Newbie to Electrics. Pedal Choices?

[OldStrummer]

I hope this is the proper place to post this.

I'm new to playing electric guitars, and have fallen head over heels in love! Now that my guitar collection is complete (for now, at least), I'm looking at the sound I can generate with them. I've already found that each guitar I have makes its own sound (a Telecaster isn't the same as a Stratocaster isn't the same as a Les Paul). In order to get some output for my electrics, I bought a Fender Champion 40 amp, and on a whim, a BOSS DS-1 Distortion pedal. I admit, I haven't toyed with the pedal too much; I'm just having fun learning the sounds my guitars make. And the amp has plenty of built-in effects that I can play with, when I choose.

One thing that has really hit me is that on my Les Paul, I lose an awful lot of gain (volume) when I toggle the rhythm/treble switch. Today I came across an MXR M133 Micro-Amp Gain/Boost footswitch that might just be the answer. But I don't know enough about pedals and effects to make that determination.

When I was younger, electric guitar players pretty much used a Crybaby wa-wa pedal and a fuzz tone. Now there are things with names like "flanger," "phaser," and the like. What kinds of pedals should I be looking at to enhance my sound?

[Highway Chile]

It depends on what kind of music you play. The most popular pedal is an overdrive of some sort. I like the Way Huge Saucy Box the most, but ymmv. I also like Germanium fuzz and Univibes.

[Don]

Have you experimented with the effects built into the Champion 40? I'd start there.

I use the following with the band I'm in-
-Clean-ish boost (AMZ Mini Booster)
-Fuzz (I like all kinds but I use a Fulltone '69 which is based on a germanium Fuzz Face because it offers a variety of drive levels by adjusting the guitar's volume control)
-Distortion (Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret MKIII)
-Tremolo (Voodoo Lab Tremolo), rotary speaker cabinet emulator (Tech 21 Rotochoir)
-Delay (Catalinbread Belle Epoch)
-Reverb (Catalinbread Topanga)
-Wah (Cry Baby Mini).

I also like Rat distortion pedals, brighter digital delays, basic phasers like the MXR Phase 45 and 90, Univibe type pedals and lots and lots of fuzz pedals.

I'm not a huge fan of overdrive pedals but I do have an Analogman Prince of Tone that I really enjoy.

I bought a DOD 250 Overdrive Preamp reissue a while ago and wasn't too please with it until a friend used it as a semi-clean boost and it sounded good.

BTW, you might be able to get better balance between the pickups on your Les Paul if you adjust their heights.

[redisburning]

I love pedals. I love delay pedals most of all.

I highly recommend getting one. My personal favorite is the Deluxe Memory Man. Any of the current models are great.

[Cogs]

I have an MXR Micro Amp that I use all the time. One of my favorites. But if I could only have one pedal it would be a reverb or delay

[Offshore Angler]

If you're new to pedals I'd humbly suggest you go all BOSS. They make nice stuff and they're affordable.

It's de rigueur on internet forums to suggest that you need a special, hand-built boutique pedal or you ain't sheet but in reality, most of them are merely trying to clone the sound of the off-the-shelf units used on iconic recordings from "back in the day".

BOSS will cover just about any need you have, their stuff is super-reliable, sound great, play well together and have the added convenience of top-loading batteries. If you're a working musician and the power on you pedal board takes a dump, you can convert bad to battery use in a few minutes with little drama. They'll all have the same power jacks and a single common power supply is easy.

Finally, they all pretty much have the same form factor and so mixing and matching as you learn your personal requirements becomes easy.

If later, you get the urge to collect the Cork Sniffer pedal from Hardwired Effects Company that's great, but never, ever, for one minute let anyone convince you that you NEED that stuff. I've been down that road and have expensive Keeley pedals collecting dust while my RAT and my BOSS gear gigs on.

All IMHO, YMMV, etc.

Chuck

[redisburning]

If you're new to pedals I'd humbly suggest you go all BOSS. They make nice stuff and they're affordable.

It's de rigueur on internet forums to suggest that you need a special, hand-built boutique pedal or you ain't sheet but in reality, most of them are merely trying to clone the sound of the off-the-shelf units used on iconic recordings from "back in the day".

BOSS will cover just about any need you have, their stuff is super-reliable, sound great, play well together and have the added convenience of top-loading batteries. If you're a working musician and the power on you pedal board takes a dump, you can convert bad to battery use in a few minutes with little drama. They'll all have the same power jacks and a single common power supply is easy.

