What To Look For When Buying A Chorus Pedal

Chorus pedals can give you a lot of options, so it's important to know what you are looking for before you go out and buy one. Even more basic, it's important to know what those options are. To begin, a chorus pedal will multiply the sound of your guitar so that it sounds like two or more guitars playing in unison. All chorus pedals are not equal, however. Some are designed to give you an icy clean 80's sound (such as the Boss CH-1), some can give a warmer, lush sound (Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress), and some can get downright psychadelic (such as the BBE Mindbender). Read up on your pedals before heading to the guitar store so you're not just fumbling in the dark. Here are some things to consider:

Digital or Analog
You can just tell when a pedal is digital and when a pedal is analog. Analog pedals give a warmer sound, so if that's important to you, its something to consider. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana used the Electro-Harmonix Small Clone, which is purely analog. Then again, many 80's guitarists like the icy digital sound of a digital chorus pedal. Maybe you will need both, depending on your desire to play across different genres.
True Bypass
True bypass is important when you want to leave your pedal off, but keep it connected in your pedal chain for occasional use. When you have true bypass, the input goes straight through the pedal to the output without connecting to any of the other circuitry in the pedal, which might otherwise color your sound or add a bit of noise. In general, true bypass is preferable for the purist, although many people get awesome effects out of pedals that don't offer true bypass, and may not even notice 95% of the time.
Multiple Effects
Some chorus pedals let you mess with other effects at the same time, which is, of course, cool. For example, the Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress lets you dial up the sound of Jimmy Hendrix, Pink Floyd, or the Police with some added flange. Keep in mind that not all pedals with multiple effects let you mix and match, instead forcing you to switch between one effect or the other.

Built Like a Tank
This is something to look for in all pedals, and chorus pedals are no exception. Boss notoriously makes pedals "built like a tank" that seem virtually indestructible. Other pedals might offer more interesting sounds, however. In the realm of chorus pedals, for example, the Boss CH-1 is built tough, but a more temperamental pedal such as the Electro-Harmonix Small Clone might dial in the sound you need for certain songs much better. If you're travelling and gigging a lot, quality construction becomes much more critical.

A Comparison on the Best Bluetooth Headsets for Listening to Music on the iPad

What is a Looping Pedal? When Robert Fripp and Brian Eno starting playing with tape loops back in 1973, they probably had no idea what it would become. In the 80?s, tape loops gave way to digital loops, which began the key cross-over to allowing the average guitarist access to this amazing tool for songwriting, practicing and performing.
Looping Pedals (as they are now known) are able to store hours of loops with SD cards, produce stereo output with CD quality sound, and are built for live performance, or home use. Once you learn to use it, you can add melodies, textures, and beats to create the sound of a full band with one instrument.
A looping pedal is basically a multi-track recording unit that you can control with your foot. You can start by recording a track of yourself playing rhythm (with a guitar, your voice, your hands, etc...), then overdub this track with another of yourself playing accompanying rhythm, lead, vocals, etc.. and so on, and so on.
A common practice with acoustic guitars is to tap the tempo first on the body of the guitar as a loop, then play one, or two loops of rhythm over it. This provides a good backing track to sing to, or solo over. Some solo artists will even use the pedal to record a loop of themselves playing a drum track, followed by a bass track, then guitar and vocals. This can create a complete band sound, with one player.

Current pedal manufacturers that produce the most popular looping pedals are Digitech, Boss, and Line 6. The latest Looping pedal from Digitech, the JamMan Stereo can store hours of loops, has XLR outputs, and is produced in a straightforward, two pedal layout. Other pedals like the Line 6 JM-4 include a host of effects and drum tracks along with the looping function to increase the versatility of the pedal.
Practice, Practice! With practice, eventually you can layer your sounds into an orchestra worth of instruments and sounds, or simply give yourself a little backing track to practice with.
Speaking of practice, looping pedals are the ultimate practice tool. Not only can you give yourself a rhythm partner to play along with, it also forces you to improve your timing, phrasing, and overall playing. When you hear yourself play (recorded), it is the true test of your sound. If you sound bad, it's very obvious. To get better, you need to be honest with your own abilities, and this will ultimately make you improve.

Don't Make A DIY Pedal Board Case

Why making your own case is a bad idea
Would you make your own case for your guitar?... Would you make your own case for your amp? Probably not and why not? Because they are expensive, easily damaged and they are valuable to you, that's why you invest in a case that will keep it in good condition. So why would you make a DIY pedal board case instead of investing in a quality soft case?
I have spent the time reading about various guitarists/bassist who are trying to or looking for advice on making their own DIY pedal board case. As you probably know, musical equipment is expensive and you don't want to repair it too often, this includes effects pedals, which on average range from $100 - $400 per pedal. If you have half a dozen pedals in your set up, that's worth a bit of money.
It amazes me that people spend hundreds of dollars buying effects pedals for their guitar/bass and then they do not want to buy a proper case that will protect it, instead they try to make their own DIY pedal board case for it and if this is not made correctly, it can end up damaging their pedals. If you just got a brand new Gibson you wouldn't try making a case for it would you?you would just invest in a case that would keep it in mint condition!
Alternative Cases
From what I have read, one of the main reasons musicians try to make their own DIY pedal board case is because its cheaper. However, if you take into consideration the price of buying all the materials and spending the time trying to make a DIY pedal board case, a quality soft case/gig bag would not be much more expensive and it would give far better protection and security for your pedals. Unlike a DIY pedal board case a soft case is much more durable, easy to transport around and you wont be worrying about fixing your case all the time, as it will probably break often

If you are still considering making a DIY pedal Board Case, I would suggest that you spend some time researching the internet for other options before you decide. Although you may have the ability to construct your own case from scratch, it will probably not be anywhere near as good as a case made by a professional company like Gater, Pedaltrain, Odyssey etc.
What I use
I use a 24" Gater soft case for my boss GT8 and I have used it for the past year. I gig most weekends and it's still does a great job, no complaints! I would strongly recommend investing in a quality soft case to protect your pedals because lets face it they don't come cheap and its well worth protecting them in the long run, to prolong their life and keep them in mint condition so you can re-sell them.

