The Pick of The Pedals - Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive

This weekend is the first instalment of The Pick of The Pedals, a series of reviews I'm writing looking at a variety of different pedals, beginning with a few from my personal collection. Today I'm taking a look at the Boss SD-1. I've had this pedal for a good few years now, and has been a regular feature of my pedalboard (as you can see on the post I did about my pedalboard).

The Boss SD-1 is a relatively cheap overdrive pedal, costing around £40 nowadays, but a plethora of guitarists have them in their pedal arsenal, including Avenged Sevenfold's Synyster Gates and Zakk Wylde. This pedal ranges from a smooth, creamy lead boost to screaming lead tones, probably why it is so popular.

Set with all the knobs at 12 o'clock, using my Epi Les Paul into my Marshall 80 watt Valvestate 1x12 combo on a clean setting, the tone is noticeably thicker, with a slight volume boost. The thickness of tone is probably down to the compression inbuilt in the pedal, bringing the amplitude of the harmonic frequencies up to join that of the fundamental frequencies, but the compression is by no means overbearing, with alterations of tone accessible by dynamic picking or changing the volume or tone knobs on the guitar.

Bringing the tone knob on the pedal up to 3 o'clock gives a great heavy rock lead tone, with high frequencies which will comfortably cut through a band mix without being too harsh. In front of a crunch amp setting, this pedal really sings, working really well with the bridge humbucker on this guitar, pinch harmonics are a dream to play.

Back on a clean amp setting, increasing the gain on the pedal gives more sustain, and the compression really begins to kick in. This tone would be really usable for long, sustained solo parts, with fast, alternate picking passages becoming slightly muddy with the gain this high. Cranking the tone control to full, however, solves this issue, giving a searing, approaching fuzz territory tone.

I think this pedal really begins to shine when you back the gain down and use the volume boost in the pedal to push your amp. Even on a clean amp setting, with the pedal gain at 9 o'clock and the volume at 3 o'clock, this pedal gives plenty of gain and a really nice lead tone. With extra gain on tap by digging in with a pick, or perhaps adding in a boost pedal, as well as accessible clean tones by rolling off the guitar's volume, this is where I usually keep this pedal.

Rolling off the tone and boosting the gain gives a rich, creamy solo tone reminiscent of the Money For Nothing tone, and decreasing the gain makes a variety of other 'woman tone' sounds.

Overall, I love this pedal, giving me consistently good lead tones which work well in the live mix, and being a Boss pedal it is rugged and you can really stop on it. The yellow colour is a bit garish, but mine has faded a bit and has dings which give it some more character and make it look loved. Of course everyone knows the high standard to low cost ratio which Boss have covered, so if you like the sound of this pedal, it's definitely worth trying out!

Are there any pedals you think I should review next? Maybe one from my pedalboard post, but I'd be up for trying any you suggest!

Awe-In-One Picks Spotlight!

I was recently sent a selection of 8 Awe-In-One guitar picks. These picks are designed to be similar in feel and size to 'regular' picks, but have innovative grip designs. Each pick has a circular section of it indented, with different grips on it. The first pick I tried was the Riff 1, a red pick shaped like a 'regular' pick but each edge is slightly more pointed than you'd expect. The grip part of this pick is on one of the top corners, and I can't decide whether I prefer to have my thumb in the indent or my finger. With my thumb in the indent, I found that the grip was massively increased, and although the material is shiny, I doubt I'd drop this pick in a live environment. With my finger in the indent, this pick was great at articulating both riffs and lead parts. Either way, this pick exhibits a warm tone with a pleasant attack and not too bright.

