Effects Mini-Series: Part II of the Pedal Series
Originally posted on the S&R Blog on April 3, 2016.
Originally this post was intended to include all the major guitar effects a musician might encounter and discuss what they do. We quickly realized that there are a lot of effects out there and a single post with all of them would be over whelming. We decided to change it from three parts to a five part series. Within the second part of our now five part Pedal Series, we decided to create a mini-series within to break down each week the different types of effects. After we go into depth on the effects, our third part of the Peal Series will discussion the order in which to put these effects and in the fourth part, we will discuss rack mounts vs stomp boxes vs multi effects. And finally in part five, we will look into the digital realm of effects with amp modelers and tablet/computer apps that alter our sounds.
DISTORTION:
Distortion is likely the first effect you are familiar with and probably the reason you started to play music because you wanted to crank up the gain and rock out. The way these effects work is by overloading the signal chain to where the signal is clipped at the ceiling and flattened which give us the gritty tone of a distorted/overdriven signal. One way to achieve it is by cranking up the tube amp (either by the preamp volume or your guitar’s volume) which overloads the tubes that will then give you the distortion sound from stressed tubes. Another common way is adding pedals that emulate that sound, which is what we are going to look at today. Now Distortion, Fuzz and Overdrive have been used interchangeably (arguably, overdrive and fuzz is a type of distortion) however, there are a few slight differences.
DISTORTION
Distortion is the coloring of the guitar signal that will add the desired effect at any volume, with added “dirt” and “muddying up” if you will. Distortion is what metal players and heavy rock players strive off of for their style of playing. Chances are if you have a guitar, amp and a few pedals, one of those pedals is a distortion pedal. My first pedal was a Boss DS-1 distortion that sounded amazing going into my 5 watt Fender practice amp. The amp I owned had a gain knob but it was light-years away from what this pedal could do. Boss, MXR & TC Electronics are the staples when it comes to distortion. Looking great examples of distortion in songs? Check out Tony Iommi on Paranoid for raw distorted sounds, as well as songs from Anthrax, Slipknot & Megadeath.
FUZZ
Fuzz distortion is the effect that started the crave for overdriven sounds. Fuzz effects started popping up on records around the early to mid-60s and turned the industry on its head. The fuzz effect thickens up the signal and essentially makes it hairy almost like pieces of the signal are missing that would otherwise make the signal clear. The best way to describe it would be the sound you get when you accidentally move the radio tuner one frequency away from the station you were listening to and it’s audible but not clear, that’s the idea that the fuzz effect does on your sound. It’s almost as if your sound went through a sonic net and pieces of your sound were trapped in the signal and the pieces that escaped are your new sound. If you are looking for the fuzz tone, look no further than Dunlops’ Fuzz Face, Electro Harmonics Big Muff Pi, or JHS’ Firefly Fuzz. And for inspiration on your fuzz factor, look at Keith Richards on (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction Iron Butterfly’s In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida or Jimi Hendrix on Foxy Lady.
OVERDRIVE
Overdrive is the sound you get when an amp is pushed hard by overloading the tubes. The purpose is not to distort the signal at the pedal but to boost the signal going into the amp which will then produce a more natural sounding distorted signal. It’s cleaner and crisper than distortion and there is no additional dirt. Most of the time (not including heavy rock or metal) distortion comes in its true form of overdrive. For amps that do not have tubes or those that do and want the overdrive sound at lower levels, the use of an overdrive pedal is a must. The main overdrive pedals that come to mind when seeking this tone is the Ibanez Tube Screamer, The Klon Centaur, (which are out of production but a great and cheaper alternative would be the JRAD Archer) or the Fulltone OCD. Go check out Eric Clapton on John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers’s tune Key To Love, Stevie Ray Vaughn on Texas Flood or Trey Anastasio (who uses two Tube Screamers) on Down With Disease for excellent examples of overdriven tones.
Distortion is the key to success in almost all varieties of guitar driven music, with the exception of a few. And it was likely that a distorted guitar was what first gravitated you and caused the inspiration to pick up the guitar. Hopefully, this lesson helped you identify what sounds you are looking for when it comes to adding distortion to your sound. Let us know in the comments below what you use to achieve your ideal distorted tone.
