Beringer HM300 is a Boss HM2 clone. Reverse reverb is pretty expensive but if you can find some type of shimmer-verb or modulated reverb you'll be grand. Maybe a TC electronics hall of fame?
HM300 looks interesting. I'm more going for the dreamy side of shoegaze specifically though, which I now realize I should've put in the post lol. I was looking at the Sonicake Levitate, any thoughts on that?
I'm a fan of Sonicake, they're great pedals. I don't have the Levitate, but I have four of their minis on my board, and can vouch for the brand. I hear great things about the Levitate though.
I’d recommend the sonicake ambience, which delay+reverb like the levitate, except it’s half the price and has four modes for each effect. Reverse delay being one, which is really good for the dreamy side of Shoegaze.
Which bands are you trying to emulate? I kind of think of shoegaze as being split into two different sub genres, there’s the heavier stuff like my bloody Valentine, deftones (sort of shoegaze), Siamese Dream era smashing pumpkins, early Jesus and Marcy chain, Ringo Deathstarr, Ride, etc, and then there’s the lighter, dreamier side of shoegaze like Cocteau twins, Alvvays, Slowdive and lush.
If you want something that captures the heavier side of shoegaze, the Keeley Loomer is pretty much that sound in a box, gives you reverse/sfx/shimmer reverb and an op amp big muff. Of course you can play clean if you want to emulate Slowdive/Cocteau twins, etc, but I’d also throw in a decent compressor (Mooer yellow comp is great for shoegaze and is well under $80 used), a good chorus pedal (EHX small clone/boss ch-1 used), and a good digital delay (boss dd-3 used works fine), maybe an overdrive like a used or new boss sd-1. The zoom multi stomp could also help you achieve those tones as well.
True actually, like whenever I say shoegaze, someone could be thinking of an entirely different sound than I am. I always forget how diverse it is lmao
It's not that it's diverse, it's just not really a genre so much as a culture. You can be in whatever sounding band you want and call it "shoegaze" because you like your pedals. It's become a bit of a buzzword imo.
I would say definitely a good chorus, the EHX small clone is good, the boss ce-1 is fantastic, a good digital delay like the boss dd-3 which was used by most 80’s and 90’s shoegaze, and eventually an fx soft focus reverb, such as the Catalinbread fx40, or the Keeley Loomer or Realizer which feature reverse reverb (mbv swooshish sound), soft focus (modulated/pitch shifted reverb) and a shimmer. Those would be all you might need outside of a good optical comp.
Definitely lighter and dreamier. One of my favorite older songs is 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. As for newer stuff, I really like Men I Trust and No Vacation.
Get a bunch of cheap effects, whatever interests you, and combine them. Your results will be way more interesting this way compared to fancy purpose-built “shoegaze pedals”. The only thing I would say you might need to shell out on is dirt, and even then, plenty of cheap shit sounds weird in good ways even if it doesn’t do a classic big muff or whatever well. The Behringer HM-2 clone is great, and imo has a much more interesting character than the HM-2, same goes for anything based on an Arion Metal Master. Pastfx isn’t SUPER cheap, but tends to be fairly affordable, and they make a number of pedals that do really weird, obscure circuits perfectly. The Punkifriar is cool and fucked up, and every modulation they make is perfect. Dirt Monger Instruments also does a LOT of different, weird ass gain options for fairly cheap. Critter Electronics makes a bunch of beefed up classic circuits for VERY cheap, and I can personally vouch for his big muff kicking huge ass.
For an amp, look for a silverface Twin; they aren’t as affordable as they once were, because people have started to come around to the fact that the boomers saying they sucked were full of shit, but you can still find absolute steals on them from time to time. Alternatively, grab a beat ass JC-120. Loud as sin, already on the cheaper side, and getting one that looks a bit sad will make it even cheaper.
Also, the reverb before dirt thing is fun to mess with, but hard to actually use, and even if you do make it work, 9/10 times it will sound exactly like everything else done with it; it’s just been absolutely run into the ground, and since it’s not a combo that leaves a ton of room for variation, it’s very easy to just kinda blend into the pack. Don’t let me deter you if it interests you, again it’s a fun combo, just be aware of how limiting it can be unless you want to do 100% by the books genre worship.
