Which type(s) of pedals should a beginner get?
I have been teaching myself guitar for about 6 months now. I can play simple riffs and parts of solos, working on scales and chords. I can play Smells Like Teen Spirit's riff and solo and Sweet Child O' Mine's intro and first two solos.
I live in India and you can't find a lot of stores with pedals even in big cities. However, I have an opportunity to get pedals and possibly other gear from US in a month and it'll also be much cheaper.
I know product recommendations aren't allowed on this forum. But I would like advice on what types of pedals to get that would be useful. I use a Blackstar ID Core 10W amplifier which has a good built-in tuner and effects like Chorus, Flanger, Tremolo, Reverb and Delay. These effects are pretty decent though I can't turn them on and off easily while playing. Overdrive channels along with the ISF on the amp are great. To modify EQ however, I need to connect the amp to a computer which isn't easy.
Link to Amp's specs: www.blackstaramps.com/uk/products/idcore-stereo-10
I'm assuming most entry level pedals won't sound much better than the built-in effects on the amp, not to mention I will be upgrading to a better amp in another 6-7 months. Is it worth getting a distortion/OD pedal? Will it help me get better hard rock, blues and metal tones? Is it fine if I get a Wah pedal at this stage? I have read that a looper pedal is useful so that's on my list.
Thanks a lot in advance for any advice.
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Get a compression pedal. You'll be amazed how much better it will make your guitar sound. And I like a good distortion type pedal to play blues soloes. I just bought the Keeley DDR and it is my favorite for that kind of thing. I've tried dozens of pedals in my lifetime and they're all fun but a Boss Compressor is the only ones I've kept. I have the Boss CS-1, CS-2, and CS-3. The CS-1 is the oldest, but my favorite. It just makes a guitar sound so good! Ever wonder why guitars on records sound so much better than your guitar? It's the compression!
Even though your amp provides built-in effects, it is very convenient to have the same effects as pedals so you can turn them on and off. Another reason is that you can change the order of the effects. For example, distortion into delay is very different from delay into distortion.
Some basic types to consider include the ones you've already mentioned, like distortion/OD, chorus, wah-wah. Some others you might want are fuzz, compression, and volume. I haven't used a looper yet myself, but it's high on my list of things to get next. If you have a riff playing in a loop, you can put down the guitar and dial in the controls on the other effects and immediately hear what's happening. Be sure to check out our Glossary of Guitar Effects.
If/when you get a chance to go to a store, ask to try a few using a similar amp and guitar that you have.
We have a chatroom for this site where we often talk about pedals and setting them up.
I've been very pleased with the quality of very inexpensive pedals from Behringer and Danelectro. For wah-wah, my personal recommendation is Morley since it's the only kind I know of that lets you switch it on and off while leaving it in the same position. This lets it work almost like a Parametric Equalizer.
FWIW my first pedal purchases were: volume, wah-wah, amp simulator. Some years later I expanded this by getting: octave, OD, envelope filter. And after that, it kind of exploded.
To be quite honest, I think a metronome would serve most beginners better than pedals. Being able to press a button and get a different sound is fun but doesn't do much to help you grow musically. And note that some exceptional, world class guitarists (for example Derek Trucks) eschew the use of pedals altogether.
Nothing wrong with doing stuff to make playing fun, but playing around with gear (for guitarists it's amps/guitars/pedals, for sax players it's always mouthpieces and reeds) often distracts from the hard work of learning to play good musical phrases in time.
Do you play acoustic guitar by the way?
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