Pedal Choices - Complete beginner

[DocAmplify]

When I say I'm a complete beginner, I mean complete beginner in all aspects.  I have a bass and a guitar.  I've been teaching myself to play for a few months now. 

I play my bass (Ibanez) through a Traynor Dynabass 300T and I play my Epiphone SG through a Marshall MG15FX (practice sized stack).

I decided to start with Taylor's Tiny Giant amp project because I liked the idea of being able to build my own amp (for kicks) and I have the small cabs from the Marshall set-up.  The kit made it a logical first choice, and via his site I found this forum. 

Now I'm overwhelmed with the choices of stompboxes out there.  The problem is, I don't even really know the kind of stomp-box sound I'm looking for.  That's where the advice kicks in. 

Are there any recommendations for a pedal that you feel is extremely useful, and also easy to build? With the little amount of information I've given you on my experience (none) and my gear, what do you suggest?

I know people will ask what sound I'm looking for - I don't really know.  I listen to classic and modern rock (Stones, Beatles, Foo Fighters, Dead Weather, Kings of Leon, Black Keys to name a few).  I don't really want to pin-point any particular guitarist's sound.  I want something that will allow me to add some distortion, crunch, overdrive, or fuzz - Is there something that is super versatile?

[.Mike]

Start simple. Don't reinvent the wheel.

Consider (in order of easier to potentially harder):

True bypass box

Beginner Project, LPB1, SHO, or other booster.

DS-1, DOD 250, Tube Screamer

Fuzz Face variant

A simple Tremolo

Then you get into more advanced stuff, like:

A Phaser (Phase 45, 90, Ross, etc)

A PT2399 Delay (Rebote, for example)

Good luck!

Mike

[DocAmplify]

Thanks Mike. 

The Tube Screamer on the list catches my attention. 

What would true bypass achieve? 

How about a booster?  What will that give me?

I recognize the next options and I like the sound of the Tube Screamer.

Phaser and Delay aren't that important.  Both of those effects are available in my MG15FX.

I know it's not common to run the bass through effects, but it might sound kind of cool to have a subtle effect - and I know the guys on this forum are not the type to shy away from an experiment.  Would any of the pedals listed above work with the bass frequencies?  Would they get too muddy, or would there be any benefit?

[.Mike]

A True Bypass box would allow you two things. 1. Physical bypass of an effect that impacts your tone when off, or 2. Allow you to set several effects into a loop, and switch them all in/out at once. Very handy little box.

Boosters... uhh... boost. It's more than that, though. Just about any booster is going to change the way your guitar sounds, whether it is boosting the signal or not. For example, the Beginner Project is a semi-clean booster, with the very end of the gain knob covering some distortion. The SHO has a very high input impedance, and adds some sparkle to your tone, even if not boosting. A common use for a booster is to push a tube amp that is on the edge of distortion, into distortion.

Phase and delay aren't important... yet. Just wait for your pedal building addiction to take hold.

Bass players use effects all the time. The most common is probably compression, which reminds me-- another good beginner-ish project is the Orange Squeezer. For many effects, making them work with bass is often as simple as increasing a few capacitor values to allow more bass into the circuit.

And last, consider getting a breadboard. Actually, just get one. That way, you can try out every single pedal I listed, and a bunch more, and decide if you want to actually build it after you have given it a test drive on the breadboard.

Mike

[CynicalMan]

If you don't want to use a kit, I'd say go for the Beginner Project on this forum. The other effects that Mike mentioned aren't really documented well enough for absolute beginners.

If you are willing to go for a kit, however, you have more options. Look at GGG and BYOC for fairly simple projects like the ones Mike mentioned. Having a PCB, parts sourced for you, and detailed instructions makes building much easier for beginners.

[DocAmplify]

Thanks guys.  I'm going to my electronics parts store tomorrow morning.  I needed a few soldering items (helping hands), but I'll pick up a breadboard too. 

I was kind of thinking of the orange squeeze with a tube screamer.  In a round-about way it sounds like you think this is a good combo because the compressor seems universally useful and the tube screamer seems to be a milder OD (If I'm correct a raunchier distortion would be better if I was playing metal, but for my rock, blues/rock choices, the OD style of the tube screamer probably suits my needs). 

@Cynical - What is GGG and BYOC?  I found the schematics for both the orange squeeze and the tube screamer, but I'm sure I would have a terribly inefficient layout if I had to convert the schematic to a board - a little help would be great.  Do GGG and BYOC have kits that would provide a nice compressor and overdrive option similar to an orange squeeze / tube screamer?

[DocAmplify]

@ Cynical - It's amazing what Google can find.  I made my way to GGG and noticed they have both orange squeeze and tube screamer. 

You're in Canada, right?  Is there a Canadian option that can save some of the cross border hassles?

[CynicalMan]

I've never ordered a kit from them, so I can't guarantee, but I think they ship with USPS. That means that you only have to worry about tax and the $5 handling fee, though they often waive those. You should double-check that if you want to order from them.

This is BYOC's Canadian distributor:
http://www.axeandyoushallreceive.com/brands/byoc-kits

[DocAmplify]

Thanks; That's perfect.

[DocAmplify]

I found some suggestions for modifying the orange squeezer for the bass guitar.  I'm wondering if it's possible to build one pedal and have it work for both guitar and bass?  Would the bass mods make it useless for guitar?  Maybe I could put both circuits on the board and put a switch for guitar or bass?

[LucifersTrip]

I have to suggest the obvious, especially since you play bass..


http://home-wrecker.com/bazz.html

It doesn't get much simpler....A breadboard and a few basic components is always a cool start


----------
Edit:
I should've noted...this is good for guitar, also

[DocAmplify]

Thanks; That's great.  I'm putting those components on my shopping list.