jp
Senior Member
Electric Guitar Amps:
Carvin Vintage 16
Randall Commander II
Acoustic Guitar Amps
Peavey Backstage Chorus
UltraSound 15
What am I after, sound wise ? I think I am interested in things to have fun with in the Jazz/Clean side as well as some more "dirty" blues sounds, to start with. I would like to branch out from there, as I learn what I can do with the basics. I don't want to go all heavy metal, but I wouldn't mind coaxing Pink Floyd or Eagles stuff out of my rig.
Honestly, most jazzers go clean into solid state amps without any pedals. Your Randall should get you there for a more modern sound. Some use just a touch of reverb, which your Carvin should do at the full wattage as well. Those 16s are great amps. Some use slight chorus and a touch of compression. A Keeley Compressor is a solidly useful pedal under $200 that universally gets raves.
If you want to mess with some dirty blues, maybe try a dual boost/overdrive pedal. Most let you use the boost and overdrive separately or combine the two together, and in some cases you can change the order to have boost first or overdrive first. Most are true bypass and have a lot of gain and EQing options to filter, cut, boost, or tweak lows, mids, and highs. You can get a huge range of tones from clean boost to slight grit to raging overdrive. These are some great choices:
-- Tone City King of Blues - I don't think these are made anymore, so you'd have to find one used.
-- Full Tone Full-Drive 2 or 3 - Never tried the 3, but the Full-Drive 2 can get you a lot of great tones. Both under $200.
-- Wampler Pinnacle Deluxe or Dual Fusion - Both under $200 used.
-- Trutone VS-XO - New for under $200.
-- Earthquaker Devices Grey Channel - Under $200 used
Or you might want to try combining your SD-1 with an overdrive or boost pedal like one of these:
-- Ibanez Tube Screamer
-- Electro-Harmonix Soul Food
-- Fulltone OCD
-- Boss Blues Driver
Then you can buy another effects pedal like a delay or reverb or even a volume pedal with the savings. :C)
I could go on forever, but I know that's already a lot of demo videos to check out. Have fun exploring and Merry Christmas to you!