If you only could have ONE pedal ......

[Geir]

I know I'm giving someone here a nightmare with this question 

But I'm curious....

let's make it a bit easier and say you have an amp with two channels and that it gives you the overdrive you desire. But that's all.


What is the one pedal that would make you happiest / least miserable ?

[cuthbert]

Just one? Then I'd want something like a Strymon Flint (tremolo & reverb):

[Odi]

[Odi]

OR...

[Zoltan]

Constellation CV7003

FF: Inspired by the Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, one of the most notable fuzz pedals in history

VTB: Inspired by the Vox ToneBender, a brighter but at the same time "polite" fuzz pedal.

3/2: Inspired by the Sola Sound Tone Bender Mk 1.5 often described as a darker and heavier Fuzz Face.
2: Inspired by the Sola Sound Tone Bender MkII, a wild saturated fuzz with lots of sustain.

RM: Inspired by the Dallas Rangemaster, a treble booster pedal typically used to increase treble content, gain and sustain of already overdriven tube amplifiers.

RMFF: A custom combination of a treble booster into a fuzz face that gives a bright and nasty fuzz sound tailor-made to cut through the mix.

[Ted]

I think this is a bad and boring answer. But I use this on bass, and on acoustic guitars, and even on kabosy. And it's kind of transparent and uninteresting. Yet... When I have a gig that's just bass, I bring a tuner, a compressor, and this. Also: It's a little noisy. When I record with it at home, I always need a little noise reduction.

[thetworegs]

I'd go Kemper

[bruno]

Easy. J rocket ape https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/356151394870

I guess for one pedal to do everything - the Eventide H9 - but if we are talking a one function pedal - it would be the J Rocket. I also think that the APE is an always on pedal, so impacts core tone, rather than switch in and out effect - so still would go for the APE.

It does require a delay pedal in it loop, but any fully wet delay will do. It's a make everything sound better pedal

B

[AndyR]

I can't help but feel that some folks is cheating a little bit!

@Geir, did you really mean multi-effects pedals?

They're valid answers... but I think you're after something else?

But I'm curious....

let's make it a bit easier and say you have an amp with two channels and that it gives you the overdrive you desire. But that's all.

What is the one pedal that would make you happiest / least miserable ?

I fall at the first hurdle.
I've NEVER felt happy with an amp with two channels.
I ALWAYS end up ignoring the clean channel and using the hotter channel for my basic sound.
I want this one amp setting to do less ("clean"), rhythm ("crunch"), and more ("lead") - all controlled by pickup selection, guitar tone/volume and picking attack.

If the amp won't do that, NOTHING will make me happy... 

But if I've got an amp (or amp simulator) that does that... then:

Part I
What I want is something that pushes the front of the amp a bit harder

At the moment I use a TC Electronic Spark Booster (original, not the mini).
I use it in front of the UAFX Pedals (Ruby/Lion/Woodrow) I use as amps (AC30/Marshall/Fender Tweed).
The Spark does a perfect job in front of these, same as it does in front of a valve amp.

So... my simple answer is TC Electronic Spark.

Part II
(I coulda stopped there, couldn't I? But there's more, and you know it...)

When I was gigging many years ago, I initially used a DOD Graphic EQ pedal to do the same job.
I eventually replaced that with the original Marshall Guv'nor pedal when it came out.
That was into the same amp.
I bought the Guv'nor for the overdrive but didn't like it that much.
Instead, I discovered that keeping the drive low and the output up gave me a stunning boost/colouration pedal.
This really was to my taste - but I was using it as a boost, slightly dirty.
I never used the EQ again.

I discovered later that this is how some famous people have used Tube Screamers and Boss Overdrives.
I have clones of them, and others, and...
And Fuzz, by the way, and...
They're nice... and fun...
And I've seen videos of people using the same things I've got and I'm thinking "yeah!" ...

BUT!
Playing through them NEVER feels "real" to me.

I want the amp and its speakers giving me the grit.

So they all end up getting set to "boost and slight colouration" and...
NONE of them do as good a job at that as the TC Electronic Spark does.

Part III
(I could also stop there... But...)

This is the other interesting bit for your original question, @Geir

What if I had a two channel amp that meant I didn't need that boost?
OR
What if my single channel amp already has a switchable boost?
(My current Laney does, as do my UAFX "amps")

What would I choose next, if I don't need the Spark?

• Is it a compressor? COULD BE... but it's not on my board... I mainly use it for boost like Rory did (and Spark does the job) or to get that 70s funky geetar sound (and I'm not often after that)... and I've never used one to make my playing sound more consistent, didn't even know that was a thing until recently... so NOPE
• Is it a wah? COULD BE... in the old days it definitely was... I LOVE wah... but I need a boost more than I need a wah... so... NOPE
• Is it reverb? NOPE... I loathe reverb on amplifiers, always have. I want the room (on amp modellors I'm always trying to program a room - the UAFX pedals I've got are superb for that). But if I'm using an amp in a room, I have NO NEED of artificial reverb,
• Is it delay? NOPE... I do have a "tape delay" pedal set to slapback, much preferable to reverb for me... but I never switch it on...
• Is it chorus? COULDA BEEN... in the old days I used it live... but nowadays I find it's a solution looking for a problem... there's no need for it... so NOPE
• Is it flanger? COULDA BEEN... in the very old days I used it live... but nowadays I find it's more of a studio effect... like chorus it does some wobbles I don't really need... so NOPE
• Is it vibrato? COULDA BEEN... I prefer it to chorus and flanging now but, again, it seems a bit "something and nothing"... so NOPE

We're down to two (in my mind) ... both are "wobblers" like chorus/flanger/vibrato. They're more distinctive and useable for me.

• Is is a Phaser? HELL YES... except... for me personally, it's too suggestive of certain songs/recordings that make me want to use it... it's on my board, it does both dirty rock and 70s pop things for me... but we're after one pedal... and there's another that's more usable for me... so NOPE

And the winner is: Tremolo!
I'd never have predicted this a few years ago.

Mine is a Behringer Ultra Tremolo UT300.
I bought a bunch of Behringers to try out various things over the last few years, this was the last one I got, just to give it a go.
It's only this one, the Behringer VP1 Vintage Phaser, and the Behringer Vintage Delay VD400 that have stayed on the board.
And it's the Tremolo that I use, I guess the others are just wasting 9v

Finally...

Part IV
To be honest, I don't really want ANY pedals.

I like a "guitar, guitar-lead, amp, and ROCK!" approach.

I could live without boost or wobbles.
I could definitely live without echoes and ambience.
I don't need anything but a usable sound that responds to my input.
And I HATE all those extra boxes and wires and crackles and stuff unless I really need them...

So I might have wasted the last hour or so...
But that would've been less interesting!      

[Geir]

Oh.  ..... well ..... yeah. ...... all right ......

I guess I should have been clearer.... I did mean one single pedal.  Not multi fx.

So maybe .........


This was what I wrote before getting distracted by my son ....... and  when I picked this up again Andy had come to my rescue

I did of course mean a singe pedal, I could make it even more precise and say 1 analog pedal! No fancy modelling stuff and no multi fx. I would make an exception for 2 things: a  digital delay and a digital reverb.