Effects Pedal for 16 Year Old - Opinions?

[Warrior]

Hey Folks,
I have a student that is turning 16 soon and I am considering getting him a pedal for his Bday. I want to keep my costs at $50 or below and this Behringer looks like it might be a great first effects pedal.

Any thoughts, suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[MrGuitarabuse]

A little stretch up from your budget would be Zoom G1on. I haven't heard or used any of these, but gut feeling tells me that ZOOM would have a better effect pedigree history than B.

 

[Warrior]

A little stretch up from your budget would be Zoom G1on. I haven't heard or used any of these, but gut feeling tells me that ZOOM would have a better effect pedigree history than B.

That does look a lot better. For just $20 more I can add a built in expression pedal with the G1Xon.

 

[Geezerjohn]

I second the opinion that Z would be better than B.

 

[Muad'zin]

While I could stomach a Behringer unit in a safe stationary rack, for something that gets used a lot all over lots of different places, most likely in a backpack or something, then probably not. Let alone stomped on a lot. Especially those Behringer pedals with their flimsy plastic cases. The G1 looks like a better buy. Although I do wonder, since both are made in China, if they aren't all from the same factory anyway.

 

[volothamp]

I suggest you to buy him a good pedal on the used market and then re-sell it if they don't use that.

16 years old is a perfectly fine age to have good gear

Also my father got me a shitty overdrive while I asked him a distortion pedal so I'm not going to make the same mistake with my son.

 

[Muad'zin]

How can you even get a shitty overdrive? A Boss SD-1 costs next to nothing, even less used. And that's basically a modded tubescreamer.

 

[fractalz]

I was having a similar discussion with some teens the other day. I suggested that they build their pedal board in this order: distortion / gain pedal (if their amp doesn't provide this already), modulation pedal, delay pedal, wah, "the rest".

Rationale :
- distortion pedals give an overdriven / saturated sound for soloing and heavy sounds when desired. "Tube Screamer Mini" is about $60 used
- modulation pedals (phaser, chorus, vibe) open up the guitar sound in an interesting way and can be lots of fun. My favorite is the MXR Phase 90 but there may be clones of this that are cheaper
- delay pedals add depth to playing from a slapback to long repeated delays. This will sound *way* better than a reverb pedal in live situations
- wah pedals give the guitar a voice (almost literally) and is a great first step into "expression" pedals

From there, it's player's choice - there are so many great / fun pedals to try.

I'd be curious to hear other's thoughts and recommendations on specific pedals that would fit the OP's budget.

 

[Muad'zin]

I was having a similar discussion with some teens the other day. I suggested that they build their pedal board in this order: distortion / gain pedal (if their amp doesn't provide this already), modulation pedal, delay pedal, wah, "the rest".

Rationale :
- distortion pedals give an overdriven / saturated sound for soloing and heavy sounds when desired. "Tube Screamer Mini" is about $60 used
- modulation pedals (phaser, chorus, vibe) open up the guitar sound in an interesting way and can be lots of fun. My favorite is the MXR Phase 90 but there may be clones of this that are cheaper
- delay pedals add depth to playing from a slapback to long repeated delays. This will sound *way* better than a reverb pedal in live situations
- wah pedals give the guitar a voice (almost literally) and is a great first step into "expression" pedals

From there, it's player's choice - there are so many great / fun pedals to try.

I'd be curious to hear other's thoughts and recommendations on specific pedals that would fit the OP's budget.

Usually wah comes before dirt, as before it sounds like the classic wah we all know and love, after, it sounds more like a filter. Can be fun and interesting in its own right, but I've tried both and generally I prefer before.

 

[TG3K]

Usually wah comes before dirt, as before it sounds like the classic wah we all know and love, after, it sounds more like a filter. Can be fun and interesting in its own right, but I've tried both and generally I prefer before.

I think he was suggesting the order in which to buy them, not hook them up. I could be mistaken, though.

 

[dpeterson]

Pickup a used Line6 m5 or one of those zoom multipedals has a lot of stuff in one pedal.

 

[fractalz]

I think he was suggesting the order in which to buy them, not hook them up. I could be mistaken, though.

Yes, purchase order.

 

[Muad'zin]

I think he was suggesting the order in which to buy them, not hook them up. I could be mistaken, though.

