Do You Remember Your First Pedal?

PreacherBob

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I purchased my first pedal in 1979, Electro-Harmonix’s Little Big Muff Distortion box. Man I was going to be a big star now! Though it was a little noisy, I miss it. It’s like I miss the crackle of an album on a turn table. I eventaully moved to the Marshall JCM 900 series head and one 4-12 Marshall cabinet. But man that Little Big Muff through an old Peavey 50w tube combo 2-12 amp was electrifying! Then of course came the multi pedal board, and so forth. How technology has changed the face of audio. What was your first pedal? Steve Porcaro from the band Toto in the 70’s and 80’s was considered one of the greatest innovators of synth patching, sequencing and so forth. He left other keyboard players in wonder with the synth sound he created for the lead in “Rosanna”. He wrote that everything he built back then can be done with a single notebook today.

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HeyMikey

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I don’t remember my first, but remember a favorite, the Mutron Phaser II. I’m not sure what happened to it. Sold it somewhere along the line I guess.

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PreacherBob

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I don’t remember my first, but remember a favorite, the Mutron Phaser II. I’m not sure what happened to it. Sold it somewhere along the line I guess.

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Now that looks cool! It looks like something off of an old Star Trek episode. Since most modern audio electronics have built in noise filters and such, old gear noise and hum would likely be very distracting to us these days. We just didn’t think about it back then. Hooking up three to four old pedals in line was the max. But I remember they had some type of filter or noise gate box you could purchase and patch in at the end before your amp.
 

Coop47

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1985 Tube Screamer - the guy who sold it to me is now a friend. Sadly, he's closing his business next month.
 

Midnight Toker

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I don’t remember my first, but remember a favorite, the Mutron Phaser II. I’m not sure what happened to it. Sold it somewhere along the line I guess.

40ACA98B-0BE9-476A-A6C5-2C5995F45486.jpeg
Those are worth a small fortune nowadays!!

My first was a Proco Ratt fuzz pedal. Then I got a Vox Tonebender fuzz and gave the Ratt to a friend. The Tonebender, while not quite on par w/ the original Tonebenders (those are really worth a fortune!), I was able to dial in that Jimmy Page 67-69 sound when paired w/ a small tube amp.
 

7GuildsandanSG

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I don’t remember my first, but remember a favorite, the Mutron Phaser II. I’m not sure what happened to it. Sold it somewhere along the line I guess.

40ACA98B-0BE9-476A-A6C5-2C5995F45486.jpeg
There is a thread somewhere with a link to a fascinating video about this. I'll just copy it:
 
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Sal

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The first pedal I bought was this DOD Phasor 490 around 1979. Many others have come and gone but I still have this phaser in the pile.

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PreacherBob

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The first pedal I bought was this DOD Phasor 490 around 1979. Many others have come and gone but I still have this phaser in the pile.

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Wow are all those in the background your pedals? Might this just be a generic photo from a music store?🤭😲
 

PreacherBob

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There's another pile out of frame to the right! I enjoy trying out different pedals with my guitars and also harmonicas through my Harparatus device. Twice the fun.

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O…M….G! You mean you go somewhere deep into your house to a hidden room and play with all this cool stuff? SAL I need to get a ticket to Minneapolis a BE in that room with you! I’m officially clearing my current bucket list!
 

hansmoust

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Didn't have a use for pedals since I started out on acoustic guitar and played that way for a very long time; that changed when I started playing in a band. This is the first pedal I bought and it's still the only one I have, not counting the tremolo pedal that I got after I sold my vintage Fender Amp that had built in tremolo and I really missed the effect.

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You should be able to figure out what I use it for!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

walrus

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+1! 1979 - Big Muff! Traded it at my local store for something but I forget what - given the current price, I should have kept it!

walrus
 

sailingshoes72

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I was playing electric guitar in garage bands during the mid-70’s. The hot new pedal manufacturer was MXR. At the time, I couldn’t afford to buy one. In the mid-90’s, after I had stopped playing electric and only played acoustic, I was in a vintage guitar shop in Wash. DC and saw an original “script logo” Phase-90 for sale for $75. I had the cash, so I made the deal. It was one of those “re-living” my lost youth fantasy experiences. 🙂
 

PreacherBob

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Didn't have a use for pedals since I started out on acoustic guitar and played that way for a very long time; that changed when I started playing in a band. This is the first pedal I bought and it's still the only one I have, not counting the tremolo pedal that I got after I sold my vintage Fender Amp that had built in tremolo and I really missed the effect.

TubeScreamer_1.jpeg


You should be able to figure out what I use it for!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl
Yeah I also had an MXR phase shifter and chorus pedal in the 80’s I miss. I traded them for the Sony Tom Scholtz Rockman in the early 80’s. Now I REALLY wished I’d kept that one. I could sound like the band Boston all day!
 

PreacherBob

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Big muff circa 1979. I tore it apart for parts around 1982 and I don’t remember why.
I also knew there was a Big Muff but not sure what the difference was between the Big Muff and the Little Big Muff.
 
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