Guitar Gadgets : Cool Effects Pedals & Signal Processors for Guitarists

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The Guitar Gadgets Lens

A guide to exciting toys and gadgets for guitarists. Featuring gadget demonstrations, new and used gear, DIY projects and other cool guitar resources.

Designed to help guitarists find the best effects processors available. That means free audio applications, items on eBay, deals on Amazon, equipment exchanges and social networking.

To participate simply log on or grab a free Squidoo membership to get started. New contributions and products are always welcome. The emphasis is on unique creative devices that offer good value for money.

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Wikipedia - Guitar Effects 

Overview and links to FX pages

The full Wikipedia article provides information about a wide range of popular devices.

Category: File - :Ts9-stompbox.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The Ibanez Tube Screamer overdrive pedal

Effects units are electronic devices that affect the sound of an electric or electronic instrument or other audio source. Effects can be used in "real time", during a live performance (typically used with an electric guitar, electronic keyboard, or electric bass), or in post-production, with recorded vocals and instruments. To use an effect in a live performance, the effect is plugged in to the electrical signal path of the instrument. In a post-production setting, the source's auxiliary output is patched into the effect. Effects can also be used on other instruments or sound sources, like the Rhodes electric piano, acoustic instruments, or drums. While some effect units "color" the sound in a subtle way, others transform the sound in a dramatic fashion.

An effects unit consists of analog or digital circuitry which processes audio signals. In some cases, effects processing circuitry is similar to that found in music synthesizers, as it may include active and passive filters, envelope followers or envelope modifiers, wave-shaping circuits, voltage-controlled oscillators, or digital delays.

Effects units come in several formats, the most common of which are the stomp-box and the rack-mount unit. A "stomp box" (or "pedal") is a small metal or plastic box containing the circuitry which is placed on the floor in front of the musician and connected in line with the patch cord connected to the instrument. The box is typically controlled by one or more foot-pedal on-off switches and it typically contains only one or two effects.

A rack-mount effects unit may contain the identical electronic circuit, but is mounted in a standard 19" equipment rack. Usually, however, rack-mount effects units contain several different types of effects. They are typically controlled by knobs or switches on the front panel, and often by a MIDI digital control interface. "Guitar pedalboards" are used by musicians who use multiple stomp-boxes; these may be a DIY project made with plywood or a commercial pedalboard made from metal.

Modern desktop and notebook computers often have sound processing capabilities that rival commercially available effects boxes. Some can process sound through VST or similar plugins, such as RTAS or Direct X. With a decent sound card, musicians can play any instrument through a computer, emulating effects units or amplifiers. Many VST-plugins are can be downloaded for little or no cost.

Search Engines 

Music search engines for special tasks. You can add them to blogs and profile pages using the widget codes.
Guitar Tools Swicki
A search Swicki optimized for guitar related information. More focused and easier to use than standard search engines.
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Find free, legal music you can remix and reuse. Great for collaborations, songwriting, music production, podcasting, video soundtracks, etc. Focusing on Copyleft, Creative Commons, Open Source, and Public Domain media.
Twittersweet Music Search
Searches the microblogging platform Twitter. Optimized for finding music related conversations and channels to follow.

News & Developments

Moog Guitar 

Introducing The Moog Guitar

Check out our other Moog Guitar YouTube videos. The Moog Guitar puts revolutionary new technology in the hands of the guitarist. Moog Music is known for building the finest instruments and the Moog Guitar is first and foremost a very fine guitar; designed to be played by the best musicians as their primary axe. Its AAAAA maple top, mahogany body and ebony finger board bespeak the quality that musicians have come to expect from a Moog instrument. The addition of Moog Guitar Electronics opens guitarists to a whole new musical vocabulary: Not a guitar synthesizer, not a MIDI guitar or an effects processor; players are intimately connected to The Moog Guitar because it works its magic on the strings themselves.

