Modern Usage of Guitar Effects

Modern Usage of Guitar Effects: A quick walkthrough of my pedalboard

Throughout the history of modern music, the usage of guitar effects has always been an essential element in music such as Psychedelic Rock and Classic Rock, as it helps create many soundscapes and textures that add a variety of tonal qualities to the music. Modern artists such as Tame Impala, St. Vincent, and Father John Misty have tackled different approaches to guitar effects, what I would describe as modern guitar effects usage, characterized by gated synth like fuzzes, vintage/lo-fi tones, and warm delays. Today we'll tackle my guitar tone by dissecting the main elements of my pedalboard:

The Pedals I'm using (By Order):

Monoprice Chromatic Tuner: Not related to the tone but had to mention this 20$ miracle machine that is essentially a Korg Pitchblack 1:1 copy, highly recommended.

ZVEX Fuzzolo: Don't let the size of this pedal fool you, it’s by far the hugest sounding pedal on my board, great for that gated synth fuzz sound that is characterized by a crispy crunchy break up thanks to the PW (Pulse Width) knob. Chords don't sound as muddy as other high breakup fuzz pedals, what’s also nice is that is cleans up with your guitar’s volume. Leads cut through the mix perfectly, and it emphasizes the note’s chunkiness.

TC Electronic MojoMojo Overdrive: Next up in the chain is the TC Electronic MojoMojo Overdrive, this gem adds a very “transparent” drive to your signal that brings out the tube warmth of your tube amp (that is if you're using a tube amp, which I wholeheartedly recommend), the added touch sensitivity to your playing is more than welcome and it helps bring out your character more and more.

ZVEX Box of Rock: Last up in the drive section is another creation of mad genius Zachary Vex (ZVEX), it’s comprised of two sides, a “Boost” side, and a “Rock” side, the “Boost” side does what it says it does, and for me, it does it so good that I keep it on most of the time, it helps tube amps reach breakup, moreover, it helps complement my dynamics and gives me control over single notes. The “Rock” side on the other hand tries to replicate the classic Marshall JTM45 and it does a pretty darn good job. I’m running the Box of Rock into a Marshall Class 5 and it can go from sweet sounding blues to Zeppelin territory.

Electro Harmonix Small Stone Phaser: For modulation, I chose the Electro Harmonix Small Stone Phaser, many modern artists have created a unique luscious signature tone based on phasing effects (Kevin Parker from Tame Impala, ex: Solitude Is Bliss). It is a 4 stage phaser with one additional stage for feedback which can be activated by turning the color switch on. I prefer its sound over the MXR Phase 90 sound as I find that the Small Stone sounds more organic to my ears.

TC Electronic Flashback Delay: For time-based effects, nothing trumps TC Electronic, their digital delays and reverbs are put simply immersive and clean. Moreover, the Tone Print feature can help you get many sounds out of one pedal. The pedal offers multiple delay settings, the “ANA” analog delay setting nails the analog delay sound, and in a comparison I made with the MXR Carbon Copy I always preferred the way the TC Sounded over the MXR. Another favorite setting is the “MOD” setting which offers a modulated (chorused) delay, this also allows you to turn the delay down to 0 and use the pedal as a chorus pedal when you need one and don't have one at hand. There’s also a subdivision toggle crammed in the middle that allows you to select quarter notes, dotted eighth, or a combination of both (Think Pink Floyd’s Run Like Hell).

TC Electronic Hall of Fame Mini Reverb: It can’t get any simpler than this, one knob, one switch, lots of reverb. The sound goes from a hint of reverb, to floating in space. You might think this pedal has only one setting, fret not fellow pedal lover, as this pedal is Tone Print enabled, thus you are not only limited to hall type reverb.

This current setup is fulfilling my needs, although I'd like to add in some equalization pedal for cutting through the mix and a pitch shifter for mixing with fuzz and delay to create synth like psychedelic sounds, what do you think about this board? What would you add or remove? Please leave your comments below and share your board with us. Thanks for tuning in and please be sure to subscribe to our RSS updates.