TIME:
Time-based effects are one of the coolest and most necessary effects a guitarist can have in their arsenal. Time-based effects use and change the guitar signal by altering the signal with time and feeding it back into the signal. Whether that is a direct sound that is added just moments after the first passing like a simple delay or a modulation that will emulate the Doppler effect (think of the change in sound when an ambulance is far away compared to when it passes you) to your guitar. Simply put, time-based effects use altered time to produce the effects you hear. Between delay/echo, reverb, chorus, flanger, phaser and tremolo there are plenty of ways to use sound to morph your tone into something unique. There is a lot to cover, so let’s get started!
DELAY/ECHO
I am going to refer to this effect as delay, but echo is also widely used. For those of you who are unfamiliar with delay, think of it like an echo of the guitar’s sound. However, unlike an echo where the pitch and volume changes as the sound waves bounce off of surfaces, delay copies the sound going through the effect and repeats it exactly at any amount of time after the original sound passed through. Delays can be short or long. Short delays start about 50 milliseconds which essentially gives you a thickened sound since the delay follows the original sound so quickly it makes the sound seem larger (opposed to an actual echo). Delays can go on for as long as you want theoretically, but most pedals go to about 5 seconds which would be considered a long delay.
Delay pedals have three standard parameters to alert the effect; effect level, feedback level and delay time. Obviously, there can be more parameters, but those are the main three. Effect level controls how prominent the delayed signal will sound. Fully up, the signal will be at the same levels as the original and anything less will be at lower volume levels. The feedback level determines how many times the effect will repeat itself. Turn the parameter completely off and the effect will only repeat once, the more you turn it on, the more times the effect will repeat. Lastly, the delay time, this parameter adjusts the time between each repeated delay sound. Play around with the parameters until you get a delay that works best for you.
Some examples of different delay types are country chicken pickin’ slap back setting like Brad Paisley uses in his song Cluster Pluck (which features James Burton, Vince Gill and Albert Lee all whom are masters at the chicken pickin’ technique), the intro riff of Guns N’ Roses Paradise City (which uses a traditional rock solo delay setting) or a more ambient sound like U2’s the Edge uses on Where The Streets Have No Names which is multiple delays stacked on one another.
For adding a delay pedal to your rig, check out Pigtronix’s Echolution2, Boss’s DD-3 Digital Delay, or for my fans of analog, the MXR M169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay.
REVERB
Reverb is an effect every musician uses daily, even if you don’t have the effect turned on. Reverb is the sound that lingers after a sound originally is produced. It is the sound that is echoed off of objects in a room (think of sonar) while different objects effect the sound differently. A hard surface will bounce back the sound quicker and more harshly than a softer object. It’s like trying to dribble a basketball on a concrete floor versus a grassy field. The ball will come back at you with much more ease on a concrete floor than in a field. The same works for reverb.
Now, the reverb we are talking about today is not the natural reverb you can get from the room’s layout, but an effect that immolates it. This effect essentially controls the artificial level of echo a sound produces. The higher the reverb is set, the faster and more intense of an echo will be produced. Essentially, you are artificially creating sounds that would appear if objects were in the room to bounce sound waves off of. The higher the reverb setting, the more the effect artificially places “harder objects in the room” which gives you a deeper and quicker echo of the original sound.
Reverb is a fantastic effect that can subtly add sound to make the guitar sound like it is in a bigger room than it actually is (“open sound” as it is commonly referred to in the industry) or can add a hard to miss wave effect that almost sounds like the sound is passing through water.
Many amps have a reverb effect built into them (Fender Amps are outstanding when it comes to built-in reverberation). But for those of you do not wish to buy a new amp, Boss’s FDR-1 (which emulates a 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb Amp), Strymon’s BigSky Multidimensional Reverb, or TC Electronic’s Hall of Fame are great pedals to add to your rig for all your reverb needs.
All playing has some form of reverb so it is hard to give an example of a subtle reverb example.
CHORUS
Chorus gives the guitar a sound that there are multiple guitars playing slightly different sounds of the same piece of music. The name chorus for the effect comes from the sound that a choir has on a piece of music. Chorus can be subtle with adding a touch of difference (in pitch of speed) with each signal that passes. Think of the sound of a layered guitar track on a record, they play the same notes on top of one another but it never sounds exactly the same. Chorus can also sound watery, almost, like the notes are in a liquid form and move from side to side. When I first started learning about pedals at a young age, I always thought the chorus pedal was to be used to play the chorus of the song. Boy, was I wrong! Some songs do have a chorus effect for the chorus, though that’s not where the name originated.