The Most Important Guitar Effects Pedals for Aspiring Rock Musicians

There are a mind boggling amount of guitar effects pedals about and they come in all different shapes and sizes. What is an effect pedal you may ask? An effect pedal is a device that is put between your guitar and the amplifier to alter the output sound. A pedal is made up of numerous components put into a case. The sounds that you can achieve from various effect pedals are quite extraordinary.
Guitarists today use more effects than ever and are evident to the sounds of bands such as Pink Floyd and U2. Numerous effect pedals are used in succession to complicate the sound. There are two main pedals out there. One is the multi effects processors and these contain numerous built into a single device. Alternatively, individual pedals focus on giving you one sound and not more than two. Such pedals involve you playing around with settings in order to get your intended sound. Many amplifiers these days have built-in sounds for you to use but they are not as versatile as pedals. This is because it is hard to utilize more than one sound simultaneously on amps.
Pedals cost from $60 or £40 upwards and include a broad range of prices. Specialist brands include Boss, Marshall, Pete Cornish, Electro Harmonic, Yahama, Dunlop and Digitech. As a budding guitarist, you could easily wipe your bank account clean upon purchasing guitar effects pedals due to the countless variety out there. What I recommend is that you only purchase one pedal for each main sound.

Recommended guitar effect pedals
Delay and Reverb sounds give a strong echo sound and is great if you are really playing live. This sounds professional like and is very convincing. Distortion and gain guitar effects pedals are widely used with electric guitars and are certainly used in lead and solo guitar playing. This adds crunch and meat to your sound and certainly does sound sweet. As stated previously, multi effects processors are a great for beginners as they have access to all the different possibilities right in front of them. All of these mentioned are the essential pedals that you must have in order to sound great.
After you have gotten hold of the main pedals, you may want to look for a few more to sound even great! A wah-wah effect allows the sound pitch to be constantly changed through the use of a pedal. This was heavily utilized by Jimi Hendrix. Added effects include Flanger, Chorus and Phase shifter also know as a uni-vibe. These pedals sound slightly similar to each other, however they do sound beautiful. Chorus and Flanger pedals sound very sweet and made famous by David Gilmour and created the sounds of Pink Floyd. Most of these sound best with little to no gain or distortion.

Guitar Multi Effect Pedals: Finding Your Sound With One Pedal asdasdas asdasdasd

Like they always say, you get what you pay for. Except in this case, you get more. asd asd as asdasdasd
Just saying "multi effect pedal" a few years ago would have got you thrown out of most bands, but oh, how times have changed. My first guitar multi effects pedal was the Zoom 505. Honestly, it was a piece of hissing, digital crap, but it made me realize the potential that lay there within its cheap, semi-transparent blue housing. I actually brought it to one of my band practices, and I can tell you, that pedal combined with the roaring power of a cranked, 70's Fender Twin Reverb was painful to say the least, especially for my band mates. So I went back to my "snake pit", home-made pedal board consiting of the usual guitar pedals (distortion, tuner, delay...).
Then, last year I started researching new guitar pedals on the internet, and found a new opinion developing regarding multi effect pedals. Experienced guitarists, with a large collection of expensive, boutique single effects pedals were starting to sing the praises of multi pedals by brands like Digitech, Line 6 and Boss. Either these players had reached an advanced stage of hearing loss, or they really liked these multi effect pedals!
I was particularly surprised with reviews of the new Digitech RP line of pedals (RP500, RP1000). Guitarists were going off about how great the sound was, the quality of the effects, and the ease of use. None of these qualities had previously been associated with a multi effects pedal. These pedals (and others by Line 6 and Boss), have such a wide palette of great sounding effects, that its hard to understand why you would buy single guitar effects any more.
With this thought in mind, I did a little research on single effect pedal prices. I picked 9 of my favourite single effects, that are also produced by most new multi effect pedals, and priced them out. This is what I found:

Dunlop Crybaby 535Q multi wah: $125.44 Visual Sound Volume Pedal: $139.95 Proco Rat Distortion: $67.49 Boss CH1 Super Chorus: $89.00 Boss FRV-1 '63 Fender Reverb: $129.99 Boss DD7 Digital Delay: $169.00 Boss RC-2 Loop station: $189.00 Boss TU-2 Tuner: $99.00 MXR M-102 Compressor: $69.95 Total price: $1077.83
This would give you a pretty impressive pedal board! Especially in size. My old pedal board had half this many effects, and it was a beast to deal with. You would be looking at 11 patch cables, 9 power connections, and the board itself.
I now own the Digitech RP500. It has all of these effects built in, with a total of 125 effects, a looper, all metal construction, and stereo output. But honestly, the best thing of all is its ability to shut off all digital modeling, and simply become a pedal board. This feature, through my old Fender Twin Reverb tube amp sounds awesome. Better than any single pedal, or combination thereof I have ever owned. The only thing that sounds better than my RP500/Twin Reverb combo, is an RP500 through two Twin reverbs in stereo! Huge, lush, shimmering sound. All that, for $300 bucks (the pedal that is).
So if your looking for a single, or multi effect pedal, do your research. Despite their digital sounding names, the latest in multi effect pedals can produce amazing sounds, at a reasonable price. They simply allow you to explore more creative sound ideas

