WARNING: Guitar geekery ahead!
To the uninitiated, they look like boring little boxes with knobs and lights, usually found by the feet of many a musician on stage. Effect pedals (or stompboxes) are awesome little signal manipulators, packed with all sorts of means to warp the sound of an electric guitar; designed to put a smile on your face every time you kick it on. The effect pedal is probably among the most important inventions in the history of mankind ever.
While many musicians prefer plugging their axes directly into their amps, the introduction of the effect pedal to the world of guitar helped generations of musicians recreate the sounds they hear in their heads; contributing to the evolution of music since the 1960s.
Today there are an infinite number of pedals available in the market ranging from overdrives to reverbs, delays to pitch shifters, samplers to bit crushers. Pedals are to guitarist what paints are to a...well, painter...artist...you get the idea. They allow musicians to express themselves via their instruments, creating sonic textures that inspire and invoke.
Famous early experimenters of pedals include Chet Atkins, Keith Richards, Robin Trower, Pete Townshend and Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix was known for his revolutionary and iconic methods of expressing himself with the electric guitar, on record and on stage. Armed with a Fender Stratocaster, a minimal set of pedals and a monstrous amplifier, Hendrix unleashed mayhem while creating a template that would become the bible for generations of guitarists to this day.
Mike Einziger is a master who demonstrates the infinite possibilities of sonic creation through the music of his band Incubus. A multi-instrumentalist and an educated musician, Einziger's playing style and musical expression is a key element of Incubus' sound. But unlike Hendrix, Einziger's arsenal of sonic mayhem is far from minimal; a 3-section pedal board occupied by not less than 15 pedals. Without the use of switchers and loopers, Einziger gives a peak into his pedal-mastery in the video below:
Another famous musician whose usage of effect pedals continues to inspire guitarists today is Tom Morello. Through his musical projects such as Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave and currently Prophets Of Rage, Morello's portfolio includes headbang-inducing riffs and unconventional (and sometimes obscure) guitar solos, created with the intent of making the guitar sound nothing like a guitar.
As long as stompboxes are made, there will always be these little gizmos to inspire us. The stompbox is here to stay for a while, considering it has survived decades of wear and tear. Everyday a kid somewhere in the world is plugging in a new pedal and rockin' out to glory. Everyday new music is born.
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