Yes, purchase order.

A weird purchasing order then. If I had to start again, and base my purchases on what I would need first and foremost I'd say dirt -> delay -> wah-> modulation. Swap delay for wah for most guitarists as I'm a delay freak.

But if you have to gather a simple pedal board, copy that of Tom Morello. Marshall amp for dirt, all the pedals into the amp's FX loop. As tremelo -> whammy -> wah -> delay -> boost -> phaser. That's all he uses, and having used a similar pedal board I have to admit, it's very versatile. You don't need any expensive booteek pedals, just simple Boss and MXR stuff and you can find a cheap WH-4 whammy for peanuts nowadays.

 

[lqdsnddist]

Gift card for reverb (I assume they offer these)

That way he can pick whatever he wants. I’ve bought and then sold hundreds of pedals in my life, they are way too much of a personal thing to have someone else pick out for another guitarist. Heck, I don’t seem to know what I want myself lol

 

[Admin M@]

http://www.constantinecruz.com/best-guitar-distortion-pedals-under-50-dollars/

 

[fractalz]

Gift card for reverb (I assume they offer these)

That way he can pick whatever he wants. I’ve bought and then sold hundreds of pedals in my life, they are way too much of a personal thing to have someone else pick out for another guitarist. Heck, I don’t seem to know what I want myself lol

+1 on gift card. Better than deciding between us

 

[TG3K]

A weird purchasing order then. If I had to start again, and base my purchases on what I would need first and foremost I'd say dirt -> delay -> wah-> modulation. Swap delay for wah for most guitarists as I'm a delay freak...

For me, the purchase (and frequency of use) order would either be dirt, mod, delay, and wah, or dirt, delay, mod, and wah.

 

[volothamp]

How can you even get a shitty overdrive? A Boss SD-1 costs next to nothing, even less used. And that's basically a modded tubescreamer.

He got me a Boss OD-2R and I wanted to play Metallica and I only had a Fender transistor amp.

Such trauma...

 

[ChristThePhone]

He got me a Boss OD-2R and I wanted to play Metallica and I only had a Fender transistor amp.

Such trauma...

First world problems. My first rig was an old stereo and a DIY ProCo Rat clone. If you're really into it bad equipment won't stop you.

 

[Muad'zin]

Gift card for reverb (I assume they offer these)

That way he can pick whatever he wants. I’ve bought and then sold hundreds of pedals in my life, they are way too much of a personal thing to have someone else pick out for another guitarist. Heck, I don’t seem to know what I want myself lol

Thing is though, does a beginning guitar player even know what he wants? Cause I sure as hell didn't. You have to try out a lot of stuff to see what works, go flat on your face a couple of times and generally mature before you finally get a grip on your playing style and wants. And in that sense a well chosen gift from someone who has been there is a lot more helpful then letting them chose at this point in time. When I first started out my father picked out my first amp, a Fender Twin Reverb. Thinking that if I didn't stick with it it would at least retain its resale value. I went through a lot of guitars and pedals in my early period, even more later when I discovered DIY, but I still have that amp. My father chose wisely and when I die I want to be buried in that amp. I will never part with that old beaten up Twin, even though I never use it (or any other amp for that matter) since I got my Axe.

You want to give that lad something that will help him in the long run, a good multi FX is a very good choice in my opinion. Then he can at least try which sounds he likes and which not. Its a good all round tool to have at an early stage.

For me, the purchase (and frequency of use) order would either be dirt, mod, delay, and wah, or dirt, delay, mod, and wah.

Which basically proves there is no good order, as everyone's needs and wants are different. Although generally a good dirt pedal seems to be the first foundation pedal of choice for most.

He got me a Boss OD-2R and I wanted to play Metallica and I only had a Fender transistor amp.

Such trauma...

I have a Boss OD-2R and I can think of worse pedals. *cough* Metal Zone *cough*

But then again, to me most dirt pedals sound the same anyway. Plus I'm an unusual guitar player in the sense that I obsess more about how a guitar player that I want to imitate plays then about his or her tone. As long as I have a decent sounding dirt tone I stop fretting about tone and focus on everything else instead. It really confuses me to no end the amount of time that others put in tweaking their guitar tone.