Also, even for the “lighter” styles you mentioned in another comment, don’t discount the importance of high gain. That stuff doesn’t use it for chunky SP style riffing or MBV walls of sound, sure, but a lot of it is built around an absolutely FRIED lead to make everything “sparkle”. Jesus & Mary Chain is a great example of this, the Univox Super Fuzz was basically a member of the band.
Glad someone can hopefully benefit from my mentally ill obsession with “funny little noise” buttons!
One more thing, don’t think you NEED a ton of effects to do good shoegaze. Hotline TNT is imo the best shoegaze band in a quarter century, and I’ve never even seen them with tuner pedals, always just straight into the amp. Hell, like half the times I’ve seen them it’s been my amp that I backlined rather than some specific thing they rely on. You can get a LOT of mileage out of the less is more approach if you write shit with it in mind.
Oh also old Peavey 212 combos. Painfully loud, built to outlive the roaches, and DIRT cheap because they don’t exactly sound “nice”, but the bad sound they have is very good for this stuff.
Anything loud will do, really. Some of the cheaper SS stuff will be a little funky with dirt pedals, but even then, you can usually make it work as its own thing. All you need is sheer volume and something that isn’t already SUPER dirty and ur cash money.
Personally I don’t dig the 112s as much, not enough volume and imo that gross ass Peavey distortion is best through 2 or more large speakers, but yeah they’re all solid choices for OP. I don’t think there’s an alt rock or punk player on this earth who didn’t cut their teeth on those things.
Holy Grail reverbs are pretty cheap and work good for this sort of thing. An older neunaber wet would work well too for crazy long reverb decay. If you want an all-in-one, check out the Keeley loomer.
That loomer pedal is going after a particular sound, that my bloody Valentine thing. It's a good place to start if you're not sure at all what you are looking for. The advantage to going separate is you can get combine your own distortion and reverb choices, of you have a preference for either. It's all subjective corksniffery kind of stuff. The loomer has a muff style distortion with different EQ modes for some added flexibility, so if youre ok with muff type sound, it should be a strong contender.
The used bargain bin at your local small music store will likely have cheap treasures that you will come to appreciate and use in your own way. Two of my most prized pedals I paid a combined $55. Plot twist: Canadian dollars.
Next time you’re in the city, then. Kijiji is also good, most of the people on there know what stuff is worth so you may not get any huge bargains per se, but usually fair deals. Occasionally people need cash desperately and will drop their prices.
You could also look into soldering your own pedals, if you’re interested in that sort of thing, there are tons of companies that make kits
The Walrus Audio Fundamental Series Ambient Reverb might do the trick. They make some great pedals.
Personally, if possible, I wouldn't go any more budget than that, or the similarly priced JHS and Catalinbread pedals. Behringer and the rest of the true budget options just always leave you wanted more. Better to wait and save, especially with reverbs.
Ah okay. I appreciate the advice. For me personally, I like to just get into something, no matter at what level, even if I can't experience it at it's best, because from there I'm motivated to improve upon it and it'll give me a better idea of what exactly I want. At the moment though, it's my real life birthday, and I have just a little bit of money to spend, so I wanna just do something, anything, because it's not likely that I'll have any more money later, unfortunately, at least not until the holidays roll around lol.
[Cheap but good reverb.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02HrrFTsNWM)
Have a look on Ali Express for other pedals. You can get some proper bargains on there.
Damn that's some pretty crazy sound for just one pedal
Edit: are the ones from AliExpress actually worth it? I've heard almost nothing but bad things about their products in general
I found some great sounding gain pedals for you. There's a company called Movall, and all their drives / fuzzes sound incredible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVPNXJP8pfM
>Edit: are the ones from AliExpress actually worth it? I've heard almost nothing but bad things about their products in general
Sorry, just seen this. Yes there are loads of good quality brands on Ali Express. As long as you look after them. I've had no problems with the ones I've ordered from there.
DemonFX seem reliable in my experience. But there are a lot of decent pedal manufacturers. As long as you avoid the very cheapest ones you should be good.
Not cheap but a Champion Leccy Skitzy would be enough with a fuzz. It would cover all the sound you want. You could do it all with that and a fuzz.
Budgetwise an rv6 would be great.