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Buzz Tracker 

The latest blog posts about guitar pedals.
Make an easy guitar distortion pedal (STEP BY STEP!)
So, I decided to make an instructable! this is my 1st one, please feel free to comment on anything and everything.Note: ...
Zoom G2.1U Guitar Effects Pedal met USB Interface aangeboden ...
Zoom G2.1U Guitar Effects Pedal met USB Interface aangeboden prijs ? 59 in Herentals Antwerpen Elektrische gitaren Muziek en instrumenten op kapaza.be gratis zoekertjes.
Truth In Shredding: Bill Ruppert: scary guitar pedals!
Bill Ruppert: scary guitar pedals! Hi this is Bill Ruppert. I am writing to tell you of a new Effectology video I know your viewers would enjoy and have fun watching for Halloween. (This is the video series I do for Electro-Harmonix on ...
Pigtronix PolySaturator Distortion Guitar Effects Pedal | Effects Bay
I think I'm getting 'delayed' out, so I want to look at some distortion and/or overdrive pedals this week. I wanted to find something interesting and something.

FX Demos

Electro-Harmonix Tube Zipper Demo 

Electro-Harmonix Tube Zipper Demo

http://www.ehx.com Visit the all-new EHX site! For the Tube Zipper, go to: http://www.ehx.com/products/tube-zipper This is a small excerpt from the Electro-Harmonix DVD, and it shows a guy playing some crazy effects plugged into an Electro-Harmonix TUBE ZIPPER. One of the greatest pedals ever. Ever.

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Buy the Electro-Harmonix Tube Zipper 

Electro-Harmonix Tube Zipper

Amazon Price: $199.50 (as of 11/09/2009)Buy Now

The Tube Zipper is two effects in one, a warm sounding Tube Envelope Follower and a rich Tube Distortion unit. When these two effects are combined into the same circuit they produce entirely unique new and wild effects. The Tube Zipper uses two premium 12AX7EH vacuum tubes. The Drive and Input Gain knobs are for the distortion, the rest of the controls let you tweak the filter. The Mode switch is labelled "Tron" (for a smooth filter sweep) and "Trill" (modulation added to the filter). The Env switch is labelled "Up / Down" and selects the direction of the filter sweep.

Echo Pedal Tutorial 

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Guitar Pedalboards on Amazon 

Tracking effects pedalboards on Amazon

Amazon offers some of the best value deals online, you just need to dig a little deeper to find them. Here's a starting point for guitar pedalboards.

Jamman and Ebow Improvisation 

ebow demo

"reverse" ebow and jamman http://charly7v.blogspot.com/

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Jamman Looper Pedals on Amazon 

DigiTech Jamman Looper and Phrase-Sampler Pedal

Amazon Price: $234.99 (as of 11/09/2009) Buy Now

JamMan Looper Pedal

Amazon Price: $234.99 (as of 11/09/2009) Buy Now

Ebow on Amazon 

Heet Sound Plus EBow Electric Bow for Guitar

Amazon Price: $82.00 (as of 11/09/2009) Buy Now

Voice Box - Video by Jack Conte - Vocal Harmony Machine/ Vocoder 

Voice Box - Video by Jack Conte - Vocal Harmony Machine/ Vocoder

http://www.ehx.com Visit EHX.com for user videos, our blog, community fourms, and lots more! For more Voice Box product info, see: http://www.ehx.com/products/voice-box The Voice Box packs a multi-functional vocal synth processor into a tough and compact chassis. Sing, and you'll have a troupe of backup singers following you in perfect harmony. Or use the built-in vocoder to unleash classic synth-robot sounds. Diana Ross had the Supremes, Brian Wilson had the Beach Boys, Kraftwerk had The Robots. You have the Voice Box. The harmony processor creates 2- to 4-part harmonies directly from your vocals, in the same key as your accompanying instrument. Studio-quality reverb lets you independently add depth to your dry and harmony vocals. The focused 256-band articulate vocoder, designed by the same EMS genius who made vocoding famous, features adjustable harmonic enhancement and controllable formant shift. Plug in your mic and your instrument, and let your new voice -- or voices -- be heard! * Harmonically matches any electric instrument you plug into it * Professional quality pitch shifting algorithm produces realistic harmonies * The Low & High Harmony independently produces two harmony notes: 3rd and 5th * 9 accessible programmable presets * Natural Glissando * Gender Bender knob allows for male/female formant modification * Built-In Mic Pre with Phantom Power & Gain Switch * Balanced XLR Line Output: Interface directly with any mixing board or A/D converter * US96DC-200BI power supply included

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Electro-Harmonix Voice Box Harmony Machine and Vocoder 

Electro-Harmonix Voice Box Harmony Machine and Vocoder

Amazon Price: $192.35 (as of 11/09/2009)Buy Now
Used Price: $210.00

YouTube FX Demos 

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Software Gadgets

AmpliTube  

Free Audio and Music Tools 

Gadget Auctions

Pedals on eBay 

Current auctions for guitar pedals.