Finally, they all pretty much have the same form factor and so mixing and matching as you learn your personal requirements becomes easy.

If later, you get the urge to collect the Cork Sniffer pedal from Hardwired Effects Company that's great, but never, ever, for one minute let anyone convince you that you NEED that stuff. I've been down that road and have expensive Keeley pedals collecting dust while my RAT and my BOSS gear gigs on.

All IMHO, YMMV, etc.

Chuck

yeah Your Mileage May definitely Vary.

Boss buffers range from not very good (most of them) to excellent (waza-craft). I had to replace my Boss looper with a TC one that had less features because the buffer was unacceptable.

also buying from one company necessitates that you are going to miss a ton of stuff. if we're talking about those famous off the record sounds, I agree that stuff is important. here is some important stuff that Boss doesn't offer:

• analog delay with >500ms delay time
• analog delay with tap tempo
• fuzz face
• tonebender
• big muff
• you cant even buy the important boss fuzz anymore (FZ-2)
• you can't buy the important boss distortion (HM-2 aka the pedal that defined the entirety of the Death Metal genre)
• klon
• colorsound overdriver
• optical vibe
• optical compressor

that's not even getting into where you might get a Boss replacement for a Hologram Dream Sequence, Lightkeeper GOAT, etc.

I have NEVER seen anyone say Boss isn't good enough. I have seen a lot of people suggest that lots of people are suggesting that. Most of them own a lot of Boss pedals. Even with the above Im mostly just trying to show by example that there's a huge wide world out there and suggesting that someone only use Boss is akin to telling someone they don't need to travel anywhere because your own town has everything you need, not that Boss is somewow lacking.

plus if you are going to get stuck with only buying from one company and goal is to sound like the records why not go with Analogman?

[Offshore Angler]

...
that's not even getting into where you might get a Boss replacement for a Hologram Dream Sequence, Lightkeeper GOAT, etc.
...

Yeah, how did we live without those for 40 years? Guess I'm just a "troglodyte".

Seriously - the original poster is asking about getting started, and as someone who plays out weekly I'd say the BOSS stuff will be great and he'll learn how to dial in the sounds he wants. And when he goes to flip it it will be easy.

I'd start out with a bypass tuner, then an OD, then a distortion, next a chorus, a delay and then a compressor. That should cover 99.99999% of all the songs at all the gigs in the world. Anything else he wants to buy along the way is OK too. I'll give you the BOSS compressor isn't the best on the market but it's perfectly useable.

[redisburning]

Yeah, how did we live without those for 40 years? Guess I'm just a "troglodyte".

Seriously - the original poster is asking about getting started, and as someone who plays out weekly I'd say the BOSS stuff will be great and he'll learn how to dial in the sounds he wants. And when he goes to flip it it will be easy.

I'd start out with a bypass tuner, then an OD, then a distortion, next a chorus, a delay and then a compressor. That should cover 99.99999% of all the songs at all the gigs in the world. Anything else he wants to buy along the way is OK too. I'll give you the BOSS compressor isn't the best on the market but it's perfectly useable.

if the shoe fits.

btw you missed the point more than Michael Bay did with Pearl Harbor there buddy.

[Cogs]

The MXR compressor isn't the best on the market but it's pretty cool & that signature "quack" has become a thing. Pretty cheap, too

[S. Cane]

I'm late for this thread.

Anyway, I love dirt pedals. I fool around with them all the time.

Right now I am in love with what I can do with the ProCo RAT. It's my newest toy and it makes my strats ROAR like hungry dragons.

[Offshore Angler]

Time to renew this one. Wrote and played it a few years back but I think it's still relevant.


The Internet Ate My Tone!

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10022338

I still get a bit misty when I hear the reference to Mikey.

[dirtdog]

Ah, OldStrummer - you've opened the pandora's box. Enjoy the trip!

Might I suggest for your listening pleasure:

[OldStrummer]

[QUOTE=dirtdog;626930]Ah, OldStrummer - you've opened the pandora's box. Enjoy the trip!

Might I suggest for your listening pleasure:

Whoa. . .