Chorus pedals usually have four parameters you can use to alter the effect. They are effect level, EQ, Rate and Depth. Effect level determines how prominent you wish the effect to be mixed in within your signal. All the way up, it is full force, but as you turn it back it will add the chorus effect to the signal instead of overbearing it. EQ controls the tone of the effect, similar to your tone knob on your guitar. The Rate determines how quickly the effect is added to your sound. And Depth determines how far off pitch your effect will sound. The higher the depth is set, the further the effect will be from your original note.
Great examples of chorus include Nirvana’s Come As You Are, Rush’s Spirit Of The Radio and Boston’s More Than A Feeling, which is actually layered guitars that make the chorus effect. For your chorus effect needs check out TC Electronic’s Corona Chorus, MXR’s M234 Analog Chorus, or Electro Harmonix’s Neo Clone.
FLANGER
The flanger effect is a type of phase shifting effect that splits the signal into two paths. One path remains original and unaltered, while the second path creates a slight delay of the original and repeats itself in a continuously altered unified fashion in harmonic series which create a sweeping sound. Both paths are then merged together to create the flanger effect. An effect that sounds like a sweeping jet plane engine (without the deafening volumes).
Most Flangers have 4 parameters that alter the speed, depth, feedback and delay time. Rate determines the speed of oscillation. Depth affects how wide intense the effect sounds, feedback determines how prominent the effect is on the signal and delay time determines how fast or slow the effect’s delays are which alter the tone. A quicker one will have a tighter sounding effect than a longer delay time.
Check out Keep Yourself Alive by Queen, Barracuda by Heart and Satch Boogie by Joe Satriani for radical flanging examples. The MXR Flanger M117R, TC Electronic Vortex Flanger or Boss BF-3 Flanger are all great flanger pedals to add to your arsenal.
PHASER
The phaser effect is the sound you think of when you think Eddie Van Halen. Similar to a flanger, to achieve a phaser effect the signal is split into two paths. Like the flanger, one path keeps the original signal while the second path alters the signal by going through filters that add peaks and valleys irregularly to the signal which change the sound. The two paths are then merged back together creating an out of phase “whoosh” sound that we have come to know as a phaser effect.
Phaser pedals have a variety of filters the signal goes through. Some use two filters, most common are 4 and others use another number of filters. The number of filters the effect unit has, determines how strong the effect will be. Most common phaser pedals have one knob to determine the rate at which effect is processed, the slower the speed the less likely you are to notice it. Though some manufacturers add other features with parameters similar to the ones above that effect, levels, depth among others.
It should be noted that a uni-vibe is similar to a phaser, but is actually a chorus mixed with vibrato.
The MXR Phase 90 is what Eddie Van Halen used to popularize the effect, Boss’s PH-3 Phase Shifter gives the user more editing power on the effect and the Electro-Harmonix’s Bad Stone are all great options for your Phaser needs. For inspirational purposes, check out Van Halen’s Aint Talking Bout Love, Have A Cigar by Pink Floyd or something newer like Daft Punk’s Get Lucky.
TREMOLO
Tremolo is an effect that alters the volume of the guitar signal quickly creating a unique effect that sounds similar to an underwater effect that is used frequently in funk rhythm music. It is a similar effect you get when turning up and down on your guitar as quickly as possible. However, a tremolo pedal can do it at a rate which you more than likely cannot, giving it its unique tone.
The typical tremolo pedal has three knobs, rate, depth, wave shape. Rate determines the rate at which the volume is turned up and down. Depth determines the volume floor and volume ceiling at which the effect will use to create the effect. The wave shape determines how prominent the effect is added to the original signal and whether its harsh or smooth sounding.
The Boss TR-2 Tremolo, JHS Honey Comb Deluxe, or the EarthQuaker Hummingbird V3 are all respectable tremolo pedals you can add to your repertoire. For inspiration, check out Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Born On The Bayou, Rolling Stone’s Gimme Shelter and For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield.
