The Stomp Box – Effects Pedal Blog

I would say that 95% of people who start learning to play an instrument do so because they wanna learn to play their favorite songs. In fact, most of the time, music theory and technique does not exist in the beginner’s mind, they only want to learn to play songs, that’s it!

On the other hand, learning to play songs does break the routine of learning theory and practicing exercises. Learning to play songs you like is motivating and fun, although it could also be very frustrating if you choose a song that involves lots of techniques or difficult chords that you’re yet to learn.

So the question here is how can you find songs to learn?

First, you need to decide what type of music are you looking for. This is a huge task as there are many music styles available for us and finding TAB or music sheets from artists you don’t even know can be a bit expensive and of course time consuming.

So ask yourself: What artists or music styles do I like? Am I wanting to pay money to learn to play the songs? Am I ready to jump in and start learning to play songs? If you have these answers then let’s make the next move.

Where to go to find the song lessons? Getting a private tutor to teach them to you? No way, that will be too expensive… besides that, a tutor would be great to teach you technique and tricks, not song lessons. The INTERNET is the answer!

Have you searched for guitar tab websites? There are heaps of great options out there. One site that has been around for ages and keep their library always on top of things is Ultimate Guitar – It is excellent as it has a very comprehensive database of all major bands and music styles. This site contains enough TABs to keep you playing your guitar for your entire life.

Another good site is Songsterr.com which also has a very big song library divided by music genre, artists, songs, etc.

Both of these sites have a FREE and paid option, so there is something for everybody!

If you are looking for a more modern option, one-on-one video song lessons could be the way to go. If this sounds like you, pop on over and check out our friends at Songpond.com – they have around 60 video song lessons available + around 70 technique lessons with great audio and video quality.

And of course, the king of video on the web, Youtube, where quality and accuracy are never guaranteed, if you’re willing to take the time to search there are definitely some really high quality players and tutorials to be found.

Let us know what style of music you like more. What songs you would like to learn. We would love to know more about you.

Good luck with your lessons!

Luis Tovar

Are you after a Mini guitar? I am sure that if you are a traveller, these type of guitars are your best choice, and let’s be honest, even if you are not into travelling at all, having a mini guitar at home is cool, they have a really good size, they are cute looking and they have a good tone, well, not all of them. I think I have heard live two or maybe three minis in my whole life.

A Mini Maton, owned by Dan – member of the Jamorama team who might have some time later to review his guitar – and a Cort Earth Mini, both of these guitars have great tone. Perhaps the Maton could win the battle, but let’s talk about the Cort Earth mini first!

I heard that the Cort Earth mini is like a small acoustic jewel, it comes in the ¾ format, which basically means that they are ¾ of the normal guitar size; but what are these guitars good for?

I think they are good for carrying it with you anywhere you go, if you go out camping on the weekend, if you go to the beach at night, if you go to a mates place, even if you go to the toilet… yeah! Inspiration can come anywhere, you never know. And of course, they are great for kids, beginners or for small handed people.

Let’s see this particular Cort guitar. Cort is a well known brand worldwide and they do things good… they have a product for anyone’s budget, from their more simple and cheap series to their AS or EVL series.

This Cort Earth Mini comes well packed and it also comes with a gig bag (soft) which is great to keep this beauty always safe. It has a dovetail neck joint, body is ¾ sized with solid spruce top with mahogany back and sides. Neck is also Mahogany and the fretboard is rosewood as well as the bridge and the scale is 22 ¾”. Right! All good with the materials and specifications, what about the sound?

I am not an expert on mini guitars, however I can say that this guitar sounds good, I don’t think you’ll believe just how big a sound and how nice a sound that comes out of this mini. It has a great volume for its size, lacking of course of bass, but you were not expecting great low frequencies from a mini, were you?

The Cort Earth mini finishes are very minimalistic, it doesn’t have any designs or any particular finishes, it is more of a vintage looking acoustic guitar or as Cort’s people describe it: “vintage acoustics from the golden age of guitar building”.

What is cool about its finish is the feel of the wood, it does feel earthy, opened-pore, which is something that I really like on wood instruments, especially guitars. The fretboard is tiny and feels really really soft and nice, that is why this guitar could be a great guitar to start with for a beginner or a kid. A great thing this guitar has is black rubberized tuning pegs- not a must-have, but very comfortable if you think about it.

There are other brands making minis such as Martin, Taylor, Maton and many more, however the Cort Earth Mini is probably among the lowest priced in the market with great sound and good quality components, I would recommend it eyes closed – 100%! And it’s not like Cort is paying me for selling it.

Check this video and let me know what you think:

Luis Tovar

Marijana sent this pic of her ram’s head tattoo.

Using his EHX Iron Lung Vocoder, Brice DeLage and What About Your Mom perform an awesome cover version of Daft Punk’s “Harder Better Faster Stronger.”

We’re digging into the archives for this week’s Friday Giveaway item—an MXR M86 Classic Distortion!

This limited little beauty is currently unavailable, save the occasional eBay auction, and was only sold through Guitar Center a couple of years ago. It contains a similar circuit to the classic MXR Distortion III, and is housed in a sexy black case with custom graphics, simple controls and bonehead simple setup. And it really roars—from gritty overdrive to dark and mean distortion, the MXR Classic Distortion is a timeless bedrock tone shaping device.

