6 Of The Most Popular Guitar Effects Pedals Explained

Flanger Pedals, which are also called stomp boxes, are used by the musician to change the sound of their guitar. Stomp boxes get their name because of the "stomping" action needed to make the effect work. When the pedals are off, you are playing with the guitars clean (unaffected signal) sound coming out of your amp. When you step on it to turn it on, the signal that goes to the pedals are changed creating the desired effect.
You can also connect more that one effects pedal to your guitar. Simply use patch cables (short cables) to connect them to each other using the imput and output jacks. You can individually control which effects you want on and off at any time just by turning (stomping) them on or off. When a pedal is off, the signal will bypass it and go through anyone that is turned on.
For the best possible sound, you should place your gain and tone based effects at the beginning of your line of pedals. Gain and tone based effects include distortion, volume, wah and EQ. Next you should put the pedals that change the pitch or color of your sound. Then at the end of your chain, you can put the pedals that affect your timing such as delay, reverb and flanger.
If you accumulate a large amount of effects pedals, you can keep them all organized and protected by using a pedal board. Pedal boards are basically a flat board that all of your pedals can be placed on all connected together. You can even get them with covers, transformers and power cables to make it a breeze to pack up and move from gig to gig.
One thing to be aware of is that connecting too many pedals together can cause a lot of humming and unwanted noise. To fix this problem a noise gate pedal can be used.
With so many different types of Boost Pedals on the market today, I couldn't possibly list them all. So I'm doing the next best thing and will explain some of the more popular ones.
Distortion:
Distortion is used in many popular musical genres especially metal, rock and hard rock. The distortion pedals job is to clip the signal, giving it's distorted sound.
Chorus:
Chorus pedals give you a thick and lush sound by duplicating your original sound; adding some delay to it and then mixing it back with your original signal. This ends up making your guitar sound like a bunch of guitars or a "chorus of guitars" if you will.
Flanger:
Just like the Chorus pedal, the Flanger duplicates the signal, adds a short delay and then mixes it back with your original signal. The difference here is that the Flanger's delay includes several repeats that get longer and shorter at a steady rate. This produces a thicker sound compared to the Chorus pedal.
Wah-wha:
The Wah-wha pedal kind of looks like your cars gas pedal and you rock this pedal back and forth to allow lower and higher frequencies to pass though. This then produces the "wah-wah" sound. Jimi Hendrix in the late 60's and funk music in the 70's made this effect famous.
Reverb:
The Reverb effect emulates natural acoustic spaces by producing an echo making your tone sound like it's being played in a big concert hall.
Talk Box:
Last but not least is the Talk Box. The Talk Box pedal has a small speaker in it that plays the signal loudly up an airtight small plastic tube. This tube is taped to the side of the microphone where it sticks out just enough to be able to send the sound into the AB-Selectors Pedals mouth. The guitar player then makes shapes with their mouth to change the sound, which is then picked up by the microphone. Many performers have used the Talk Box over the years but one of the most famous was Peter Frampton who used it on his song "Do You Feel Like We Do" off his Frampton Comes Alive record.
Hope you have enjoyed my explanations of some of the guitar effects pedals that are out there. This is just a small fraction of the effects that are available to you. A good tip would be for you to do a little research on some of your favorite guitar players and find out what effects they use that give them "their sound" the most. For example if you were into hard rock or heavy metal, it would be a good idea to start off with a distortion pedal. Rock On!

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.

Description of the Different Types of Effect Pedals

Electric guitarist seldom just use the amp along and play, they make use of different types of effects to make good music. Some effects that i will talk about include distortion, chorus, phase shifter, pitch shifter, digital delay, wah-wah pedal, reverb and tremolo. A good multi effects pedal brand is ZOOM.
Distortion
This effect makes the sound driven too hard for the amp. Most guitarist will make use of this effect because it creates a musical pleasing way. Distortion can be anything from fuzzy to a screaming chain-saw fuzz used by bands who play metal.
Chorus
This effect makes the overall sound sound fatter, which sounds like the sound of many guitarist playing all at one time.
Phrase Shifter
This effect allows you to play in harmony alone through splitting the signal into two paths. It is really useful when practicing a song alone as it allows you to play in harmony.
Digital delay
This device produces a repetition of the sound, just like echoes. It also created rhythmically timed repeats of the notes you play. One famous band that uses this is Guns N' Roses.
Wah-wah pedal
This effect plays with the frequency. You can control the sound by raising and lowering the pedal. The world famous dragonforce makes use of this pedal to make all sorts of weird sounds.
Reverb
This effect reproduces the natural echo sound produced. It is sometimes included in amps. While the ones include in amps are not bad, having reverb as a separate will give you more variety and control.
Tremolo
Similar to reverb, it is included in many amps. Tremolo is the rapid wavering of the volume that makes your guitar sound as if you are playing it through a slowly moving electric fan.

