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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 14th, 2023

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  • No, you won’t regret it unless you sell pedals that are niche or hard to come by again. Definitely keep your fuzzes.

    Helix has a ton of great FX and the quality of most are nearly indiscernible form their pedal counterparts. The fuzz in all modelers isn’t quite right in my experience. I’ve got an HX Stomp (had the older Fractal floor unit before that) and I have kept my favorite pedals and a couple of niche or rare-ish pedals not in the Helix library. I’ve sold off the majority of my pedals.

    After 6-7 years into my modeling journey (had a Fractal AX8 before the Helix), I am now into a less is more mindset. I still prefer a real amp with as few pedals as possible. I own amps that don’t need additional drives, EQs, or boosts. They either have a great built-in attenuator or a usable sweep in the master volume for bedroom use. 99% of the time I’m going guitar->amp these days. For that reason, I’ve only fired up the Stomp for updates. I don’t want to fiddle with things. I just want to play.



  • I went on a long and expensive pick quest a number of years ago and have tried just about every type of pick I could get my hands on. Different materials, different thicknesses, different shapes, etc. I learned a lot and these days I’ve settled on 3 or 4 picks that I use depending on the guitar that I’m using or the style of music I’m playing.

    With that said, I’ve been playing 1.20mm Pick Boy Home Plate picks mainly. Herco Holy Grail and Dunlop Heavy Gels are my 2nd choices. I also like the Dunlop Flows. I have a few different versions ranging in thicknesses and materials from Tortex to Primetone. I’ve been experimenting with some thumb picks as of late, too.

    EDITED: Forgot to include Dunlop Flow picks


  • That’s good to hear that you like the MXR Trem. I had been looking at a few trem pedals and this one seemed to sound good in all modes and has a ton of versatility based on the online demos. I’ll have to see if the Mission Engineering expression pedal will work with this MXR. I can’t wait to experiment with it more.

    The TrueTone stuff is really good. I had a CS7 before and it powered a lot of stuff. But I did need a similar versatility with different scaling that you’re running into and got the Cioks for that reason. Your board is bigger than mine, so I can totally see the Fender Power Engine being a great upgrade. Of course a GigRig would be amazing, too.

    I really like the Hizumitas. I’m not a huge fuzz person, but this one can do a lot. Nice wide range of fuzz tones. I like the wall of fuzz type tones it can produce and it’s how I’m using it. It is a very close 2nd to my KittyCaster FX Groovy Wizard. I’ll probably be swapping those fuzzes back and forth depending on what I’m playing and the type of fuzz I’m in the mood for.

    I love the Dispatch Master. Being a 2-for-1 pedal doing reverb and delay so well is why I dig it so much. It works great in front of an amp or in the loop. I like to put it on for leads or to add some spread to rhythm parts. I’m not chasing super ambient or layered shoegaze type tones, so it works perfectly for me. If one were to be looking for longer, crazier delay/reverb stuff, I’d suggest the Avalanche Run or Afterneath depending on how many features are needed.


  • Nice board. I just got that MXR Tremolo for Xmas. What are you powering the board with?

    I started out the year mainly using my HX Stomp out of convenience. I used a Mission Engineering expression pedal with it, along with a 3 button MIDI controller for expanded functionality. I had some presets using the amp models and FX in the Stomp. Other presets were just FX and either all in front of an amp or utilizing the 4CM.

    A few months ago I was stuck in a bit of an uninspired rut and decided to put a board back together. Right now it’s a TC Polytune Mini Noir -> Dunlop Fasel wah -> EQD Hizumitas -> EQD Grand Orbiter -> Mythos Wildwood Mjolner -> EQD Dispatch Master. I need to squeeze the MXR Trem in there. All powered by a Cioks power supply.