Next up is the Rock Vibes. This pick has varying gauges at different parts of the pick, with the three corners ranging from 0.75mm thick to 1.20mm thick. This was designed to enable the player to change the tone of his playing just by rotating the pick. The circular grip of this pick is in the centre. I found the 0.75mm corner of this pick a bit scratchy, because of the design of the pick, this corner is right next to what I'd describe as a 'bumpy bit', which kept scratching the strings. The other two corners were pleasant to use, and the tone of this pick is just the right amount of bright. The Rock Licks pick is similar to the Rock Vibes in shape, and also has three varying corner gauges, this time a bit thicker. Made out of 'fibre' (this is what they call it on their website), this pick has a great attack, and works well for pinch harmonics. This pick shape isn't really for me, but I can see that it would work for some players.

The next pick I was send is the Profound 1. This pick is a hard, clear purple Jazz 3 sized pick, with an off centre grip circle. This pick has all the benefits of using a smaller pick, great accuracy, speed and control, and tone reminiscent of other small picks, but with a grip which works really well and feels very comfortable. Definitely worth trying out if you prefer a smaller pick. The Shred 1 pick is slightly bigger than the Profound 1, and exhibits many similar tonal qualities, but with the added surface area, and with this pick made from 'fibre' like the Rock Licks, it has a warmer tone than the Profound.

The Thrash II pick is up in size again, and has a really nice, balanced tonal quality to it. Being that little bit larger, it gives you access to a more dynamic way of playing than the smaller picks did, but also still works well for speedy licks, accuracy and control. 

Finally is the Axe 2.5, the thickest pick of the bunch, and the one which appeals to me the most (predictable, I know). This pick is warm, but with a good amount of brightness on tap if you dig in a bit, which I tend to do. The thumb grip is nearer the point, more where I'm used to holding my pick, and just feels the most pleasant pick to play.

It's probably worth mentioning that each of the picks I've written about is available in a variety of materials which massively effect the tone of the pick, so if you like the idea of one pick's shape, but another picks material and tone, check out their website, they may be offering a combination that would work for you. These picks are very reasonable, costing around $1.35 per plectrum, so if you like the look and sound of any of this, why not check them out. These picks are one of the most unique pick brands I've tried so far, and whilst I may not put them in my regular pick arsenal, they exhibit unique feel and tonal qualities which may well become useful in settings like the recording studio, where you have time to get that perfect tone. Why not check them out! Let me know what you think in the comments.

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Gorilla Snot - Guitar Pick & Drumstick Grip

This week I'm taking a look at a product I hadn't heard of until recently, a pick grip rosin with the disgustingly appealing name of Gorilla Snot, sent to me earlier this week. Designed for use with both guitar picks and drumsticks, this product helps you to hold onto stuff. They also make a grip designed purely for guitarists, as well as a 'Sports Grip' for sporty things.

When I first put some Gorilla Snot on my pick holding finger and thumb, you feel the stickiness straight away - you definitely don't need much. Picking up my pick (the V-Pick Pachelli in this case) made me assess my picking position, because once your in position this thing is going nowhere. It doesn't stick like glue, but rather gives assurance in your hold.

I found that usually the first time you use Gorilla Snot on a pick, it can be too sticky to be that comfortable. I imagine that with wooden drum sticks the rosin seeps into the wood, giving a more pleasant grip, but on a plastic plectrum the stickiness stays on the pick and only wears off with use. The second or third time of playing using Gorilla Snot on the pick, after only applying it once, is when it feel most comfortable to play and still enhances the grip of the pick.

The back of the packet says that Gorilla Snot "reacts with your body's natural chemistry and heat output to retain a steady grip", and it certainly does, and it also takes a while to come off - I imagine they have to have a waterproof-ness to them for sweaty hands, but it does come off with soap and water.

This product certainly does do what it says on the tin, or the little pot, really well. Grip is certainly enhanced successfully and it doesn't feel uncomfortable or unnatural once you've used it a couple of times. For me, this stuff is purely belt and braces levels of security (or paranoia?) about dropping your pick, but maybe in areas of the world where it's more humid than it is in winter in the south of England it would be more necessary. However, it cases where the player has been injured and cannot grip onto a pick well, I would whole-heartedly suggest trying Gorilla Snot. I would also like to check out the grip designed purely for guitarists. On a side-note, this is my first review of a non-plectrum product here on The Pick, and I'm excited to start exploring other guitar related products and writing about them!

