Top 5 Pedal Pairs - The Best Pedal Combinations | Ultimate Tone Tips & Tricks

[@RJRonquillo]

🔴 What are some of your other favorite pedal pairs??

[@fragtagninja1633]

My personal favorite is a trio. JHS Morning Glory, MXR carbon copy, mxr m300 reverb.

[@marksguitars5617]

compressor > overdrive, tried it the other way around and didn't like it. Also clean boost > overdrive been experimenting with mixed results. Been putting my rotovibe type pedals before all drives and leslie simulator after drive pedals. Reverb/Delay are my always on pedals

[@lueysixty-six7300]

I've found that the "moan" feature the Black Cat Moan Wah Wah pedal, which can be activated alone, without the wah, goes well with my red llamma overdrive. The moan is a fickle and fussy little monster! By itself, it is the most expressive and dynamic lead tone I've got - including amp overdrive. But....all alone it sounds like it needs just a little push. So, naturally a TS should be ideal, right? Wrong! The TS actually makes the moan get more muffled and disrant sounding. The same is true with a boost and the other overdrive I have on hand, an sd1. I have a host of dirt sounds, however, but the only one that di the Moan any justice at all But they don't just work kinda ok, they work magic. Has anyone else had any experience with the Black Cat Moan? I don't know, but I heard it's a germanium chip, and that that is why it is fickle,

[@samuelrutherford8107]

Wampler faux tape echo and catalinbread topanga

[@tinyb69]

Talent Booster + Blame Shifter. 😂

[@pauloing1pauloing167]

04:33 fuzz + overdrive 09:05 tone bender = wah 13:10 Voodoolab Micro Vibe + Fulltone Ultimate Octave 15:43 compressor + distortion 19:29 short delay + slap delay

[@chadgraziano5827]

Lpd 87 I live in Az can some one introduce me to this cat I wanna learn so bad!

[@tomcoryell]

I think Jimi would absolutely dig your combinations of pedals and be blown away by your chops.

ha, you better brush up on your Hendrix,,,

[@stipeur]

22min of RJ’s guitar wizardry??? Yes please!

[@JM-wm6bn]

The best duo imo is Korg Miku and Metalzone. Sounds awesome!! #changemymind

[@brianbowen295]

J Mark only butterscotch Tele ok?

[@williskrn]

I like it

[@bojangles6444]

When I hear metal zone I start convulsing

[@mattcampbell5941]

Blocked and reported

[@jacobcourseymusic6414]

all time best pair imo is a Klon Centaur (real or copy) and a Tube Screamer.

[@almostliterally593]

Try a klon into a sansamp GT2

[@yakshrajsingh8121]

Better use a tumnus with a ts. Or only use the gladio dual overdrive no need of stacking . Or use the crossfire overdrive with a super phat mod

[@EricMerrow]

Dude, that Octave Fuzz + vibe combo sounded incredible! The way you were playing made it sound like a keyboard or synth or something. Really cool!!

[@binface9]

Cool t-shirt. Caught The Shakedown in concert recently and was blown away

[@binface9]

Great tones. Maybe your next collaboration with Mythos could be around the "uni-vibe into octave" concept?

[@kosmicwizard]

I have 4 favourite pairs. Treble booster into a fuzzface. Comp into a transparent od. Boost after octave vibe. And reverb into delay.

[@utai4571]

let me be the weird one here if you please, my favorites are whammy octave up>delay>reverb>super choppy tremolo>shimmer reverb another one is any fuzz into the tc sub n up on the analog octave setting fully cranked except for the octave 2 and the one, and it sounds stupid, but as soon as it is warm outside and the sun goes down in the summer, i only play a strat into a springer reverb and tremolo with a bit dirty amp and i dream about the desert! i said i was gonna be the weird one haha!

[@MidnightStorm4990]

4:04 That sizzle that mentioned is basically how many garage bands used their fuzz pedals. With Hendrix he really did make it sound different but I still like the bacon sizzling fuzz when it is going through a clean amp.

[@AngusClarkGTR]

tones are awesome. And as always, the star of the show is the playing. The licks are so sweet!!

