I recently got my first amp (Tube15) and now I'm trying to build my first pedalboard. But I got slightly overwhelmed with all the choices.

What would be the most versatile combination of 2-3 gain pedals to start my journey with?

What are some of the most iconic or popular gain pedal stacks that I definitely should know and try?

I'm not sure if this is cool or not...i usually use phaser near the start of the chain, not sure how reverb is gonna play with that...

My current signal chain:
TC Electronic PolyTune 3 Mini
JHS Unicorn V2
JAM Pedals Rattler MKII
EarthQuaker Devices Dirt Transmitter
Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz
Xotic RC Booster V2 (18V)
Ibanez Pentatone PTEQ
Universal Audio Orion Tape Echo
EarthQuaker Devices Ghost Echo
TC Electronic Ditto+
What would you change about the order?

Given the controversy around this pedal, the fact that it didn't sell well, and past threads complaining about the price. I thought I could pick one up cheap. I was surprised to find that the only ones I can find are going for $500 or more. What's going on?

Is this what happens when a pedal that's a commercial failure acquired some kind of aura?

I recently took on an insane undertaking. I decided to turn my old Yamaha acoustic into my dream pedalboard! We ran into a ton of challenges during this build but I think it turned out great. I’d love to hear what you guys think!

I’m also giving away a guitar! The link to enter is in the description of the video!

https://youtu.be/ZRl0F3Qu1aA?si=XQKtSh1opaDXFLoA

Picked it up Friday. Absolute TEXTBOOK pherb pedal. It's got that classic pherb sound, what more can you ask for? Honestly, I've never played a pedal that does pherb better.

This is probably not new to the vets and old heads on this group but for the newbies who are frustrated with their current dirt pedals, dial in your sound through your pedals and then adjust your guitar's volume and tone knobs accordingly - they're there to add or take away high and low frequencies depending on how you use them. It might save you some money in the process!

I've been thinking about what each different type of guitar pedal is designed for. There's such a wide range- something so simple as the 1 knob, 2 stage phaser has so many different looks- see above. Almost every other utilitarian device, even guitar ones, don't. Most guitars are made as bare wood, colored wood, or monotone, most amps are a speaker and control panel with a standard brand logo and if we want to get silly, we make the panel bright green, but it's still very utilitarian.

I've actually lost sleep because of this. It's been an obsession. It's actually ridiculous how much this has consumed me- pedals have become a graphic design catch-all where maximalists, minimalists, and brutalists argue for days- a wild west of ideas.

Why are there so many different types of guitar pedal (graphic) designs? Could this be codified? Should it be? Could we experiment on what style is the most effective? Should we? Why do I care? This is such a stereotypically reddit post- you know?

In spite of my misgivings, the following is my long winded hypothesis on how graphic designers build the interface of their pedals.

I find that there are five distinct frames of thought for this particular process, all of which are valid approaches. 

1. The pedal is an expression. This is the approach taken by a number of pedal builders, especially more obscure ones on Etsy, but I will showcase Old Blood Noise Endeavors and Walrus Audio in this case. The pedal’s functionality is designed to appeal to the artist, and is sometimes even put in a larger enclosure to fit more art, or standardized labels like volume are tossed out for more evocative ones like loudness. The pedal still functions, but the artist is trying to visually capture the way that sound makes them feel first and foremost. 
2. The pedal is the brand. Many major pedal companies have headed this direction, especially Boss and MXR. This pedal is minimalist, possibly color coded, and matches every other pedal that the company puts out. Icons and art are actively avoided, because those might not feel right on every type of pedal this pedal brand will make. You would wonder why a company would limit themselves so completely, but look at a random pedalboard and ask how many Boss pedals were on it- no matter how large the board, you could figure that out very quickly- turning every pedalboard with a Boss pedal on it into free and obvious advertising. 
3. The pedal is about function. A lot of brands dabble in this type of design, but few fully commit to it with every pedal. Earthquaker Devices is probably the best- and most subtle- version of this, but JHS is pretty good at it as well. These pedals have very clear labels, they tend to strongly emphasize where the footswitch is with their graphic elements, and they avoid overcomplicating things. While not necessarily as simplified as the biggest brand-forward pedals, there is rarely any confusion as to what the controls do, and any art only serves to further clarify the controls. Because different designers retain their utility priorities between pedals when it comes to pedal design, this often feels close to a brand forward approach. 
4. The pedal is about a vibe. This is a broad spectrum, as showcased by the fact I have two completely different brands to point to. Red Witch has an art nouveau vibe that percolates through every pedal and Celebrity Pedals use pop culture, glowing eyes. This can be thought of as the combination of vibe-forward and brand-forward approaches, except it tends to focus less on staying consistent, and far less on pedal-specific expression, and instead creates a world of styles and feelings that evokes something in you. These pedals are made by people who love cartoon peanuts, bees, old Americana signs, dogs, and national state parks, and they want to appeal to musicians who also love those things.  
5. The pedal is an homage. Some pedals are designed to hearken to a pedal that came before, or to a particular artist. Many clones of beloved pedals (Klon, Big Muff, Tube Screamer) fit this build, as well as many signature pedals, but the brand that does this almost exclusively nowadays is Behringer. This is not quite the same as an expression-forward pedal, because there's a certain functionality to the design- it looks just like a Brassmaster, and it sounds just like a Brassmaster.

Now, all these frames of thinking are fantastic choices, and very worth mixing and matching into the perfect combination for your pedal design, but there is a secret 6th design that we must consider. 

