I need pedal recommendations (reverb, tremolo, dirt, midi)

[lordgalvar]

Here to say ring mod because that is all I say.

[fcknoise]

Reverb: if you decide on a big expensive one I'd say go eventide space > big sky. Big sky has a bunch of nice clean verbs, whereas the space brings the freaky shit. Tremverb (that goes really glitchy), fx-loop, mangledverb, blackhole, freeze switch etc etc. Maybe look at the flint for both trem and verb, but you seem to want more of both than the flint can handle. Otherwise the ehx cathedral is cool, has a sufficient amount of features and can be modded for toggled infinity mode, which is absolutely worth it. Cheaper than a big sky/space too, but I guess that almost literally anything is. Personally I am interested in the meteore, but that would be my.... 4th reverb as it is now, and that's why I am interested in it. I wouldn't buy it as my sole reverb, but since you have the afterneath already I just thought I'd throw it out there

As for trem you seem to want a few features. Something really cool that still isn't chase bliss kinda dough is the MWFX tremolo. There is a version with LFO out and CV in, it has tap tempo, a bunch of waveforms (including random ). I have a fulltone supa-trem that I like. Not tap tempo but easily adjusted with the foot. That's a simple one though.

DIrt: I'd get several. A fuzz that goes from overdrive to full on fuzz is always good, I'd say something like an algal bloom is something everyone should try in their life time. Right now I'm rocking a blackout blunderbuss and it's really good, and does a lot of things. It's a muff based pedal, and muffs really make shit sound bigger. The thing is that they often get lost in the mix, due to the scoop. That's why the blunderbuss (and I suppose a regular musket) is good, they have knobs for the midrange to bring it back. Stacking your klon into something could work too, maybe as people said, a rat. I don't know rats to well and i've only owned the chineese one so I shouldn't say too much about it. I found that in the realms of "distortions that does fuzz" I like the HM-2 better than the Rat I had. I'd also look at the fuzzhugger suneater, because that fuzz is just really awesome. Maybe not "bigger" like you want but get one anyways

[popvulture]

I'll second the Reverberator. I ordered one after trying for years to find a spring pedal that sounded good to me, and it was the best pedal-oriented decision I've made in recent memory. I use it for subtler stuff and save the craziness for things like my RM1N, Dispatch Master or Bitquest.

Also bought a Gray Channel recently and fucking love it. SUPER solid pedal, lots of very useful toanz.

Lastly, in terms of trem I'm a fan of simplicity and use a Boss TR-2. And you mentioned the Janus—just to offer an opinion I'll say it's one of the most disappointing pedals I've ever played. Looked/sounded so cool in some demos... IRL, mind-numbingly boring.

[ThurberMingus]

Verb - Blue Sky is a good "set and forget" alternative to the big masterful feature pedals. Does anything from subtle to over the top in spades.

Dirt - Mini/Fuck or Rat. I use a Klone, Turbo Rat, and Fuck and I can cover all the dirt tones that I need. Clear crunch to massive fuzz, it's all there.

Other stuff - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Benn Roe]

Thank you everyone for the great suggestions! I'm much closer now to figuring out what I want. Sorry about the delay in responding. I wasn't prepared to get so many great suggestions. It took me a long time to get through them all (a situation not helped by having a three-month-old... who knew kids needed so much attention), but I've finally done it. Responses are below:

Shoutout to another SFQR owner
Mine doesn't get use these days but I haven't been able to talk myself into parting with it.

I love it! It was my white whale for a long time. I'm honestly thinking about picking up a second one at some point if I can find a decent deal.

Dr. Scientist Tremolessence & Radical Red Reverberator
Both will be an excellent compliment to the QR's long spring & trem

Thanks for the suggestions! The RRR is maybe a little subtle for my liking, but it definitely sounds great. The Tremolessence sounds awesome, but it doesn't seem like it has a tap tempo jack unless I'm missing something. I want to sync my tremolo and delays using a Quartz Timer, so I think not having a tap jack is a dealbreaker.

