Pedal Suggestions?

[Jak Angelescu]

Hi everyone! I was learning a song tonight and it was from a live video, and one thing I just feel like lacks is sustain or true reverb. I have a Line 6 Spider combo amp. But no matter what guitar I play on, it just seems like the sustain doesn't hold up. You know those sweet, saucy bends that you slowly release like your guitar is crying? Yeah, mine doesn't cry it just whimpers. It's not the guitar either or strings because I've tried on like four different ones. So I don't know if it's my amp or maybe it's time to get a pedal? I also need a tuner pedal. My amp's tuner just sucks. Thank you guys so much!

 

[Muz Malek]

Hi everyone! I was learning a song tonight and it was from a live video, and one thing I just feel like lacks is sustain or true reverb. I have a Line 6 Spider combo amp. But no matter what guitar I play on, it just seems like the sustain doesn't hold up. You know those sweet, saucy bends that you slowly release like your guitar is crying? Yeah, mine doesn't cry it just whimpers. It's not the guitar either or strings because I've tried on like four different ones. So I don't know if it's my amp or maybe it's time to get a pedal? I also need a tuner pedal. My amp's tuner just sucks. Thank you guys so much!

Hey Jak!

Which Line 6 combo amp do you have?

 

[Firsty Lasty]

Good reverb is hard. There are a million reverb pedals out there, but finding the ones I want to hear has always been a steep challenge.

As for sustain, there are two ways to get it. #1 is compression, which is probably not a problem for you because what we guitarists call "gain" causes compression. #2 is sound pressure pushing on the guitar, which I suspect is what you're listening to because you say it's a live performance. As far as I know there is no way to fake this. Through the magic of youtubes I bring you this example- start at 9:19 to hear specifically what I'm talking about if you don't want to sit through the whole video.

 

[Dominik Gräber]

Must be the guitarist


But seriously, ever heard about our Lord and Saviour, the Boss Katana?

 

[Gemma G.S.]

Must be the guitarist


But seriously, ever heard about our Lord and Saviour, the Boss Katana?

(chanting) One of us... one of us... 👁👁

 

[idssdi]

I personally use a tc electronic Hall of fame reverb and I'm pretty happy with it!

Usually, delay is used to thickens up tone though. Tc electronic has one where I'm interested in called the flashback delay.

 

[Kim]

Must be the guitarist


But seriously, ever heard about our Lord and Saviour, the Boss Katana?

i agree, Boss Katana is perfect

 

[Rad Synner]

I see already a lot of great suggestions here but let me throw in my own:

For sustain, yeah compression would be ideal for you. I would actually suggest you to try the Boss CS-3 pedal, which is a compressor sustainer. It's in the budget friendly side of things so I think its a great options. There other compressor I loved like the keeley and many others but I would start and see first if the CS3 solves your sustain issue.

Now reverb will definitely add on to help create those more ambiant sounds. For pedals, I actually stand with @Ids Schiere. The Hall of Fame is one the most brilliant reverb pedal on the market and it still remains somewhat budget friendly and it has a lot of great feature.

About the amp itself, to be honest, it's a practice amp so it's really not the best for where you are now. Now with the Line6 spider, they have their reputation and I will say that the most recent ones have been better however, for where you are now, if you consider upgrading your hardware, I would actually suggest you to move on from the practice amps and get something more versatile. And in this scenario, I would suggest pedalboards as they really got amazing over the years and I think this is where the future is going. At least, that's what the trends suggest.

So my ultimate recommendation in that department would be the Line6 Helix. Those have been simply amazing and there are different format for any budget. Plus since I know about your awesome sound card, you can plug it in directly and use it as your FX processor for any guitar recording so you could directly use it to record demos or whatnot. And since its an FX processor with a large banks of FX, you bet that there are reverbs and compressor in it (tuner as well) So you could better manage to find your tones! The HX Stomp is a great compact option or you can go for the HX LT!

But yeah those are my suggestions! Good luck!

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Hey Jak!

Which Line 6 combo amp do you have?

Hey Muz! It's a Line 6 Spider IV 75W

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Good reverb is hard. There are a million reverb pedals out there, but finding the ones I want to hear has always been a steep challenge.

As for sustain, there are two ways to get it. #1 is compression, which is probably not a problem for you because what we guitarists call "gain" causes compression. #2 is sound pressure pushing on the guitar, which I suspect is what you're listening to because you say it's a live performance. As far as I know there is no way to fake this. Through the magic of youtubes I bring you this example- start at 9:19 to hear specifically what I'm talking about if you don't want to sit through the whole video.

Okay, I had NO idea about compression at all. I have heard about it, but that's as far as it goes. I really appreciate this information! I'm definitely checking out this video today! Thank you!

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Must be the guitarist


But seriously, ever heard about our Lord and Saviour, the Boss Katana?

