Guitar effects pedals have been on the scene since the 1960's when guitar-based music became predominant. An engineer named Roger Mayer is credited with inventing the first guitar effects device, a "fuzz" box, that evolved into the modern distortion and overdrive pedal, and the wah pedal. Mayer's clients included such noted rock n' rollers as Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Jimi Hendrix. Supposedly, Mayer created the first effects pedal for his friend in the early 1960's. Now, countless effects pedals are used by guitar players every day.
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.
Just as the invention of the electric guitar and the amplifier gave the guitar player a far more powerful voice and greater sustainability of notes, so the effects pedals gave him a far wider range of expressive options. Today, even some acoustic guitar players and classical guitar players use effects pedals although the distortion and wah pedals used by electric guitar players aren't usually part of their tonal palette.
After effects pedals became popular, rack-mounted effects saw more wide use amongst guitarists, especially during the 1980's. The Yamaha SPX-90 and Eventide Ultra Harmonizer were two of the most popular rack effects that guitarists used at this time. However, guitar players soon realized that effects pedals were far more convenient and useful than rack gear, especially since the sound quality of digital pedals increased dramatically and eliminated the need for much rack equipment.
In order to make storage and transport much easier, guitar players will usually affix their pedals to boards ("pedalboards") with velcro, so that it's easy to "stomp" on their desired effects pedals. Volume and Wah pedals are usually mounted in such a way that facilitates their usage, since those pedals have to be "rocked" back and forth to affect their sound.
You'll find, though, that most guitar pedals are pretty simple to operate. With a simple "stomp," one can go from a blaring rock and roll distortion to a beautifully clean sounds. Some guitarists even use devices called "loopers" to chain groups of effects together than can be switched on and off simultaneously.
It's safe to say that most guitarists expend a lot of effort to get the "perfect" sound, and this involves configuring their guitars, amps, and effects pedals in the right combination. There are many different types of effects for players to chose from today: delay, vibrato, tremolo, chorus, pitch-shifting, flanger, overdrive, distortion, and the list goes on and on. Such effects can have significant changes on a guitarist's sound, which explains their ever-increasing popularity.
If you are guitarist who is wondering how you can shape your sound in new and exciting ways, then check out the above guitar effects. They might inspire you in ways you never considered possible.
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.
Just as the invention of the electric guitar and the amplifier gave the guitar player a far more powerful voice and greater sustainability of notes, so the effects pedals gave him a far wider range of expressive options. Today, even some acoustic guitar players and classical guitar players use effects pedals although the distortion and wah pedals used by electric guitar players aren't usually part of their tonal palette.
After effects pedals became popular, rack-mounted effects saw more wide use amongst guitarists, especially during the 1980's. The Yamaha SPX-90 and Eventide Ultra Harmonizer were two of the most popular rack effects that guitarists used at this time. However, guitar players soon realized that effects pedals were far more convenient and useful than rack gear, especially since the sound quality of digital pedals increased dramatically and eliminated the need for much rack equipment.
In order to make storage and transport much easier, guitar players will usually affix their pedals to boards ("pedalboards") with velcro, so that it's easy to "stomp" on their desired effects pedals. Volume and Wah pedals are usually mounted in such a way that facilitates their usage, since those pedals have to be "rocked" back and forth to affect their sound.
You'll find, though, that most guitar pedals are pretty simple to operate. With a simple "stomp," one can go from a blaring rock and roll distortion to a beautifully clean sounds. Some guitarists even use devices called "loopers" to chain groups of effects together than can be switched on and off simultaneously.
It's safe to say that most guitarists expend a lot of effort to get the "perfect" sound, and this involves configuring their guitars, amps, and effects pedals in the right combination. There are many different types of effects for players to chose from today: delay, vibrato, tremolo, chorus, pitch-shifting, flanger, overdrive, distortion, and the list goes on and on. Such effects can have significant changes on a guitarist's sound, which explains their ever-increasing popularity.
If you are guitarist who is wondering how you can shape your sound in new and exciting ways, then check out the above guitar effects. They might inspire you in ways you never considered possible.
About the Author:
About the author: R. S. Rasnick is the founder of JustEffectsPedals.com, where you can find all the effects pedals mentioned in this article and many, many more!
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