Enter to win this rare effect by using the comments section to tell us about your favorite classic distortion tone—which song, who played it, on which album?

(This giveaway is open to US residents only; we’ll announce a winner next Thursday, May 4.)

UPDATE Thursday 5/03: Congratulations to Brodi K. of Wakefield, MI, winner of this giveaway! Check our Facebook page or Twitter feed every Friday for more Dunlop Giveaways!

From his distinctive look to his timeless riffs and unmistakable tone, Slash is one of the most recognizable rock guitarists of all time. When it was time to create a line of signature pedals, he turned to his friends at Dunlop.

Slash took time out of rehearsals for his upcoming Apocalyptic Love tour to talk about his new signature Slash Octave Fuzz and Slash Cry Baby Classic.

Talk a little bit about what got you into wah and fuzz in the first place. What were the songs that featured those effects that made a big impact on you?

One of the big influences was Jeff Beck with Rod Stewart doing “I Ain’t Superstitious.” It was this insane wah pedal with distortion—a really unique application that always stuck with me. There were certain things that Jimi Hendrix did with fuzz and octave that I thought were really cool. I’ve always wanted to be able to pull off something along those lines.

You’re not exactly known as a big effect guy.

I have a limited amount of effects that I use, and most of them are effects that I physically control myself, like the wah or the talk box. But the fuzz and the octave up are an extension of the sound that I’m already using—which is an overdriven tube amp. I just want to add a little to that, and that’s what this new Slash Octave Fuzz pedal does.

…

What did you want with the Slash Octave Fuzz?

There are some octave fuzz tones on records that I love, but the pedals that created them are very unpredictable. They’re hard to use live and even hard to control in the studio. So I talked to the guys at Dunlop and I told them that there should be a pedal that can just nail those sounds reliably. That’s where the Slash Octave Fuzz comes in. I worked with them and we made a fuzz that’s controllable, with a low octave that didn’t warble too much—that took a bit of work—plus a vintage high octave fuzz and the ability to mix the two.

Do you play differently when you step on the Slash Octave Fuzz?

I’m using it right now in rehearsals for the upcoming tour. The big thing for me is this feeling of confidence—knowing that the tone you’re going for, you can rely on it. You can get into the zone that you need to and play what you want to play. If you have something that doesn’t work properly and reliably, it really interferes with and distracts from what you’re doing. When I step on this pedal and it works so well, it allows me to really play my ass off.

Will you choose different registers to play your lines when you’re using the Octave Fuzz?

No. We designed and voiced this pedal to work over the entire range of the guitar, so I feel like I have the freedom to go anywhere on the fretboard.

Did you use this pedal on your new record?

I used it for a song called “Carolina.” It was in addition to a talk box part, which is a pretty unique combination. I had the amp relatively clean and put this pedal over the top. I used the high octave sound for the song “No More Heroes.” That’s a really cool tone. This is really a flexible pedal that can be set a bunch of different ways. If you’re going for a screaming, Hendrix-y thing, you might turn the high octave up a bit and the fuzz down a little. Or, you can crank the fuzz and dial back the octave. For the parts I’m using it on, I’m looking for it to be even with the guitar tone—not too extreme. You hear it but it’s not overbearing.

Talk about the Slash Cry Baby Classic. What do you look for in a wah pedal in terms of sweep, tone, treble response, and output?

I don’t know if I can verbally describe it, but I need the highs, when the pedal is wide open, to be bright but not out of the stratosphere. I need the sweep to be smooth. I need a nice smooth arc, from the midrangey sound on the bottom—which can’t be too bassy or overly throaty—to the highs, which need to be sweet. I need to be able to hear the note all along the way. The note can’t get lost in the lows and it can’t get lost in the highs. That gives me a fully pronounced wah tone but not that processed sounding wah, which is hard to describe, but you know it when you hear it.

How is this wah different from your last signature model and why the changes?

My first signature wah was very much a professional recording and live wah. You had to spend some time with it and know what you were doing to really control the distortion and use it. This one is much more straightforward.

Did you use it on your latest record?

Yeah. On the title track, “Apocalyptic Love,” and on “Bad Rain.” Those are the two main wah tunes.

Even if you don’t seem like an “effect guy,” you definitely seem like a wah guy.

It’s just one of the great guitar effects of all time. I’ve always felt very natural using a wah pedal. It fits me. It’s timeless.

Check out our MXR demo of the Slash Octave Fuzz below!

The exciting new SUPEREGO Synth Engine pedal is the focus of Bill Ruppert’s latest foray into the world of sonic alchemy.

Please note: Bill will be in the EHX Forums to discuss his sounds, settings, and process. We hope you join us there.

Previous episodes:

The exciting new SUPEREGO Synth Engine pedal is the focus of Bill Ruppert’s latest foray into the world of sonic alchemy.

Please note: Bill will be in the EHX Forums to discuss his sounds, settings, and process. We hope you join us there.

Previous episodes:

Bassist, Felipe Gomez, recording with the new Ravish Sitar pedal.

The Deluxe Memory Man Tap Tempo 550 delivers lush analog delay and modulation. An FX Loop gives the ability to insert effects into its wet signal, creating opportunities to explore new sonic territory. Here it is with the POG2.