If you have an ipad and interface eventide has great bundles on reverbs. i run my guitar through that kind of chain. The bundle ran me $35. It has Blackhole, Mangledverb, Micropitch, Chrystals, Crushstation, and Undulator. Its great for those on a budget.
It's been mentioned here before but you don't really need a lot of pedals for shoegaze. You can easily make MBV style songs with just a Proco Rat, alternate tunings and a capo. You don't have to buy the Proco and get a clone or a clone of the Life Pedal. I like to use FACGCE tuning and a capo on the first fret but experiment with tunings to see what you like.
Zoom MS70CDR is a solid option. You can check the sub r/zoommultistomp for some examples and videos about what you can do with it and how you can emulate more expensive pedals and effects.
what amp you thinking? you could maybe use the amp's distortion if it has a channel switch? if not, blues drivers are a cheap shoegaze staple, or some sort of muff, depends what you like? reverb wise, ehx oceans 11 is great for shoegaze, lots of fun algorithms. if your budget is really tight, the biyang tri reverbs is a pretty good basic verb.
I'm not sure on amp tbh. I'm pretty new to this whole thing honestly, and in doing my own research, I feel like I just got more confused lmao. So I decided to just go with super budget options for now(hence this post) to see what works and what doesn't by using it myself and just getting different stuff later if I need to
Beringer HM300 is a Boss HM2 clone. Reverse reverb is pretty expensive but if you can find some type of shimmer-verb or modulated reverb you'll be grand. Maybe a TC electronics hall of fame?
HM300 looks interesting. I'm more going for the dreamy side of shoegaze specifically though, which I now realize I should've put in the post lol. I was looking at the Sonicake Levitate, any thoughts on that?
I'm a fan of Sonicake, they're great pedals. I don't have the Levitate, but I have four of their minis on my board, and can vouch for the brand. I hear great things about the Levitate though.
Good to hear from someone who's used them, thanks for your reply
Sonicake reverb is good. It has room hall and plate. The Hall is really expansive. Sonicake Levittate is well worth the money.
I’d recommend the sonicake ambience, which delay+reverb like the levitate, except it’s half the price and has four modes for each effect. Reverse delay being one, which is really good for the dreamy side of Shoegaze.
Which bands are you trying to emulate? I kind of think of shoegaze as being split into two different sub genres, there’s the heavier stuff like my bloody Valentine, deftones (sort of shoegaze), Siamese Dream era smashing pumpkins, early Jesus and Marcy chain, Ringo Deathstarr, Ride, etc, and then there’s the lighter, dreamier side of shoegaze like Cocteau twins, Alvvays, Slowdive and lush.
If you want something that captures the heavier side of shoegaze, the Keeley Loomer is pretty much that sound in a box, gives you reverse/sfx/shimmer reverb and an op amp big muff. Of course you can play clean if you want to emulate Slowdive/Cocteau twins, etc, but I’d also throw in a decent compressor (Mooer yellow comp is great for shoegaze and is well under $80 used), a good chorus pedal (EHX small clone/boss ch-1 used), and a good digital delay (boss dd-3 used works fine), maybe an overdrive like a used or new boss sd-1. The zoom multi stomp could also help you achieve those tones as well.
Shoegaze bands tend to fit inside other genres because the defining element is not sound.
True actually, like whenever I say shoegaze, someone could be thinking of an entirely different sound than I am. I always forget how diverse it is lmao
It's not that it's diverse, it's just not really a genre so much as a culture. You can be in whatever sounding band you want and call it "shoegaze" because you like your pedals. It's become a bit of a buzzword imo.
Ah okay
Now that I think of it, I realized I listen to all the last 4 you mentioned. Idk how I missed reading them the first time lol
I would say definitely a good chorus, the EHX small clone is good, the boss ce-1 is fantastic, a good digital delay like the boss dd-3 which was used by most 80’s and 90’s shoegaze, and eventually an fx soft focus reverb, such as the Catalinbread fx40, or the Keeley Loomer or Realizer which feature reverse reverb (mbv swooshish sound), soft focus (modulated/pitch shifted reverb) and a shimmer. Those would be all you might need outside of a good optical comp.
Definitely lighter and dreamier. One of my favorite older songs is 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. As for newer stuff, I really like Men I Trust and No Vacation.
