Effects pedal
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An effects pedal (or a "Stomp Box") is an electronic effects unit housed in a small metal or plastic chassis used by musicians, usually electric guitar players, to modify their instrument sound. Musicians playing electronic keyboards, electromechanical organs, the electric bass, or electric violin also use effects pedals. These devices alter the sound quality or timbre of the input signal, adding effects such as distortion, fuzz, overdrive, chorus, reverberation, wah-wah, flanging, phaser or pitch shifting. The sound of a guitar or other instrument that is played without an effects pedal is described as "clean", "straight" or "dry."
Users refer to them as pedals because they sit on the floor and have large on/off switches on top that are activated using the foot. Some pedals, such as wah-wah or volume pedals, employ what is known as an expression pedal, which is manipulated while in operation by rocking a large foot-activated (treadle) potentiometer back and forth. The relative position of the expression pedal changes some parameter of the effect, such as a filter response in a wah pedal.
Effects pedals permit the musician to activate and deactivate effects while playing an instrument. Some musicians use rack-mounted effects processors controlled using MIDI instead of or in addition to effects pedals, since the greater size of the rack form factor usually allows more flexibility and processing power. Others prefer only using a few analog effects pedals, to avoid sending the instrument signal through multiple stages of analog-to-digital conversion, as occurs in more complicated and powerful digital effects processors.
Guitar
A guitar effects pedal is connected into a signal chain using two 2-conductor (conductor and shield) instrument cables with 1/4" jack plugs (or "phone plugs"). The input jack is usually on the right side, and output on the left; thus the signal path for a chain of pedals is usually right-to-left. Some effects pedals have stereo out via two mono out signals, and a few have stereo input jacks as well as stereo output jacks. Several pedals can be linked together in a chain. An effects chain can be placed between the guitar and the guitar amplifier's preamp section, within the guitar amplifier's effects loop, after a guitar amplifier's Direct Inject (D.I.) line-level tap jack, after a "dummy load" attached to the guitar amplifier's output jack, or at the mixing board to process the miked guitar-speaker signal.
When a pedal is off or inactive, the signal coming in to the pedal is shunted onto a bypass, so that the "dry" or unaffected signal can go on to other effects down the chain, and thus any combination of effects on a chain can be created without having to reconnect boxes during a performance. "True Bypass" means the presence of an isolated wire passing straight through the effects pedal, as opposed to "buffered bypass," which uses active circuit elements to connect the input to the output. While these are 2 popular configurations, there are other bypass methods, such as input-only bypass which is semi-passive.
The instrument signal can be routed through the stomp boxes in any combination, but to shape and preserve the clarity of the basic distortion tone, it is most common to put wah and overdrive pedals at the start of the chain; pedals which alter the pitch or color of the tone in the middle; and boxes which modify the resonance, such as flanging, delay (echo) and reverb units at the end.
EQ, auto-wah, phaser, and vibe effects fit naturally at any position without introducing intermodulation distortion, while the emphatically time-based effects can sound unnatural and chaotic if placed early in the chain. Effects pedals can be used together with other effects units and a guitar amplifier's built-in effects. However, when too many effect pedals are used, unwanted noise and hum can be introduced into the sound. Some performers use a noise gate pedal to reduce the unwanted noise and hum.
Pedalboards
A guitar pedalboard is a flat board or panel which serves as a container, patch bay and power supply for effects pedals. Some pedalboards contain their own power supply, in order to power many different pedals. Pedalboards assist the player in managing multiple pedals. The entire pedalboard can be packed up and transported to the next location without the need for disassembly.
Pedalboards often have a cover or case which protects the effects pedals during transportation. Some boards use soft cases or gig bags, and some use hard-shell or ATA cases. Hard shell pedalboard-cases have foam padding, reinforced corners, and locking latches which protect the pedals during transport. Like the pedals they carry, pedalboards can be self-assembled, or purchased from manufacturers such as Gator, SKB, and Pedaltrain. Many successful touring musicians employ a technician or contractor to custom-build a pedalboard to suit their needs, such as the elaborate custom pedalboards Pete Cornish built for David Gilmour and other artists.
