Yes, I am in a pedalemma, which is a contraction for “pedal dilemma”.
I’ve had my Zoom B3n multi-effects processor and it’s sister expression pedal for only 70 days. Prior to that, I had a Zoom B1X Four. They are excellent pieces of gear.
Here’s my dilemma…
I only really use a few of the effects in the Zoom: Noise Gate, compressor, Tube screamer, and reverb. I’ve played around with some of the amp and cab sims, but none of them really excite me.
I have NEVER used the looper, tuner, or drum effects… and never will. So basically, I have this incredible piece of gear, but only use about 5% of it.
I’m thinking (seriously) of buying an Ibanez TS9b tube screamer pedal, which means I wouldn’t need the effect in the Zoom effects processor. I can also buy a noise gate pedal, a compressor pedal, and a reverb pedal. This would eliminate the use of the Zoom altogether.
Soooooo…
I’m going to sell the Zoom B3n and the expression pedal, and shop for:
(1) noise gate pedal
(2) compressor pedal
(3) reverb pedal
I figure I can add other pedals as I get the urge.
The zoom is a big pedal and hogs up a lot of space, so if you’re really not utilizing it a lot I would definitely move on from it. As for what to get, I would just say experiment, have fun! DEFINITELY buy used on reverb and if it doesn’t work out, resell it! I generally flip gear often and don’t care about losing a few dollars to try something. I generally get back I would guess 90% of what I spend.
Everybody should be on reverb. I’m serious. Never pay retail. I personally, when selling, price what I have a few bux lower then everyone else (unless some joker has a POS priced way low) so that it sells quickly. I have never not had something sell. And always always buy there, the used market is huge.
Yeah, I usually feel like a borderline failure if I ever have to buy new gear
The used gear market is the way to go. Let someone else pay for the depreciation hit. I’ve bought some things new, but generally avoid it as much as possible.
With real pedals, I would suggest you hold off on the noise gate. You will probably find you don’t need it, unless you are buying a lot of cheap, noisy pedals, or are really in to overdriving. Like, more in to it than me, which is very unlikely.
I have a noise gate and literally never use it. Massively overrated pedals for bass IMO, much more necessary for guitar. You need them on things like the Zoom because a lot of the models can be noisy when stacked, and you may need them with inexpensive pedals because a lot of cheap ones are noisy. But I have never needed them on my board.
There’s some effects that are inherently noisy - flangers, some filters, heavy overdrive, etc. Any signal amplification will magnify noise. And like I said there’s also just some noisy pedals out there. Modeled effects as well on the first tier devices like the Zooms and similarly priced Boss units can be too, and even some basses with noisy pickups and preamps. It happens. But generally I would suggest people hold off on noise gates until they know they need them, because they probably won’t.
I can get into cases where I get noise on my board but not enough to make me use my noise gate. And even when I get noise I just remove it in the DAW anyway - nearly any DAW worth the name should have a sampled noise reduction option. Even Audacity does.
So, I think for now, I’m going to focus on the Tube Screamer (which I have already picked) and the reverb. Once I get those two in the chain and eliminate the Zoom, I can shop for a compressor.
I absolutely love my tc electronic Hof2 pedal. It has slots to store 3 preprogrammed tone prints. If you don’t care about this they make a mini one too.
I deeply love mine (Boss RV-3 - discontinued, the current model is the RV-6.) It’s a very cool (as in cold) sounding '80s/'90s style digital reverb and also has digital delay options on the pedal as well.
It might not be your cup of tea though. Lots of people really love the TC Hall Of Fame 2. You might want to check that one out.
Electro-Harmonix makes a popular one called the Oceans 11, and I generally really like EHX pedals, so that’s worth a listen as well.
The ones everyone raves about are made by Strymon. More expensive, but if you want the best, check out theirs, they have several.