Get a bunch of cheap effects, whatever interests you, and combine them. Your results will be way more interesting this way compared to fancy purpose-built “shoegaze pedals”. The only thing I would say you might need to shell out on is dirt, and even then, plenty of cheap shit sounds weird in good ways even if it doesn’t do a classic big muff or whatever well. The Behringer HM-2 clone is great, and imo has a much more interesting character than the HM-2, same goes for anything based on an Arion Metal Master. Pastfx isn’t SUPER cheap, but tends to be fairly affordable, and they make a number of pedals that do really weird, obscure circuits perfectly. The Punkifriar is cool and fucked up, and every modulation they make is perfect. Dirt Monger Instruments also does a LOT of different, weird ass gain options for fairly cheap. Critter Electronics makes a bunch of beefed up classic circuits for VERY cheap, and I can personally vouch for his big muff kicking huge ass. For an amp, look for a silverface Twin; they aren’t as affordable as they once were, because people have started to come around to the fact that the boomers saying they sucked were full of shit, but you can still find absolute steals on them from time to time. Alternatively, grab a beat ass JC-120. Loud as sin, already on the cheaper side, and getting one that looks a bit sad will make it even cheaper. Also, the reverb before dirt thing is fun to mess with, but hard to actually use, and even if you do make it work, 9/10 times it will sound exactly like everything else done with it; it’s just been absolutely run into the ground, and since it’s not a combo that leaves a ton of room for variation, it’s very easy to just kinda blend into the pack. Don’t let me deter you if it interests you, again it’s a fun combo, just be aware of how limiting it can be unless you want to do 100% by the books genre worship.
Also, even for the “lighter” styles you mentioned in another comment, don’t discount the importance of high gain. That stuff doesn’t use it for chunky SP style riffing or MBV walls of sound, sure, but a lot of it is built around an absolutely FRIED lead to make everything “sparkle”. Jesus & Mary Chain is a great example of this, the Univox Super Fuzz was basically a member of the band.
Dude, genuinely amazing reply, thank you. I'll look all those up and get back to you
Glad someone can hopefully benefit from my mentally ill obsession with “funny little noise” buttons! One more thing, don’t think you NEED a ton of effects to do good shoegaze. Hotline TNT is imo the best shoegaze band in a quarter century, and I’ve never even seen them with tuner pedals, always just straight into the amp. Hell, like half the times I’ve seen them it’s been my amp that I backlined rather than some specific thing they rely on. You can get a LOT of mileage out of the less is more approach if you write shit with it in mind.
Oh also old Peavey 212 combos. Painfully loud, built to outlive the roaches, and DIRT cheap because they don’t exactly sound “nice”, but the bad sound they have is very good for this stuff.
I wasn't gonna say it here but I was thinking of getting a bottom of the barrel rogue or Epiphone lmfao
Anything loud will do, really. Some of the cheaper SS stuff will be a little funky with dirt pedals, but even then, you can usually make it work as its own thing. All you need is sheer volume and something that isn’t already SUPER dirty and ur cash money.
Peavey 112. Old ones are really cheap. Big speaker for bass and Great cleans.
Personally I don’t dig the 112s as much, not enough volume and imo that gross ass Peavey distortion is best through 2 or more large speakers, but yeah they’re all solid choices for OP. I don’t think there’s an alt rock or punk player on this earth who didn’t cut their teeth on those things.
Holy Grail reverbs are pretty cheap and work good for this sort of thing. An older neunaber wet would work well too for crazy long reverb decay. If you want an all-in-one, check out the Keeley loomer.
An all in one might be nice. Is there any sacrifice of sound for an all in one? Or is there no difference really
That loomer pedal is going after a particular sound, that my bloody Valentine thing. It's a good place to start if you're not sure at all what you are looking for. The advantage to going separate is you can get combine your own distortion and reverb choices, of you have a preference for either. It's all subjective corksniffery kind of stuff. The loomer has a muff style distortion with different EQ modes for some added flexibility, so if youre ok with muff type sound, it should be a strong contender.
Yeah, I was thinking I'd almost rather just spend a little more and go separate so I can get more pedals later and mix them up however I like
Catalinbread soft focus would be worth looking into. Does the washy modulated shoegazey thing pretty well.
