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All tagged Effects
Reverb is one of those effects that works well both subtle and extreme. Sometimes you might want to just add a little space to your guitar signal, and sometimes you might want to play “surf” music or create ambient washes. So you might wonder if a mini reverb pedal can accomplish both subtle and extreme effects well...
If you hang around guitar players or visit guitar discussion groups you will soon run into debates about using guitar effects and tone.
One side of the debate usually argues “tone comes from your fingers” and suggests that “all you need is a good tube amp and a guitar, then use the tone and volume controls.”
I ordered a new drive pedal and it finally came. Excitedly I opened the box. It was empty. I got mad. Then I remembered it was a transparent drive. Silly me. So I fished around in the box and felt it. I took it out and tried it. Wow!
The Nova System is a studio-quality digital multi-effects unit with analog distortion/overdrive. It seems designed for those seeking high-quality digital effects in a convenient, compact, road-worthy unit.
My love affair with effects pedals started back in the 1970's when I saved up enough to get an Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man pedal. There was no Internet or YouTube back then, so any information I got about gear came from going to a music store, from friends, or from Guitar Player magazine ads.
The Deluxe Memory Man had three effects: chorus, vibrato, and echo (delay.) It was truly one of the first multi-effects pedals. I didn't really understand all it could do when I got it, but it looked cool and had lots of knobs and buttons, so I figured it had to be good.
Like most guitar players, in addition to astrophysics and molecular biology, I also studied electrical engineering. So as a side job I have decided to create a line of boutique guitar pedals. I am looking for feedback from my fellow guitar players. Here are my first two designs. What do you think?
Its name says it all. Simply step on the switch and you will have awesome tone and playing ability. No need to fiddle with knobs or jumper switches or rockers or toggles. Just get awesome.
In Part 1 of this blog I gave an overview what effects are. I will now explain some of the more common individual effects and provide some audio examples.
The topic of guitar effects is a huge one. There are many types of guitar effects available for guitar players, and players always seem to be searching for a better model. In this two-part blog I will give an overview of what effects are and then explain what each type of effect does and how they are typically used. I will also include some audio samples.
I have owned a few wah-wah pedals over the years. My first was a Morley Wah/Volume. It was huge monster that actually had a built-in power supply with a heavy duty power chord coming out of the unit. It also had a “feature” (at least that’s what Morley called it) that allowed it to be used with keyboards. So when you rocked it back all the way, it was out of the tonal range of the guitar and the volume dropped off. Some feature! Next up was a DOD FX-17 wah/volume pedal. It served me well for a number of years until the switch that turned the wah on and off went bad. Every time I rocked the pedal it would switch from wah to volume. It was time for a new pedal. I did a lot of research and decided on the Dunlop Crybaby 95Q.
The Wah-Wah pedal has been around for about fifty years and it continues to be a popular effect for many guitarists. Essentially a frequency resonance filter that sweeps from bass to treble and back creating a vocal-like “wah” sound, this simple device can be heard on thousands of hit records.
Drive pedals are generally divided into three basic categories: fuzz, overdrive, and distortion. Each category has numerous flavors, and their uses are many, which is why many players have more than one on their pedalboard. Empress has taken the three most popular drive categories and combined them all in one compact pedal with the three effects wired parallel.