WAH – WAH:
The Wah-Wah (or just simply “Wah”) pedal is arguably the most iconic guitar effect. When I think of a guitar pedal my mind instantly thinks of the wah pedal. It is used everywhere from Jimi Hendrix to Jerry Cantrell, Tony Maiden and Robert Randolph. It is the staple of rock guitar and it has and will continue to evoke emotions across all genres of music. There are two distinct different wah effects, the regular Wah pedal and the Auto Wah.
WAH
For those not familiar with the wah, it is a foot sized pedal that looks like a teeter totter for your foot. The effect is used by rocking your foot forward and then using your foot to rock the lever back –and-forth which creates a wah or whining effect. The effect is essentially an additional tone knob for your guitar signal after it leaves the guitar. Fully forward sounds like a maxed out tone knob and fully back resembles a tone knob turned all the way down. As you can imagine, things can get crazy in the right hands (right feet?).
The pedal can be used in two fashions, one as a standalone effect where the user engages the wah and adjusts the pedal to its desired position and tone. The other way is to rock the pedal back in forth as quickly or as slowly as desired to create a crying sound, this is where the Cry Baby got its name. Funk players use this technique to achieve their signature rhythm sound.
Most pedals have a forward click button similar to those on a normal stompbox that will activate the effect. However, some (like the Morley Bad Horsie Wah) do not have a button and are automatically engaged when the foot lever is altered.
Both the button and buttonless style pedals have their own pros and cons. Depending on which position you want to start the wah effect at, missing the activation switch in a live setting resulting in a wah-less solo or accidentally hitting the wah at the wrong time are just a few examples to think about before deciding which wah pedal is right for you.
The wah is a staple of guitar effects. I urge everyone to at least try it out in their musical career, if not always having one in their rig. Companies such as Dunlop, Vox, and Morley make incredible wah pedals. Check out the intro to Jimi Hendrix’s Voodoo Child (Slight Return), just about any solo by Kirk Hamlet of Metallica, and Slash in Guns N’ Roses on November Rain for amazing examples of the wah in use.
AUTO WAH
The Auto Wah (or envelope filter) is the same effect as a wah pedal but instead of the user altering the effect with the foot, an electronic circuit alters the signal to the desired effect using a set of parameters that can be adjusted. Due to the electronic circuit, the effect can be set to settings that would not normally be achieved by a person’s foot, creating a unique effect.
A typical envelope filter has three adjustable parameters, mode chooses the type of effect (low-pass, band-pass or high-pass filters), the peak one controls the filters floor and ceiling points which give it a s oother or sharper sound and Depth (or Gain) controls how prominent the effect is.
In terms of mode, low-pass filter allows the bass frequencies (think more the heavier strings) to pass through as the signal but catching and blocking the treble frequencies (think more the lighter strings) which results in a sound similar to a wah in the back position. In low-pass, the signal will be bassier. The high-pass filter is the exact opposite of the low-pass in that the treble side (higher end) of the spectrum will be allowed to pass through but catching and blocking gall the bass frequencies (lower end) which will provide a sound similar to a wah in the front position. In high-pass, the signal will be treble-ier. With band-pass, it is a combination of both the high-pass and the low-pass in that anything outside of the spectrum that the two combined make, will be blocked. Obviously the frequencies that are allowed to pass and are blocked can but selected, but the mode decides the general frequencies of the effect.
The HAZ Laboratory’s Mu Tron III Plus Envelop Filter is modeled after the original auto wah, the Mu Tron III Envelop Filter. Other great options include the Keeley Electronics’ Neutrino Envelope Filter, Electro-Harmonix’s Micro Q-Tron or the Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah. For examples of inspiration for sounds that envelope filters create, check out Jerry Garcia on the Grateful Dead’s Estimated Profit, the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Sir Psycho Sexy, or Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine by James Brown. Honestly any funk rhythm track will not steer your wrong.
The envelop filter and wah pedal are both iconic effects that can create a unique sound to your arsenal and make your playing stand out in the mix! Both have their unique advantages and disadvantages, so many add both effects to their rig. Hopefully, this helped with some clarification on which would best suit you.
DYNAMICS:
“Dynamics, light and shade, whisper to the thunder, sort of invite you in, sort of intoxicating” – Jimmy Page on dynamics from Davis Guggenheim’s documentary film, It Might Get Loud.
