friends mom shopping in the UK, pedal advice..

makepeace

Hey guys,

A friend of mines mom is in the UK and she's getting him a pedal as a present. He's looking for some ideas. He's not looking for anything in specific, but it should be something useful ie reverb, compression, delay, phaser, boost, fuzz, chorus, trem. He's not really into overdrive tones much, but likes fuzz. Preference is for something that is interesting as well as functional, he wants to have a look inside to potentially glean some ideas.

I was thinking Zvex something? Maybe that funky tremolo? Or a probe pedal?

Any ideas welcomed ?

Bob-Dubery

Good luck, especially with the more boutique-y sort of brands. I went shopping for a univibe in Denmark street. First three shops didn't have one. The third, in fact, didn't have any pedals but sent me across the road to another shop that was supposed to be a pedal specialist. The prices didn't look that amazing and they didn't have a univibe (or any of the clones) but told me an MXR Phase 90 was the same thing really.

So I suggest you not only identify a pedal but also check for a shop that actually stocks it. Then email them and ask them to hold one for you.

Also check to see if you're really going to save. US made pedals have to be imported into the UK and thus attract customs duties, shipping etc etc.

Squonk

You should PM my brother Dingwall and ask for advice, he is in Basingstoke, not too far from London. He is bit of a Pedal Geek and should know stuff

Dingwall

Hey I am happy to do some investigations and give some suggestions.

I need to know a few things, mainly what the budget is, and whether he would like something specifically 'british' and unavailable in SA. There are various little 'boutique' companies selling a variety of handmade pedals at a variety of prices. Or would he like something from 'rest of world' thats unavailable in SA.

US pedals can be expensive for reasons explained by Bob but some UK/European ones can also be very pricey.

If you can answer these questions or PM me then I will get on it.....

makepeace

Thx for your comments Bob. He's not looking for anything 1 offish or vintage, but I'll get him to make sure that he does the homework.

What does anyone have to say about these guys: http://www.mwfx.co.uk/shop/page/1?sessid=foeUUhBBNsabHWt7MCaNAuZLEGOWkMQ575rd22WmsWBNI9bYvHjslQX8ADX5LjoT&shop_param=?

Wow dingwall, thanks that's great!

The budgets around 200 pounds. No preference as to nationality, but definitely not something that could be had here. I would imagine UK boutique would probably excite.. Main points are functionality and interesting/original.

Would be epic to get some ideas dingwall, but don't go out of your way!

Vick

Have a look at the Stomp Under Foot Sun of a Bee and the Iron Ether FrantaBit. Both are UK based, I think both are UK based. You can order directly from them and just have the pedal it shipped to where his mom is residing.

Jack-Flash-Jr

TIL Squonk and Dingwall are related ?

Ideally he should test out a range of pedals here to decide... but, on the plus side, a more-or-less UK available only pedal will easily be sold in SA if he doesn't like it...

Sean

Jack Flash Jr wrote TIL Squonk and Dingwall are related ?

??? How come this only comes out now? Or was Squonk speaking metaphorically?

IceCreamMan

Squonk wrote You should PM my brother Dingwall and ask for advice, he is in Basingstoke, not too far from London. He is bit of a Pedal Geek and should know stuff

Aha, i stayed a lil village called Theale for a short while, close to Basingstoke.Nice place.

UK prices on pedals aint that great in my opinion, sometimes even more expensive than ZA.

Dingwall

Ha ! All I can say if it wasn't for the Squonkster I would probably not be a guitarist! So thanks Mr Squonk!

Regading 'pedals' - All comments posted so far are all worth considering and £200 can buy you quite a lot of pedal (in any country I imagine).

I am happy to do some research but off top of my head (and if it were me shopping) I would suggest the following:

Strymon - slightly more than £200 but fantastic delay pedals
Providence - good reviews on overdrive pedals
Xotic- What about Robotalk2?
Line 6 M5 - swiss army knife of pedals but probably available in SA
TC Electronic - Flashback delay £139 but also do other pedals and generally get good reviews
Plutoneium Chi wah wah - I reckon he should get one of these - surely everyone in SA will be jealous!!

=

Sean - I worked in Theale for many years - lots of pubs in such a small village!!

Bob-Dubery

There must surely be 2012 limited editions: Diamond jubilee, olympics, the collapse of the Euro and Fairport Convention's 45th birthday all in the same year? So a diamond-studded univibe with pictures of HM and the Olympic torch silkscreened onto the casing. It'll make a nice conversation piece if nothing else.