For dirt, because Fenders are lightly midscooped they love Tubescreamers/other mid-boosting drives for boosts & low gain stuff. Avoid pedals with scooped voicing as a general rule unless you stack with another mid-humped pedal. I went from my #1 amp and platform being the 100w QR to a 50w Selmer with mids galore...and the only dirt pedal to survive that transition is a Harmonic Percolator. It somehow just works perfectly with both amps. The Catalinbread Karmasutra or Fredric Effects Utility Percolator are what I would recommend unless you're ready to track down & put up some bigger bucks for a true HP-1 from Chuck Collins.

I definitely want higher gain than a Tubescreamer. The Utility Perkolator is muuuch closer to what I'm after, and I think I'm probably going to pick one up for possible future other projects because it sounds fantastic. I'm not sure it's got clear enough definition at higher gain settings for what I had in mind for this band, but it's worth checking it out because I'm sure I'll end up using it eventually. Thanks again!

Disaster Area Effects is coming out with a new line of midi controllers. They all have built in smart clocks too. So, with one of those you could access all your presets (add a ton of presets when it comes to the Tonal Recall), and sync up your timeline, Tonal Recall, line six dl4, and ditto. With all your midi capable stuff it'd definitely be worth the effort of learning how to sync all that up.

Syncing those all up is definitely my plan. I'll check these out, but I'm already pretty committed to using a Quartz Timer over a Smartclock. Either way, I appreciate the suggestion.

So, I just listened to that song you posted, i'd like to her what your band eventually sounds like.

I'll definitely post something here when we've got a recording. We're still in the early writing stages at the moment, which is giving me plenty of time to up my pedalboard game. I should note that, whereas Guilt is a big influence for me, we don't really sound much like the link I posted. That's just a distortion tone I'm into.

as far as dirt goes, you can't really go wrong trying out what a lot of people at that time were using. I'd say get a Rat or tubescreamer and see what you can do with it. sometimes things just WORK.

Tubescreamers don't have enough gain for what I have in mind, but Rats are a great reference point. I would use a Rat in a heartbeat, but I'm not sure it would be a good fit for my amp because both are a little skimpy in the mid-section. Have any suggestions for Rat-esque distortion with beefier mids?

If you want to go serious and get the most of your pedals, MIDI wise, then get a Liquid Foot, a Mastermind or a Gordius.
Liquid Foot Mini is small, will try to find mine and other guy's pedalboards in a minute...

The Liquid Foot Mini seems like a great size, and seems easy enough to use. I couldn't tell from anything I read or watched whether it could do multiple program changes with a single preset, though.

Have you checked the Empress Tremolo2? Can get synced with MIDI too and it's orange, but the Gravitas is smaller and I know you are trying to save some space.

Tremolo2 is a definite consideration. It and the Gravitas are my tremolo frontrunners so far, I think. Thanks for the suggestion!

Dirt and reverb... idk, I'm extremely happy with my Space and my yellow Boss pedals. But maybe a rat? a boutique one so you can get more internet cred.

I've actually owned a lot of Boss pedals in my day, and I just keep selling them for other stuff. I don't know what I'm missing, as I like a ton of bands that rely on Boss pedals and pretty much everyone seems to be running at least some Boss on their board. I just rarely ever end up liking them. That said, I'm currently using a Boss reverb pedal (until I find an upgrade, maybe?) and I did have a PS-5 that I liked for the t.arm until the footswitch broke. Anyone know if the PS-6 is a worthy upgrade, or should I just pick up another PS-5?

Sounds like something you could achieve with stacked overdrives...

I was pleasantly surprised by those DODs (especially the Boneshaker), but kind of blown away by the Gray Channel. I like Earthquaker a lot anyway, but they have sooo many fuzz and overdrive pedals, I never really knew where to start. Gray Channel is a definite consideration! Thanks!