Tortex vs Nylon - Jim Dunlop USA Nylon 1.14mm

I used to use the purple Dunlop Tortex picks all the time, so I thought it would be interesting to try the purple Dunlop Nylon picks. To begin with, these picks are a more violet shade of purple, which I think is less cool than the rich, vibrant shade of the Tortex, and we all know that what the product looks like, especially with guitar stuff, is the main reason why guitarists buy it (*wink*).

Having warmed up with the Tortex pick having not played this pick for a while, and was reminded of the unique Tortex grip, the firm feel with a bit of give in it, and the nice, warm tone. Swapping over to the nylon, the pick feels more bendy straight away. This pick has a dotted grip pattern on both sides which, while helping with the grip well, does feel a bit strange after playing for a little while, a bit tingle-y on the pads of your thumb and finger.

The nylon pick definitely exhibits more of a bright tone, which is both quieter and has less bass presence than the tortex. The nylon is less harsh, however, smoothing out some of the pick attack, which works well for fast, rhythmic strumming sections, where the tortex is less forgiving.

Although these picks are the same shape, size, even the same colour, their feel and tone is totally different because of the different materials used in their construction. Being quite cheap picks, I would recommend these to someone who perhaps doesn't have a pick they regularly use, but in my opinion there are picks out there which do what these picks each do but better. However I do agree that tone is totally subjective, and I can't help but admire the long list of guitarists who use Dunlop picks.

Do you use either of these picks? Why do you like them? Let me know in the comments!

My Gear, Part 2 - The Pedalboard *NERDGASM*

Having written about what guitars I'm currently using a couple of weeks ago, I thought I'd write about my pedalboard, seeing as it's next in the signal chain! So I'l start at the beginning. My guitar goes straight into the Dunlop Crybaby Wah, which I don't use all that often, but when I do it's usually for some more mid presence in a distorted solo, or for funky clean rhythm stuff. For the little amount I use wah for, the crybaby certainly does the job, but if I was ever to get a new one, I'd look for a less pronounced high end boost at the top of the sweep, to make the overall sound more 'underwater'.

From the wah into the tuner, I use the Korg Pitch Black Tuning pedal - I know a lot of people have big love for the Boss tuner, but I prefer the big LED display on the Korg. I've never had any trouble with it tuning incorrectly or inaccurately, so works for me!

The tuner then goes into a Boss CS-3, which is one of my newest pedals. I use it for smoothing out the volume for picked open chord parts, bringing the higher pitched strings up and the lower ones down in volume. This setting also works well for evening out the tone in general for rhythm playing, but I definitely wouldn't be one of these people who leave a compressor on all the time, it might just be this pedal, but it's quite squishy, working well in the applications I use it for, but not as an overall tone shaper.

This pedal goes into my Fender ABY pedal, which splits the guitar signal in two, which is then sent out to both my dry amp and the rest of my pedals (but more of this at another time!). The send to the rest of the pedals goes then into my Boss BD-2. This is set as a clean boost with slight crunch, i.e. it's a clean boost which pushes my amp, so if I dig in I get a decent crunch. My main tone is very clean, so this is my clean solo sound. This then goes to the Digitech Blues Screamer, a cheap, transparent overdrive which just adds the next layer of crunch onto my tone. If a crunchy rhythm tone is required, I will use this, and the Boss BD-2 as a solo boost.

The next pedal in line is the Boss SD-1, which is a creamy solo overdrive which works on top of any of the other pedals as a nice mid range boost with a decent amount of crunch. This then goes out to the front end of my wet amp.

Coming out of the effects send of my wet amp goes straight into a Daphon volume pedal. This is a cheap volume pedal which is really transparent and has a nice even sweep. I use it for volume swells, and does the job perfectly well. This pedal goes into my very old Crossfire analogue delay pedal, set as a subtle slapback delay. This is one pedal which I would leave on all the time, much like reverb it sits nicely in the mix and adds a bit of depth to lead playing.