[@JeffreyTheTaylor]

Super, super point on rolling off the Vol to create a fat, usable tone in the Fuzz into overdrive pairing. But to be clear, if you are rolling off the Treb on the bridge in your Eric Johnson example that means you have the Jimmy Vaughan mod which moves the Treb control from the middle PUP (standard Strat wiring) to the bridge. I am a huge fan of this wiring, especially if your are running a hot bridge or humbucker in the bridge.

[@painkilla1972]

Great content! Informative, demonstrative and fun. Hope this turns into a series... RJ's tone clinic, or something. Thanks

[@jhvuvnik65s24]

Chorus/phaser Fuzz/Octave Hall reverb/reverse delay Hall reverb/Chorus Vibrato/wave

[@JusticeChrist]

Here are three of my favorites: 1) Light, transparent overdrive -> pitch vibrato set moderately fast and shallow -> splashy spring reverb. This simple modification of the traditional surf sound brings a psychedelic element to the sound without hiding the guitar tone and melody. That said, this is best played on slower, simple single note harmonies somewhat in the background. 2) Octaver (best choice I've found, Danelectro Chili Dog set to sub 2: 11 o'clock, sub 1: 1 o'clock, dry: 1 o'clock) -> silicon fuzz. This sounds MASSIVE. The Chili Dog octaver is a magical piece of plastic and sounds better for this than any other octaver I've tried. Which fuzz you use will obviously determine how it sounds, but I've had consistently better results with silicon fuzzes than germanium. I used this on an old demo using a Devi Ever Disaster Fuzz, and my friend complimented me on my awesome synth tone. 3) Gated silicon fuzz -> digital detune, set -10 to -20 cents. Another robot sound, for this one I like using a Midvalley FX Secret Weapon fuzz into the detune function in the cheap, otherwise kinda crappy Coolmusic multimod pedal I got for $40 on Amazon. It helps to have a glitchy, overly digital detune for this one.

[@mintzmia]

Awesome pairings. #2 put my over the edge on deciding that I do in fact need a wah pedal on my board.

[@mavhunter4053]

Fuzz + overdrive is life

[@jeffcomeau4680]

R.J. thanks for the slap back info in this video. I feel it’s an ingredient that is my base tone. Just enough, like you mentioned, to add a liveliness and body. I’m hoping you can venture down the slap back, compression, overdrive thing on going. Always a fan. !!! Thanks

[@jamesrobinson529]

These are all incredible tones and I've learned a lot in about 20 minutes. Much appreciated R.J..

[@MichaelCoffin]

Great video, very helpful. The "Jimi stack" I find works best with my Strat is: Fuzzface into RC Booster into Catalinbread Belle Epoch into Gypsy Vibe into Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret (on Super Lead setting) into my '78 Deluxe Reverb with a 65W Jensen C12N. The amp tone controls are on 6 (noon) with a touch of reverb. The DLS pre-amp setting is pretty low, just barely past the point of break up. When I kick on the boost, the DLS goes into a smooth Marshall overdrive. I then dial the guitar volume down to 5, kick on the Fuzzface (FF vol and fuzz at 85% of max) and there it is -- that bitey clean Jimi tone, and I can have it at any room volume level I want by adjusting amp volume. With a band, I can dial in more upper mids using the tone controls on the DLS, which is acting as the preamp to the Deluxe Reverb's power amp. With this setup I can play all kinds of rock, blues rock, psychedelic rock, funk and soul and have authentic tones at the room volume I need. So much fun! I hope this helps others, and thanks for your great videos, RJ. Please keep them coming ...

[@LogicGusGus]

J-fet boost/od and fuzz face in clean amp. Reverb into vertex Steel string. Delay Before vibrato. Some favorites. Thank you for being a inspiration. 🙌🎸

[@AlbusBand]

That expresso is 🔥. Well, actually they all are, but you’re playing them, so I’ll argue the real pairing is the mind and hands of the Ronchameleon. 👏👏👏

[@nickkelly6834]

I love my tube screamer under a blues driver. sounds awesome!!

[@paulpantorilla6121]

And Subscribed! I cant tell your great at not just Guitar, but also the quality of videos your making. awesome lighting and camera work.

[@albertarguelles3262]

I like your signature pedal sounds great

[@son-of-a-schmidt]

hey rob, try out the following paring: octave fuzz -> whammy 1 octave up -> delay -> bad stone from EHX. sounds really great and psychedelic. cheers !

[@littlebert79]

Damn!!! That micro vibe with that octave is amazing!

