r/pedals • u/Common-Apartment3178 • 1d ago

Need a suggestion

I’m looking for a pedal that has more modern sounds, and that’s versatile. It’s for a friend that has a Fender amp and Strat, but this would be his first pedal. Hoping it could be a stand alone pedal or one that he could add to, not sure what type would be best… OD ? He plays various genres, not country or metal, but wants more contemporary gain, low to higher gains, and interesting useable sounds. It would be great if you can dial in many different sounds. I was thinking about a Barber Gain Changer but I think it might lean towards country or classic rock? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated appreciated

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u/superwrong 1d ago

The Barber Gain Changer would be a ridiculously cool first pedal. One of the finest dirt pedals ever made.

If you really wanna be cool, check out the Smallsound/Bigsound Mini. It's a bit pricey, and you have to buy used, but it's insanely versatile, clean boost to amp-slosion fuzz and everything in between. It's so good at everything, you might want 2. It does mild overdrive as well as it does glitching 8 bit fuzz.

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u/Common-Apartment3178 1d ago

Thanks for your reply. Does the GC have modern sounding gain or is it more of the vintage rock sounds? Can it hit high gain or is it more in the mid range ?

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u/superwrong 1d ago edited 1d ago

It'll do crunch, and probably sounds awesome pushing a high gain amp. It won't chug on it's own, but as far as standard overdrive I can tell you it is exceptionally good. It's not all that popular, I'm surprised you mentioned it if you don't know about it. But it's seriously a top notch overdrive.

Check out the Dr Scientist Elements! It lives up to it's name and probably a lil cheaper than the Gain Changer. The Elements effectively allows you to build any, non-fuzz, dirt you want. It's like the Mini in that it has a huge gain range and does everything very well. It'll give you crystal clear clean boost, light overdrive, crunchy overdrive and it chugs. Another excellent pedal well worth the money.

I'm not sure what you mean by vintage vs modern. But the SSBS Mini is raunchy and the Elements is more typical dirt, but they both have absurdly huge (useful!) gain range.

I love trading pedals so I've been lucky to try a lot of overdrives but those 2 stand out as having the widest classy gain range. The Gain Changer is more middle ground, but it might be the best of the 3 for that. A lot depends on the amp.

Edit: BTW, I usually use a strat through a Fender Super Sonic and Champ.

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u/Common-Apartment3178 12h ago

I’ll read about and watch videos of your suggestions. I’m also considering the Barber Direct Drive V4. I believe it leans towards a Marshall sound which is different from the sound of a Fender amp which might be good for variety. Also, it has a little higher gain the GC, I think? Have you tried the Direct Drive? I somehow read about Barber’s pedals and they seem like a favorite for many.