[ch willie]

Years ago now, I bought a cheap overdrive, Digitech Bad Monkey. I hadn't used it for a while, relying on my Rat more than anything, but I used it the other night and was struck by how good it really is. Of course, the Rat is better for out and out distortion, but that Bad Monkey gets Gilmour-type tones all day long. Really full and warm and sounds natural. It's worth a shot--you could probably get a used one for dirt prices.

[chuckocaster]

Those are great pedals, basically a Tubescreamer with an expanded tone control

[OldStrummer]

Since I initiated this thread six months ago, much has changed. I now have a variety of pedals and even purchased a pedal board in which to store/transport them.

I don't use them much, but now that I have a vanilla tube amp in addition to my modeling amps, I have a venue with which to try them. Believe it or not, I now have THREE overdrive pedals -- a Fulltone Robin Trower Overdrive, an Earthquaker The Depths, and a Fulltone Mini Dejavibe 3. (I guess you could say I'm chasing the Robin Trower sound!). I also have a Crybaby Wah, a Boss Distortion Pedal, an MXR Micro Amp Gain Boost and a TC Electronic Polytune Mini 2. Note, I don't run all the overdrives at once; I've been trying to find the one I like best.

[Franklin]

Since I initiated this thread six months ago, much has changed. I now have a variety of pedals and even purchased a pedal board in which to store/transport them.

I don't use them much, but now that I have a vanilla tube amp in addition to my modeling amps, I have a venue with which to try them. Believe it or not, I now have THREE overdrive pedals -- a Fulltone Robin Trower Overdrive, an Earthquaker The Depths, and a Fulltone Mini Dejavibe 3. (I guess you could say I'm chasing the Robin Trower sound!). I also have a Crybaby Wah, a Boss Distortion Pedal, an MXR Micro Amp Gain Boost and a TC Electronic Polytune Mini 2. Note, I don't run all the overdrives at once; I've been trying to find the one I like best.

Do you crank the tube amp up to the point where it is starting to break up, or do you have a dirty channel on it? All dirt pedals need different setups for clean vs dirty amps. Some are great for clean amps, many are geared towards already breaking up tube amps.

For Trower, you want loud broken up tube amplification. He used pedals to overdrive amps.

In that set up, I personally would use these pedals in this order;

MXR Micro Amp > Boss DS1 > Earthquaker The Depths > Fulltone Robin Trower Overdrive

Usually you go from higher gain first to lowest. I like to boost into OD to get more gain and a little more volume. But I also have a Zendrive set with gain really low for another mid-boost volume drive. Here is my chain of dirt:

Analogman Sunface > Analog Man Beano Boost > EH Double Muff > Boss SD1 (modded) > Zendrive > Maxxon SD9.

I use the Zendrive to boost both the Sunface and the Double Muff. If I a playing a lead with the Sunface the treble boost is usually the way to go to sit in the band mix better.

[OldStrummer]

Do you crank the tube amp up to the point where it is starting to break up, or do you have a dirty channel on it? All dirt pedals need different setups for clean vs dirty amps. Some are great for clean amps, many are geared towards already breaking up tube amps.

For Trower, you want loud broken up tube amplification. He used pedals to overdrive amps.

In that set up, I personally would use these pedals in this order;

MXR Micro Amp > Boss DS1 > Earthquaker The Depths > Fulltone Robin Trower Overdrive

Usually you go from higher gain first to lowest. I like to boost into OD to get more gain and a little more volume. But I also have a Zendrive set with gain really low for another mid-boost volume drive. Here is my chain of dirt:

Analogman Sunface > Analog Man Beano Boost > EH Double Muff > Boss SD1 (modded) > Zendrive > Maxxon SD9.

I use the Zendrive to boost both the Sunface and the Double Muff. If I a playing a lead with the Sunface the treble boost is usually the way to go to sit in the band mix better.

This is very cool advice! Thank you, Franklin.


Knowing next to nothing about pedals, amps and the electronics theory behind them all, this is all "green field" (I hate that term) stuff to me.


By the way, I'd say welcome back, but since I only arrived here within the past six months, I daresay you precede me by quite a bit.

[S. Cane]

Do you crank the tube amp up to the point where it is starting to break up, or do you have a dirty channel on it? All dirt pedals need different setups for clean vs dirty amps. Some are great for clean amps, many are geared towards already breaking up tube amps.

For Trower, you want loud broken up tube amplification. He used pedals to overdrive amps.