That quote above perfectly sums up what dynamics are to musicians. Jimmy Page, the man who busted down the doors on music, talks in the documentary about how fascinated he is to the guitar. By the way, if you have not seen It Might Get Loud, please do not read any further until you do. Every fan of music needs to watch that documentary. Now back to dynamics.
Dynamics defines the loudness or softness of a note or notes of music compared to other parts of the piece. Piano meaning “soft” or quiet and forte meaning “loud”. Today’s post is all about effects and pedals that will alter the dynamics of your playing. Now we will discuss boost pedals, volume pedals, compressors and noise gates. Let’s get started.
BOOST
A boost usually refers to a boost in the signal chain that is unsaturated or “clean”. With a boost pedal, your signal will get louder without adding any coloring that a distortion, overdrive or even a compressor will add to your tone. Think of a boost pedal as an additional volume knob that controls volumes at and past the ceiling threshold of your standard signal. This is widely used for that extra punch of sound for solos. A boost can also be used to restore your signal after it has been weakened from traveling through a large number of pedals and effects. Check out Optimizing Your Rig (Part I of the Pedal Series) for alternative ways to keep your signal strength up to par.
Most boost pedals have one knob to control the threshold of the dynamics. Boost pedals such as Xotic’s EP Booster, Keeley Electronics’ Katana Clean Boost or the MXR MC401 Boost/Line Drive are great pedals to add to your arsenal. It is hard to give examples of a boost pedal (or any dynamic effects) in a standalone recording, as they control volume levels. You can listen to records and notice a sound gets louder but who is to say if it was a boost pedal or simply someone turning up the volume knob on their guitar or amp? Regardless, boost pedals are a must for anyone who needs that extra headroom for their music.
VOLUME PEDALS
Volume pedals are really cool. Have you ever needed to adjust your instrument’s volume mid-song while you were playing and then completely miss the knob? Or worse, crank up the volume during a quiet section or kill the volume completely during a solo? Well the volume pedal is the answer to your prayers. While it cannot compensate for your clumsy hands, it will give you the ability to adjust the signal’s volume via a foot controlled pedal.
This pedal looks very similar to a wah pedal. The pedal operates on a foot sized pedal that is balanced on a fulcrum (like a teeter totter) that the user can rock back and forth by using their foot. It differs from the wah, in that it usually does not have a switch to engage the pedal. While this pedal’s main function is to act like a volume knob (fully off and no sound comes through, while fully on the full signal is heard), it can also be used as an effect. Mikey Houser (of the southern rock jam band, Widespread Panic) used a volume pedal to create volume swells and other similar dynamic effects that are usually very difficult (some even impossible) with using only the guitar’s volume knob.
Ernie Ball’s MVP Most Valuable Pedal is a great pedal with extra tweaking options, Morely’s Optical Volume and the Boss FV-500H are all awesome volume pedals to check out if you are considering adding one to your arsenal.
Like the boost pedal, a simple example of a volume pedal in effect is impossible to detect and claim as a volume pedal effect. But for unique dynamic pedal work check out Mickey Houser on Widespread Panic’s Coconuts. Another interesting way we have heard of volume pedals being used are to control individual band members’ mix in the on-stage monitors. Jimmy Herring (also of Widespread Panic) has a unique monitoring rig that uses 6 volume pedals, one for each member of the band, to control each band mate’s volume in the monitoring mix. Read the interview here on more information on his monitoring rig.
COMPRESSOR
Compressors are everywhere. Most of the time compression is added in post-production during the editing process, but compressors are used in a rig to enhance the instrument’s signal. Compressors work by reducing loud sounds and boosting quiet sounds so all frequencies are in the same relative decibel range. Compression will allow your clean playing to sustain much longer as the clean sound is boosting the signal to allow it to be heard longer. For obvious naming reasons, we at S&R love compression and sustain. Compression gives what many musicians talk about as that extra secret sauce. It is hard to notice at first, but once it’s recognized, it’ll never sound the same without it.