Recreating Lindsey Buckingham's Signature Sounds - Big Lovea

One of the less well known guitarists of the last entry is Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac. Newer guitarists may not be familiar with Buckingham, but his style and sound inspired several generations of guitarists. He's probably most well known for hist signing, songwriting and production skills, but his guitar playing was instrumental in Fleetwood Mac's success, so it's worth taking a look at. I'm going to take a look at his sound and give you an idea of the kind of setup that's required to reproduce some of his signature sounds.
The first thing that makes Buckingham so unique is the fact that he uses a fingerpicking style. Originally a Banjo player, Lindsey Buckingham made the transition to guitar, and his virtuoso performances are a signature sound of Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham plays bass lines with his thumb while he uses the other fingers to voice melodies and sweeping arpeggios. The resultant music is truly original and inspiring.
Looking at his setup, one thing that you'll notice is that he has a truly unique axe. His Turner electric is not a guitar that has much fame, outside of Lindsey Buckingham. It's shape, distinctly violin like, is one of the most unique features of the guitar. You will also find Buckingham playing an acoustic on various tracks. There's nothing especially important to be said about his acoustic, other than the way he plays the instrument.
There's one performance in specific that I'd like to analyze. During one particular Fleetwood Mac reunion, back in 1997, Buckingham performed the song "Big Love", playing a Gibson Chet Atkins sold-body nylon string guitar. The reason that I've chosen this one is because of the unique sound that he got using that particular guitar. You can actually recreate this sound, even if you don't have this particular axe. Using your acoustic electric guitar, I will show you how to simulate this sound using your guitar and a few simple effects.
In order to simulate this sound, you're going to need delay and reverb. If you have an amp with these effects built in, that will do just fine. For the delay time, you're going to want to set it around 125 milliseconds. You'll need to be able to adjust the blend on the delay, adjusting it to be mostly the direct signal. This is important because when you're soloing and playing intricate melodies, you don't want the delayed notes muddying down the sound you're trying to create. If you're using a delay unit, such as those built in to some amplifiers, that only allows you to adjust the delay time by tapping a button, you may find it difficult to get the exact sound that I'm trying to teach. You can play around with the settings to see if you can get a sound that's similar or just use this guide as a way to get ideas for new sounds.
Another adjustment that you may want to consider, if you have a nice delay, is to roll off some of the high end from the delayed signal. Again, this is to make sure that your original notes really sing through. As for your reverb, you're going to want to reduce the size of the room to around 35 percent. If you're not allowed to change the room size, don't worry, just know this is going to be more of a creative exercise for you, rather than an all out recreation of the original sounds of Buckingham. Finally, you're going to want to roll out a good bit of the midrange from your amplifier (or board if you're going directly into one). This is going to keep things crisp and clear when you're really laying on the notes.
While using built in effects are limiting, you can get a unique sound using this guide. For those with a nice effects board or pedals that allow them to adjust all of these settings, you'll find a deep airy sound is the result of these settings. This is great to add some depth to a track where the main guitar part is played on an acoustic. If you haven't heard the version of "Big Love" that I'm talking about, get on the net and look for videos or recordings from the '97 Fleetwood Mac reunion show. It's truly worth your time & is a great performance! Good luck & happy guitarring!

Confused by Guitar Effects: Clean/Boost, Compressor, Distortion, Overdrive, Fuzz?

There are so many guitar effects pedals on the market and it is hard to know what the difference is between them. Categorizing effects pedals has been difficult. There has been little consensus on how to do this. There are six common classifications: Dynamics, time based, tone, filter, pitch/frequency, and feedback/sustain. This article will focus on the Dynamics Classification and the Tone Classification.
Dynamics Classification: Clean Boost/Volume Pedal, Compressor Pedal, microphone amplifier.
Clean Boost/Volume Pedal; Amplifies the volume of an instrument by increasing some aspect of its electrical signal output. These types of effects are usually used for "boosting" volume during solos and preventing signal loss in long "effects chains"
Examples: Fender Volume pedal, Dunlop MXR Amp effect, Visual Sound True Tone Clean Boost
Compressor Pedals; stabilize volume and smooths a note by dampening its onset and amplifying its sustain. Compression is achieved by varying the strength of a signal to ensure volume stays within a specific dynamic range.
Examples: Dunlop's MXR custom Comp pedal, Erockson Compressor/Sustain pedal, Boss CS-3, Aguilar TLC Compressor, BBE Benchpress pedal.
Microphone Preamplifier or "preamp"; Increases a microphones low voltage output to levels that can be picked up and used by equipment such as mixing consoles and headphones.
Tone Classification: Distortion, Overdrive, Fuzz, Lo-Fi
Distortion and Overdrive; distort the tone by adding "overtones" creating different sounds such as "warm" "dirty" "gritty" types. Distortion effects produce the same amount of distortion at any volume. Overdrive units produce "clean" sounds at a lower volume and distorted sounds at louder volumes.
Examples: BBE GreenScreamer, Dunlop MXR Distortion III, MXR custom GT overdrive, Dunlop Zakk Wylde Overdrive Pedal, BOSS Bass Overdrive, Pigtronix Aria Distortion pedal, Pigtronix Disnortion, Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde Ultimate Overdrive, and Route 66 American Overdrive.
Fuzz Pedal or " Fuzzbox"; A type of overdrive pedal that clips a sound-wave until it is nearly a square wave resulting in a heavily distorted or "fuzzy" sound. The Rolling Stones greatly popularized the use of fuzz effects.
Examples: Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, Visual Sound Angry Fuzz Octave, Boss Fuzz, Dunlop MXR Blue Box Octave Fuzz.
Boost, Compression, Distortion and Fuzz are the most popular class of effects. Usually, if a guitarist only owns one pedal, it is one of these. Many musicians have several of these types and use two or three at a time to get the many different sounds that make music so wonderful!