In that set up, I personally would use these pedals in this order;

MXR Micro Amp > Boss DS1 > Earthquaker The Depths > Fulltone Robin Trower Overdrive

Usually you go from higher gain first to lowest. I like to boost into OD to get more gain and a little more volume. But I also have a Zendrive set with gain really low for another mid-boost volume drive. Here is my chain of dirt:

Analogman Sunface > Analog Man Beano Boost > EH Double Muff > Boss SD1 (modded) > Zendrive > Maxxon SD9.

I use the Zendrive to boost both the Sunface and the Double Muff. If I a playing a lead with the Sunface the treble boost is usually the way to go to sit in the band mix better.

Great post, and great advice!

[S. Cane]

I myself prefer to dial my dirt pedals into the clean channel, with the amp not too cranked.

This way I can control the noise and the saturation better. Or at least that is how I feel.

[redisburning]

I myself prefer to dial my dirt pedals into the clean channel, with the amp not too cranked.

This way I can control the noise and the saturation better. Or at least that is how I feel.

I do too. I also have a preference for clean amps, typically, and that outweighs having a drive channel.

Maybe if I had a TS-1 or a PT-100.

[Franklin]

I don't have any issues with running dirt into a clean amp.

For a long time I kept my guitar volume knob at max and would use OD or a boost pedal for solos. Simple and works well across a variety of amps set to clean.

Then I discovered what "rolling back the guitar volume" does. Depending on the type of dirt you are using you can roll back and get a really nice clean tone.

The OD I had at the time was the Fulldrive. It cleaned up well with a clean amp and sounded "clean" with my Fender Hot Rod.

Then I discovered fuzz.

It didn't sound as good (to me) as I had heard. In fact, I didn't like them. There was one (Big Muff?) that worked for me, but in general the Fuzzface types didn't. So like many other people I gave up.

Then I learned that fuzz likes cranked amps. While working at Analogman I had a lot of chances to test many different set ups. The germanium Fuzzface Analogman made cleans up so well, that it goes to clean. So you get this great tone and your volume pot becomes more like a "gain" knob.

The other thing about using the guitar volume knob is that when you turn down to say "rhythm level" the tone gets darker. So setting your rhythm tone the way you like it at 7 gets brighter when you max out the volume.

So perfect for solos!!

[redisburning]

I don't have any issues with running dirt into a clean amp.

For a long time I kept my guitar volume knob at max and would use OD or a boost pedal for solos. Simple and works well across a variety of amps set to clean.

Then I discovered what "rolling back the guitar volume" does. Depending on the type of dirt you are using you can roll back and get a really nice clean tone.

The OD I had at the time was the Fulldrive. It cleaned up well with a clean amp and sounded "clean" with my Fender Hot Rod.

Then I discovered fuzz.

It didn't sound as good (to me) as I had heard. In fact, I didn't like them. There was one (Big Muff?) that worked for me, but in general the Fuzzface types didn't. So like many other people I gave up.

Then I learned that fuzz likes cranked amps. While working at Analogman I had a lot of chances to test many different set ups. The germanium Fuzzface Analogman made cleans up so well, that it goes to clean. So you get this great tone and your volume pot becomes more like a "gain" knob.

The other thing about using the guitar volume knob is that when you turn down to say "rhythm level" the tone gets darker. So setting your rhythm tone the way you like it at 7 gets brighter when you max out the volume.

So perfect for solos!!

firstly Analogman's fuzz face is AWESOME. I have the CV7005 Germanium one with no options (aka 9v, two knobs and the truth). one of the best pedals I own.

also interesting point about the guitar getting darker as you turn down. that can be so individual to the guitar, and on my guitars I personally fight that. one one of my strats, I have a treble bleed. on my les paul, it's tightly matched 500k pots and 50s wiring. I personally prefer to lose as little treble as possible and instead switch positions on the guitar if I want a darker tone. but I do do a lot of knob manipulation; Leo put them on there for a reason! Ok well actually Ted McCarty really put them on there for a reason.

BTW a few new pedals I've been enjoying immensely and would heartily recommend:

• Suhr Eclipse - love this thing, very small for giving you two distinct sounds. Also I really like the way it sounds, a bit Marshally but less nasally (works really well if you have an amp with a bit more mids than your typical Fender e.g. Boogie, Two Rock, Carr, Victory, etc)
• Chase Bliss Tonal Recall - sounds incredible and does everything. Unreal that Joel Korte can make an analog pedal with so much functionality. Also I like the bypass tone a lot (one of the least coloring and that's coming from a Timeline user)
• Analogman Mini Chorus - best 80s chorus sound that doesnt require a rack slot IMO. mine has the mix knob too which I really like as it can cop the bright shimmery TC SCF chorus into two amps which tends to make your chorusing more subtle.

