Guitar effects pedals (or "stompboxes") have been a mainstay in guitarists' sound-palettes since the early 1960's when engineer Roger Mayer is purported to have built the first guitar effects pedals, the "fuzz" pedal (the precurser of the modern overdrive and distortion pedal) and the wah-pedal. Mayer's creations graced the stages of such rock luminaries as Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Jimi Hendrix (supposedly, Mayer created the first pedals for his friend Page in the early 1960's). Mayer's legacy lives on, as guitar effects are used by guitar players across the globe.
Effects pedals are used to give the guitarist more tonal colors or, that is, an expansion of timbre on his instrument's palette. It's possible to use an amplifier's settings to create these different tonal colors, too, but the amplifier is limited to what effects it can give, plus its settings would have to be changed only between songs, whereas guitar players frequently want to change tonality and color in the midst of playing a single song, and often many times over.
So, just like the electric guitar and the amplifier offered guitarists a wider variety of tonal choices, effects pedals, too, give them even more options in shaping their tone. Electric guitarists are not the only ones to use effects pedals, however. Acoustic guitarists and classical players often draw upon them as well, but they tend to eschew the sounds of overdrive and distortion pedals enjoyed by electric guitarists.
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.
When they have their effects selected, most guitar players will mount their pedals on a pedalboard to facilitate transportation and storage of their effects. This system makes it much easier to activate the pedals as well, since they are contained in a relatively small space. Since wah and volume pedals operate a bit differently (they are rocked back and forth rather than simply switched on), they are mounted to make this usage easier.
Most pedals, though, have a simple on-off feature. For instance, the ubiquitous distortion tone of hard rock and metal guitar players can be instantly switched off and the guitar's "clean channel" allowed to be played, to give a different feel to different sections of a song. Another simple stomp, and the distorted tone comes roaring back.
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!
Effects pedals are used to give the guitarist more tonal colors or, that is, an expansion of timbre on his instrument's palette. It's possible to use an amplifier's settings to create these different tonal colors, too, but the amplifier is limited to what effects it can give, plus its settings would have to be changed only between songs, whereas guitar players frequently want to change tonality and color in the midst of playing a single song, and often many times over.
So, just like the electric guitar and the amplifier offered guitarists a wider variety of tonal choices, effects pedals, too, give them even more options in shaping their tone. Electric guitarists are not the only ones to use effects pedals, however. Acoustic guitarists and classical players often draw upon them as well, but they tend to eschew the sounds of overdrive and distortion pedals enjoyed by electric guitarists.
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.
When they have their effects selected, most guitar players will mount their pedals on a pedalboard to facilitate transportation and storage of their effects. This system makes it much easier to activate the pedals as well, since they are contained in a relatively small space. Since wah and volume pedals operate a bit differently (they are rocked back and forth rather than simply switched on), they are mounted to make this usage easier.
Most pedals, though, have a simple on-off feature. For instance, the ubiquitous distortion tone of hard rock and metal guitar players can be instantly switched off and the guitar's "clean channel" allowed to be played, to give a different feel to different sections of a song. Another simple stomp, and the distorted tone comes roaring back.
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!
About the Author:
Author R. S. Rasnick is the founder of JustEffectsPedals.com, where you can easily shop for all the effects pedals mentioned in this article and hundreds more!
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