Effects Bay

So this morning, while drinking my morning cup o’  Joe, I was cruising around Amazon, and stumbled across the book titled “Guitar Effects Pedals the Practical Handbook“. Below is the official description of the book.

Starting with the dawn of effects building and continuing to the present day, this detailed compendium investigates effects pedals and how they can supercharge a guitarist’s sound. Experienced player Dave Hunter offers insight from the top builders and tips on how to get the most from each pedal. The author also dissects chains used by top guitarists in creating memorable recordings. The accompanying CD features standard as well as unusual sounds from a wide range of pedals, and classic combinations used by the guitar greats.

I do not personally own any books about guitar effects (though, I do have  a few on my wish list) but this caught my eye for several reasons.

Number one, I have a friend that is ‘fairly’ new to guitar playing is and is VERY interested in guitar effects, basically what they’re capable and what kind of options effects can provide him. I’m thinking this might be a good guide to help him understand the gist of what’s out there. (I still say the foundation starts with a good guitar and a good amp)

Number two, I personally think it’s interesting that the ‘quest for tone’ and finding that ‘unique voice’ is a desire had by every guitarist, while also the ability ‘clone’ others (ie: aquire the Hendrix tone, etc) is also there. I also think it’s interesting, I’m very guilty of this, to be stuck in a settings rut. Having pedals, and thinking it only sounds good when the knobs are set to X, Y and Z. Our ear is trained to hear what we like.. and what we’re use to. The application, the band, the guitar and the particular song can provide opportunities for absolutely crazy settings, but if you’re not willing to learn what your pedals are capable of (good or bad) how can you dip your toe in that particular pool?

Personally, when I see other guitarists and see their gear, I always pay attention to their settings (if I have the same pedal) just to see what they like and how they use it in their song. Is it a lead boost, do they use it as a rhythm fattener? Do they have the pre-wah or post-wah?

How well do you know your pedals?

Popularity: 2%

Not sure why I want to go back to this. Maybe because this pedal is absolutely awesome. We had a guest post by Bobby Morelli about the Bad Cat 2-Tone which was extremely great, and I was just re-reading that today.

In my band, our other guitarist uses the Bad Cat 2-Tone in conjunction with a Matchless DC-30. It sounds amazing, and I’m a big fan of the tone from that pedal. To me, there is no other pedal that adds the meat or growl to your tone in a ‘natural’ way. It’s almost like another amp in itself.

My largest.. and I guess only complaint, is the noise. The pedal is noisy, but for heavier work (like what we play) you never notice anything except between songs, etc. The chassis is one of the beefiest I’ve ever seen, and they’re absolutely built to last.

I found this video that nicely describes what this guitar can do.

As with all things, quality does come with a price. This pedal runs around $349 at Musician’s Friend, but it is a pretty amazing pedal if you’re after some awesome tone. Anyone out there have the Bad Cat x-treme tone?

Popularity: 3%

It’s always remember to start with the best tone you can before pedals. Depending on how you use pedals (lead tones or creating textured tones for rhythm guitar) you could be using a wide variety of pedals. What I don’t like to see is people using pedals to ‘fix’ their tone. I understand from a budget point of view, pedals might be your only option. It’s a hard if you have a solid state amp and are searching for that quality Class A tone. You might get close with some emulators and modelers but in the end, the best way to get a Class A tone is to get a Class A amp. Likewise, I seen a guy trying to model a strat tone on his Les Paul. To me that just blows me away. I think picking up a strat might be a good option to get a quality strat tone. Again, budget is a factor, but if you want anything bad enough.. things will come your way automatically.

As for me, I like to start with good guitar, a good amp, and then build the tones with pedals where I’m trying to fill a tone gap. Usually this is specifically with lead tones. It’s hard to get the boost, thickness and gain with standard amp or footswitch, so your options are to beef/boost it up with pedals. Also if you’re looking for the delay/slap back for rhythm/lead you need to work it with a pedal. A friend of mine once mentioned to me (about delays), if you’re not playing well or if your tone is not-so-great, with delays, you get to hear it over and over and over again.  So start with the source, get the chops, get the gear and get the quality tone foundation to start with.

One thing I didn’t consider is the style of band you play in. Currently, I play in original bands, and have developed my style of playing and sound. I play this way, I sound this way, and that’s all there is to it. But let’s say you’re in a cover band and need to sound like 100 different guitar players… I can understand opting for a modeler of some sort. Usually, the best cover bands I see, the guy has a les paul and a strat and a couple of amps. Seems like that would cover your bases pretty easily.

I’m hoping there will be some discussion related to this post, I’m curious what others have to say about this. I’m really just describing my single point of view.

Popularity: 1%