Compressors look similar to that of a boost pedal, but with one more extra knob. The two knobs are usually labeled as sustain (or volume) and sensitivity (or blend). The sustain/volume knob controls how loud and soft the pedal will boost and mute the signal’s dynamics (i.e the signals output after passing through the effect). A setting closer to 9 o’clock will not be nearly as prominent as one set closer to 3. The sensitivity knob will control how much of the effect is prominent in the signal. Due to this simplicity, compressors have been used as a “boost” pedal, though it isn’t entirely the same, it can act as one if you set it properly. More complex pedals will have knobs to set the high and low thresholds or have switches to choose which frequencies you wish to compress, though this is all personal preference.
I personally use the Xotic SP Compressor and I find it to be the best compressor I’ve used. It has a few extra dipsticks internally that allow for extra tweaking. However, an old Ross Compressor (if you can find one cheap) is an amazing vintage pedal for that classic compressed sound. For something a bit lighter on the wallet, check out the Keeley 4 Knob Compressor, or what David Gilmour uses, the MXR M102 Dyna Comp.
Compressors are similar to all these pedals today in that it is hard to identify exactly what is compressed and what is not. However, a compressed signal can be identified with a properly trained ear. Trey Anastasio of the band Phish notably uses two Ibanez Tube Screamers and uses a Ross compressor to “squash” down the signal into a manageable sound which is key to his signature sound. Check out the solo of any live Harry Hood by Phish, any country picking guitarists but notably Brad Paisley and of course David Gilmour on Pink Floyd’s Shine On You Crazy Diamond.
NOISE GATE
Noise gates are vital for those with heavy distortion or a loud signal and hot pickups or a hot rig. A noise gate is a pedal that will only allow a signal that is a louder decibel than the set threshold to pass through. You know that annoying hum your guitar makes when you are not touching the strings of your instrument when plugged into a heavily distorted or loud amp? (It can also be the case when you have a poorly grounded instrument through any amplification) Set the noise gate in your signal to just above the decibels of that humming and instantly the pedal will not allow that annoying noise to go through. Now the effect does not remove sound, it only prohibits sound that does not meet the dynamic threshold to pass through. Once a sound loud enough to pass through the gate is created, all sound will come through. This is extremely vital to keep unwanted noise from being heard during bars of rest of a song or in between songs.
At its simplest level, a noise gate will have one parameter to set the threshold, anything above will pass through, anything below will not. However, some pedals now have additional knobs that can be used to set the output of effect. If the desired incoming signal is loud enough to pass through it will but the unit can change the dynamic of the output to either louder than its original level or quieter. The Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor, Electro Harmonix Silencer, and the MXR M-135 Smart Gate are all great pedals that are user friendly to help you find silence when needed.
An amazing example most will recognize, is the section in Phil Collin’s In the Air Tonight when the drums come blazing in for the first time. This recording of drums was sent through a reverb unit and a noise gate that produced what is known as gated reverb. Another great example is of David Bowie’s vocals on Heroes. For guitar examples, list to any heavy metal or rock songs that are heavily distorted, if there is a passage of the song that you don’t hear any of the heavy guitar, chances are that is going through a gate so you don’t hear the sound.
Dynamics are truly an amazing form of effects and expression. Like the Jimmy Page quote above, dynamics gives music its remarkability. Music would not be as interesting if it were the same level throughout the mix, if the dynamics didn’t rise and fall, crescendo and diminuendo. There is no irony in that Jimmy Page set out to create a song that sped up and slowed down; one that was louder in some parts and softer in others. And in that, came one of the highest regarded songs of all time. Dynamics creates mystery, pokes at curiosity. Hopefully this post will invoke inclusion of dynamics into your playing.
SPECIAL EFFECTS:
So far we have discussed a wide range of pedals that extend from enhancing the dynamics of your signal to adding distortion or time-based effects. There are a few pedals out on the market that do not fall into a general category. These pedals are unique in their own right and don’t necessarily fall into the other categories we have discussed. These are essential pedals that we should discuss. Today’s post will focus on the Equalizer (EQ) pedals, the famous Talk Box, Pitch Shifter, Tuner and Looper pedals. Let’s go check them out.
EQUALIZER/EQ
The Equalizer is a very handy tool. Almost all amplifiers have some form of equalizer onboard in the form of. At the very least, a treble and bass knob. A vast majority of them have a midrange knob as well. Picture the Equalizer pedal in the same fashion of those knobs. It will help you adjust your tone to your liking by either boosting or cutting frequencies. Unlike most pedals we have discussed, EQ pedals seldom have knobs, but rather encompass fade switches that adjusts frequency settings. A typical EQ pedal will possess either five or seven blade switches to adjust frequency and usually uses an additional fade switch for a volume or gain feature that some use as a booster pedal.
