A reader’s question:
Last year (after several years of playing the guitar) I finally bought my first effect pedals: the Walrus Audio Slö, the Earthquaker Devices Westwood and the Ditto looper.
I mostly listen to minimal, indie and ambient and therefore, I would love to create such sounds myself. But unfortunately, I have not made up my mind about a specific sound.
On my pedalboard there is still space for two or three further pedals, for I would like to keep my collection limited by now.
I thought about getting the Chase Bliss Audio Mood or a reverb-delay- combination (Keeleys Cavern, Dispatch Master, Avalanche Run). But I am not sure if that makes sense and gives me more flexibility.
Maybe you can give me some helpful tips, hints, tricks, ideas and recommendations. I would really appreciate that because the effect pedal jungle actually is gigantic….
DelayDude:
Thank you very much for your request! The assembly of the first pedalboard actually is great fun!
To be honest, I prefer to make only very few suggestions, for I think that it is wonderful to check out varying combinations by yourself.
For ambient/ indie the Walrus Audio Slö and the Earthquaker Devices Westwood (and a looper) you have the perfect base.
Personally, I would add a nice delay pedal (with tap tempo) next.
The Slö already offers a reverb. If you are not thinking about stacking reverbs pedals, you can actually dispense with a delay-reverb-combination.
For your style of music, the Strymon El Capistan would be perfect. It has a beautiful blurred tape echo sound and an integrated looper (if you want to use two loopers to create a wider soundscape). Furthermore, it also offers reverb (if needed).
The tap tempo and the marvelous modulation allow to create amazing ambient sounds.
If you are looking for an “allrounder”, the Source Audio Nemesis might be the perfect match for you. It offers several different delays and especially the lofi and the analog delay are pretty recommendable.
Personally, I am a gigantic fan of the Empress Echosystem – but actually, the features might be overwhelming at the beginning of a pedalboard-career. Nevertheless, you would additionally get reverse delays (very important!), pitch delays and a reverb as well. You could even stack tow delays. For ambient, it would be perfect. The integrated pitch effect could also save you from getting an additional octaver like the EHX POG2 (by now).
Initially, I would advise against getting the Chase Bliss Audio Mood. The handling is less intuitive and to be honest, I think, it is a pedal for guitarists who don’t know what they should do next and therefore are looking for some kind of random generator. Besides, this kind of effect is pretty dominant and ought to be used only for one or two songs to avoid an overkill.
In other words: it can not be used quite flexible.
The Chase Bliss Audio Thermae is much more interesting to me. Especially, if you adjust a high number of repeats, you will get a marvelous soundscape. And you can also create crazy pitch effects.
In this sense: be curious and start experimenting!
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