Next in the chain is my Boss DD-20 delay pedal. This pedal has 5 different delay presets for different parts. These are as follows: 'warp' setting, which sustains the delayed note for as long as I hold the pedal down; modulated delay setting, which has a slapjack delay sound with a chorus effect on the delay; dotted 8th analogue delay; dotted 8th digital delay (which is slightly longer and more obvious than the analogue setting); and a longer crotchet digital delay, set quite subtle and used on distorted solos. 

From the DD-20 I go into a custom Bright Onion Pedals looper, which has two pedals either had noisy switches or altered the bypass tone in it. These are the Electro-Harmonix Nano Clone, an analogue chorus set to be more subtle than the modulated delay effect but does remove some bass from the guitar signal (mainly used for rhythm chorus requirements), and the Mooer Shimverb, which is set on a slightly over the top room sound. Back into the custom looper, this goes to the return of the wet amp.

And there you have it, except for the channel switchers for my wet and dry amps and a tap tempo, that's my pedalboard covered! Since I don't have room for my pedalboard at uni, I don't have a photo to share, but I will upload one when I'm home at some point. The pedals I bring to uni to use are just the Korg tuner, the BD-2 and the DD-20 - I use my amp on a more crunchy setting than I would with my whole pedalboard setup, and clean it up with the volume on my guitar.

If you liked this little chat about my pedals and would like to see more in depth reviews of pedals, let me know! I'd definitely be up for expanding my reviews to different guitar gear in the future.

V-Picks Spotlight!

Another of my new pick discoveries is the wonder of V-Picks (check out their website, especially the 'About V-Picks section, they have a great company story) - the pick of choice of some great guitarists, including Carlos Santana, Billy Gibbons, Aerosmith, Phil Keaggy, Johnny Hiland, Steely Dan and more. I recently received a package of 28 (yes, count them, 28!) pick samples to write about. In this spotlight I will look at 3 of my favourites, and a few of the most different picks in the selection of picks I received. Some of the other picks might well crop up in other reviews in the future.

V-Picks were the first company to make acrylic guitar picks (V-Picks founded in 1980), their products are the only acrylic picks that are heat treated and tempered for strength, and they're hand made - the products themselves definitely reflect the effort required to make these picks - I did struggle to choose 3 favourites to talk about!

The first pick that I enjoyed playing with is the Red Rocker. This traditional shaped pick is less than 2mm thick, and is very comfortable to hold for people used to 'usual' shaped picks. This pick really stands out for it's great tone - it has a polished edge, and great high frequency reproduction, as well as a very pleasant warmth - not too much low end though, which works well for crunchy rock tones (as the pick name suggests). After a few minutes of playing this pick really melds with your hand, and handles a wide variety of playing styles thrown at it excellently. V-Picks pride themselves on being very grip-able. Their "built-in non-slip technology" helps to keep them from being dropped, and they are used by a lot of people with hand injuries, and I can see why with all these picks, even though they're nice and glossy (which looks amazing, by the way), they stay firm between the fingers.

The second pick which I've chosen to write about is the Medium ULR. When I first saw this pick, I wasn't sure I was going to like it - it is very thin and bendy, and has three identical picking corners. However, I really do enjoy playing guitar with this pick. It is great for open chord strumming and picking, and has an excellent natural compression. This pick doesn't seem like it's designed for solo work, but it's by no means bad at it. It's tone is bright, snappy and precise, and is one of the first picks I've reviewed which works as well (if not better!) on acoustic guitar. I think this pick will be a regular for acoustic guitar for me!

The third pick is my favourite of the lot - the Pachelli. This thing rocks! Finished in a transparent black, it is a beautiful thing. It is fairly chunky, around 3mm I'd say, and a similar size and shape to the Dunlop Jazz XL. There is a great, smooth bevel on this pick which makes is a dream to play, and it sounds great at everything I played with it. To me, this pick is a jack-of-all-trades and a master of all of them! The only alteration I'd make is perhaps have slightly wider wings and more engraving on the top - not to the depth of the Mummy pick, but just something slightly larger, like the Bullseye.

