Pedal Guitar
Pedal Guitar
Pedal Boards - How to Enhance Your Playing Experience
The beauty of the guitar as an instrument is that it is so diverse and fits into any genre of music. This incredible versatility in turn creates many different types of guitar player, from the pure blues player reliant on tone to effects laden experimental guitarists.
Although greatly appreciative of pure tone and a simple set-up of just a guitar and amp, I always found myself to be inquisitive as to what other sounds I could get from my guitars. I suppose I just didn't want to be a one-trick pony sound and style-wise and limit my playing to one or two genres of music. Also, some of the music I was listening to when I was younger featured guitarists who were using various effects to give themselves a unique sound and try to make their music stand out from the crowd.
Effects pedals have been developing since they first appeared in the sixties and there are now literally thousands on the market. They come in all shapes, colours and sizes and do all kinds of weird and wonderful things to the sound of your guitar. The problem is, once you buy one they become a bit addictive and you start looking out for others to add to your set up.
Eventually, the net result is half a dozen or more pedals on the floor, all requiring three connections (in, out & power) every time you want to rehearse or perform live. In a live situation if you're sharing a stage with other bands/artists, floor space is often an issue. There are times when I've done a soundcheck and got everything right and then had to shove it all over to one side to make way for the next band and then shove it all back when it's my turn to perform. There is always the inherent danger of some clumsy oaf standing on your leads and damaging sockets, pedals or worse. After playing, everything needs to be disconnected and either carefully packed into boxes (which don't last long) or shoved into a bag where your nicely painted stomp boxes get scratched and chipped.
The inevitable solution to these issues suffered by many a guitarist (and roadie!) was to construct some kind of board and mount all the pedals on the top. The advantages of a decent pedal board are numerous: practical, time saving, pedal saving, ease of use and they look good! If the pedals are securely mounted it gives the player so much more confidence as they won't slide around on the floor which can affect the connections resulting in loss of sound or crackling noises.
The most popular way of attaching pedals to a board is to glue Velcro to the pedals and board and then attach them. As you probably know, the trouble with this is it's not totally secure and does come loose after time. Also, as with all vintage gear, some pedals are becoming increasingly collectable so glue and Velcro would devalue them and reduce the asking price if you decided to sell. With a Unique Pedal Board your pedals are preserved and the value maintained.
A different option to having individual pedals is a multi effects unit. Unfortunately, some of the effects don't sound very good, programming can be hard work, they can be very expensive and as they quickly become obsolete, reselling them can be difficult.
Therefore, in terms of investing in quality gear in the long run, it makes financial sense to go down the individual pedal route rather than a multi effects unit. With individual pedals avoid gluing Velcro to them. Then if you decide to change a pedal you can sell it for its maximum price because it's in good condition.
Some effects pedals quite happily run off batteries for several hours while others require a power supply. There can be noise issues such as hum when using the various power options, but I find a quality isolated power supply to be the quietest, neatest and most efficient way of powering my pedals. I don't like to risk using batteries which can start losing power without warning.
People have converted suitcases, used planks of wood and various other materials to construct DIY boards, but there is no alternative to a professionally made one. It just looks the part. Why have a nice shiny expensive guitar and amp and then plonk a DIY board made out of wood off cuts and plastic in front of your audience? Placing the board in a Flight Case is a must. It protects the pedals during transportation, especially if it's raining outside, and keeps the dust off them which can interfere with their performance in the long run. Now I just take of the lid, plug in the power lead and cables between amp/guitar and play. Simple. Remove the hassle, playing is what it's all about.
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Author: Martin Thompson
Uniquepedalboards.com
About the Author
How do I replace the battery cover on a guitar pedal?
I just bought a Marshall Shredmaster guitar pedal and like most of them, the battery cover is missing. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to how I could at least cover it up or replace the missing battery cover. Open to all suggestions! Thanks very much!