Best Guitar Multi-Effects Pedals For Live Use

The first digital multi effects pedal that I became familiar with was the old Digitech RP1. Very few dared to play live with these without a guitar amp, I mean through a PA. They had the proper settings for different types of power amps, but the sound they produced in this manner was not very exciting.
That left many of us tainted, but in the last few years I've seen many live performances, mainly at bars, where multi-effects pedals are connected straight to a PA without a guitar amplifier. And the sound was actually very good in my opinion.
In my experiences these are my top 3:
The Vox Tonelab LE: at a party dedicated for the 25th anniversary of 'Appetite For Destruction' I friend of mine played a whole set with one of these pedals straight to a PA. This pedal in my opinion is the fattest sounding when connected to a PA, even though it might not be the most versatile.
The Digitech RP1000: used straight to a PA by a friend of mine that plays in a punk rock band. When Digitech came out with the DNA chips my interest in this brand was rekindled. I had completely lost faith with the RP series, but this pedal has impressed me lately.

The Boss GT8: used by a cover band that I use to sell instruements to. The sound of Boss GT Multi-effects straight to PA's is not my favorite, but this guitar player surprised me by carefully using EQ and setting suitable presets for every song.
To play live with a multi-effects pedal you just have to set the right output for one of these 3 possibilities:
*Plugging it in to the front of an amplifier, "No Amp or Cab Emulation Should be used".
*Plugging into the power amp of a guitar head or combo, "No Cab Emulation Should be used".
*Plugging straight to a mixer in a PA or a powered monitor, "Cab Emulation Should be used".
An affordable ways to play live with a multi-effects pedal and have plenty of volume is with a live powered monitor.

Guitar Effects Pedals - Chorus

This is one you probably already intuitively know! You're likely familiar with the vocal term "chorus" -- as in "many voices singing at once". A guitar "chorus" pedal does the same thing -- it makes your guitar sound like two or more guitars playing in unison at the same time.
What makes chorus work is that it really does try to act like two or more players playing at the same time. In real life, two people playing the exact same thing will never be completely synchronized. They'll start each note at a slightly different time, perhaps pitch the notes slightly differently, hold them differently, etc. They'll be really close -- but it won't be exact. This slight "offness" is what makes a chorus sound different from a single voice -- the slight variances in the signals make the sound richer and fuller.
A guitar chorus pedal works by splitting the guitar signal into two pieces ... and then delaying one of those pieces a fractional amount. The delay is very slight -- too much would yield a reverb effect -- but it's enough to shift the wave form of one signal path so that it no longer exactly matches the original signal path.

Consider wave form as a sine wave graph. Now, take the exact same wave form, shift it just a fraction, and place it on the same graph as the original wave form. What will you see?
When one form peaks, the other will be slightly off. When one wave begins to rise, the other will be just a touch behind. The resulting tone will sound much like two guitars playing in unison in real time. The sound will be fuller, richer, and also have a slight "shimmer" to it.
A chorus is effective on a clean guitar signal as well as on a dirty or distorted one. A clean chorus will also fill a room better than a straight unaltered signal.
Note that a chorus effect doesn't really alter the pitch of the tone -- it doesn't try to sound like two guitars playing in harmony (octaves, fifths, fourths, etc). Again, while the chorus effect is slightly similar to a digital delay or reverb effect, it's very, very slight ... just enough to give the sound that typical chorus "shimmer". Also, most choral effects only add a second guitar signal to the mix ... but some can add the effect or three or more guitars at the same time.

Different Kinds of Bass Guitar Effects

Bass guitar effects are equipment used to alter the audio signal from the instrument to the amplifier.
While bass effects could give you a new signature, it is always recommended to give it just a subtle twist so as not to overlap with the guitar section of the band. Effects made for bass guitars are similar to lead guitars, but is designed to fully optimize the distinctive tone of a bass guitar.
There are two types of bass guitar effects according to technology: analog and digital. Analog bass effects involve the physical alteration of parts and voltage to produce different sounds. Most analog bass effects are customized depending to the need of the bass player. Digital base effects involve microchips with computer programs and predefined algorithms to mimic particular sounds. It is more advanced and covers a wider range of audio effects. Today's bass players prefer the digital sounds because it is more convenient and cost efficient.
Bass guitar effects can also be categorized depending on their pedals: Multi-effect and dedicated. Multi-effect pedal or a rackmount is a unit that consists of several pedals. You can preset your effects and conveniently turn it off or on while on stage. While many agree of its flexibility and convenience, the more effects it houses, the less quality it produces. Dedicated effect pedal or stompbox produces a single sound and in much more quality compared with multi-effects pedal.

Fuzz box is another bass guitar effect most notably used by Paul McCartney in the song "Think for Yourself" in the 1965 Beatles album, Rubber Soul. It has a dirtier and edgier sound than overdrive and distortion. Bass compressors, as the name suggests compresses the sound to make louder or quieter. Manipulating the bass compressors will either give some volume or punch in the song or subtle and quiet texture. Funk bands of the 60's and 70's uses "wah-wah" pedal bass effects most notably Melvin Ragin. The late Cliff Burton of Metallica extensively used wah effects on several songs such as "The Call of Ktulu" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls".
Overdrive bass effects produce a "buzzing" or "growling" sound which can be heard on rock and heavy metal songs. Early bass players use guitar distortion pedals because bass effects are not commonly popular back then. Rage Against the Machine used bass distortion effects for their album the "Evil Empire".
Think of bass guitar effects as the dressing on a salad, nothing else. While it adds flavor to the music, it should never steal the real value from the main ingredients. There are many more effects out there, but a constant idea remains true: bass guitar's role in the band as provider of the beat and rhythm should never be compromised by introducing different sound effects.

