by Eilon Paz (Music 787.87 Paz)
Rock and pop guitarists have relied heavily on “stompboxes,” or effects they could control with their feet, since the days of Jimi Hendrix, Since then, players of many other instruments have incorporated them into their work, too. These little gadgets can become essential parts of various musicians’ “sound,” adding something just right and inspiring them to play differently. And in some cases, effects pedals can become instruments unto themselves.
These humble electronic devices got their start trying to emulate sounds that engineers would apply to recordings in studios, so that musicians could make similar sounds anywhere they might be playing. Likely everyone is familiar with some of the basics: there are reverb and delay pedals that make the sound appear to be in a much larger room than you might be playing in. There are various overdrive, distortion and fuzz pedals that make instruments sound like they’re overwhelming the amp that they’re being played through, or like a speaker is damaged. And various kinds of effects have become an iconic part of various music genres: slapback echo and gated reverb are a critical part of rockabilly, envelope filters on bass immediately bring funk music to mind, and distorted guitars are the classic sound of rock and roll, to name a few examples.
Musicians develop long relationships with the effects they use the most, just like their favorite instruments, and we have a great new book called Stompbox: 100 Pedals of the World’s Greatest Guitarists that is a much more in-depth look at the history and mystery of these magical boxes than the title suggests. The first section of the book, taking up a little over half of the page count, delivers on the book title. We get 100 high-quality photos of iconic effects pedals owned by notable artists from a wide range of music genres, along with a page or two of comments from each artist regarding their favorite pedal. Artists are represented in alphabetical order, so it’s easy to flip through this portion of the book to see if your favorites are there without even consulting the table of contents. The photos themselves are a lot of fun, as most of these stompboxes have been heavily used by their owners while touring, and most have the scars of a long life on the road. Many have lines or dots painted on as calibration points for their favorite settings, so each knob can be put back into place throughout the hustle and bustle of travel. We’ve all seen photos of well-worn guitars, but imagine how much more worn objects get when they spend their lives on the floors of dingy stages, and are used by stepping on them!
Most of the featured artists are still active, and it’s interesting to see the variety of their choices: some use old classics, while a surprising amount gravitate toward very new designs. Musicians tend to be their most conservative when it comes to choosing equipment, preferring to go with tried and true standards, but stompboxes are one of those corners of the musical world where the newest adventures still go hand in hand with classics. A few deceased artists who were known for their iconic use of effects are also featured, such as Allan Holdsworth, Frank Zappa, Dimebag Darrell, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and of course Jimi Hendrix, who first brought the use of effects with the electric guitar to the level of artistry. These folks are represented through quotations and remembrances of their friends or techs that worked on their equipment professionally.
If you’re into effects pedals yourself, or a fan of the electric guitar or guitar players, this much of the book would likely be enough to make it a worthwhile read. But then we get a “Features” section that makes up the rest of the book, with five very useful articles that place effects pedals into a broader historical context. This section gets started with a history lesson written by Dave Hunter, which goes back to the early history of simply trying to make guitars louder, which then lead to amplification. Once electric instruments were possible, the beginnings of effects started to happen through guitar and amplifier design. As technology evolved and the transistor became smaller and more affordable, guitar pedals became a reality in the 1960s. When viewed as part of a larger historical timeline like this, effects pedals don’t really seem so separate from electronic instruments in general—they’re just another aspect of the development of amplified instruments throughout the 20th Century.
Next we get a section called “Effects Explained,” which is very helpful to those who might not be familiar with the kinds of sounds generated by different effects by name. This is followed by a roundtable discussion with 15 different effects pedal designers, who are represented answering some general questions about what it’s like to build pedals today. This section acts as a bit of a photo essay, too, as each builders’ work environment is shown in large photos throughout the piece.
I think the next section is a particularly important one for a wide range of musicians, as it features an essay about the use of effects pedals on devices other than the electric guitar. Although effects pedals have historically been developed in conjunction with guitar players, they are frequently used by musicians who play other instruments as well, and they also come in handy as production tools in recording studios, where they are often applied to things like drum and vocal tracks. We find several excellent interviews with non-guitarist musicians here, such as drummer Matt Chamberlain, violinist Lisa Molinaro, synthesizer legend Jean-Michel Jarre, and saxophonist Skerik, all of whom use effects pedals both for studio recordings and in their live performances. Producer Justin Meldal-Johnson also chimes in about using pedals in recording studio environments, and there is a short overview about the use of effects pedals for vocalists as well.
The final two sections are an historical overview of the role of art and visual design of effects pedals, and a look at some rare pedals that belong to pedal collectors. While I generally get a little queasy at the notion of musical tools as art objects or collectibles, I did find the final collection shown here to be quite interesting, as it highlighted several Soviet-era Russian pedals, not the sort of thing one often sees. It’s a great reminder that these little devices have found musical uses outside of the English-speaking world.
As more boutique stompbox builders enter the market every day — a lot of new designers have started businesses during the pandemic—and as the features some of these devices are capable of has in some cases increased to the point where they can be considered instruments themselves, this is a great time to familiarize yourself with their history and where things are now. Stompbox is a great place to start your journey.
(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Pedal Culture: Guitar Effects Pedals by Megan Pai.)
( U.S. publisher’s official Stompbox web page ) | ( official Eilon Paz web site )
Recommended
by Scott S.
Polley Music Library
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