Single or Multi Effect Guitar Pedals: Which Is Best?

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.

If you spend some time on the guitar forums, and review pages, you will find countless opinions on what is better - Multi effect units, or individual effects pedals. The actual choice in the finish comes together with your ear.

Line 6 is also known for their amp modeling expertise which they include in their multi effects such as the Floor Pod And, HD500, and Pod X3 Live. Several of these pedals also now include XLR in/outs and vocal effects to let you run a microphone through the unit in to a PA. It is all about generating versatility!

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!

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 selection of single effect pedals including the BBE Soul Vibe, Boss Blues Driver, Dunlop Cry Kid Wah, etc... All of them sounded great in their own right, but I can basically duplicate all these sounds, and more with the RP-500. You can also take it to the next level by jogging it to amps in stereo for an fabulous, lush sound, only available to the professionals in the recent past.

4 Reasons Why Ear Plugs Will Improve Your Rockstar Vocals

Everyone wants to be a rocker these days and everyone wants to step in front of the microphone. Some people actually do it. They get the courage, the practice, the gigs, and then they unleash their rockstar vocals.
However, most untrained singers have a difficult time identifying pitch and balance within a band. It's not really common sense so you shouldn't expect to be an expert on it.
However, wearing ear plugs during shows, rehearsals, and performances can do wonders. Ear plugs are simple, yet awesome and I have four reasons why you should wear them the next time you perform.
1. You'll learn better pitch.
Immediately, this is a very good thing. Every good singer should sing in pitch. It's like saying every good batter should be able to hit the ball. So, why are you going to develop better pitch for your rockstar vocals? Because you can hear yourself now.
Have you ever noticed how much clearer your voice is when you plug one ear? Plug both of them and see what happens. This is a natural reverberation that happens inside your skull. Take advantage of this. Soon, you'll be hearing the pitches exactly as the audience does. Hopefully, you'll find out that you're not that far off.
2. Hearing other instruments is easier.
Whenever I suggest ear plugs to musicians sometimes I get responses like "I can't hear anybody" and "Everything is too soft now." This is just baloney. The reason things appear that way is because your ears are not used to them. It's like turning out the lights after you've been staring at a radiating bulb. You're gonna see those harsh light circles for awhile.
If you wear ear plugs from now on, at each band rehearsal, your ears will adjust, and you'll begin to notice the real melodies of the instruments and not the piercing white noise from too much distortion on guitars. After your ears have adjusted you can let your rockstar vocals cut through, creating a much rounder, balanced sound.
3. You won't lose your voice as often or ever again.
Losing your voice shouldn't be an option for a singer. Your body is telling you that you're doing something wrong. You're pushing your rockstar vocals way to hard. If you wear your ear plugs, you can develop a much better attuned awareness of how much effort you're exerting when you perform. It's due to that inner reverberation I mentioned before.
This also helps when you happen to perform in a club or bar with bad monitors. With your naked ears, you may not hear so good, so you overcompensate and kill your voice. Wear your ear plugs and you'll realize just how much effort you really need to give to have rockstar vocals.
4. You won't lose your hearing.
This is the most obvious reason to wear ear plugs. Sure, wearing them is going to help your awareness of your own voice. However, your hearing is equally if not more important than your voice. Have you ever come home from a band rehearsal, or club, or rock show and heard that constant ringing in your ears? That means you've experienced hearing loss.
I'm not saying you're deaf now, but I am saying if your hearing was split into 100,000 partitions, every time you heard that ringing that means you lost between 50 to 100 partitions each time.
Do your ears and your rockstar vocals a favor and get some plugs.
I know for a fact that I've lost quite a bit of my hearing since I neglected to wear ear plugs when I first got into rock bands. I also know that my singing was pretty terrible.
Wearing your ear plugs is going to help develop better pitch, hear your band mates clearer, strengthen your rockstar vocals, and save your hearing.
If you happen to catch my band perform sometime, check my ears. I wear ear plugs every time and they're blue. That's for the ladies.