The frequency range depends on the number of fade switches a pedal incorporates, but for the most part the range of frequencies the pedal can adjust is between 75Hz to 6.5kHz. Each blade switches can either cut or boost each frequency it’s assigned to by usually 15db (decibels). This range includes majority of the sounds and frequencies a guitar player uses. Now, which blades switch controls which frequency? Generally speaking, the lower frequencies control the bass, alternatively, the higher frequencies control the treble, with the middle frequencies reigning over the midrange. To be more specific, BASS typically runs from about 60 to 300Hz range, MIDRANGE usually falls between 300 and 2.5kHz and TREBLE is from 2.5kHZ upwards.
As a general rule of thumb, cutting underused frequencies rather than boosting desired frequencies will help better stand out in a mix. It seems illogical, but when your signal is muddied with frequencies that tap into the other instruments’ range, it is better to cut those than try to boost certain frequencies over the noise. (Note: all rules on this blog are meant to be broken for musical exploration and individualism expression).
Now, it would be impossible to give a specific example of an Equalizer pedal being utilized in music because, well, all music has some form of EQ on it in one way or another. But in terms of the gear that can help control your EQ outside of your amp, you cannot go wrong with these pedals. The Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer is the standard in which you should compare your EQ pedals against. It has 7 fade switches to adjust frequencies as well as a level blade switch to adjust output volume. The MXR M108 10 Band Graphic EQ pedal is a fantastic tool for an extra frequency range. It has three additional frequency faders to adjust and proves a gain and a level fade switches for optimum tonal adjustments. The Mesa/Boogie Boogie 5-Band Graphic EQ is a simpler version of an EQ with only 5 blades to adjust frequencies. This is the exact graphic EQ found on their legendary Mark series amplifiers but in pedal form. These are all fantastic options to consider when shopping around for an EQ pedal.
TALKBOX
The Talk Box is one of those effects that makes you scratch your head and wonder why it was ever invented. Then the solo of Peter Frampton’s Do You Feel Like I Do comes blaring over the sound system and you are instantly thankful that the talk box was created. The talk box is a very unique pedal that directs the guitar signal from the rig chain up to the guitarist’s mouth via a plastic tube. The musician then alters the sound of the guitar by mouth adjustments and projects it outwards as if it was sung. Talk boxes require a standalone regular microphone to pick up the altered sounds coming from the guitarist’s mouth. This means, when the talk box is engaged, the only sound you will hear is what a microphone picks up from the mouth of the guitarist.
So what is included in a talk box? A standard talk box will have a base pedal that has an opening on the top that one attaches the included tube. This tube should be run up to the user’s microphone and held in place by either zip ties or duct tape. On the base pedal there are usually only the switch to engage or disengage the pedal. However, some have a few knobs that will adjust the gain of the effect, the tone and the output. To use the pedal, first engage the effect and place the end closest to the mic (the side that is not attached to the base pedal) in the user’s mouth. When the instrument is played, the user can move their mouth in any which way to alter the sound. It is important that a microphone is in front of the user otherwise the effect is not amplified as the signal is not returned to the rig and does not go through the amplifier.
The Dunlop Heil Talk Box is the standard when it comes to talk boxes. Another great product would be the Rocktron Banshee. For all your inspirational needs, check out the end solo to Kickstart My Heart by Mötley Crüe, Anything Goes by Guns N’ Roses and the classic Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Walsh.
PITCH SHIFTER/OCTAVE PEDAL
Pitch Shifting is an effect that will either raise or lower the signal’s pitch. For most of music history, pitch shifting was done in a recording fashion. When most people think of pitch shifters, they immediately think of Tom Marello in Rage Against the Machine, and you aren’t wrong. We are going to be talking about the simpler Pitch Shifter as well as the one that made Tom famous.
Pitch Shifters are typically simple pedals. They typically have three or four parameter knobs. One usually specifies the blend of the original signal mixed with the new pitch. When the parameter is set in the middle, the blend will be balanced. If it is set any other way, that signal will dominate the other. The other two knobs will control the pitch the effect will add onto the signal. Typically those two are labeled as Treble Filter and Bass Filter and will filter out each perspective’s frequency as each parameter is engaged.