[Franklin]

also interesting point about the guitar getting darker as you turn down. that can be so individual to the guitar, and on my guitars I personally fight that. one one of my strats, I have a treble bleed. on my les paul, it's tightly matched 500k pots and 50s wiring. I personally prefer to lose as little treble as possible and instead switch positions on the guitar if I want a darker tone. but I do do a lot of knob manipulation; Leo put them on there for a reason! Ok well actually Ted McCarty really put them on there for a reason.

That is how I noticed this. I have a strat with a treble bleed circuit and one without. One day I was like "Oh, now I know what that treble bleed thingy is for". For a few years I preferred it over the standard tone control. Then I discovered Reverend guitars and their bass contour knob!

I love this bass contour knob works, especially with dirt pedals.

[Don]

I'm not a fan of treble bleed circuits- they make Fuzz Faces bright when you turn the guitar down and that's a big part of the sound for me. I have wired all of my guitars (except my '83 Carvin DC150) with so called Gibson '50s wiring. It lowers the treble loss a little bit. I even did this to my Tele and Strat.

[redisburning]

I'm not a fan of treble bleed circuits- they make Fuzz Faces bright when you turn the guitar down and that's a big part of the sound for me. I have wired all of my guitars (except my '83 Carvin DC150) with so called Gibson '50s wiring. It lowers the treble loss a little bit. I even did this to my Tele and Strat.

fair enough.

I only use fuzzes on 10 for doom stuff tho.

that's why it's so important that we have so many choices so we can make our own sound.

[chuckocaster]

I run 2 boosts and 2 OD's, and run my OD's from cleaner to dirtier. I have a lot of different pedals, so they're always rotated, but right now I'm running a DOD FX10 BiFet clone, ZenDrive clone, Bluesbreaker clone, and a Z Vex SHO clone. Boost sounds different before and after OD, and I usually prefer NOT to slam an OD with another pedal. So I never really have both OD's on at once. As for the BiFet? I will use it to increase the saturation of the OD, and that's the only pedal I'll use to do that with as it doesn't make the pedal I'm pushing get thin. That's the problem I have with running a booster into an OD, they thin out and sound weird.

Doesn't matter what amp I'm playing, I never set them squeaky clean. They're always right on the verge of getting a bit crunchy. I prefer to change my attack for volume changes, HATE the way the tone changes when you move the volume knob. And yes, I've tried treble bleeds and different wiring schemes.

I use my pedals like channel switchers. I have pretty much always had single channel amps, and actually prefer them.

[renderit]

I run 2 boosts and 2 OD's, and run my OD's from cleaner to dirtier. I have a lot of different pedals, so they're always rotated, but right now I'm running a DOD FX10 BiFet clone, ZenDrive clone, Bluesbreaker clone, and a Z Vex SHO clone. Boost sounds different before and after OD, and I usually prefer NOT to slam an OD with another pedal. So I never really have both OD's on at once. As for the BiFet? I will use it to increase the saturation of the OD, and that's the only pedal I'll use to do that with as it doesn't make the pedal I'm pushing get thin. That's the problem I have with running a booster into an OD, they thin out and sound weird.

Doesn't matter what amp I'm playing, I never set them squeaky clean. They're always right on the verge of getting a bit crunchy. I prefer to change my attack for volume changes, HATE the way the tone changes when you move the volume knob. And yes, I've tried treble bleeds and different wiring schemes.

I use my pedals like channel switchers. I have pretty much always had single channel amps, and actually prefer them.

I was doing that for a while and decided to try the Chase Bliss Brothers for that reason. He seems to like building 2 of everything into a pedal and I thought the idea might clean up my pedal board. They are kind of pricy but I suppose if you factor in that it does what 2 pedals do it is not quite so bad. Plus he sets them up so either can be OD, Distortion or Fuzz so there is a lot of flexibility there. I'm still playing with the ins and outs on it.

[S. Cane]

I don't have any issues with running dirt into a clean amp.

