knew what I was doing. The clipping is smooth and natural sounding. It doesn't get hissy when pushed. The pedals "noise" level is very low. Open chords ring out rather nicely, and the voicing option is really nice. It takes this great sounding distortion and gives it a little more flexibility. I did start to notice that there was something missing from this equation though.

Even though this pedal is a steal at $50, (if it is still at that price) there is a trend right now that a lot of guitarist, including myself, are really enjoying. Pedals are being designed with transparency in mind. More and more guitarist are relying on their guitars and amp for the majority of their tone, and when they turn a pedal on they want that sound to still be the bones of their tone. Many pedals tend to hijack the sound. Chief among these are one that alter the sound the most, like Distortions. Active EQs and lots of saturation will take over most any guitar, but there are some pedals being designed with Blend knobs that mix in clean signal to the effect. This is a bit of electronic wizardry, and it is wonderful.

In conclusion, I like this pedal. It is worth the $50. If you are looking for a great distortion for minimal investment, then look no further. For what you'd spend on a Boss DS-1 you can pick up a better sounding and more flexible pedal. If you have a distortion that you are satisfied with, but looking to expand you sound, then maybe this one isn't for you. It does do nice things, but it's probably not different enough from your current rig for you to go running out and buy one. It's got, but not exactly "standout".

TC Electronics Has A New Pedal. What Is It?

TC Electronics have been teasing the internet with videos and pictures obscuring the identity of their new stomp box. This leads all of the pedal who care about such thing to wonder, what is it? For example, they posted this picture of a pallet full of boxes...

No hints here, but in their video they mention something about its size. So we can assume that it is a micro size. Currently most of their line has the compact and micro version of the same pedal. There are a few exceptions. Their Dark Matter Distortion and Helix Phaser have no counter part in the micro pedals. Currently I am waiting for a Dark Matter pedal on backorder, so that makes me think that they have limited the supply before the release of "new" micro sized version. In direct contradiction of this is the fact that TC Electronic doesn't seem to be heavily invested in dirt pedals. In fact they are currently pushing their Toneprint technology. So a move in this direction doesn't seem like their MO of late. Again, contradicting what I just said, Keen observers will notice that the pedal in their teaser video looked to be darkly color. This would point to the Dark Matter since TC Electronic keeps everything color coordinated.

Backorders Still Suck

Recently I received an email stating that my pedal is still on backorder. I have no idea what is holding it up anymore. Perhaps there is some issue with their manufacturing process. I've also noticed that they are heavily pushing their Toneprint pedals via the social medias. So I thought that TC Electronics might be retooling their Dark Matter distortion to be a part of their Toneprint series

I sent a Tweet out stating my theory on a Toneprint Dark Matter, and I was quickly replied to by TC Electronics. They informed me that they are not producing a Toneprint distortion. One could hope. I did see this on the twitter this morning. So something is coming.