In 1989, DigiTech invented the DigiTech Whammy, a pitch shifter pedal that is controlled by a foot lever similar to a wah pedal. This pedal was designed to imitate the tremolo bar (whammy bar) on a guitar for those guitars without them. However, it has taken on a life of it’s own since then.
Originally, a pitch shifter would have to be adjusted by turning a set of parameters like discussed above, but the new Whammy pedal would allow the user to control the pitch via rocking the teeter totter lever with the foot. The pedal allows the user to set the range of the desired new pitch and is able to achieve any pitch in between the standard and the new pitch. The newest generation of Whammy pedals allow users to select either the original mode or a new harmonizer mode that creates harmonies with the signal. Think playing Jessica by the Allman Brothers Band without a second guitar player.
For standard pitch shifting needs, check out Electro Harmonix Octave Multiplexer, Boss’ OC-3 Super Octave, or EarthQuaker Devices Pitch Bay. And for crazy Whammy action, look no further than the Digitech Whammy. For inspiration on Pitch Shifters, check out Tom Morello and Rage Against the Machine’s Killing In the Name, Jack White on the White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army or Pink Floyd’s Marooned.
TUNER
Not as sexy as all the other things we have discussed but a tuner is arguably the most important tool in any rig. Sure the effects make the sound in our head possible, but without having a finely tuned instrument the song will sound disastrous. So the Tuner pedal needs to be in everyone’s rig!
The tuner is fairly simple. Most have an on an off switch and that’s it. Though some tuner pedals have a button to select different modes of tuning, some have modes that will go by the pitch of the signal. So if one was to pluck the open low string of a standard tuned guitar, an E will appear on the tuner’s face, granted, if the guitar is in tune. Some have settings that allow the user to select from a variety of instruments and instead of showing the pitch of the note, it will show the string number corresponding to the instrument selected (i.e. if one plucks a G note in bass mode, the tuner will display the number “4”).
Another feature to consider when buying a Tuner pedal is whether the pedal mutes the signal when engaged. Some Tuners will mute the signal when tuning so the audience does not hear you tune up while others do not mute and allow for tuning changes in the middle of songs. Keith Urban does this during the intro of Who Wouldn’t Be Me. In the intro you hear a guitar ring out an open E note and then tuned down to a D. Likely Keith is either doing it by ear or using a pedal that shows the notes being played without muting the signal, or he just listens for the correct note, but for the case of this segment, let’s say he does use a non-muting tuner pedal.
It is important that your tuning pedal has a large display and lights up brightly. The last thing you would want is to be on stage trying to tune your guitar in between songs and not being able to see our tuner pedal’s display. Check out the Boss TU-3 Tuner Pedal or the TC Electronic Polytune 2 if you are looking for a pedal that will mute the signal. If you are looking for a tuner pedal that will not mute the signal, look no further than the Korg GA Custom.
LOOPER
The Looper is a fun pedal that everyone should try at least once! A Looper (or a sampler) allows the user to record a small passage (usually a few measures) and repeat it back indefinitely. This then allows the user to play over top of it. It is largely used to loop the chords of a song and then the user plays lead over top of the looped recording. This is the perfect solution for those who want to try their hand at the one man band.
Many looper pedals have the ability to turn on a simple drum track that will go to the beat of the looped passage. Simple loop pedals will only have one knob that determines the loop playback level. While others have knobs for drums, levels and a plethora of buttons. It is important to research your looper pedal beforehand and see what features they have to best determine which one is for you.
The TC Electronic Ditto Looper is about as simple as you can get for a sampler pedal, one knob for levels and an on and off switch. The DigiTech JamMan and the Boomerang Phrase Sampler are more complex looping stations that allow the user to add drums, add layers of loops for more complex sounds and even reverse the loop. Check them out!
Well that wraps up our mini-effect series. We have discussed a vast ray of pedals that will help you on your quest for that perfect tone. Did we forget something? Have a tip on using these effects efficiently? Leave a comment below! Next week we will be returning to the Pedal Series with Part III discussing the difference between a physical rig and a simulation/modeled rig so be sure to tune in then.
Until next time, let the music play!
-S&R