lol have you heard of duct tape it works really well (im not being sarcastic just in case you think i am) thats what i use when a battery cover gets lost or broken because of the family
Pedal Guitar
Overdrive pedal Distortion Pedal Mad Bull Metal pedals demo guitar effects
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GUITAR PEDAL COUPLER $1.99 GUITAR PEDAL COUPLER |
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Hosa Technology Guitar Pedal Coupler $1.99 Hosa Technology Guitar Pedal Coupler |
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Pedal Steel Guitar $81.25 High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles The pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal slide (the steel ) to stop or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it uses foot pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence its name. The instrument is supported horizontally on legs, with the strings facing up towards the player, and is typically plucked with thumbpick and fingers or (two or three) fingerpicks. The pedals are mounted on a cross bar below the body and the knee levers extend from the bottom of the guitars body and are used to stretch or slacken the strings and thus change the pitch in the process of the guitar being played; the action of the pedals may either be fixed, or may be configurable by the player to select which strings are affected by the pedals. The pedal steel, with its smooth portamenti, bending chords and complex riffs, is one of the most recognizable and characteristic instruments of American country music. Author: Miller, Frederic P./ Vandome, Agnes F./ McBrewster, John Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 112 Publication Date: 2010/12/20 Language: English Dimensions: 6.00 x 9.02 x 0.27 inches |
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Jet City GSOD Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal $79.95 The Jet City Overdrive pedal is designed by GuitarSlinger for exceptional quality. Designed by international guitar hero Alex Beyrodt and engineered in Germany, each pedal is built by hand, one at a time. |
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Zoom ZG21Nu Guitar Multi-Effects Pedal $199 The Zoom G2.1Nu effects pedal, based on the popular G2 pedal, offers a variety of new and practical features along with enhanced ease of use, improved tone technology and patches created by legendary guitar virtuoso Steve Vai. |
Wah Wah Pedal - What is a Wah Wah Anyway?
The wah wah pedal is a foot sized pedal that is used to change the sound affect of the notes played on a guitar. It changes the tone of the signal, and creates a "wah-wah" sound as the player rocks their foot back and forth. The speed at which the pedal is rocked changes the sound dramatically, and the player has full control of the movement and sound.
In 1966, the first wah wah pedal was created by a man named Brad Plunkell who worked for the Thomas Organ Company. It was a re-design of the Vox Super Beatle guitar amplifier. The Vox amplifier was being re-designed due to manufacturing costs and Brad Plunkell was an Engineer working on the re-design. The sound that was created by the pedal was accidental, and on discovering the sound the pedal made, it was decided by the company to actually use it as an effect for wind instruments.
The original invention was then modified by Brad Plunkell and Del Casher (a musician and also a consultant for Thomas Organ Company) who thought that it could be used to better accompany the harmonic tones of the electric guitar. It was then released for sale to the public in February of 1967.
Since then, this type of pedal has been used by many musicians. It is believed by many to add emotion and expression to note guitar lines. There are many musicians that have used and continue to use this effect pedal.
That list includes great musicians & bands from the past and present such as:
* Jimi Hendrix in Voodoo Child
* Pearl Jam in Alive
* Guns N Roses in Sweet Child o mine
* Metallica's Enter Sandman
* The Doors in Peace Frog
Along with being used by many guitarists, the wah wah pedal has been used by other musicians such as bass players, keyboardists, saxophone players and many more. For example Cliff Burton the Bass Player from Metallica was known to use the wah wah pedal, along with Rick Wright's performance from Pink Floyd in the song 'Money'
There are now many manufacturers that design their wahs. Among the top manufacturers is Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc. Dunlop was founded in 1965 and has since become the leading electronics effects manufacturer. Also they make the popular Cry baby wah pedal. VOX founded in 1957, is another leading manufacturer of the wah wah pedal as is the worldwide name brand Fender which was started in the early 1940's.
There is no doubt the Wah Wah Pedal is one of the most popular effects in music history. If you have never tried one, I suggest you go to your local music shop and ask to plug in. You may just discover that missing piece to your musical puzzle.
About the Author
If you would like to learn more about the wah wah pedal, visit our wah wah pedals resource site.
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Mug with Pedal Steel Guitar Image $13.95 These mugs are printed using a heat of 400 degrees. The end result is an image that is extremely durable. You can run this in your dishwaher microwavable safe without any worries. You can't feel the ink when you touch the mug, extremely smooth and glossy finish. .... |
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Man of Steel Pedal Steel Guitar Mug $13.95 These mugs are printed using a heat of 400 degrees. The end result is an image that is extremely durable. You can run this in your dishwaher microwavable safe without any worries. You can't feel the ink when you touch the mug, extremely smooth and glossy finish.... |
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Sho-Bud® Pedal Steel Guitars Coffee Mug, White $15.00 Sho-Bud® Pedal Steel Guitars Coffee Mug, White... |
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That Lonesome Song $7.59 The final cut on That Lonesome Songâkind of a concept album meets musical manifestoâis titled "Between Jennings and Jones," which is where Jamey Johnson finds himself shelved in the CD racks, and also how he describes his sound. Actually, there's way more Jennings than Jones, with two cuts covered from Waylon's classic Dreaming My Dreams (the title track and "The Door Is Always Open"), ... |
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Europe 72 $18.01 This sprawling three-records-on-two-CDs set offers a healthy cross-section of material and finds the band honing even further its blend of musical languages. There are country-inflected boogies, blues rave-ups, passionate ballads, and, of course, the extended, adventurous jams that made them famous. Many of the Dead's best-loved tunes made their initial vinyl appearances here, including "He's Gone... |
Pedal Guitar