When I need a piece of useless information, I'm glad I can always count on you

 

[Jak Angelescu]

(chanting) One of us... one of us... 👁👁

I don't get it but other people thought it was funny so I wanted to be cool and laugh at it too

 

[Jak Angelescu]

I personally use a tc electronic Hall of fame reverb and I'm pretty happy with it!

Usually, delay is used to thickens up tone though. Tc electronic has one where I'm interested in called the flashback delay.

Thank you Ids! I'm so thankful for this! I'm going to check it out and add it to my birthday wishlist that Holly can spoil me with

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Must be the guitarist


But seriously, ever heard about our Lord and Saviour, the Boss Katana?

On a serious note, like you and @Kim stated, you like the Katana? I actually played one before and I didn't like it at all. It sounded too processed for me.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

I see already a lot of great suggestions here but let me throw in my own:

For sustain, yeah compression would be ideal for you. I would actually suggest you to try the Boss CS-3 pedal, which is a compressor sustainer. It's in the budget friendly side of things so I think its a great options. There other compressor I loved like the keeley and many others but I would start and see first if the CS3 solves your sustain issue.

Now reverb will definitely add on to help create those more ambiant sounds. For pedals, I actually stand with @Ids Schiere. The Hall of Fame is one the most brilliant reverb pedal on the market and it still remains somewhat budget friendly and it has a lot of great feature.

About the amp itself, to be honest, it's a practice amp so it's really not the best for where you are now. Now with the Line6 spider, they have their reputation and I will say that the most recent ones have been better however, for where you are now, if you consider upgrading your hardware, I would actually suggest you to move on from the practice amps and get something more versatile. And in this scenario, I would suggest pedalboards as they really got amazing over the years and I think this is where the future is going. At least, that's what the trends suggest.

So my ultimate recommendation in that department would be the Line6 Helix. Those have been simply amazing and there are different format for any budget. Plus since I know about your awesome sound card, you can plug it in directly and use it as your FX processor for any guitar recording so you could directly use it to record demos or whatnot. And since its an FX processor with a large banks of FX, you bet that there are reverbs and compressor in it (tuner as well) So you could better manage to find your tones! The HX Stomp is a great compact option or you can go for the HX LT!

But yeah those are my suggestions! Good luck!

Holy shit dude thank you so much for all of that helpful information! I wasn't aware of any of this. And yeah, you're right, I guess it's time to up my gear. I just always loved the sound my little amp got that I got comfortable with it. I record stuff on it all the time and people say "You get that out of a LINE 6?!" And I'm like "Damn right I do!"
I'm gonna be sending you a DM about something though alongside all of this. Thanks, buddy!

 

[Gemma G.S.]

I don't get it but other people thought it was funny so I wanted to be cool and laugh at it too

Katana Club I upgraded to one from my little beat-up Marshall, and apparently a handful of people here really love Boss Katanas

 

[Alicia Willis]

On a serious note, like you and @Kim stated, you like the Katana? I actually played one before and I didn't like it at all. It sounded too processed for me.

We had a katana for awhile and I felt the same way, I didn’t love it. Sure there was a SHIT ton of stuff you could do with it but I could never ever get a tone I liked with it (even with pedals). We sold it and got another tube amp. Something about a tube amp just makes me so happy ! I can feel the little hairs on my arms stand up when I hear it

 

[Ed Seith]

Hmmm. Okay, so reverb is just echo. Play in the bathroom and you've got reverb - tiles rule for it. I don't think that will give you what you're looking for, as far as sustain. A delay (especially analog) can be used similarly and will thicken up a tone but not add sustain.

Compressor is a great idea, but on a high-gain tone, as others have said, it really shouldn't be necessary.

I'm left to tell you tale of recent tonal discovery. I'd been thrashing my tone around and tweaking this and that, and after a while, I noticed my sustain was really suffering. Badly. I also knew it wasn't the guitars - any of them, so I started fiddling with knobs again to see what was up, and I found my particular problem.

In my zeal to stop the hiss and noise on my higher gain tones, I had set my noise gate far too aggressively. I backed off the settings on the gate and my sustain came back.

I don't know if your amp allows for adjusting or turning off the noise gate, or if it even has one, but if it does - try turning it off and see what happens.

 

[Dominik Gräber]

On a serious note, like you and @Kim stated, you like the Katana? I actually played one before and I didn't like it at all. It sounded too processed for me.

Well it's personal taste I guess. I just know this is the best sounding none tube amp I got to play yet. And with all the options you have I am sure you'll get a tone or two out of it that you like.

 

[Cooper Brady]

I personally use a tc electronic Hall of fame reverb and I'm pretty happy with it!

Usually, delay is used to thickens up tone though. Tc electronic has one where I'm interested in called the flashback delay.

I've got the flashback 2. If you've got the money, pull the trigger on it. It's awesome.