Guitar Chorus Pedal - Blending the Chorus Effect Into Your Tunes

There are so many sweet effects for you to use with your guitar and the guitar chorus pedal stands among them. With its ability to emulate the sound of multiple guitars from one tone, it can add a whole new sensation to your live show.
But what are some opportune times to actually use this neat effect without taking away from the song? There are going to be better places than others to use this effect. Here are a few suggestions:
Stand out in the middle of a guitar solo.
You know that it's your time to shine when it comes down to you wailing above the rest during a powerful guitar solo. Try your guitar chorus pedal the next time you blaze the frets and you can leave a better impression.
Use it to boost your lead parts in a heavy rhythm section.
Sometimes an intricate rhythm section that consists of constant strumming can drown out a weak lead riff. With some chorus on your guitar you'll be able to cut through more of the bass and middle ranges to be heard over the top easier.
Add more bulk to a rhythm section.
A guitar chorus pedal is mainly used to create the illusion of multiple instruments playing in sync with each other. If you want to give more bulk and power to a rhythm section, flip on your effect and suddenly you'll have other tones backing you up.

Now, not everything that you attempt with an effects pedal is going to be beautiful music to your ears. It's very easy to do too much and potentially wreck a song. Check out these tips to check your intentions with the effect.
Think about your purpose.
If the only reason you can find to use your guitar chorus pedal is "just because" then you probably shouldn't. Always have a purpose to use your effects, because they can create really awesome drama when used in moderation.
Always serve the song.
Using the chorus effect too much can run the risk of ruining a song. You'll know deep down if a part of your guitar tune has too much going on and you really shouldn't attempt to fit anything else in.
You can't be in the spotlight the entire time in a full band.
As much as we all wish we were the center of attention 100% of the time when we're playing with a band, we can't be. Check your ego at the door so you're not putting attention on yourself with an effect that isn't necessary.
A guitar chorus pedal can add some really neat and new dimensions to your playing, but you have to make sure your intentions are pure and what's best for the piece. As long as you stay true to the tune, you should be in good shape.

Pedal Board Flight Cases

If you are reading this article then you are probably researching information on pedal board flight cases. Maybe you are looking for a pedal board flight case and unsure about what case would suit you best? If so then you have come to the right place. As there is such a wide range of effects pedal cases on the market, finding one that meets your needs and requirements can be a difficult process.
I have been playing guitar in a band for the past few years, playing gigs most weekends and I have changed my effects board several times to expand my set up of effects pedals and to increase the protection of them on the road. I am currently using a 24" odyssey hard case. However, upon researching flight cases I found it hard to find relevant information and help towards choosing the right one, therefore I have provided some information that might be useful to you.
Pedal Board Flight Cases
Pedal board Flight cases are probably the most efficient and durable type of case to protect your pedals. They are an ideal case if you play a lot of gigs or transport your pedals around often as they can take a hard beating unlike a soft case. However the disadvantages are that a pedal board flight case can be pretty heavy if you have a lot of pedals in your set up and you are more likely to injure yourself carrying it around (e.g hitting your shin of the corner of it!!)

Size
One of the most important factors in investing in a pedal board flight case is to decide on the correct size you need. This is a mistake i have personally made before like many other guitarists. You should first place your pedals in a rectangular fashion of two rows,then measure the length and width of the setup. Effects boards range in size from 14 by 5 1/2 inches to 32 by 16 inches. In doing this you should also allow about an inch around the edge of the pedals for jack leads and power lead
I would personally recommend investing in a pedal board flight case if you play a lot of gigs or transport your pedals around often, as it offers better protection than any other type of case/bag. Remember, Guitar/ Bass effects pedals do not come cheap so it is worth investing in a case that will protect your pedals and keep them in mint condition, that way you can sell them later on for a good price if you wish to do so.

Guitar Tone Using Pedal Effects

Have you ever thought about building your own pedal effects board? Have you actually built a pedal effects board only to discover that your guitar tone has changed drastically? Believe me, you are not the first to run across this problem. In fact the majority of pedal effects boards will change your tone, and most of the time is it not for the better.
There are many things to consider when designing and building your pedal board. If you're careful to address critical issues during this process you'll end up with a great guitar tone. If you're not careful you may end up with a guitar tone that is less than desirable.
Here's a few things that will affect your guitar tone when designing your pedal board.

• Length of Cables
• Types of Cables
• True Bypass
• Buffering
• Unity Gain Structure

There are more things than this to examine in Part 2, but for now this will get you on the right track to killer guitar tone when designing your effects pedal board.

