A Shopping Guide for Guitar Effects Pedals
Guitar effects pedals have been on the scene since the 1960's when guitar-based music became predominant. An engineer named Roger Mayer is credited with inventing the first guitar effects device, a "fuzz" box, that evolved into the modern distortion and overdrive pedal, and the wah pedal. Mayer's clients included such noted rock n' rollers as Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Jimi Hendrix. Supposedly, Mayer created the first effects pedal for his friend in the early 1960's. Now, countless effects pedals are used by guitar players every day.
Effects pedals are so popular with guitar players, especially electric guitarists, because they can easily expand the tonal range of the guitarists' sound. True, it's possible to use the guitar amplifier to change these sounds, but most amplifiers do not have built-in effects and the settings would have to be changed from song-to-song. Usually, guitarists want to be able to affect their sounds during a song or in various sections as well, so it makes sense keeping the pedals in front of them so they can change it themselves.
Just as the invention of the electric guitar and the amplifier gave the guitar player a far more powerful voice and greater sustainability of notes, so the effects pedals gave him a far wider range of expressive options. Today, even some acoustic guitar players and classical guitar players use effects pedals although the distortion and wah pedals used by electric guitar players aren't usually part of their tonal palette.
Since the first pedals were created, rack-mounted guitar effects have become more common. These were more popular during the 1980's, thanks to companies like Yamaha and Eventide. Since rack gear requires a more sophisticated and time-consuming approach (not to mention considerably more money) than pedals, most guitar players prefer effects pedals for their simplicity and tweakability.
So, with their effects usually mounted on pedalboards (a way to transport and store effects pedals), electric guitar players have only to "stomp" on the pedal box (hence the name "stompbox") to instantly switch on or switch off an effect. The wah-wah pedal and volume pedal is a little different than the others in that the player "rocks" the pedal back and forth to adjust the sound.
For ease of use, most (if not all) effects pedals can be turned on or off with a simple step of the toe, which can be useful in many musical situations. For example, if one wanted to switch from a heavily distorted tone to a clean tone quickly and easily, in order to have different tones for different sections of the song, it's easy to do so. Another quick motion and the distorted tone returns. Simple!
Guitarists often spend a great deal of time tweaking their effects, amps, and guitars just to get the "perfect" sound that they've been searching for. There are literally thousands of effect devices for you to chose from. Some more common effects include volume, wah, compression, distortion, overdrive, chorus, echo/delay, tremolo, and vibrato. Effects such as these can drastically and effectively shape a guitarist's sound.
If you are interested in broadening your sound or just trying something different, then you should give some of the above effects a try. Who knows? They may inspire your next killer solo! - 18758
Effects pedals are so popular with guitar players, especially electric guitarists, because they can easily expand the tonal range of the guitarists' sound. True, it's possible to use the guitar amplifier to change these sounds, but most amplifiers do not have built-in effects and the settings would have to be changed from song-to-song. Usually, guitarists want to be able to affect their sounds during a song or in various sections as well, so it makes sense keeping the pedals in front of them so they can change it themselves.
Just as the invention of the electric guitar and the amplifier gave the guitar player a far more powerful voice and greater sustainability of notes, so the effects pedals gave him a far wider range of expressive options. Today, even some acoustic guitar players and classical guitar players use effects pedals although the distortion and wah pedals used by electric guitar players aren't usually part of their tonal palette.
Since the first pedals were created, rack-mounted guitar effects have become more common. These were more popular during the 1980's, thanks to companies like Yamaha and Eventide. Since rack gear requires a more sophisticated and time-consuming approach (not to mention considerably more money) than pedals, most guitar players prefer effects pedals for their simplicity and tweakability.
So, with their effects usually mounted on pedalboards (a way to transport and store effects pedals), electric guitar players have only to "stomp" on the pedal box (hence the name "stompbox") to instantly switch on or switch off an effect. The wah-wah pedal and volume pedal is a little different than the others in that the player "rocks" the pedal back and forth to adjust the sound.
For ease of use, most (if not all) effects pedals can be turned on or off with a simple step of the toe, which can be useful in many musical situations. For example, if one wanted to switch from a heavily distorted tone to a clean tone quickly and easily, in order to have different tones for different sections of the song, it's easy to do so. Another quick motion and the distorted tone returns. Simple!
Guitarists often spend a great deal of time tweaking their effects, amps, and guitars just to get the "perfect" sound that they've been searching for. There are literally thousands of effect devices for you to chose from. Some more common effects include volume, wah, compression, distortion, overdrive, chorus, echo/delay, tremolo, and vibrato. Effects such as these can drastically and effectively shape a guitarist's sound.
If you are interested in broadening your sound or just trying something different, then you should give some of the above effects a try. Who knows? They may inspire your next killer solo! - 18758
About the Author:
Author R. S. Rasnick is the owner of JustEffectsPedals.com, where you can find all the effects devices mentioned in this article and hundreds more!
posted by X - Men at
10:20 AM
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