"carefully upgrading"...Yeah, that definitely sounds better than 'GAS' ;p

Shh! It doesn't count as "acquisition" if I get rid of something first, right? Right?

Anywho, as far as dirt goes...If you're after a compact all-in one solution that's not just a rat (no low end, fizzy depending on the amp) or a tubescreamer (bluesy low gain)...Maybe a The Elements might work? Low gain, high gian, brutal high gain, fuzzy gain, you name it...

I've apparently really underestimated Dr. Scientist in the past. The Elements is a definite contender.

Also; That klon clone into a decent muff could sound heavey and thick. Or even just a Musket on its own sounds brutal imo. Can be dialed in for distortion-y fuzz tones or vice versa, or just gilmour-esque classic muff tones, or fat filthy doomy tones, or something in between.

Whoa. The Musket might work too. Thanks a lot!

Btw, those names you dropped...Mogwai, shipping news....Makes me curious what that clip was you posted. I can't seem to watch it for some reason

It was a song by Guilt, off their Further record. It's not the genre my band's going for, but I always liked their tones.

The Afterneath; I hear ya. Loved mine, but since I only had once spot for a reverb pedal, I ended up replacing it for a more conventional one. I lknow it doesn't seem too secksy with all the fancy pants boutique alternatives out there, but an RV-3 is still the shit impo. It's good enough for countless 90s/2000's postrock and shoegaze bands, so it might do the trick for you as well? And it'll leave you with enough spare cash to go nuts on those other pedals you're looking to upgrade

The spot is actually currently being kept warm by an RV-5. I honestly like it pretty well. My main hesitation is that I'm already running a fair number of buffered pedals in the form of my delay section, and I thought if I could find a true bypass pedal that sounded better than the Boss, it would probably make better sense tonally.

Reverb: if you decide on a big expensive one I'd say go eventide space > big sky. Big sky has a bunch of nice clean verbs, whereas the space brings the freaky shit. Tremverb (that goes really glitchy), fx-loop, mangledverb, blackhole, freeze switch etc etc. Maybe look at the flint for both trem and verb, but you seem to want more of both than the flint can handle. Otherwise the ehx cathedral is cool, has a sufficient amount of features and can be modded for toggled infinity mode, which is absolutely worth it. Cheaper than a big sky/space too, but I guess that almost literally anything is. Personally I am interested in the meteore, but that would be my.... 4th reverb as it is now, and that's why I am interested in it. I wouldn't buy it as my sole reverb, but since you have the afterneath already I just thought I'd throw it out there

Huh. I think the Meteore might be the winner. Holy crap, that thing sounds great! Thanks for the suggestion.

As for trem you seem to want a few features. Something really cool that still isn't chase bliss kinda dough is the MWFX tremolo. There is a version with LFO out and CV in, it has tap tempo, a bunch of waveforms (including random ). I have a fulltone supa-trem that I like. Not tap tempo but easily adjusted with the foot. That's a simple one though.

The MWFX seems pretty sweet. Does it have an external tap, though? Or just on-board?

DIrt: I'd get several. A fuzz that goes from overdrive to full on fuzz is always good, I'd say something like an algal bloom is something everyone should try in their life time. Right now I'm rocking a blackout blunderbuss and it's really good, and does a lot of things. It's a muff based pedal, and muffs really make shit sound bigger. The thing is that they often get lost in the mix, due to the scoop. That's why the blunderbuss (and I suppose a regular musket) is good, they have knobs for the midrange to bring it back. Stacking your klon into something could work too, maybe as people said, a rat. I don't know rats to well and i've only owned the chineese one so I shouldn't say too much about it. I found that in the realms of "distortions that does fuzz" I like the HM-2 better than the Rat I had. I'd also look at the fuzzhugger suneater, because that fuzz is just really awesome. Maybe not "bigger" like you want but get one anyways

I found things I liked in basically all those suggestions, so thanks for that. At first I thought I liked the Musket better than the Blunderbuss, but the more I listen to the Blunderbuss, the more I like it. I'm going to have to see if I can find both at a store to try them side by side.

