Hey Jules
I'll second the Hotcake rec,also check out just about anything by Lovetone(i think made in England?) or Zvex if your looking for weirder sounds.The Lovetone stuff is all over some Radiohead and U2 records.
A good site for this stuff is http://musictoyz.com

Rivers
Kat P studios

The LoveTone stuff kills.
I use "The Brown Source" for overdrive.
the lovetone tremolo has a key trigger on it (very useful).
FullTone makes kick ass shit as well.
I use their overdrive pedal alot too.

Les Paul...Original Tube Screamer...Fender Twin!
I've owned the Tube Screamer for like 18 years...It's the only pedal I use... Smokin'!

Tech 21 comptortion, Snarling Dogs Vari-Tone Dog, and a Line 6 delay modeler(can't wait for the studio rack version) although I must say I use them on stuff other than guitar just as much as I use them for guitar. The comptortion has a wicked effect on a snare drum.

I have a ton of guitar pedals, and I do use them all but here are my favourites:

Electro-Harmonix Big Muff - Unbelievable for guitar and bass. If I could only have one distortion pedal this would be it. Check this one out Jules.

Boss Pitch Shifter/Delay - I can get sounds out of this thing that I've never heard anywhere else. I use this to fuck up everything, especially vocals.

Tech 21 Sans Amp GT2 - I know everyone prefers the rackmount Sans Amp, but I love this pedal. I find it works great to dirty up drums/drum samples.

I have a Tube Screamer as well (the re-issue). I bought it after hearing all the hype, but I've got to tell you this is the pedal I use the least. I really don't like it on guitar at all. Seems to muddy up the tone to my ears. I have used it to great effect on direct in keyboards though!

Brent

Jules,

The Crowther Hotcake is a great pedal, and from what I understand it was developed with the Vox AC-30 in mind. I've got one that I use with my Vox and '64 Fender Bassman head with Marshall cab and it sounds great, if not a bit soft. It's a good box for solos, but I wouldn't say it "cuts" very much on the bottom end.

Fulltone pedals are also great. Michael Fuller is a serious tonesmith and has made great pedals like the '69 and '70. Those are both great pedals for Hendrix/Eric Johnson and excel in 4-input, non-master Marshall's.

Probably the coolest pedal I have is an old MuTron Octave Divider. It's basically Satan-in-a-box and has an incredibly cool tone circuit called "Ringer" based off of the Green Ringer from Dan Armstrong (I think). It puts a serious snarl on guitar tones and sounds fantastic with a Les Paul.

If you're interested in more on this, send me a mail and I can take this off line with you, cause I'll never stop writing...

Steve

the fuzzfactory is my all time favorite way out there fuzz....it is so far out you can "play" it without having anything hooked up to it!

my old ass big muff for creamy tone shifting fuzz

the O.G. rat pedal for the 80's tone.

for the tube tone i got some old amps that work just fine ;)

everything else is the digitech 2101(flame away ;) )....but it is my "secrect weapon" that helps turn my guitar into a "synth" and beyond!

btw....I WANT ALL THE LOVETONE AND ZVEX STUFF!!!!!

Tech 21 SansAmp - it rocks on virtually anything! Used it on tuba, trombones, rhodes, kit elements, vox - U name it!

Jay
PlugHead Productions

Oh I forgot I do have ONE pedal, it is the Roland Chorus Ensemble pedal (green tank coloured) I think it is the chorus FX from a Jazz Chorus amp - put into a pedal..

I can tell you that this make of pedal was THE sound of the Smiths first LP - most jangle parts were done with it - split out to a couple of tweed fender vintage amps..

I forget I have it... It's OK.

:)

Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man (5 knob)
Electro Harmonix Poly Flange
Electro Harmonix Bass Microsynth
Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer
Ibanez Analog Delay
Mutron III
Mutron Octave Divider
Asama Jet Flanger
Ross Flanger
MXR Dynacomp

No reissues. I have others, but I would have to look in my "Felix the Cat" bag to remember what's there.

Ibanez Ts-808, first edition , very rare.
Fulltone 70`prototype
Fulltone 70`
Two Chandler Tube Driver, love them!
Boss SD-1 with Analog Man 808 mod, very, very good
Line 6 Delay
Arion Chorus, don`t laugh, Landaus favorite chorus
t.c.electronic chorus
Carl Martin Chorus IIx
Fuzz Face with Analog Man mod, really fat sounding
DiMarzio Vrey Metal, Instant Twisted Sister sound.Really bad.
Voodoo Labs Micro Vibe
Mxr Flanger
Jen Dual Sound wah 70`s
Crybaby 70`s
Maestro Echoplex EP-3, not a pedal,but......
DOD Overdrive/Preamp 250
Boss OD-1

Lots of fun with these.....

No public comment, lest the dealers find out. Try them all. no look gift horsie in mouthski.

-Tube screamer
I have the re-issue green and the new silver one and love them both. I actually prefere the silver one at times.
-RAT and RAT Turbo
Great vintage sounding distortion for rythem guitar.
-Tech 21 XXL
This is the best lead distortion I have ever heard. TRY ONE. It is really really increadible. Different kind of sound. Sweet but powerful.

OK are the re-issue Tube Screamers alright? Or should I find an old one?