[@maxwellharmon4172]

you are a GENIUS!! thank you for making this video!

[@JasonQuackenbushonGoogle]

that steel string sultan is pretty magic in its own right. is that the 6V6 version?

[@stupot7281]

I used to always use a Plexi Drive worked really well ...

[@scottallen9556]

I like to have at least one solo per night with drive/fuzz + Phaser. From The Isley Brothers and Funkadelic to Eddie Van Halen there's something about that spacey movement. Also, you must be readin my mail cuz I completely agree with your pedal design and opinion on Slap+ drive. T-Rex comes to the front for me with that sound.

[@rockinchango]

I really enjoyed this style of demo video. Informative and fun without sounding like a "my way or the highway" snob.

[@markferguson3745]

The Fuzz Face is the thing to mix and stack with just about anything, - one of my faves is hitting it with the EHX Germanium OD.Behind is more tame, up front/ into, - nastier, broken.It's a lot like just extending the Fuzz circuit with another gain stage and a bias,- it's a NKT 275 Red Dot, - just like the FF. Basically, you don't know sh#t until you try it, - it's on you. Ronson on Alladin Sane, - gold.The PDF is an outstanding replacement for a Wah, especially with the Expression pedal. Great video.

[@strat0871]

Beginning of the video: Man, you understood everything of Eric Johnson's licks !

[@ImYourOverlord]

Nice that you namedropped Andy 😁👍

[@OgamiItto70]

In order to simulate the sag of a wicked-up tube amp, I have added a compressor after the overdrive. It has to be a compressor with an "attack" control. The trick is to keep the effect subtle and barely noticeable. Hit the sweet spot and suddenly you're playing a spongy JTM-45 instead of a supertight metalface Model 1987. I've also used that "slapback after overdrive," but for a different purpose: I was trying to get as close as possible to a doubled guitar effect with just one guitar. It was for crunching rhythm tones. A slapback that's just barely out of comb filter territory with one repeat and the level set to close-to-inaudible (but still audible) puts a bit of "thickness" to the tone that's almost like a double-tracked part.

[@NoCoverCharge]

solid Gold Lysis - EQD Palisades- EGD HUmmingbird- MXR Carbon Copy-Topanga spring reverb...out to two amps...OMG sounds like God Talking

[@tinyb69]

Man! That Ultimate Octave + MicroVibe, has Ernie Isley, (or Eddie Hazel), all over it.

[@bluesyjazzcat31]

This is the secret! I have fond memories of blending a fuzz face with a tube screamer. Just got a les lius and I can’t wait to test out blending it with by fuzz face and my veteran fuzz

[@luclou8636]

Hi R.J, Eric Johnson style course would be great . Rhythmic patterns , open triads. Etc. Looking forward to this lessons .

[@matthewzakszewski2105]

I had pretty fun today with my flat iron fuzz and boss Overdrive but I was also trying to achieve the Clapton woman tone. Came pretty close.

[@gergemall]

Love you HENDIX tips, I had an old 60’s with a battery . Inconsistent’tones , you’re correct . You’re clean Strat sound is great. Great video with explanations. Thank you.

[@PooNinja]

Fuzz and octave 😋 mmm 🤘🏽

[@hansneervoort6167]

I recently bought a Kangra Fuzz for the filter, not the fuzz. I hated the fuzz. Sounds like an angry duck that's been smoking six packs of cigarettes a day. But then I found out when I paired it with an overdrive or distortion, it sounds fantastic! I enjoyed this video. Learned a lot. Thanks!

[@50Something]

Killer ways to spice up a fuzz! Thanks!

[@Prettynoise]

Amazing RJ!!!

[@Eddthejacklezoso]

That univibe and octave fuzz sounds like the solo tone to Honeybee by Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

[@ZRossi513]

I love my East River Drive in my AC Booster...Creamy and dreamy

[@jakollee]

ERD is a really good TS-type pedal! Sounds great alone or boosting other overdrives.

[@PedroBernardiGuitarra]

I've gotta give the slapback effect a try. All these years and I simply haven't got around to try it for real.

[@tjjohnson7666]

Fuckin same lol

[@harleyhexxe9806]

R.J., This was a VERY helpful video! Thanks for posting!

[@tonymarinelli7304]

If you haven’t already, I’d love to see your amp settings. Great job and turned my 14 yr. old onto you. Trying to convince him to University of Miami music program like you.