For a long time I kept my guitar volume knob at max and would use OD or a boost pedal for solos. Simple and works well across a variety of amps set to clean.

Then I discovered what "rolling back the guitar volume" does. Depending on the type of dirt you are using you can roll back and get a really nice clean tone.

The OD I had at the time was the Fulldrive. It cleaned up well with a clean amp and sounded "clean" with my Fender Hot Rod.

Then I discovered fuzz.

It didn't sound as good (to me) as I had heard. In fact, I didn't like them. There was one (Big Muff?) that worked for me, but in general the Fuzzface types didn't. So like many other people I gave up.

Then I learned that fuzz likes cranked amps. While working at Analogman I had a lot of chances to test many different set ups. The germanium Fuzzface Analogman made cleans up so well, that it goes to clean. So you get this great tone and your volume pot becomes more like a "gain" knob.

The other thing about using the guitar volume knob is that when you turn down to say "rhythm level" the tone gets darker. So setting your rhythm tone the way you like it at 7 gets brighter when you max out the volume.

So perfect for solos!!

I struggled a lot with my fuzzface myself, until I got to figure out how to use it. And you are completely right: it really does the job as it should when the amp is already crunched and cranked

[S. Cane]

What I did NOT like about the germanium fuzz, though, was that it is probably the most temperamental pedal I've ever tried.

The SOB will sound different according to temperature, for instance. Believe me, there were times when I dialed in the ideal settings during soundcheck in the afternoonwhen the place was hot, and in the evening, a few hours later, the pedal sounded different when it was cooler and there was powerful air conditioning.

It was a real pain in the butt to gig with it.

[renderit]

What I did NOT like about the germanium fuzz, though, was that it is probably the most temperamental pedal I've ever tried.

The SOB will sound different according to temperature, for instance. Believe me, there were times when I dialed in the ideal settings during soundcheck in the afternoonwhen the place was hot, and in the evening, a few hours later, the pedal sounded different when it was cooler and there was powerful air conditioning.

It was a real pain in the butt to gig with it.

I have a couple of those and have the same problem. If you get a chance give a listen to the Wampler Velvet Fuzz. I think it sounds like my original MXR from the 70's. Very fine sounding and it does more. But fuzz is a very personal thing.

[chuckocaster]

@ renderit: I'm impressed with the Chase Bliss stuff and would love to try their gear. But don't have the money for it right now. Hopefully some day.

@ Franklin: DUDE, that's so cool!!!

And as for the Germanium FF, that seems to be the age old problem! I've only ever played the silicon FF's, so I have no experience with that issue. I was reading about a new Germanium FF that SUPPOSEDLY fixed the issue of temperature variance. Didn't seem expensive, so it might be something to look into? Sadly, I forgot the name of the company that makes it. I do remember there was a review in either Tone Report Weekly or Premier Guitar. I think it'd be worth searching for.

[S. Cane]

I have a couple of those and have the same problem. If you get a chance give a listen to the Wampler Velvet Fuzz. I think it sounds like my original MXR from the 70's. Very fine sounding and it does more. But fuzz is a very personal thing.

What model was that MXR?

I have a Distortion +, but I use it mostly for mild crunchy tones

[Franklin]

The Analogman Sunface has a bias knob to compensate for temperature changes. It is a must have for germanium tranny fuzzes!

[renderit]

What model was that MXR?

I have a Distortion +, but I use it mostly for mild crunchy tones

It is (or was, it may have disappeared) a 70's Distortion + (brown case). Very creamy distortion, no really hard edges. I liked it a lot, that's why I like the Wampler Velvet Fuzz. Same stuff just more of it.

I don't usually use pedals, just at times when the urge hits me. The only thing I almost always have plugged in is a Origin Effects Cali76 TX-P. That has just become a necessity to me. It is a compressor that is different than most and opens things up instead of the opposite which would make more sense. On occasion I will add a slapback out of my Providence Delay when reverb is too much or not there or the venue let's me open up past the point where reverb sounds good. After that the pedal board comes out when I am doing a backing track for a new song and need some "other sounds" back there. Then I usually get into looping some ambient stuff (until I realize I suck at it compared to a lot of them on youtubes).

To the original poster here, give a listen to some youtube demos by some of the ambient guys out there. They review tons of pedals and put out some really good stuff. Andy Othling and Greg's Guitars (guitar and pedal reviews) come to mind.