1. Length of cables - You should try to keep the length of your cables as short as possible. This includes the patch cables in between the pedals as well. The reason is that the longer your cables are, the more tone loss, gain loss, and high end loss occurs.
2. Types of cables - Just as the length of your cables can result in tone loss, so can the type of cables. This is something that is sort of a personal preference, but I will say that Mogami and Belden cables are always going to be a great choice. Keep in mind that the most important cable is the first cable used from your guitar to the first effects pedal.
3. True bypass - This can be good and bad depending on the rest of the pedals in the chain. If all of your pedals are true bypass, and they're all turned off, you face the problem of all of your cable lengths adding up to one long cable going into the front of your amp. This is really bad if you are using vintage pickups with low output and high impedance. You should consider some type of buffer to keep the signal steady.
4. Buffering - Buffering the signal can help when using true bypass pedals along with vintage pickups, but you'll have to play around with the combinations. You may run into issues of signal spikes and treble spikes depending on where the buffers are placed in the chain. Best solution is to plug your guitar directly into a fixed high-impedance load that is identical to the amp input. Then distribute the signal to the various effects and amps by low-impedance buffered feeds. This will give you constant signal level, and tone characteristics, which will not change when more effects are added.
5. Unity Gain Structure - This is another critical issue when it come to balancing out your sound. Example: if you used a chorus pedal and a delay pedal these devices are usually unity gain. When you get into pre-amps, equalizers and units with gain control, you'll need to balance all of them out so that one unit is not louder that the other when turned on or off.

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How to Arrange the Order of Effects Pedals for Your Guitar and Amp

There is however a very general consensus on the best ordering. You can use this as a guide to start you off, and if you feel like rearranging things a bit from there, go ahead!
The Chain

• Actually the first one here is easy. If you have a tuner pedal, this should go first in the chain, i.e. the first one after your guitar, for the simple reason that you want it to receive the cleanest signal possible to obtain the most accurate reading.


• Patch a lead from the output of your tuner to the input of your next pedal. Next in line should be, EQ, volume and wah pedals, and compression. There's a bit of debate on placing compressors here as opposed to at the end of the chain. Here they'll have an effect on both the tone and volume of every following effect (which can be more desirable than you might imagine). Alternatively, placing them at the end will act as a volume boost only.


• Next up place your distortion and overdrive type effects. Again, there is some suggestion of a different placement for these - right at the front of the chain. If you like having your tone permanently distorted (i.e. no 'clean' parts) you might want to try this.


• Delay should probably go next, as you want to avoid the modulation effects that come next 'modulating' the delay echoes...or maybe you don't! Place it here for now anyway.


• Modulation effects - you may remember from one of my previous articles this includes things like chorus, flangers and phasers - should go next.


• Finally, if you have a reverb pedal this should go last, although one thing I would say here is, ask yourself how necessary a reverb pedal is. If you're setting up to record, fair enough. If you're setting up a live rig, stop and think about what a reverb pedal does. It emulates the reverberations within various different sizes of space. But if you're playing in a club or hall, that reverb is already naturally provided for you by the room. Add additional reverb and you're in danger of seriously muddying up your sound. Of course it is sometimes necessary even in a live context to achieve a certain desired effect, but tread carefully.


• The output from the final effect in the chain goes into your amp input, and then you're good to go!

At this point it's worth writing down a diagram of the arrangement you've just made, particularly as if you decide to experiment a bit, but end up getting muddled, you can come back to this layout as your default starting position. If you're doing this with the assembly of a pedal board in mind it's very important you get your desired arrangement right before you commit it to the board, as undoing this later will be trickier once the pedals have been fastened down and patch cords laid.
The above advice can also be applied to the stompbox sections of virtual guitar FX such as AmpliTube and Guitar Rig. The joy here is you can rearrange the pedals to your heart's content with the click and drag of a mouse, avoiding spaghetti junction with your patch cords, and never having to worry about your supply of 9V batteries running out...or maybe that's all part of the fun?

Guitar Effects Pedals vs Rack Mount Guitar Effects Processors

If you play electric guitar or even if you're just a fan, you've undoubtedly asked yourself how your favorite artist gets "that sound" on one of your favorite tunes. There is a dizzying array of guitar effects processors available these days and finding the right combination of guitar effects pedals and rackmount gear can be a daunting task that requires a certain amount of experimentation before finding the combination that works best for you.
Larger touring rock bands often have racks full of processors and a stage littered with pedals to switch between effects patches. Still, many musicians have found the old-style stompbox guitar pedals to offer the best bang for the buck. Although digital multi-effects processors offer some distinct convenient advantages, allowing guitar players to build combinations of effects -i.e. Chorus + Delay + Reverb + Distortion Pedals - into patches and banks for easy recall and switching later, there are some drawbacks to this approach. The combination of effects that's written to a patch and the associated parameters (amount of delay, reverb decay etc.), generally can not be changed on the fly. In addition, when switching between effects in a live gig situation, oftentimes there is a slight sound dropout which makes it impractical to use while sustaining a long chord for instance.

The stompbox guitar effects pedal set up, however provides much greater flexibility, allowing the guitar player to switch on and off individual effects at will. In addition, many guitar players prefer the "warmer" tone provided by some of the older analog effects pedals. For convenience, you can purchase a pedalboard style case that will allow you to keep standard sized stompboxes connected together, so you don't need to continuously reconnect everything each time you play. Many of these pedalboards also provide power supplies to connect all guitar effects pedals as well, so that batteries don't need to be constantly changed.
In the end, the best way to find what works for you is to experiment. Individual guitar effects pedals, multi-effects pedals and rackmount processors, along with various midi switching devices can be bought fairly inexpensively on sites like Ebay, if you take the time to look around and do your homework. If you find something that doesn't work for you or your setup, you can always find someone who will be willing to buy it from you.