Lastly, in terms of trem I'm a fan of simplicity and use a Boss TR-2. And you mentioned the Janus—just to offer an opinion I'll say it's one of the most disappointing pedals I've ever played. Looked/sounded so cool in some demos... IRL, mind-numbingly boring.

I had a TR-2, which was fine, but I want to sync trem with my delays. I keep hearing that about the Janus. It's a bummer. It seems like it should be such a great pedal.

Verb - Blue Sky is a good "set and forget" alternative to the big masterful feature pedals. Does anything from subtle to over the top in spades.

I kind of forgot about the Blue Sky. I kept looking at the Big Sky and thinking "this is too much", but the Blue Sky seems wayyyy more appropriate. I think I've settled on the Caroline Meteore, but this is a close second. Honestly, I might get both eventually. They're pretty different from one another.

Dirt - Mini/Fuck or Rat. I use a Klone, Turbo Rat, and Fuck and I can cover all the dirt tones that I need. Clear crunch to massive fuzz, it's all there.

I like the Mini a lot, but right now I think I'm leaning toward a Musket or Blunderbuss, with Gray Channel and Utility Perkolater on a separate short list of pedals I'll probably want for future bands. Thanks for the suggestion!

[tremolo3]

The Liquid Foot Mini seems like a great size, and seems easy enough to use. I couldn't tell from anything I read or watched whether it could do multiple program changes with a single preset, though.

It does, up to 20 per preset and you can have like hundreds of presets.

[fcknoise]

Think the mwfx only has on board tap. Plus a sweet wooden wedge enclosure. Damn, now I want one

[Benn Roe]

I was originally trying to keep my MIDI footprint as small as possible, and the Liquid Foot Mini seems great for that, but the more I've thought about it, the more I think I'm also going to need at least four effects loops for my board, so I'm beginning to think I should look at hybrids like the ones Free the Tone makes and Boss somewhat recently started making. Does anyone have recommendations for that kind of system? Or should I keep my effects loops and MIDI controlling separate?

I'd ideally like something no bigger than the Boss ES-5, with four or five loops, that can also set up patches that can simultaneously send MIDI messages and activate different combinations of loops. Some additional features that might be nice (but aren't strictly necessary) are the ability to rearrange the loop routing and the ability to cut only the dry signal through a loop when it's turned off, so effects like delays can trail more naturally. I realize these systems are usually pretty expensive, and ultimately I'll save up for the right one if I have to, but I'd also appreciate more budget-friendly recommendations.

Honestly, the ES-5 does most of what I want, but I'm having a hard time figuring out whether it can send multiple simultaneous program changes, and it seems like it probably can't.

[tremolo3]

Honestly, the ES-5 does most of what I want, but I'm having a hard time figuring out whether it can send multiple simultaneous program changes, and it seems like it probably can't.

It can... up to 8.
Took me a minute of googling...

[Benn Roe]

Hmm, thanks. I don't know why I was struggling so hard to find it. But, sweet, it sounds like the ES-5 is probably exactly what I need then. I was leaning toward the Decibel Eleven Pedal Palette until I read how it processes MIDI. It basically needs a separate MIDI controller to do anything useful.

[D.o.S.]

Don't let Ramonovski scare you, he's really nice under that saucy exterior.

[tremolo3]

Hmm, thanks. I don't know why I was struggling so hard to find it. But, sweet, it sounds like the ES-5 is probably exactly what I need then. I was leaning toward the Decibel Eleven Pedal Palette until I read how it processes MIDI. It basically needs a separate MIDI controller to do anything useful.

I might pick one of those ES-5 too, they are fucking cute and powerful enough from what I've read. Funny thing is I might end up with an almost full-Boss board... again.

Don't let Ramonovski scare you, he's really nice under that saucy exterior.

lol
I like you, no homo, and no homophobic either.