I started guitar in college because both my roommate and buddy played guitar and assured me it wasn't that hard to start. My parents bought me a cheap acoustic guitar off the home shopping network for Christmas and late I picked up an electric guitar by Sammick. I played a lot of Weezer and Foo Fighter's songs on my acoustic guitar or electric without an amplifier.
Fast forward, it's Pandemic 2020, stuck at home with 3 children and looking for things to do at home while actively confronting inner demons and I see my old acoustic and electric guitar sitting in gig bags in my home office. With generous Christmas donations from my parents and advice from co-workers, I purchased my first amp allow me to play electric guitar again. Based on recommendations from others, this amp has several other amps backed in and the ability to emulate various pedal tones. I discovered through accident that some of my favorite artists (The Strokes and The White Stripes) create their sounds using a smattering of Guitar Pedals.
So why might you care non-guitar player ? These little boxes are amazing. Essentially they are an electronic circuit you are putting between your guitar and the amp that as you turn on pedals they change the tonal quality of the sound. Many genres of music are defined by these pedals. While the ability of the player matters, the signature of these genres are made up through these pedals. Here's a video of the pedals that make up the Jack White sound from the white stripes.
A couple notes for would be guitar players. Pedals are extras not essentials. For me they evoke an emotional response that makes me want to play more. Few hobbies have lasting ways to put money in and get more play time and quality out of the activity like guitar. Anything (within reason) that makes me want to play more is good, especially if it layers with other investments so the pedal game has begun.
A very inexpensive way to start experimenting with different tones is to get a modeling amp. These amps, with a flick of a switch, sound like a variety of amps and even have pedal emulation so you can try a bunch of tones without even buying anything. You may ask, why buy pedals if your amp does this? To create more tones! The amp I have is fantastic but cause of the way it's designed (?) you can't do an overdrive pedal WITH a distortion pedal and many of my favorite bands do this. Having an external pedal lets me create a few sounds closer to bands I like which makes me play more which is generally my goal, to keep the hobby going with minimal spend.
Once you decide to buy things, it gets expensive. I've spent $425 which depending on your guitar and amp may be more than you've spent combined. When you consider the change in sound which is more than getting a new guitar will change it's impressive. An amazing factor of this hobby compared to others is the ability to resell gear for what you paid or if it's a good piece of gear, it may appreciate in value!
I have 4 pedals that I won't really try to review cause I have no idea what I'm doing:
Fast forward, it's Pandemic 2020, stuck at home with 3 children and looking for things to do at home while actively confronting inner demons and I see my old acoustic and electric guitar sitting in gig bags in my home office. With generous Christmas donations from my parents and advice from co-workers, I purchased my first amp allow me to play electric guitar again. Based on recommendations from others, this amp has several other amps backed in and the ability to emulate various pedal tones. I discovered through accident that some of my favorite artists (The Strokes and The White Stripes) create their sounds using a smattering of Guitar Pedals.
So why might you care non-guitar player ? These little boxes are amazing. Essentially they are an electronic circuit you are putting between your guitar and the amp that as you turn on pedals they change the tonal quality of the sound. Many genres of music are defined by these pedals. While the ability of the player matters, the signature of these genres are made up through these pedals. Here's a video of the pedals that make up the Jack White sound from the white stripes.
A couple notes for would be guitar players. Pedals are extras not essentials. For me they evoke an emotional response that makes me want to play more. Few hobbies have lasting ways to put money in and get more play time and quality out of the activity like guitar. Anything (within reason) that makes me want to play more is good, especially if it layers with other investments so the pedal game has begun.
A very inexpensive way to start experimenting with different tones is to get a modeling amp. These amps, with a flick of a switch, sound like a variety of amps and even have pedal emulation so you can try a bunch of tones without even buying anything. You may ask, why buy pedals if your amp does this? To create more tones! The amp I have is fantastic but cause of the way it's designed (?) you can't do an overdrive pedal WITH a distortion pedal and many of my favorite bands do this. Having an external pedal lets me create a few sounds closer to bands I like which makes me play more which is generally my goal, to keep the hobby going with minimal spend.
Once you decide to buy things, it gets expensive. I've spent $425 which depending on your guitar and amp may be more than you've spent combined. When you consider the change in sound which is more than getting a new guitar will change it's impressive. An amazing factor of this hobby compared to others is the ability to resell gear for what you paid or if it's a good piece of gear, it may appreciate in value!
I have 4 pedals that I won't really try to review cause I have no idea what I'm doing:
- BOSS RC1 Loop Station: This records what you play and allows you to play it back and play along with yourself. Useful if you don't have anyone to play with but want to emulate friends. Even as a beginner I find it very useful as a feedback loop that lets me hear how bad I'm playing and how I could be better.
- Truetone Jekyll & Hyde: This makes you sound like The Strokes. It's the basis of their sound which is simple but really quite dynamic. It's also two pedals in one so I guess that's a deal?!
- JHS Twin Twelve: This makes you sound like Jack White in The White Stripes. Mostly, the amp at least as he uses few specific tones like a Fuzz and digital octave pedals.
- Earthquakers Plumes: Another over drive pedal with a few settings allowing it to be a boost, even a bit of of a distortion. It's very popular and you see it on alot of pedal boards on reddit.
If you play electric and haven't tried one, you should! If you don't play guitar... you should try, it's a wonderful experience.