Guitar Effects feature articles
- 10/29/16
ArticleA brief history of the Talk Box - History of the Talk Box
Although many hits have been marked by the Talk Box sound — take, for instance, California Love by 2Pac, Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi or Pigs by Pink Floyd — it still remains a little known effect. Often confused with the vocoder, the wah wah and even auto-tune, this mighty vocal machine is much older than you might think. At a time when there...
- 10/19/16
Getting startedThe top small brands for guitar effect pedals - The best small brands for guitar effect pedals
The long-awaited poll regarding "small" guitar effect pedal brands is finally here! It's open season for anybody who likes controversy!
- 09/26/16
Getting startedThe top big brands for guitar effect pedals - The best big brands for guitar effect pedals
Despite the explosion of the pedal market and the appearance of countless small manufacturers, the big names in the effects world continue to implacably dominate the business. Here's a list of the main players in the pedal world. Be it huge corporations or somewhat smaller enterprises, they all share a common trait: a large production capacity. ...
- 07/27/16
Getting startedThe Top Overdrive Pedals for Electric Guitar - The Best Overdrive Pedals for Electric Guitar
The overdrive pedal is one of the most timeless and classic effects for electric guitar, and finding the overdrive of your dreams can be a lifelong endeavor. They have become a true cult object and manufacturers have seized the opportunity to expand the offering exponentially throughout the years. Given the saturation of the market, it's not eas...
- 06/23/16
Getting startedLet's Get Small - Mini-effects pedals make configuring your pedalboard a whole new ballgame
One of the great things about pedalboards is that they give you the freedom to choose the effects you want for your rig. There is one caveat: Your pedalboard is a finite size, and you can only add effects up to a point before you run out of space. Without having to buy a larger pedalboard, you can maximize the number of effects you have by addin...
- 06/29/15
ArticleA Devilishly Clever Pitch Shifter - Review of the Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork
The Pitch Fork is a powerful and clean-sounding pitch shifter with some smartly designed features. It can produce shifts of plus or minus 3 octaves, which can make for some pretty cool and unusual sounds. With the addition of an expression pedal (not included), you can get whammy style effects as well.
- 03/30/15
ArticleThe gritty details on our five favorite overdrive pedals - The best overdrive pedals for electric guitar
With over 100 overdrive pedals listed on just one gear-shopping website, how does one choose the top five? The first order of business is to define the terms: An overdrive pedal should have enough volume to distort a clean amplifier before adding gain from the pedal. It should also have enough gain to provide a dirty sound on its own, though any...
- 05/15/14
Getting startedThe Top Digital Reverb Pedals - A Look at the Best Digital Reverb Guitar Pedals
Indispensable on the pedalboard of any guitarist — right next to the overdrive/distortion — the reverb pedal allows you to add some ambient or to modify the position of a sound in a mix. Naturally, it has kept up with the digital evolution and there are many different models available on the market right now. We asked the Audiofanzine community ...
- 02/11/14
Getting startedImpressive Compression - The Best Compression Pedals for Guitar and Bass
For those who have a tendency to hammer their electric or bass guitars with a heavy attack, or can't play consistent rhythm parts throughout an entire song, a compressor might be the solution. A compression pedal might also prove to be very practical in many cases when you want boost the volume of your instrument or add sustain.
- 06/27/12Article
Distortion… Clean and Simple - Understanding Those Magic Boxes of Doom
So the bad news is, it’s virtually impossible to tell what the distortion pedal sounds like without auditioning it personally.
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