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eBay

Effects on eBay 

Current auctions for effects pedals.

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eBay

Guitar Rigs

Book Spotlight 

Guitar Rigs: Classic Guitar and Amp Combinations

Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 11/09/2009)Buy Now

Examines the great guitar/amp combinations that have created more than 50 years of fantastic music. Comes with a CD that demonstrates these and many more combinations so you hear them for yourself.

Rig Images 

Photos of guitar rigs on Flickr licensed under Creative Commons for reuse in your own projects..

the set up by billaday

the set up

Camera Obscura - Latitude Festival - 3D Greyscale Anaglyph by spiritquest

Camera Obscura - Lat...

Jim Hall gear - Blue Note NY - March 9th 1993 01 by chimsrichalds007

Jim Hall gear - Blue...

Jim Hall gear - Blue Note NY - March 9th 1993 02 by chimsrichalds007

Jim Hall gear - Blue...

Jim Hall Trio - Something Special - March 1993 08 by chimsrichalds007

Jim Hall Trio - Some...

"Red meat is not bad for you. Now blue-green meat, that's bad for you!" - HBW! by turtlemom4bacon

"Red meat is no...

New Guitar! by Tim Patterson

New Guitar!

Robben Ford's Rig by ArtBrom

Robben Ford's Rig

Jaguar/Les Paul + Orange Rig by Roadside Guitars

Jaguar/Les Paul + Or...

Pedals by OctopusHat

Pedals

Ben's Bass Rig by Roadside Guitars

Ben's Bass Rig

My Game Collection by MNgilen

My Game Collection

Guitar Rig by mimungr

Guitar Rig

Guitar rigs. 1970's & 2003 Orange side by side. by @davestone

Guitar rigs. 1970's...

Drum rig. by @davestone

Drum rig.

Spanish village garden rig 2 by slow Spain

Spanish village gard...

Spanish village garden rig by slow Spain

Spanish village gard...

My Telecaster Rig by gary j wood

My Telecaster Rig

automatically generated by Flickr

DVD Spotlight 

Fuzz: The Sound That Changed the World

Amazon Price: $19.95 (as of 11/09/2009)Buy Now

Billy Gibbons explores the noise industry through a series of interviews with pedalmakers and players including: J. Mascis, Peter Frampton, John Markovich, Justin Meldal-Johnsen. (90 Mins)

Reader Tools

Cool Guitar Gadgets 

Share your favorite guitar tools and gadgets.

Tascam MPGT1 Portable MP3 Guitar Trainer

Tascam MPGT1 Portable MP3 Guitar Trainer

Store up to 240 songs, slow down guitar parts, loo more...1 point

Vox Amplug - AC30 Compact Headphone Guitar Amplifier

Vox Amplug - AC30 Compact Headphone Guitar Amplifier

Plug this palm-sized headphone guitar amp directly more...0 points

Valve Junior Guitar Combo Amp

Valve Junior Guitar Combo Amp

The Epiphone Valve Junior Class A Guitar Amplifier more...0 points

Danelectro DJ-14C Fish & Chips 7 Band EQ Mini Effects Pedal

Danelectro DJ-14C Fish & Chips 7 Band EQ Mini Effects Pedal

7-band graphic for stage or studio use. Noise free more...0 points

Danelectro D-3 Fab Metal Effects Pedal

Danelectro D-3 Fab Metal Effects Pedal

Bold, combatative, hostile, belligerent, explosive more...0 points

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by DavidHolmes

David Holmes is a blogger and digital curator focusing on Internet Music, Open Content and Social Media.

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