Electric Guitar Effects Peddles

Posted by: Shayman on 30 August 2005

Hello all you proper musicians out there.

I wonder if you could help someone with virtually no knowledge of the electric guitar. My brother started playing last year and seems to have progressed really well. He is however simply playing his guitar straight through an amp.

I was thinking of buying some sort of effect peddle (is that the right terminology) for his birthday to add a bit of variation to his playing. What would I need to look out for and what would be a good place to start for the aspiring rock musician. What other accesories would be needed to get such a thing up and running? Another lead presumably for Output to Amp.

Any help would be gratefully received.

Jonathan

Posted on: 30 August 2005 by KRO

Jonathan,If he is playing rock a distortion pedal is about the most useful,if you push the boat out for about £250 you can get him a multi effects like the POD this does all the main effects plus amp simulations etc,it is very good.

Posted on: 30 August 2005 by Stephen Bennett

I bought a Pod II for a friend from a Music Shop the other week for £75.

It's a good place to start. All the effects and amp simulations you could want - sounds great through 'phones too.

I love Pod!

Stephen

Posted on: 30 August 2005 by Shayman

£250 is a bit out of my price range.

Would something like this be OK?

I was thinking more along the lines of 20 to 30 quid.

Jonathan

Posted on: 30 August 2005 by Stephen Bennett

quote:
Originally posted by Shayman:
£250 is a bit out of my price range.

See above

quote:

Would something like this be OK?

I was thinking more along the lines of 20 to 30 quid.

Jonathan

That's just a distortion pedal - it's nice, but you'd need to plug it into a 'real ' amp otherwise it's probably wouldn't sound that good.

The Pod has distortion, echo, reverb, chorus,wah and amplifier models - it sounds like a mic'd up amp out of teh headphone/line outputs.

So, if you can't run to a used Pod, get something by Zoom or Behringer that has an amp simulator built in.

You could try:
Pod II

or

Zoom Guitar FX

or

Zoom 505 Guitar FX

Regards

Stephen

Posted on: 30 August 2005 by Shayman

Thanks for your help. As I say I haven't a clue about these things. Maybe I'll try a low bid on that last one.

It is for a beginner so should be fine.

Cheers

Jonathan

Posted on: 30 August 2005 by Stephen Bennett

quote:
Originally posted by Shayman:

It is for a beginner so should be fine.

Cheers

Jonathan

There's nothing guaranteed to put off the beginner than poor equipment

.

Having said that, the products mentioned should be fine.

Other companies that make low price quality amp sims/guitar FX you may see..

Roland, Yamaha, Johnson J-Station, Boss and Korg.

Regards

Stephen

Posted on: 30 August 2005 by joe90

As a beginner I recommend you STAY FAR AWAY from stupid little effects boxes - they hide all your mistakes and in the long run, you will be worse off than if you actually learned how to play without them.
I know they're fun and all, but learning to make a good sound without them is an art - the art - of guitar.

Get a really good axe if you wanna spend money - i mean really good, like a Gibson or US Strat etc. Yes I know they're not cheap but save your pennies and you'll find as you become a more mature musician and listener that it's 'source first' in guitar, as well as hifi.

Posted on: 31 August 2005 by KRO

What a load of rubbish,first you can do better than Gibon/Fender maybe PRS/Tom Anderson/Suhr/Tyler etc,and what about the great players that have used cheap guitars Ry Cooder/David Lindley/Jimmy Page/Kurt Cobain/Jack White/Chris Rea/Leadbelly/Rory Gallagher/Leslie West ad infinitum,and i see every great player i can think of uses efects, in fact if he is playing rock with an overdrive sound,he would be better off spending his money on a good amp and a cheap guitar.

Every guitar player worth his salt will tell you that its in the hands not the make of guitar,i remember that you claim to be a guitar teacher,Hmm.

Posted on: 31 August 2005 by Stephen Bennett

quote:
Originally posted by joe90:

Get a really good axe if you wanna spend money - i mean really good, like a Gibson or US Strat etc. Yes I know they're not cheap but save your pennies and you'll find as you become a more mature musician and listener that it's 'source first' in guitar, as well as hifi.

But you'll still need an amp of some sort - or, if you can't play loud, an amp simulator. And as most of these have FX built in......

Electrics don't need to be expensive to be playable and have a nice sound these days.

Regards

Stephen

Posted on: 31 August 2005 by Shayman

Just spotted my horrendous spelling error in the title to this thread.

I should be shot. Apologies and thanks for not berating my mistake.

Jonathan

Posted on: 31 August 2005 by Stephen Bennett

quote:
Originally posted by Shayman:

I should be shot. Apologies and thanks for not berating my mistake.

Jonathan

We didn't lke to montion it.

Stephen