Wah – Wahs, Flangers, Phasers & Delays!! The world of effects are confusing to say the least, full of complicated and sometimes humorous names to describe sounds that you can easily imagine but sometimes find difficult to describe or articulate. Which is why I’ve written a series of articles on effects pedals and their use/context. This week it’s all about the gain as we take a look at distortion pedals.

Overdrive:

The Boss OD-3 Is A Staple Overdrive Pedal

Technically Overdrive is a type of distortion but it can vary so much in tone and application that I’ve chosen to separate the two. An overdrive pedal simulates what happens when you ‘overload/drive’ the tubes in an amplifier past the point where a pristine sound is possible. It can alter the sound of your channel to anything from a subtle punch of gain and volume to something quite meaty and powerful added to your signal chain. The advantage of using an overdrive pedal over just a tube amplifier is that you don’t have to play at an unreasonable volume level to get that natural overdriven sound that you want and you can splice your favourite overdrive pedal with the amps natural overdrive to create a sound completely your own.

Overdrive (as with a lot of gain based effects) takes time to dial in the best settings for the job and rewards experimentation and combinations that you might not of thought of. One of the most collectable guitar pedals of all time is in fact an overdrive: the fabled Klon Centaur, a pedal that can go for upwards of £1000+ so the demand for divine sounding overdrive in pedal form is always prevalent.

Famous examples of overdrive include: “The Rumble” – Link Wray, “You Really Got Me” – The Kinks, “Whole Lotta’ Love” – Led Zeppelin & many, many others.

To see our stock of overdrive pedals click here.

Distortion:

The Fender Pugilist Is a Brand New Distortion Pedal 

Distortion is a more extreme version of overdrive, over-saturating the signal with more and more overdrive until the original sound is considerably more gain infused, sometimes to the point where the original clean sound cannot be heard at all in the sonic mix. Distortion also grants an almost violin like sustain due to the natural overtones and raw power of the effect and by default is one of the most the common effects available on the market today (often included with every amplifier as standard).

The reason we use distortion pedals however is to provide even more variety to your amps sound, as you may want a distortion tone different to the one naturally found within your amp, or to help you sound like your favourite players. Like overdrive Distortions can be mixed together to create unique and sort after tones or to add even more saturation to your overall sound.

Famous examples of distortion include: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – Nirvana, “ Iron Man” – Black Sabbath and “Panama” – Van Halen (as well as countless others).

To see our stock of distortion pedals click here.

Fuzz:

Fuzz is an extreme type of distortion that has often been described as woolly, raspy and thick and was extremely popular in the 60s, 70s and 90s. The Fuzz effect also sounds far more compressed and squashed in frequency range compared to distortion and as such has a very definite tonal niche on the gain spectrum.  Able to evoke association with the decades in which it was popular fuzz has the uncanny ability to make a guitar line sound very nostalgic and powerful, although it’s not as usable in as many contexts as overdrive or distortion (unless you are a fuzz fiend of course). Still it’s very much worth experimenting with if you’ve never gone out of your way to experience the fuzz effect firsthand, who knows you may morph into one of those hardcore Fuzz enthusiasts (we know you’re out there).

Famous examples of Fuzz include: “Cherub Rock” – The Smashing Pumpkins,  “Satisfaction” – The Rolling Stones and “Purple Haze” – Jimi Hendrix.

Wah Wah’s, Flangers, Phasers & Delays!! The world of guitar effects is confusing to say the least, full of complicated and sometimes humorous names to describe sounds that you can easily imagine but find difficult to describe or articulate . Which is why I’ve written a series of articles on effects and their use, starting with this one: a Beginners guide to “Time” based effect types.

Delay’s and Reverb’s (Time).

“The Boss DD-7 Is  A Classic Delay Pedal”

Delay and Reverb pedals are some of the easiest pedals to imagine and visualise and prove to be some of the most popular pedal types on the market today. Reverbs are extremely common and are often built into amps as standard (although guitarists love to add a reverb or two on their boards to give a greater breadth of tonal versatility) reverb essentially adds a greater feeling of space to your guitar sound, as if your playing in a hall or at a stadium.

Delay on the other hand is similar to that of an echo, allowing your sound to be rebounded back to you, creating a huge sense of distance and space that is hard to replicate by any other means. Both delay and reverb are highly atmospheric and when combined together artistically can create otherworldly tones that are totally unique.