[@JediAxis]

I like a Phaser into an overdrive or distortion. Usually the phaser set pretty slow. Overdrive wise I have a Wampler Tumnus into a Tube Screamer Mini into a Fulltone OCD. Any combination of 2 of those sounds killer in different situations.

[@jakollee]

I also do the TS Mini into an OCD, but I have my Wampler Tumnus near the end of my signal chain mainly for a volume boost when I'm soloing but my drummer is drowning me out!

[@edwinpringle7342]

Try the fuzz face with a compressor in front of it. Works really good especially at low volume when you can't turn your amp up to loud. I use it loud too. It's not for everybody but I like it in front of the 3699.

[@paulcowart3174]

I've always enjoyed vibe with echo for a clean tone Single repeat way back to fatten the vibe up

[@jasonkaram1034]

Useful video, but the coolest part is the Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown shirt!!

[@nikolaki]

That last pedal pair I came across first on my roland bass cube 30! With a telecaster clone plugged into it, compressor knob turned up a bit, the delay turned up a bit (to get that very early reflection) and using the bassman cosm amp model. It really makes each note feel alive - a very addictive sound!

[@kellyvaughnofficial]

Awesome video! Thanks for sharing. 🎸

[@UnboundOdysseus]

I'm a little late to the party, but let me say I love this channel and your playing. I would humbly suggest that the Eric Johnson "violin tone" doesn't describe his Fuzz Face tone (e.g. Camel's Night Out) but rather it describes his Tube Driver into a cranked Marshall Plexi lead tone (e.g. Cliffs of Dover). Just my 2 cents. Great playing and great videos nonetheless.

[@dahmc59]

i love my microvibe. i agree w Josh @ JHS, it goes first before the others in line.

[@icu469]

The ultimate octave pedal sounds wicked.

[@tekkau2]

OMG , this video helps so much . Thanks for sharing this amazing experience man :D

[@robb4340]

Cool Pedals and Great Tones! Love Your T-Shirt too.

[@jupitermoongauge4055]

What an awesomely informative video

[@jeanfrancoisethier7608]

1.MXR fet driver + MXR disto+ 2. Malekko A.D. + TC flashback (reverse) 3. adding analog delay when your sound is too digitalized 4. Using a Ibanez Ge 601 rather than a TS 5. Volume pedal + digital delay

[@KsiazeIgor]

My always go to combo is the MXR Classic 108 fuzz combined with Carl Martin's PlexiTone. Sounds killer!

[@Los_Santos1985]

Do you have any vídeo? I would like to see It!

[@KsiazeIgor]

@@Los_Santos1985 , no, unfortunately I sold the fuzz

[@joegar7002]

Wha wha parings please!! I love to learn about it

[@marksguitars5617]

excellent, great information here! thank you!

[@lueysixty-six7300]

RJ dishing out the gold again. Thanks Buddy!

[@dimitrispolyzois4425]

What an awesome video R.J.! Really helped me a lot... I also have a question... I am usually torn between my Strat and my Les Paul, due to my preference on Humbuckers. In fact, my Strat has an HSS configuration. I tried using my Fuzz Face with a Marshall style Overdrive, but I get too much Low end. Any tips on using a Fuzz like pedal with an overdrive on Humbuckers on top? Thank you in advance!

[@davidg4726]

Cool combos! I like to add an Xotix SL OD after a Hendrix fuzz face and/or Octavio.😎

[@SidBonkers51]

Good info, cheers. I love an EQ after pretty much any overdrive, works for me.

[@bojangles6444]

How about before?

[@SidBonkers51]

@@bojangles6444 why not, whatever works for you :)

[@bojangles6444]

@@SidBonkers51 yeah I feel like it works pretty similarly to a boost especially if I push my mids up. I think I will try a boost in the front eq in the back next. Using a boost pedal or an overdrive to boost has a very similar effect to the way I use the eq.

[@marvinbrando5408]

This is useful. Thanks.

[@choplass]

Brilliant!

[@mistermojo1969]

Jimmy Page did the overdrive/slap back combo a lot (or just the delay into a Marshall).

[@josiahlee1982]

Funny because the fuzz face is actually a tonebender 1.5. I recently built a beautiful sounding fuzz face with germanium transistors I matched myself. A fuzz face with a cranked amp and a little delay is all you need to be a rock god!