Digitech Multi Effect Pedals: A Guitarists Review of the Digitech RP Guitar Effect Pedal Series

I suppose I could give you all the usual talk about the professional sound and user friendly interface that the manufactures love to ramble about in their "reviews", but I know you can get that from them. What I can tell you about is how these pedals sound to me, and how easy (or hard) they are to use, and how well they are constructed, from a guitarists viewpoint.
The RP series starts with the RP55, and continues to the RP355 with more or less the same layout and functionality throughout, with the addition of integral foot controllers on the RP255 and RP355. Where things really start to get interesting, especially for someone who plays live, is with the RP500 and RP1000.
Construction
The RP500 and RP1000 are basically built like a tank. Believe me when I tell you, this helps when your playing live. Nothing like a broken switch when your about to launch into your favourite solo. I've also noticed that all the connection points at the rear of the unit are very robust (XLR, guitar input/output/USB/CD). This is probably because they are mounted into a steel casing, which helps resist movement, and cracking. I've had this happen with a few pedals. The best part however, is the footswitches. They are, again, made of steel. Pretty hard to wreck with your size 12 cowboy boots, no matter how hard you stomp. The only weak point I could see would be the rotating knobs used for effect tweaking. They are made of plastic, and located near the footswitches, so potential for breakage there.
Features
The RP500 and RP1000 are basically the same unit, with a few key features. They both have a row of effects footswitches for controlling compressor, distortion, chorus/fx, delay, and reverb. These effects can all be modified on the unit itself using the knobs, or by using the X-Edit software that comes bundled with the units. Many classic, and modern sounds can be replicated with this setup including distortions like the Ibanez TS-9, TS-808 Tube Screamer, Arbiter Fuzz Face, Big Muff, Boss DS-1 and more. This can be found in quite a few multi effects pedals, but some cool additions are the Digitech Whammy if your'e into Jack White, or Tom Morello, or the Univibe and Octavia if your'e into Jimi Hendrix or Doyle Bramhall II.
They also both come with a 20 second looper. If you have never used a looper before, its more fun than a barrel of drunk monkeys. This feature is actually what persuaded me to buy the RP500 as I was looking at buying a dedicated looper (Line 6 JM4), but realized I would get much more bang for the buck with this unit. I also tried the JM4 in a guitar shop and thought the sound was very poor.
If you have 2 amps, or even better a PA with a couple of powered monitors, you can run a stereo signal (via XLR or 1/4" outputs) and create some amazing sounds. I do this with my Fender Twin Reverb tube amp, and a cheap practice amp, and WOW! Try some effects like the Tremolo Panner, or the Rotary Speaker and you get some very interesting panning sounds across the speakers. I can only imagine what two great amps would sound like.

Ease of use
To rearrange my title here, its easy to use! I think it took me a grand total of 10 minutes from opening the box to start getting good sounds out of this unit, and to begin tweaking the presets. The presets are actually not bad. I say this because I normally don't expect any presets to be worth keeping, but in this case, I have kept them all. They make a good starting point if you are creating new sounds. Being as there is room for 100 factory presets and 100 user presets, there is no need to delete anything. The X-Edit software is also fairly user friendly. The tweakability of the effects is greater with the software than it is on the unit itself, so if you are really into this, then you will want to get the unit hooked up to your computer.
Amp/Cabinet Bypass
Speaking of amps, what turns most people off buying these types of effects pedals is how they sound through an amp. I have to admit that I have tried some multi effect pedals through my tube amp and they sounded very bad (so do some single pedals). This probably had a lot to do with the fact that you could not turn off the amp modeling, which was designed to be heard through reference speakers, or headphones, and not colored by the amplifier circuitry. One of the biggest advantages of the RP500 and 1000 is the amp/cabinet bypass switch. This simple little switch (at least the switch looks simple!), allows you to apply the effects of the unit directly to the tone of the amp/cabinet you are using (in my case a Fender Twin Reverb). You really notice the difference when you hit the switch on a tube amp, and the sound becomes much warmer and organic. When you activate the internal amps and cabinets by pressing the switch again, through headphones, or computer speakers the sound is fantastic, with quite realistic sounds. I'm not really into this feature of the pedal (amp modelling), but I'm sure some would have hours of fun with it.
RP500/RP1000 differences
Well, the first difference is price. The RP500 normally comes in at around $300 while the RP1000 costs approx. $500. This price difference is due mainly to the second row of switches on the RP1000 that allow you to control external stompboxes. This was added with the pedal freak in mind who wants the advantages of the new breed of multi effect pedal, but just can't part with their old pedals that they have built their sound around. The side benefit of this is that it will allow you to experiment with new hybrid sounds, combining your old pedals, and the new library of effects, tones and amps that comes built into the RP1000 (160 to be exact).
With a combination of solid construction, ease of use and great sound, the RP500 and RP1000 would make a worthy addition to any guitarists arsenal of pedals. After awhile, I bet you will find its the only pedal you need.

Continue your search for these great multi effect pedals and more at [http://multieffectpedal.com] A great resource for all guitarists who are looking for their own sound.