Famous examples of Reverb: “When The Levee Breaks” – Led Zeppelin,  “In The Air Tonight” – Phil Collins, “Miserlou” – Dick Dale & “Hallelujah” – Jeff Buckley.

Famous examples of Delay: “Welcome to the Jungle” – Guns & Roses, “Where the Streets Have No Name” – U2 & “Walking on the Moon” – The Police.

Our Stock of Reverbs & Delays.

Chorus, Flange & Phase.

“The Digitch Nautila Fuses Flange & Chorus Tones Together”

These three have rather eccentric names but are very distinctive in tone, Chorus adds a thickness/fullness to your guitars tone and is a stunning effect to use (if tasteful) and can easily make a clean sound incredibly beautiful and 80’s inspired (chorus was all the rage in the 1980’s). A Flanger is a more intense version of a chorus which has an ever so slightly larger manipulation of the tones phase which results in a dramatic yet iconic tone and is often described by many as “whooshing”. Phasers are very similar to flangers in many respects but have a more cutting and higher frequency tone (often described as wavy), and can be dialled in to be more subtle and light than chorus and flanger, perfect for funk and soul guitar tones.

Famous Examples of Chorus: “Message in a Bottle” – The Police,  ”Purple Rain” – Prince and “Come as you Are” – Nirvana.

Famous Examples of Flanger: “Kashmir” – Led Zeppelin, “Barracuda” – Heart & “The Spirit of Radio” – Rush.

Famous Examples of Phaser: “Eruption” – Van Halen, “Paranoid Android” – Radiohead & “Just the Way You Are” – Billy Joel

Our Stock of Chorus, Phaser & Flanger

Fender instruments have long held something of a mythological status in musical circles since their introduction into the market in the 50’s and looking at them with modern eyes it’s not hard to see why. Despite the fact that Fenders seem to radiate a “future of tomorrow, today!” sci-fi design they are utterly timeless, with curves exactly where they should be & with a play-ability that is still unmatched. Here is my run down of the most iconic Fender designs and how they stand up today to our modern, cynical tastes.

Telecaster:

Upon first inspection the Telecaster looks almost gruff and simplistic in appearance, perhaps even a little to ordinary but it’s only when you get up close to one that you realise how utterly charming the model is. Leo’s first design was the Telecaster and you can tell that he created it from an engineer’s perspective as its pure function over form, but that simplicity is the Teles most attractive feature.  It’s guaranteed that every guitarist will get the “Tele bug” at some point, lusting over one when no other design will do as holding one connects you to the very roots of electric guitar history itself. No matter what your style a solid Tele will always be relevant and are tough enough to survive virtually anything.

Our Tele Stock

Stratocaster 

Quite possibly the most iconic electric guitar design, the Strat looks just as good today as when it was unleashed unto the world in 54’ and continues to inspire a loyalty like no other guitar before or since (apart from perhaps its rival the Les Paul). The Strat looks like a product of its era, emulating a space age almost “Jetsons” like appearance that is pleasurable to both the eye and hands as its curves are strategically placed to give a perfect ergonomic experience. Throw in a unique pickup configuration and tone combined with its groundbreaking tremolo system and you have a staple instrument for the ages.

 

Duncan & Russ sharing their mutual love for the Strat design.

Our Strat Stock

Jazzmaster:

The favoured guitar of alternative rockers everywhere, the Jazzmaster has grown a cult-like fan base over the years due to its leftfield design and boom of popularity in the 90s. Played by alt-rock royalty this instrument continues to appeal to those that want a clear and well rounded tone that can dirty up to the extreme when needed. Bulkier than its Start and Tele siblings the Jazzmaster is certainly broader in size, reassuringly weighty even but for those that want something slimmer this may not be the guitar for you. Despite its size however it’s incredibly easy to play and has unique tremolo systems that not only works effectively but holds its tune surprisingly well. This is the perfect axe if your attitude is as against the grain as the Jazzmaster is.

Our Jazz Stock

Precision & Jazz Bass’s:

In addition to the big three of the guitar world Leo also gave two iconic bass designs, the Precision & the Jazz, based loosely design concept wise on the Tele and Strat respectively. The P Bass has a bulk and thickness that creates a booming tone used on countless classic recordings and the Jazz bass has a silkier neck and more detailed control system which results in refined and smoother tone.  Both instruments are still incredibly popular today and inspire legions of fans the world over.

Our Bass Stock

So which one is your favourite? Let me know in the comments below as this topic has divided opinion but one thing is certain, the legacy of Fender is certainly assured.