My ideal pedal is .... one I already own? ... best practices

[JereFuzz]

Hi folks,

How many here search for that perfect pedal only to realize they are searching for one they already own? I've done this a few times with distortions (ironically, both by Digitech). I loved the cheap little Hot Head from the first time I played it; and I had used it as a measuring stick for other distortion pedals. At some point, I thought, why not just get another if I like it so much. Found one on ebay factory refurbished w/warranty (sold by Harman, parent of Digitech). The same thing happened with the SC-2 Valve distortion pedal. It has that tube-like breakup that I haven't heard replicated well by other models. Result, another SC-2 on the cheap ($50 brand new) due to it being discontinued. This leads to a best practice. If you really like a pedal, buy at least two because there is no guarantee that they will continue to exist in the future. Both the Hot Head and SC-2, as noted above, are discontinued. The direction a pedal company goes with a successor model may not be to your liking.

Regards,

JereFuzz

[UglyCasanova]

I don't know. Seems excessive to me. I guess if you're touring a lot and there's a chance of it being dropped or stolen it would make sense. I think I'd rather just spend my money on some other pedal, unless it's one of those pedals that stack well in pairs, like a delay or something. More is more.

[hbombgraphics]

yeah, ummmm I usually find that as my ears, playing ability, amp setup, band needs change so do my pedals so it's hard to buy more than one of something.

Pedals I have purchased duplicates of seem to disappoint as well

I love my Ibanez DL10 and it is beat up (no more screws only zip ties)
so I bought another, but the new one did not sound the same

Had the same nostalgia chase with the arion metal master only to realize that I stopped using my first one for a reason

if I was locked in to certain tones or had to make a flyboard I might double up, but otherwise not so much

[chuckjaywalk]

Best practice doesn't really apply to this little hobby. For me, buying stuff from reputable builders that offer a warranty (smallsound/bigsound, Chase Bliss), built like a tank (Boss), or easily buildable (clones). Buying doubles of several pedals on my main board would be insanely redundant (Distortion+), too expensive (Warped Vinyl), or impossible (Fuck Mountain).

[hbombgraphics]

I tend to use my second board now with a completely different amp setup,
kinda like the variety,
again: I am not at all locked in on tones.

Also: If owning 2 each of some peds works for you and you have found your sound then that is awesome, and you shall saveth more monies than I

[Eivind August]

My miniboard sorta mirrors my main board, but instead of duplicates I went with other takes on similar effects. Different toanz, same usage.

[rfurtkamp]

I found my sound 20-some years ago, but I keep adding neat new toys now and again as they cross my path or I can afford them or I just want them.

I could pare down to high single digit dirt boxes, but there'd be duplicates of a couple of them!

[K2000]

If the pedals are cheap and not all that sturdy, I think buying a backup is a fine idea.

[Chankgeez]

Yeah, I've got dupes of some of my faves. Depends on how cheap/available/dependable they are.

[rfurtkamp]

^yea, I used to be terrible about "if it was cheap enough" - I had a dozen Digitech RDS rackmounts at one point before I came to my senses.

That many puking 4+ second LFO delays was glorious but it's not exactly useful even for weird after a while.

[Ugly Nora]

Back in the old days, and probably still in some parts of the world, people would have backups of their kids because they knew some of them were going to die. I see no reason not to apply this same logic to pedals.

[ThurberMingus]

Right now I'm liking having multiple pedals that do the same thing. My main dirt sound is a mid-gain crunch. I have a modded Rat and Supreaux Deux that cover similar territorty but have different characteristics. It's nice to be able to swap around based on mood. As the rest of my board is pretty much locked in, it's nice to be able to switch around my base sound. I'd really like to get a Mini and/or Fuck again to be able to toss into the rotation. Kinda the same philosophy with a different execution.

[JereFuzz]

Well, I'm not suggesting you stop searching for pedals and experimenting with new sounds, but some pedals just resonate with you and all things, no matter how durable or well-built, has a limited life, especially with extensive use. Having duplicates of the same pedal give you the ability to (1) use the same pedal on multiple pedalboards, (2) have different settings on different pedals on the same board, and/or (3) having a spare "just in case".

Regards,

Jeremy Kintana

[resincum]

I really want to get a couple more ct5s because it's become such an integral part of my set up and I keep thinking it's going to go out of production like $cott's other pedals I'm also worried about my Holy Mountain going out, but for some reason I think Dan has me covered if it ever went that way

[DRodriguez]

I don't think the Ct5 will go out of production soon. I think it will go out like most of his pedals when he gets to the next one, but I think there is such a huge supply out there now with everyone that bought them with the intention to flip them instead of use them.