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How to try out pedals – Make sure you like the pedal before you buy it!
Introduction
Trying out gear can be a bit of a challenge. How do you decide if you like something when you have a few things fighting against you. Like the fact that you can’t play it for long enough or even that you won’t be able to play it through your rig? Well, there are a few things that you can do to help you try out and decide on pedals. In this article, I will go through a few things I do myself and also a few things that I would recommend to help you decide if you want or like a pedal.
These are not hard and fast rules to apply but more guidelines to help you along your way. There are other things to consider, but I will cover them at the end. So with that being said, why don’t I dive into the first point that I recommend! Playing the right things!
Play Similar Things when comparing
I always think that if you are going to try out pedals, especially multiple pedals, then you want to try to play similar things each time you test one out. I always see and hear people try out a pedal playing some power chords, then move onto another pedal and start playing a solo. How can you compare these pedals? Make sure you are keeping your playing consistent when trying out pedals.
Even if you only sit there and play basic chords and easy riffs, you want to be able to understand what you like and don’t like about the pedals you try. This will only be possible if you continue to play the same or similar things on each pedal. You don’t need to sit there and shred all the time. Sometimes playing some open chords or fast power chords can tell you so much about a piece of gear!
Play what you play!
I think something we all tend to do when trying out pedals is to play songs and riffs from people that are famous for playing that pedal. Trying out a Tube Screamer? I bet you end up playing a Stevie Ray Vaughan riff or maybe a John Mayer lick! Do you play like this normally? If you normally play thrash metal, then make it a focus to play that when trying out a pedal!
I will be honest, even I get caught up in doing this when trying out pedals! It isn’t that bad; you are allowed to have some fun and play various things, but remember what rig and player you are looking to buy the pedal for. You! Play what you play! I could end up sounding completely different if you play one style in the shop, then take it home and you play what you would normally play!
Play at Various volumes
This is very important if you play at home and live, mega important if you play with an actual amp as well! You want to experience a pedal at various volumes! Home volumes and gig volumes! Pedals don’t really change their sound at high volumes, but how they make an amp work will change at different volumes. When I play Tube Screamers, I find that they sound very different when loud and quiet! So I started playing at various volumes when testing out pedals.
If you are someone who only plays loud or only plays quietly, then this won’t matter to you that much! However, most of us do play at various volumes, so you want to try to recreate that when trying out pedals. Plus, it is always fun and enjoyable! You don’t need ear-bleeding volumes, but shifting some air around you will help you understand a pedal.
Match as much as you can!
You will never be able to play a pedal through your rig in a shop. However, what you can do is try to match as much as possible! If you play a Gibson Les Paul in your rig, then try to get a dual humbucker single cut. If you play a Marshall amp in your rig, then aim to play through a British high-gain amp. This will allow you the best fighting chance you can to sound as much like you as you can!
You should try to avoid playing rigs that are massively different to yours! If you play through a 5150 amp into a 4X12, then don’t try out pedals on a Fender Deluxe Reverb. They are going to sound and also feel and react so much differently! Get your shop demo rig as close as you can! You may have to go down the modeller route if needed!
Do research before trying
As with anything when you are looking at buying something! Do you research! You can use Google and YouTube to find someone using that pedal with a rig that is similar to yours! Or even use sound sample videos (like mine) to find out what it sounds like compared to other pedals. You want to go into trying the pedal with a small understanding of what it is going to sound like! After you have a basic understanding and have familiarised yourself with the sound, then it will be just trying to match it to your rig and seeing how it differs.
You could also look at what the controls do! Learning all the controls beforehand will help speed it up when trying out pedals. You will spend less time knob twisting to find out what the knobs do and more time adjusting to discover the sounds. Which when you only have a few minutes to try out some gear is vital!
Conclusion
Hopefully, if you are looking to buy some pedals soon, then this article has helped you out and given you some ideas on how you can decide what you want and what sounds best. I have a few articles like this planned, including amplifiers and guitars! Both of these are a little easier to try out, but there are still a few things you can do to help you out. They will be released shortly!
When buying gear, it is hard not to buy what the heart wants! You may think you want a Tube Screamer; however, if you try out a few pedals, you may find that a blues driver is more suited to you (or both, but that is an article for another time). Maybe I need to do an article on when to buy what your heart wants and buying what you need! Because there is a time and place for both! Especially as a hobbyist.
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