Guitar Pedals? (1 Viewer)

[Chad Isaacs]

Last year my wife really wanted a guitar for her birthday so I broke down and got it for her. Fast forward 10 months later she finally started taking lessons and got it out of the gig bag. Well, for Christmas, I want to get her a new amp ( I have a nice little Marshall Picked out more for name than anything) and she is interested in a pedal. Well, I don't know where to start. I have been looking at Sam Ash's website and found the multi effects pedals. Is this what I think it is? Can she have it set for a grungy or heavy metal sound and with the flip of the switch have a slow soothing sound? This is what I wantto get her. I really don't know much about music making ( just how to listen to it) and need some advice. I would like to keep it around $100 and there seem to be many good options for that price range.

Also, her pratice sessions DRIVE ME NUTS! I can't watch tv becuase she cannot hear herself play so I was thinking about headphones. Well, I am worried the wire would get in the way so I thought wireless but the few wireless sets I have looked at seem to pick up a lot of fuzz and noise, any advice here? Theese need to be on the cheap, $35 or so if possible.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Practicing in headphones SUCKS. Don't worry about the wire, wireless headphones suck really bad.

(1) What's your budget for the amp? Or have you already decided.
(2) Marshall makes great amps at all price ranges. It's tough to go wrong with that name. If you can afford it, get her a tube amp. I personally recommend the Fender "Blues Junior" and the Peavey "Classic 30". Both are incredible amps, my favorite small guitar amps, but neither is cheap.
(3) Pedals are so much fun. I'd recommend some kind of fuzz box - if you get her a tube amp, the Ibanez "Tube Screamer" would be a good choice. If you get her a solid state amp, some kind of more expensive modelling pedal would be good. Also, a Wah-wah pedal is so much fun and can make guitar so expressive! If the amp you're getting her has a footswitch for distorition/fuzz you don't need to get that in a pedal. Personally I'm not a big fan of the big multi-effect pedals, but they are cool. I like it when guitar players have like 10 or so effects pedals all for different stuff. (Mark Ribot at the top of that page is oen of my favorites).
(4) Does she only have an electric guitar? Have you considered getting her an acoustic one to go with it? Look for solid top guitars at www.rondomusic.net for some great bargains. Their "Agile" line is very highly regarded and the "SX" live is respected also.

 

[Chad Isaacs]

I already have an acoustic guitar picked out for her for Christmas, its a nice Gibson. I do have the amp picked out already but I'm not sure if its a tube or solid state, but, based on price I can only assume solid. I want to make sure this is not just going to last and not just a phaze before I really start dropping anything more than a hundred here and a hundred there. My favorite guitar ( to look at) has always been the Les Paul and I showed her some beautiful high dollar ones recently and she really seemed to take a liking to them, so, maybe a year or two down the road.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Take a look at the Agile Les Paul copies at Rondo. They are very well regarded from what I understand.

 

[Joe D]

I had an Agile Les Paul before, and while it sounded and played nice for the price, it was VERY HEAVY. I sold it because of that.

 

[Chad Isaacs]

I took a look at Rondo's website. Is SX a good brand? The prices are nice for the equipment and guitars but just a brand I have never heard of, then again after Fender, Gibson, Epiphone, Washburn and Ibanez ( for insturments) I am lost.

Also, how are Spencer guitars / bass guitars? They are at a lower price as well and a local shop sells them, they look good enough but... I just don't want to buy crap even though I don't want to spend a ton!

 

[JonZ]

For acoustic electric guitars I cannot recommend SWRs Strawberry and California Blondes enough. Theyre acoustic amps.

My brother plays his Martins through the Cali and the difference is HUGE when playing through one of those compared to through a electric peavey or ampeg amp. See if you can find one used.
http://www.giardinelli.com/product/S...Amp?sku=481996

A very nice lower price range guitar is Hamer who has excellent quality control, especially for their foreign built stuff. Hamer is run by the guys who used to build Gibsons years ago - they also make Les Paul model guitars. Look into these. MY brother got one on ebay a few years ago for under $300 and Im telling you, this is a solid guitar. One of the best lower model guitar Ive ever seen or played (coming from a guy who only owns and plays USA handmade guitars).

 

[Zen Butler]

I'm with Jon but the "Blondes" are tinge pricey for a beginner. Marshall makes a decent acoustic amp for much less. If you're buying her an acoustic, I'd be careful having her stomp on some "grunge" setting on a multi-effects pedal. The hum is awful. Zoom makes a decent beginner's multi-effects pedal for just under $100. I would pair that with an electric though.

 

[Scott Dautel]

My son started with a beginner electric guitar last Jan. Following on recommendations from our local guitar shop, we got him the Digitech RP50 Guitar processor (pedal style). It has about 100 preset effects (pedal swithcable) and you can customize as many more as you want.

The best part is that this little amazing device also runs off batteries and has a headphone out jack for private (read: quiet) practice and the std. Amp out.

Price was about $60. Amazing ... and he loves it!

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Another option for the amp is a Line 6 POD (http://www.line6.com). These model a variety of amps allowing for a lot of variation in tone, and include many different effects as well. It is small and portable, can be plugged into your stereo or played through headphones. I would not recommend spending money on a low end Marshall, or just buying some random pedal to go with it as these will ultimately be a waste.