:)

The re-issues are certainly more consistant and I think they rock. Of course I had mine modded by my tech to be "creamier"

I also use:

Marshall Gov'ner
E H Microsynth (On just about anything)
E H Q-tron
MXR Phase 45/90/ and/or 100
MXR Dynacomp
Univox Microphaze
Fulldrive
TC Chorus
Ross flanger (modded to be "leslie-like")
others a can't think of right now

GREAT TOPIC! I have:

SansAmp PSA-1 rack - I use it on EVERYTHING
MoogerFooger Phaser - This ROCKS! I wasn't as impressed by the RingMod, Delay, or Filter

My advice is to go down to Rudy's Music Stop or Manny's at the end of the month during AES and check a few out..... playing Stairway to Heaven naturally.

god how could i not have mentioned my EH bass micro synth and electric mistress flanger :roll:

Hi Julian.You are such an equipment groupie...just like me. Love it. OK first off you need a good guitar.For me it's my 26 year old Les Paul and a Strat. Second let's not forget that the electric guitar as we know it hit with valves. So your amplifier is your first effects unit.Personally, if I can't mic up a valve amp, then I found that the direct out from a Mesa Boogie gives a killer sound - I prefer this to current amp simulation boxes and anyway how many sounds do you really need? I use a Cry Baby Wah Wah pedal, and an Electro-Harmonix stompbox flanger -
I then run these through a (now)old Roland triple 8 tape echo unit - one of the rackmount units, which I bought new er many years ago.Beyond that, I've been thinking about the new Sony EQ plug ins that are out. Maybe you've heard about them?

You aint got one?
Something is wrong here, run to the pawn shop now and get a pedal.....any pedal, The best ones are the ones that cost 10 dollars....:-)
I used to have about 25 pedals now its down to a few, If I were to recommend just one it would have to be the Sansamp. Just the regular old Sansamp.....made popular for multi-use by some cat named T. Blake. I use mine for, gasp,guitar?All of the time, it is part of my my "go to" guitar sound, I'm just really used to it.
The other few pedals are...
Mister Cry Baby (volume/wah)
MXR Dyna Comp
Tubeworks Tube Driver
Electro Harmonix Memory Man
There all just noise makers to me, whack the sound around.
simonsez

The reissue Tube Screamers are fine. Save the $200 and the headaches that an old one would cost you. I want to get a Fulltone Octafuzz one of these days.

Here's my pedal list;

DOD FX13 Gonkulator Ring Modulator - Way sick. Sounds like Vernon Reid or R2D2. It's has their Grunge Distortion built into it.
DOD FX52 Classic Fuzz - Sounds like a good Fuzz Face for 1/4 of the cost.
DOD FX69 Grunge Distortion - Noise maker. Usually chained with three more pedals, sounds like crap on it's own.
Boss SD-1 Overdrive
Boss MZ-2 Metal Zone
Ibanez Digital Delay - Old, maybe mid 80's.
Tech 21 Comptortion
Tech 21 GT2 Sansamp
Tech 21 XXL
Ross R99 Phaser

Guys, a keen nose for a great peice of gear, I think I hit the Jackpot with the Hot Cake pedal, over on Rec.Audio.Pro newsgroup, it has has had a resounding THUMBS UP from a post I made there asking about it.....Many folks describing it as their latest favorite.

Highly recomended.... look into it.

:)

- Bassballs (original) sounds much better and 'grindy-er' than the reissue. The sound you get when using the normal function is subtle, the distortion switch changes this mightily.
- Mu-Tron III+ (reissue) much cleaner than the original though not quite as organic or 'flappy'.
- Moogerfooger Ring Modulator. Wild. Not a lot of uses for it in full freak out mode, but used as light color it is amazing. Very well made. I've also heard great things about the rest of the MF line (you just can't go wrong with those initials).
- In every town there is at least one guitar guy who makes his own pedals. Find this person, be his friend, borrow his stuff. I've seen the weirdest, coolest stuff come out of a garage in a limited edition of 1.

I have a collection of pedals but by far the most used is an impedance buffer I got so that the guitar tone doesn't disappear in search of an effect.

Please ex-squeeze me! I made a mistale,

The Hot Cake - IS MADE IN NEW ZEALAND!

Normal programming will now resume.

Yeah Hi Julian. Just on a technicality re my previous post to this topic The Mesa Boogie came with a channel switching footswitch. So with the combo/cabinet being basically a stand alone box I think the amp qualifies as being a "stomp-box" - it's just a bit bigger than those Ibanez and Dod things. I forgot I also have a SansAmp box as well. BTW let's not forget that the Boogie has 3channels w/indpendent Gain and Master Controls,
independent treble and prescence controls for Rythm 1 & 11, fully independent EQ for the lead channel, Multi-Stage "Cascading Gain" lead channel, Pull Fat, Pull Bright, Pull Shift Prescence, an Assignable FX loop, and Reverb, plus a Record Out (which is 57x quieter than the one on my Marshall Valve combo).And uses tubes. The REALLY REALLY good thing about it is that unlike the SansAmp etc. you can stick your beer or ashtray on top of it, and they won't fall off, spilling into the electrics cos they can't balance on the buttons.(plus fantastic sound).

some guitar fx I have that are "special"

Ibanez WH-10 - interesting wahwah that doesn't sound like a CryBaby. It has a bass/guitar switch as well as a Q control, and is great on just about anything.

Fulltone Supa-Trem - tremelo seems so easy to do, but so many tremelo units sound like crap, this one sounds great.

Korg Tone Booster - if you crank the gain it's one of the harshest transistor sounding distortions around, like when you overdrive your stereo.

Boss Vibrato pedal

DOD stereo chorus - I forget the model, crappy chorus sounds better than smooth chorus anyday.

Ernie Ball volume pedal

andy hayleck

hey jules, hot cake is a excellent choice, though i'd get a tube screamer too (the reissue -green one- is quite the same the old one), it's a 'gold piece' everyone should have!!!
the most balanced tube-like overdrive ever.
also the Hot Tubes (electro harmonix) is great but the reissue series is not warm as the original made in NYC is.
Anyway if you are in london you have the chance to try them at shops and then choose.