effect glossary

Boost, overdrive, delay, etc etc... there are so many effects out there! What the hell do they really do, and how do you decide what you actually need/will use? I found a glossary of effects http://www.guitartools.co.uk/guitar_effect_glossary.html , but it doesn't cover a lot of the ones I've seen mentioned here.

Any of our local players care to provide some short descriptions of what your "necessary" pedals do? Also, I'd love to HEAR what some of them do. (I watched Buzz Campbell's demo of the Burriss Boostiest and can hear the difference with the overdrive, but to be honest, can't hear the difference with the boost. The sound in that clip wasn't the best!)

I thought of adding this to the effect topic, but thought it made more sense to start a new thread for us beginners that need super-basic descriptions! Thanks folks!

Well, to really understand what effects do to a guitar, it helps to understand the basics of how an electric guitar and amplifier work to produce sound. Now I be' simplifying things a bit here (Bear85 can probably put it better as he's a physics teacher), but the basics of how an electric guitar works is this. You play a note(s) on the fretboard causing the string(s) to vibrate which generates a vibrating wave that creates a changing magnetic field at the pickups which induces a voltage (signal) that gets sent to the amplifier. The amplifier, then, utilizes a combination of electric circuitry (diff. combinations of vacuum tubes, transistors, potentiometers, resistors, capacitors, diodes, etc.) to amplify (pre-amp and power amp) the signal, ultimately producing something loud enough to physically drive a speaker(s). The speaker, then, converts the electrical signal back into a physical vibration that is transmitted as a sound wave (music).

Effects come somewhere between the guitar and pre-amp. input, although they can be incorporated later if your amp. has an effects loop. Personally, I take the Setzer approach and don't use that many effects. I think that too many pedals can ruin your sound, but that's a matter of personal taste and depends on what equipment you use. What type and how many effects you use will also depend on the styles of music that you play. I mainly use the following in my gear: Boss RE-20 Space Echo, Dunlop Crybaby Wah, Heil Talk Box, and Zoom multi-effects processor/tuner (sometimes, for everything else not covered by the 1st four). I don't typically use distortion pedals as I like to get distortion directly from the amplifier, but some good ones out there are the Boss MT2 Metal Zone for metal and hard rock applications and the Ibanez Tube Screamer for blues and classic rock.

Boss RE-20 Space Echo:
This modulates your signal to produce an echo effect with or without reverb. Basically what this does is add a variable echo delay to your sound which gives you that slapback effect. This pedal has been discussed quite frequently on this forum and the old one, and, again, here's my thoughts on it. If you're looking at this pedal to accomplish the pre-amp gain boost that the RE-301 does for Setzer's tone, you won't find it. However, if you're looking to replicate the BSO or Stray Cats Echo effect without worrying about the Bassman distortion, then this pedal comes pretty close. Now is it as good as an old analog echo unit? Well, maybe not, but I think it's pretty close without the hassle and maintenance worries of a vintage unit. I've tried some of the other units out there, but this one worked for me. It also can create alot of other spacey-type sounds besides regular slap-back echo (e.g. Robby Kreiger's solo tone from the Doors' When the Music's Over) and that is another plus for the unit.

Dunlop Crybaby Wah:
This modulates your tone by filtering high or low frequencies to produce the crying "wah" effect. You hear this used on everything from Classic Rock to Metal to Big Band Classical. It's a very versatile effect and it can be very expressive when used. There are many brands and models out there depending on your preferences.

Heil Talk Box:
This interrupts your signal path and diverts part of the sound up a tube to a microphone and part of it to an external speaker (2nd amp.). You play notes on the guitar, but mimic them and/or harmonize them with your voice resulting in an effect like the wah pedal, but more pronounced. Again this has been a popular choice over the years as many people from Aerosmith, Joe Walsh, Metallica, Bon Jovi, and others have used it, although Peter Frampton is the all-time master of this effect.

Zoom multi-effects processor/tuner:
This provides an inline tuner as well as typical multi-effects in one unit. None of the effects by themselves are overwhelming, in fact for most there are better options elsewhere (i.e. distortion, wah, etc.), but for that one song that calls for an octave up/down harmony, fuzz, or some other basic effect, sometimes it's easier and less expensive to use a multi-effects processor.

One other thing to keep in mind is that effects can be either analog or digital. Your guitar signal is analog, so digital effects employ converters to transform your signal back and forth between the analog and digital realms. Which is the best (analog or digital) for a certain situation depends on alot of factors including cost, sound, features, etc.

Also, alot of manufacturers have video demos of their effects on their respective websites, so you might want to check them out. Here's the one for the RE-20: RE-20 Video Demo

Hope that be of some help to ye.

Capt. Jones

Hi Oz,
I'm gonna stay out of this thread because I know I will write forever and it'll be
fun to hear from all our forum guitarists in answering your questions, instead of
me rambling on.

I do want to give you this video tool though, sign up for free and listen to all the
effects you want recorded with a good mic with a good guitar and amp.
They go into basic details about each effects controls and sounds!
proguitarshop.com is my favorite besides musictoyz.com :
clic to watch, listen and learn

Okay, I think you're looking for that Rockabilly/Setzer tone, so a Delay will probably be very important for you. In rockabilly the delay is normally set almost as loud as the original tone of your guitar, and to a very short time between the original Signal and the Delay. Normally you don't have that many repeats most players have 1-3. You can hear that Delay quite good on th Intro of sexy and seventeen.

And then you have the Choice if you guitar should stay clean, or not. Davy Jones is right, I think, most of the time it sounds best when the Amp is producing the distotion. That's also the sense of the Burris Booster, it Boosts your Signal, so the Amp starts to distort.

Another Pedal I like quite a lot is the Boss TR-2, which is a tremolo effect. This means that the yolume of your guitar is changed, just listen to that first guitar line Brian is playing in "take a break guys" that Change of the Volume is produced with a tremolo effect, but you also can use it to "cut" your into rhytmical phrases.

Okay, I hope this helped a bit, and that you were able to understand it, this really isn't the Vocabulary you learn in School english ( although I think you should )

Paul

holy cow. Thank you, all three of you, so much for the great input. Cap'n, I'll be studying and referring back to your post regularly. Tavo, that website is invaluable! And webby, thanks for listing pedals and giving examples of songs that use them- exactly what I was looking for!

I love this place.

Just ordered a Danelectro Fab Echo to get me started - for $15, figure I can't go wrong. Also got a Tascam MP3 guitar trainer on advice from a guitar playing friend- can't wait to use it!!

Packed up the geetar last night as carefully as possible in preparation for hopping on a homeward bound plane today... wish me luck! Thanks again all for your advice and experiences, they've been invaluable.