A Beginner's Guide to Setting Up Guitar Effects Pedals

Electric guitar players are increasingly making use of pedals to expand and alter their sound.
There are lots of different options on the market, such as signal conditioners which offer effects such as a wah wah, distortion and compression.
Alternatively, guitarists may wish to play with modulation and time-based effects, such as a chorus sound, pitch shifter, phaser and delay, or possibly ambient processors.
However, it is important to make sure that guitar effects pedals are correctly set up in order to get the full range of benefits. Technically, there is no right or wrong way to devise a pedal board, as it depends on the sound that the musician is trying to achieve.
But the order in which effects pedals are placed must be carefully considered. For example, putting a reverb pedal after a distortion unit can make a very pleasant effect, but setting it up the other way round may not be quite so attractive.
Indeed, distorting a large reverbed sound can end up sounding rather nasty.
So guitarists need to bear issues such as this is mind when connecting their effects pedals. Some orderings will give nice sounds and others will not. This means that musicians, particularly those who enjoy experimenting with guitar effects and making the most of unusual noises, could benefit from trying out lots of different variations.
The most common set-up is putting a signal conditioner first, then modulation and time-based effects, followed by ambient processers. So a guitarist who wants an extensive pedal board could confidently use an order such as Preamp - Compressor - Distortion - Wah-wah - Chorus/Flange - Delay - EQ - Noise Gate - Volume Pedal - Digital Reverb. However, it is worth noting that some pedals are a bit more flexible in terms of where they can be placed, such as EQ.
Guitarists may be wondering how they can use their pedals in conjunction with their guitar amplifier, particularly if it has a footswitch that contains its own effects. Some amps allow players to quickly flick between a clean channel and an overdrive channel, with effects such as chorus thrown into the mix. So incorporating a distortion pedal into the set-up could allow musicians to achieve a grittier and dirtier tone beyond what the amp is already offering. Alternatively, an EQ pedal such as a Boss GE-7 could also give their sound an extra push.
It is important to try your effects pedal rig with your amplifier on different settings in order to see what can be achieved.
Players can plug their pedals into the effects loop of their guitar amp, which will typically place effects in between the pre amp, which produces the device's tone, and the power amp, which creates the volume.
However, which set-up to go for is again a matter of personal taste and what kind of sound the guitarist is trying to achieve. Using the effects loop adds effects to an already distorted sound, while going into the front of an amp will mean that it is the effects that will be distorted.
Guitarists have a number of options for powering their effects pedals, such as an external supply or a battery. But those with extensive set-ups could benefit from investing in a powered pedal board such as a Behringer PM600. With one of these, electric guitar players can power lots of different pedals at once.

The Shocking Truth About Effects Pedal Boards

Would you buy a guitar without researching it? Would you buy an amp without researching it? Probably not, and why not? Because you want to make sure that your making the right choice, one that you will be satisfied with, right? So why would you not spend the time researching the best effects pedal boards for yourself?
The shocking truth about effects pedal boards is that people have little knowledge about the importance of them and what you need to be aware of when buying them. You would not believe the amount of people who invest in a pedal board case only to realize that it is no good for them because it is too small, too big, too heavy, takes up to much room etc.The shocking truth is that If you do not know exactly what you are looking for, then you will get roped into buying an effects case that you don't need, or spending twice as much money as you should have
Unbelievably, the reason why musicians make this mistake is actually very simple, and because it is simple it can be easily avoided. Before you even start looking to buy an effects pedal board you need to look at you current set up of pedals and decide what you need from there. For instance if you have a large amount in your set up then you would want a good size to fit them all, but you also need to think about weight and transporting the pedals. If you're going to be carrying them around in a flight case a lot think how heavy that will be.
You can easily avoid these common problems that people come across and save yourself loads of hassle and money by considering the following points when looking to buy effects pedal boards.

• Ask yourself what are the reasons why you need a case?
• Do you simply want one so that you can transport and protect your effects pedals?
• Do you want a board that comes with a built-in power supply?
• One of the most important factors you should think about is if you need a hard case or a soft case?
• What size do you need?
• How many pedals do you have?

Answering these questions will give you a much clearer idea of what you are looking for and help you avoid buying the wrong effects pedal board.

The Most Important Guitar Effects Pedals for Aspiring Rock Musicians

There are a mind boggling amount of guitar effects pedals about and they come in all different shapes and sizes. What is an effect pedal you may ask? An effect pedal is a device that is put between your guitar and the amplifier to alter the output sound. A pedal is made up of numerous components put into a case. The sounds that you can achieve from various effect pedals are quite extraordinary.
Guitarists today use more effects than ever and are evident to the sounds of bands such as Pink Floyd and U2. Numerous effect pedals are used in succession to complicate the sound. There are two main pedals out there. One is the multi effects processors and these contain numerous built into a single device. Alternatively, individual pedals focus on giving you one sound and not more than two. Such pedals involve you playing around with settings in order to get your intended sound. Many amplifiers these days have built-in sounds for you to use but they are not as versatile as pedals. This is because it is hard to utilize more than one sound simultaneously on amps.
Pedals cost from $60 or £40 upwards and include a broad range of prices. Specialist brands include Boss, Marshall, Pete Cornish, Electro Harmonic, Yahama, Dunlop and Digitech. As a budding guitarist, you could easily wipe your bank account clean upon purchasing guitar effects pedals due to the countless variety out there. What I recommend is that you only purchase one pedal for each main sound.
Recommended guitar effect pedals
Delay and Reverb sounds give a strong echo sound and is great if you are really playing live. This sounds professional like and is very convincing. Distortion and gain guitar effects pedals are widely used with electric guitars and are certainly used in lead and solo guitar playing. This adds crunch and meat to your sound and certainly does sound sweet. As stated previously, multi effects processors are a great for beginners as they have access to all the different possibilities right in front of them. All of these mentioned are the essential pedals that you must have in order to sound great.
After you have gotten hold of the main pedals, you may want to look for a few more to sound even great! A wah-wah effect allows the sound pitch to be constantly changed through the use of a pedal. This was heavily utilized by Jimi Hendrix. Added effects include Flanger, Chorus and Phase shifter also know as a uni-vibe. These pedals sound slightly similar to each other, however they do sound beautiful. Chorus and Flanger pedals sound very sweet and made famous by David Gilmour and created the sounds of Pink Floyd. Most of these sound best with little to no gain or distortion.

Single or Multi Effect Guitar Pedals: Which Is Best?