Now onto the more different and interesting picks from the V-Picks selection pack that I was given, starting off with the Nexus. This pick is a see through, triangle shaped pick, which is 4-5mm in thickness and a rounded bevel. This also features the rough finish around the edge, which gives is a subtle percussive sound. I would be interested to hear the kind of music that one who enjoys using this pick would play, as I couldn't really get used to it, but it certainly is unique, and the wide range of picks on offer from V-Picks means there is something for everyone.

Next up is the Mummy. Again, featuring the rough edge, this pick is a more standard shape than the Nexus, and has three deep lines engraved on either side of the pick, meaning that gripping it is even easier. The larger bevel on this pick, combined with the rough edge gives this pick a heightened high end, but still retains the warmth that all the V-Picks exhibit.

The gypsy pick appears to be a pick for those players who favour playing with coins - it's round shape makes this pick skip over the strings, and is great for chordal playing. Without any tip as such, to get that bite you have to really dig in with the pick, but when you do it sounds great. This shape of pick definitely isn't for me, but I'd recommend it to the Brian Mays out there who enjoy playing with a coin!

Lastly, is the pick which intrigued me most - the Memphis. This pick is curved inwards, almost like a shallow bowl, and this sits very nicely on the thumb. Designed primarily for blues playing, you can get some really interesting and expressive timbres out of your guitar with this pick. On a downstroke, the curved edge skips over the strings giving the benefits of the thicker, rounded picks, of warmth and a little natural compression. On an upstroke, you get the hook of the curve, giving bright, often fierce sounding lead parts. To all the shredders and alternate pickers out there, I don't think this pick is for you (although, feel free to prove me wrong!) - alternate picking with this pick gives differing timbres and volumes depending on whether you're on an up pick or a down pick. But if you're a slow hand style player, or as V-Picks say on their website, you "savour every note played", then why not give this type of pick a shot.

If you are looking for a new pick to try, definitely try out V-Picks - with many players saying they experience better tone, more volume and a faster picking action, and the fact that they are all made to a very high quality with many endorsees from great guitarists, you can see that they are going to last. I have recently fallen in love with these picks, and I really enjoy playing guitar with them.

Gravity Picks 4mm?!

Happy New Year! As a New Year's treat I'm taking a look at two of the 4mm gauge picks from Gravity - the Razer Standard and the Sunrise Standard, both with the master finish edges. These are two of Gravity's more standard shapes; the razer is the 'usual' pick shape, and the sunrise is similar to the Dunlop Jazz III, maybe a bit wider.

Even though I've taken to using a 3mm pick as my go-to plectrum, these 4mm picks really feel like a big hunk of plastic between the fingers, and take a few minutes to get used to.

Once you get used to the increased width, you may need to adjust your hand position - I found that, unless I was only letting the smallest amount of the point from below my thumb, it sounded quite scrape-y.

This picks are by no means jack-of-all-trades type of plectrums, however they really begin to shine when playing fast, articulate alternate picking - especially the Sunrise standard, because of the smaller surface area there's less room to manoeuvre and therefore less room to make it sound scratchy. I find with thinner 'shred' style picks you lose some of the warmth of tone, which some may say isn't required in those situations, but with experience of mixing live bands, I'd say any extra warmth that can be brought when one guitarist starts to play a solo can really reduce the amount of drop out you sometimes get in those situations.

These 4mm picks are a bit of an odd-ball to me, even from just increasing the gauge by 1mm from my usual pick, however I know the shredders amongst you will appreciate the quality and craftsmanship which goes into making Gravity Picks which are more useful to you than thinner, flimsy picks. Do you use a larger gauge pick? What styles of music do you play with it? Let me know in the comments.