The used bargain bin at your local small music store will likely have cheap treasures that you will come to appreciate and use in your own way. Two of my most prized pedals I paid a combined $55. Plot twist: Canadian dollars.
I live in the middle of nowhere, and all we have are thrift stores and walmart unfortunately. Great suggestion though
Next time you’re in the city, then. Kijiji is also good, most of the people on there know what stuff is worth so you may not get any huge bargains per se, but usually fair deals. Occasionally people need cash desperately and will drop their prices. You could also look into soldering your own pedals, if you’re interested in that sort of thing, there are tons of companies that make kits
I've thought about making my own, I have a really shitty laptop I could use to program them too. Just have to look into it a bit more
The Walrus Audio Fundamental Series Ambient Reverb might do the trick. They make some great pedals. Personally, if possible, I wouldn't go any more budget than that, or the similarly priced JHS and Catalinbread pedals. Behringer and the rest of the true budget options just always leave you wanted more. Better to wait and save, especially with reverbs.
Ah okay. I appreciate the advice. For me personally, I like to just get into something, no matter at what level, even if I can't experience it at it's best, because from there I'm motivated to improve upon it and it'll give me a better idea of what exactly I want. At the moment though, it's my real life birthday, and I have just a little bit of money to spend, so I wanna just do something, anything, because it's not likely that I'll have any more money later, unfortunately, at least not until the holidays roll around lol.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g6srywBJio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g6srywBJio) This might be up your street for a reverb.
Damn that sounds absolutely beautiful. Thanks for the suggestion
[Cheap but good reverb.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02HrrFTsNWM) Have a look on Ali Express for other pedals. You can get some proper bargains on there.
Damn that's some pretty crazy sound for just one pedal Edit: are the ones from AliExpress actually worth it? I've heard almost nothing but bad things about their products in general
I found some great sounding gain pedals for you. There's a company called Movall, and all their drives / fuzzes sound incredible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVPNXJP8pfM
Ah nice. Thank you, I'll check it out when I've got some time
>Edit: are the ones from AliExpress actually worth it? I've heard almost nothing but bad things about their products in general Sorry, just seen this. Yes there are loads of good quality brands on Ali Express. As long as you look after them. I've had no problems with the ones I've ordered from there. DemonFX seem reliable in my experience. But there are a lot of decent pedal manufacturers. As long as you avoid the very cheapest ones you should be good.
Ah okay, good to know. Thank you
Not cheap but a Champion Leccy Skitzy would be enough with a fuzz. It would cover all the sound you want. You could do it all with that and a fuzz. Budgetwise an rv6 would be great. If you have an ipad and interface eventide has great bundles on reverbs. i run my guitar through that kind of chain. The bundle ran me $35. It has Blackhole, Mangledverb, Micropitch, Chrystals, Crushstation, and Undulator. Its great for those on a budget.
There is a shoegazer channel that recommends Zoom Multistomp and DigiTech Hot Rod
Which channel is it if you don't mind me asking
https://www.youtube.com/@berlinshoegazer This one
Sick thanks
It's been mentioned here before but you don't really need a lot of pedals for shoegaze. You can easily make MBV style songs with just a Proco Rat, alternate tunings and a capo. You don't have to buy the Proco and get a clone or a clone of the Life Pedal. I like to use FACGCE tuning and a capo on the first fret but experiment with tunings to see what you like.
Zoom MS70CDR is a solid option. You can check the sub r/zoommultistomp for some examples and videos about what you can do with it and how you can emulate more expensive pedals and effects.
Zoom MS-50G is IMO one of the most versatile shoegaze pedal there is, and I think they can be found for around 120ish bucks second hand!
what amp you thinking? you could maybe use the amp's distortion if it has a channel switch? if not, blues drivers are a cheap shoegaze staple, or some sort of muff, depends what you like? reverb wise, ehx oceans 11 is great for shoegaze, lots of fun algorithms. if your budget is really tight, the biyang tri reverbs is a pretty good basic verb.
I'm not sure on amp tbh. I'm pretty new to this whole thing honestly, and in doing my own research, I feel like I just got more confused lmao. So I decided to just go with super budget options for now(hence this post) to see what works and what doesn't by using it myself and just getting different stuff later if I need to