If you spend some time on the guitar forums, and review pages, you will find endless opinions on what is better - Multi effect units, or individual effects pedals. The real choice in the end comes with your ear.
The common argument is "multi effects sound harsh and digital". This may be true with some older models, however, with the right setup, the latest units can produce sounds equally organic and soul-full as most single effects pedals.

The latest Digitech units for example (RP-500, RP-1000) feature an amp bypass capability, defeating the internal amplifiers and cabinet models, giving you a straight up stompbox pedal board. A pedal board that features every pedal known to man, without any cables!
Line 6 is also known for their amp modeling technology which they include in their multi effects such as the Floor Pod Plus, HD500, and Pod X3 Live. Several of these pedals also now include XLR in/outs and vocal effects to allow you to run a microphone through the unit into a PA. It's all about creating versatility!

I personally use the RP-500 through a 70's Fender Twin Reverb, and it sounds great! This goes against everything I read about multi effect pedals before I bought it. I also owned a wide variety of single effect pedals including the BBE Soul Vibe, Boss Blues Driver, Dunlop Cry Baby Wah, etc... They all sounded great in their own right, but I can easily duplicate all these sounds, and more with the RP-500. You can also take it to the next level by running it to two amps in stereo for an incredible, lush sound, only available to the pros in the recent past.

Guitar Furnishings Pedal Types: From A Beginner's Point Of View

A guitar furnishings pedal is a accessory that you angle up in amid the electric guitar and the amplifier. Its purpose is to add a switchable complete aftereffect to your playing. It is apparently account accepting the analogue out of the way first: although there are pedals that ambit assiduously and backwards, like a wah-wah pedal or a aggregate pedal, a lot of furnishings pedals are just on/off accessories - they accept a simple foot-switch to either appoint or bypass the effect. The use of pedals can be absolutely subtle, abnormally in the way they are accumulated to aftermath amaranthine varieties of sounds.
The aboriginal and a lot of accessible affectionate of pedal is alleged an overdrive or baloney pedal. This is the complete of rock, and a lot of amplifiers already accept this complete congenital in. However, sometimes the amp's own baloney is not all that great, abnormally for cheaper amps, and some actual ancient amplifiers do not alter at all unless you about-face them up to ear-Effects Pedals volumes. Hence the purpose of the pedal. Overdrive and baloney are about altered amounts of the above affair - the above is basically lighter and beneath astringent than the latter.
Another accepted electric guitar furnishings pedal is the reverb or adjournment pedal. These can add either a bendable ambiance or a harder answer to your sound, either authoritative it complete like you are arena in a ample anteroom or accouterment spacey, out of this apple answer repeats. This is a actual accepted best for authoritative a complete assume added able and produced.
There are so abounding added kinds of guitar furnishings pedal, like the above wah-wah pedal, which produces voice-like sounds if you move the foot-rocker, phasers, flangers and univibes for swirly, hippy or sci-fi sounds, and more. A accepted best for beginners is a multi-effects box, which is a agenda assemblage that contains appropriate approximations of all the accepted effects, giving you a acceptable abstraction of what anniversary sounds like and area you would use it.
But of course, acquirements about guitar pedal furnishings it´s not the alone affair you will charge to apprentice about guitars, music theory, accord are actual important too. Acquirements about piano chords ability be accessible as it´s usually easier to apprentice accord with the piano rather than with the guitar.
It is aswell important to apprentice about altered abilities that you will accept to do by yourself, abilities like alive how to change electric and acoustic guitar strings is a have to for every guitar student.

Make Your Guitar "Cry" With a Wah-Wah Pedal

There are a million devices available to add various effects to the sound of your guitar. Choruses, flangers, distortions, delays, octave dividers, harmonizers and the like.
Most effects pedals work by pressing a button or a foot switch which actives the effect. Once activated, the device will "color" the sound of your guitar and be "fixed" according to how you have the parameters set on the effect.
The one effects pedal that operates differently is the wah-wah pedal. This pedal requires the user to activate it, and in addition, control it while playing, all in real time. It's truly an "interactive" type of guitar effect.
A wah-wah is an "old school" effects pedal and has been around since the sixties. One of the early users that brought the pedal to prominence was Jimi Hendrix.
Unlike many of today's digital based effects, a wah is an analog pedal that is nothing more than a glorified tone potentiometer mounted to a variable pedal controlled by the user.
When the pedal is in the upward position the tone is "rolled off" and will produce a muted sound. Advancing the pedal to the complete forward position will produce a high end, almost shrill, tone.
The pedal gets its name from the fact that when you advance it from the upward position to the most forward position while playing a note, it will produce a note that sounds like a "wah". This "crying" sound is the basis for the name of the most famous wah-wah pedal, the Dunlop "Crybaby".
Here are a few ways you can put your wah pedal to good use:
As a Lead Guitar Tool
The wah can be used as an "expressive" tool for leads. Used effectively you can almost make your guitar "talk". Listen to "Voodoo Child" by Jimi Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughn.
As a Rhythm Guitar Tool
It can also be used as a rhythm effect and was closely associated with guitar rhythms of the disco era. Think Shaft!
As a Tone Control
One almost overlooked way to use the wah-wah pedal, however, is as a "set it and forget it" external tone control. By scrolling the pedal to find a slightly rolled off tone and leaving it there, and combining that with a touch of distortion or crunch, you can arrive at a nice Santana-esque sound.
Considering the amount of sweep in the pedal, the tonal possibilities using it this way are endless.
There is a bit of an art to using a wah pedal and it takes a little practice to learn how to use it effectively. But if budget is a consideration and you are limited to only a handful effects pedals in your arsenal, a wah-wah should definitely be one of your first investments.