Switching pedals
Many traditional guitar amplifiers have built-in effects such as reverb, overdrive and tremolo or vibrato, and a switching pedal, wired to the back of the amp, which turns the effects on or off. Many post-1980s amplifiers also have a distortion channel, which adds tube or transistor overdrive. Players switch between clean and distorted channels of an amplifier with a switching pedal. These pedals do not contain any effects circuitry themselves, and are also called foot switches or stomp switches.
Some 2000s-era bass amplifiers also have onboard effects, such as a suboctave generator and overdrive/distortion. On some bass amplifiers, there is an equalizer which can be switched on and off with the switching pedal. As with electric guitar amplifiers, these bass amplifiers often come switching pedals to allow the player to turn the effects on and off at their will.
Related pedals
Many other musical instruments, among them the piano, pipe organ, drums, and harp, also make use of pedals to achieve tonal, dynamic, or other effects. The piano's mechanical sustain pedal is one well-known example. Pipe organs and electromechanical Hammond organs have one or more expression pedals and sometimes a crescendo pedal, which the organist can use to achieve dynamic (or "expressive") changes. Some large church and theater organs also have push-buttons for the feet, so that the player can activate different stops. These are neither considered nor called effects pedals. Pipe organs and Hammond organs also use another type of pedals on their bass pedal keyboard, which is a 20- to 32-note keyboard operated with the feet.
One major exception appears on modern electronic organs and synthesizers, which usually include a volume pedal similar to that of a guitar. The electronic organ pioneered this kind of pedal, not the guitar. Some advanced models also include an additional effects pedal that may be programmed to serve several of the functions described in the preceding section. The operation of each is similar to those on guitars; the organist places an entire foot on the pedal and, while playing, gently pumps up and down with heel and toe pressure to achieve the desired effects. Because the organist is usually seated and thus has better balance than the guitarist, the pedals are designed to have a wider range of motion. The organist can thus bring about more pronounced changes than the guitarist with only slight changes in foot pressure.
Some pedals, in fact also have switches on the end that enable still other effects by "scrunching" the toes to the left or right on the pedal, either in isolation or while pumping the pedal up and down, leading to far more flexibility than most guitar pedals.
Another stompbox found in solo music is the foot drum-style stompbox. The unit will commonly connect to a PA via an XLR or guitar jack and provide the Front of House speakers with a kick drum sound which can add rhythm to solo acoustic music. Some musicians use homemade stomp boxes which consist of a wooden box and a microphone.
Tributes by musicians
Many pop and rock musicians have referred to their favorite effects pedals in their songs:
- Catherine Wheel - song "Ursa Major Space Station" on Chrome (1993); song "Here Comes the Fat Controller" on Adam and Eve (1997)
- Mudhoney - EP entitled Superfuzz Bigmuff (1988)
- We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It - all-female British '80s band
- Wah! - British '80s band
- Kitchens of Distinction - song "Blue Pedal" on The Death Of Cool (1992)
- They Might Be Giants song "Stomp Box"
- Wah-wah - Buffalo Tom "Besides" 2002
- Wah-wah - George Harrison "All Things Must Pass" 1970
- Super Furry Animals - song 'Play It Cool' includes the lyric "The electric mistress always sounds so bold/She says I'm free to do anything I'm told" (Electric Mistress is a flanger pedal by Electro-Harmonix)
- Depeche Mode - song "Big Muff" on Speak & Spell (Big Muff is a fuzz effect made by Electro-Harmonix).
- Screaming Trees - named for the distortion pedal made by Electro-Harmonix.
- Nine Inch Nails - song "Echoplex" on "The Slip", named after the Maestro Echoplex tape delay.
- Harmonic Generator - The Datsuns "The Datsuns"
- Big Muff - John Martyn "John Martyn"
- The Fuzztones - 1980s garage rock band