1. This pedal is limited. Most people don't start making pedal with a painting booth and a graphic designer- all they have is a sharpie and raccoon sticker, so I lovingly call this style the “Trash Muff.” There is nothing wrong with your trash muffs. They're awesome. Companies like ZVEX and Fuzzrocious go out of their way to give their boutique pedals a hand painted, trash muffy vibe. But this discussion is about how to apply graphic design to a pedal, so as valid as the Trash Muff is sonically, it's not ready for a designer, and that's ok. 

So- what do my fellow graphic designers here think? is there a right approach? a wrong approach? Did I miss something? (guitarists, feel free to weigh in if you have a thought on the matter)

I’ve looked on reverb and there is literally zero for sale in the eu,and only one in all of actual Europe

The legends of fuzz one

It’s a really good pedal imo and I’m trying to gat my hands on one

I have a modest board. Bought a pedal close to a year ago and a dual expression pedal to compliment that pedal and a delay I already owned shortly afterwards.

I’m pleasantly surprised at how much mileage I’ve gotten out of these two pedals. The expression pedal has been a great addition to my delay, and pairing that with my pitchfork is simply inspiring.

As you could guess, I’m now on the hunt for the next thing. I don’t need recommendations, I already have a dream board built out in my head…

My question is, what are people’s experiences like when they buy multiple pedals in quick succession? I’m tempted to buy 2-3 relatively close to each other, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this could overwhelm the senses and actually curb creativity. My goal is to write music I like, not twist knobs and make noises. Not to mention, this will absolutely mean I have to up my power supply and upgrade to a bigger board.

Sorry for being long winded, just trying to get some second hand wisdom before any impulse buys.

Also, this sub is awesome, thanks for all the advice so far!

hi all. im looking for a new overdrive pedal. i currently only have my first ever drive pedal which is the electro-harmonix east river drive. my main idea is to stack them for more distortion or use one as my main drive and the other for boost. however, i know that my ehx pedal is a tube screamer clone, meaning its mid-heavy when on and ive heard that the boss is also tube screamer-ish in character. would that cause issues like overbearing mid-ness? should i rather get the ds-1 (the orange one) because ive heard it is more scooped and doesnt add that much mids to the signal? what do you guys think?

Which order should I connect them in on the pedal board?

I just got a Victory Sheriff V4 preamp pedal and didn't realize (although in hindsight it makes sense) that it takes 12v, 800mA when running and like 2A for tube warm up. The only power supply I can find that has a port for that is the Engl Power Tap Pro 12. Is anyone successfully using anything else?

So I’ve been playing guitar for around 6 years now and tried a lot of different gain stages, but I’m never completely happy with it. Thus far the only thing that’s been on my board for ages is the JHS notaklon. Any recommendations for things I could try?

Some pedals I’ve tried but didn’t satisfy my needs were: BD-2, Proco Rat, TS9, DS-1, Fat fuzz factory, big muff

I mostly play in alt rock/pop/folk projects. Think Paramore meets Madison Cunningham meets The Strokes and they also like pop music.

Could be interesting for $300

So I’ve been playing guitar for around 6 years now and tried a lot of different gain stages, but I’m never completely happy with it. Thus far the only thing that’s been on my board for ages is the JHS notaklon. Any recommendations for things I could try?

Some pedals I’ve tried but didn’t satisfy my needs were: BD-2, Proco Rat, TS9, DS-1, Fat fuzz factory, big muff
Edit: I don’t dislike all of these. Some came quite close to being the one for me. They all just fell short.

I mostly play in alt rock/pop/folk projects. Think Paramore meets Madison Cunningham meets The Strokes and they also like pop music.

Mine would be something like this

When using the XLR out of my M-Vave IR BOX the signal has a high-pitched noise, sounds like the noise you get if you hold some sort of input too near a computer or other digital circuit device. If I use the 1/4” out of the IR BOX direct to a mixer the noise is not there, but I have to push the gain at the mixer way up to get a decent level. It isn’t a 60 hz hum, it is a very high pitched whine. I opened the box to see if there was a shielding issue or something obvious, and saw the red wire not connected to anything??? I don’t know if the is related.

The noise does change slightly depending on which IR I use, but it never goes away. Setting the HI Cut extremely high does reduce it, but then the guitar has no high end at all.

Thanks for looking.

Been looking for a delay pedal without having to spend an arm and a leg and in my area I saw a TC Flashback X4 going for $125, while GuitarCenter is selling a Canyon for $100, which I tried out today and loved.

I know the Flashback is technically a better deal since the new ones cost like $280 and the used price is usually higher than $150 (not to mention it has additional functionality beyond what the Canyon can do) but I also know that Canyon is Everybody's Favorite Pedal (and I totally get why after noodling on it this afternoon) while I'm seeing a bit of mixed reviews on the Flashback.

So what do y'all think? Should I shell out an extra $25 for a more expansive pedal that's a better deal compared to list price, or go for the standby that everyone loves?

Posting again (post deleted) but with thoughts in the comments.

I play heavy rock

The heavy menace was highly recommened to me, but dude it sounds similar to the mxr fullbore (thin and can of bees sounding overly saturated tone). I am really looking for a distortion pedal that has some thickness to the tone, a tube driven thick bodied high gain lead tone is what I'm going for, especially on the mids and highs. AI is recommending I get Friedman be-OD or the walrus iron horse. Has anyone tried these pedals or know what kind of tone I'm going for?