[@chadfavre]

Timmy into EQD Plumes! Add the Westwood for a fuzz sound without a fuzz pedal.

[@SSRT_JubyDuby8742]

I love slap back, nice post 😎🎸✅

[@Terry3Gs]

great video as always R.J sir !!

[@dominicmcmahon4798]

I hoped the video thumbnail was a fuzz and a tuner. Lol love your videos.

[@BenCoombs]

Ha now I see what you were alluding to last night!! I like fuzz into low gain like a Klon style, also stacking low to mid overdrives, some times three at a time!! Cheers my friend!!

[@MusicTherapyLaz]

Love that slap delay! Got to check out that Sus Mariosa pedal! Soinds killer! 😎🎸🐦🤘

[@moelester6479]

THE SHIRT🔥🔥🔥

[@scottt9382]

Octave + Phaser (me: TC Electronic Sub n Up + MXR Phase 95) for funk, etc.

[@unitoftemp]

Octave fuzz into a klon. The octave is insane.

[@farrelldesign4621]

Audio Kitchen the big trees in the effects loop of a Hughes and Kettner tubemeister 18.

[@the_nondrive_side]

Hot Parallel wired humbucker coils and Carbon Zinc Batteries for that fuzz face. 4:20 switch to neck - middle you gotta lower input resistance to get the square wave saturation. Germanium with Carbon Zinc not the one your using..

[@KHfilmin]

Megagood video. Thx!

[@hearpalhere]

Some nice combinations for sure RJ! It was fun watching this after seeing your Sweetwater guest spot because you got to play a lot more here :-) I think the compressor in front of your drive sounded great! It seems to get you the feel of an amp being played loud but without having too much gain/distortion. As for pedal pairings, I really like my Phase 90 together with some distortion. Great for soloing, rhythms, funky stuff... lots of things. I also love the big rubber coated nob on there because you can turn it easily with your foot while playing.

[@billtice5057]

Good stuff RJ!

[@jorgeosuna1450]

I like the combination KING OF TONE + KTR

[@paranguitar]

Your hands are the best!

[@SuperMG45]

For me, the only way I can get a good, usable fuzz tone is to put an OD after it and roll off the volume. My preference is the JB Fuzzface into Mojohand FX Odessa (or Magpie). Another surprisingly good OD is the Hotone Grass. Since I do use the volume for tone control, I also put my compressor after my dirt pedals to keep the volume consistent as I'm adjusting the volume knob.

[@paulcowart3174]

Magpie has been on my radar

[@SuperMG45]

@@paulcowart3174 I love it!

[@Neal7455]

lovepedal Tchula into Lovepedal amp 11

[@paulcowart3174]

I use a LP CoT after a Diaz Ranger

[@mr.j1400]

Can I get one of those the SUSMSEP or something like that Excellent video

[@PauloNunoTeixeira]

Very good work :)

[@kellyvaughnofficial]

Awesome! 🎸

[@Starch1b2c3d4a]

bro, nice playing!

[@markhammer643]

Vibe units sound more musical placed before whatever fuzz or drive one is using. Why is that? Vibes are essentially 4-stage phasers with staggered, rather than identical, capacitor values. The result is that they produce broad shallow dips, rather than narrow focussed notches. Because those dips are so broad/wide, they move whole sections of the spectrum closer to and away from the clipping threshold in whatever fuzz/drive one is using. As the vibe sweeps around, this part of what you're playing clips more easily and that part doesn't. This results in a more animated tone rather than a few specific points of focus that one pays attention to. I describe it as being more "musical" because it allows one to pay attention to the melody/notes being played, rather than where the effect happens to be occurring at this moment. As for the Ultimate Octave, it is basically a tweaked Foxx Tone Machine, which has been my favorite octave-up fuzz out of the 8 or more I have, or have owned. The FTM and Ultimate both provide some filtering of the input which improves the octaving. Octave-up users know that you generally need to pick above the 7th fret, on the unwound strings, with the neck pickup on, and the tone rolled back. The front end of the FTM and Ultimate does a lot of the tone-shaping that those other tricks do, resulting in a more robust octave. I've customized mine and get get audible octaving down to the 4th fret.

[@1dkappe]

Maybe a little tone shaping going on with that .45?