Age

Only 2% of those under the age of 25 were actively purchasing pedals.

Firstly, we aimed to gauge the age range of our customers. Given our diverse product range spanning £25-500, we expected a broad spectrum of ages, from budget-conscious teens to those with more disposable income.

Surprisingly, only 2% of our customers are aged 24 and under, much less than anticipated. This might indicate a trend of fewer younger individuals learning musical instruments, limitations in our own customer base, or squeezed finances in the lower age bracket.

I certainly know I was gifted more gear than I bought myself in my teens!

Number of Pedals Owned

Most people own around 6 pedals.

The chart generally aligns with expectations, with most individuals owning 10 or fewer pedals, except for enthusiasts with higher numbers. Special mention to the 9 people who own over 20 pedals!

Average Amount Spent on a Pedal

We then inquired about the typical amount of money people spend on a pedal.

As expected, there's a significant presence in the £75-150 range, corresponding to mainstream brands like Electro Harmonix. However, the budget £20-60 range is also well-represented, indicating a considerable number of individuals building affordable pedalboards.

Most Expensive Pedal

An intriguing chart for those interested in the cost of pedals. Most pedals, even boutique ones, tend to top out at £400. The higher prices seen here are likely due to limited editions, rarity, discontinuation, or association with famous users.

Cost of Living

60% state that the cost of living has impacted their pedal buying.

We are aware that the cost of living has risen significantly in recent years, impacting various expenses. Although our product prices have increased by 15% in the last 2 years, the rising costs of essentials like food, drink, gas, electricity, and rent/mortgage have constrained spending on non-essentials.

When asked if the cost of living crisis affected their pedal purchases, 60% confirmed a reduction, while 40% reported no change. Surprisingly, pedals seem to be considered closer to "essential" items than anticipated!

Cloning

There is considerable online discussion about pedal cloning and the ethical considerations surrounding it. Threads on this topic frequently emerge on forums, accompanied by strong opinions. Surprisingly, only 33% of respondents expressed an opinion on the matter.

Mainstream vs Boutique

65% prefer mainstream pedals.

Given that we offer a mix of mainstream and boutique pedals, we were curious about our customers' preferences. We inquired whether people favored boutique brands like Earthquaker, Strymon, and Chase Bliss, etc., or mainstream brands like EHX, BOSS, and TC Electronic, etc. It turns out that mainstream pedals are still favored, with 65% of customers choosing them over boutique options. This preference is likely influenced by the higher cost and perceived niche nature of boutique pedals.

Second-hand Pedals

80% of people buy second hand.

A significant majority, 80%, opt for second-hand pedals, according to the survey results. This is likely due to pedals maintain their value over time and have decent reliability for several years. Additionally, certain brands become discontinued or hard to find, contributing to the thriving second-hand market.

Type of Pedals Owned

Tuner, delay, and overdrive are the most popular pedals.

There is a vast array of different pedals available. While our questionnaire did not cover all types due to length constraints, over 60% of respondents own a tuner pedal, which was slightly lower than expected. Clip-on tuners are typically available for under £10, likely explaining how the remaining respondents tune their instruments.

Delay and overdrive rank next in popularity, with roughly 55% of respondents owning these types. Chorus, reverb, and distortion closely follow, while synth pedals are the least popular, owned by just over 13% of respondents.

Any parts we don't have in stock we should be able to obtain. Please just send us a message as we currently only stock the most in demand parts.

1. The headband minus padding.

2. The padding which makes contact with your head. This used to be a 4 cushion design but Sennheiser have replaced it with the 2 cushion design. The 2 cushion design will work fine if you previously had the 4 cushion in place; they're interchangeable. Buy here. Part no 576109 (replaced part no 549375.)

3. The System 300R headphone driver. Buy here.

Part no 091570 for the HD600.

Part no 092855 for the HD650.

4. The ear pads which surround your ears including the foam disk. Buy here. Part no 050635.

5. The plastic grill which goes over the drivers. Buy here. Part no 092856.

6. The cable which connects to the left & right drivers plus the 1/8 inch jack and 1/4 inch jack adapter (part 7 below). Buy here. Part no 508688. This is the 3m version.

7. The 1/8 to 1/4 inch adapter only. Buy here. Part no 549346.

8. The bottom part which goes around the drivers. Part no 578865.

If you want to jump right in and take a look at some of the best cheap pedals currently available, then we sell 3 of the brands mentioned - Caline, Biyang and Electro Harmonix. You can sort by price for the cheapest ones from each manufacturer. 

One thing you'll notice about these pedals is that a lot of them are clones. Why? Because R&D costs a lot of money. Taking something that already works and adding minor adjustments is a lot easier than coming up with new designs and concepts. The majority of them, with some exceptions we'll point out, are made in China because of the cheaper manufacturing costs.

Caline

Pedals based in the £25-80 price range.

Based in China.

Full disclosure - we sell Caline pedals so we're probably biased. But in our opinion they offer the best value for money. Their pedals have fully metal enclosures, true bypass, good reliability and most importantly, they sounds great. They've got a pretty big range of 80+ pedals, so you're bound to find something to suit the style of music you play.  

They offer a range of pedals based on classic circuits, see our article here to have a look at some of the original pedals they're based on. In terms of faithfulness to the original tone, you can basically get 90-99% of the way there. That's at the stage where most beginner or intermediate players won't be able to tell the difference. Recently they've started combing two of their previous pedal designs into one pedal (The DCP range). For example a compressor and overdrive in the case of the DCP-05 Key West.

Since we sell these we can talk relatively confidently about reliability. Are they as reliable as £200 pedals? No of course not, however they're not too far off. 90% of the time, if there's a reliability problem, it's something which is apparent straight away. That usually means something slipped past quality control. A quick replacement usually solves that.

Behringer

Pedals based in the £<20-60 price range.

Based in Germany, made in China.

Behringer are a German company who make a lot of audio equipment - their pedals are insanely cheap. The cheapest is about £17 (including delivery) for a distortion pedal, which is just insane. How do they make them at that price?! Think about it - the factory, distributor and retailer have taken a cut. 20% of that cost is is VAT, plus another few £ for postage. So for the price that they're charging, of course they're a good deal. 

However, the enclosures are plastic, many are not true bypass and as you'd expect they sound distinctly average. Reliability issues are exacerbated with plastic enclosures and understandably they won't be using the highest quality control standards and components.

Joyo

Pedals based in the £35-100+ price range.

Based in China.

Joyo were one of the first cheap pedal companies. They kick started the cheap pedal revolution and are still a great choice. For example, their JF-01 was an excellent clone of the Tubescreamer and used to cost around £29.99. Prices seem a bit higher these days, now it costs approximately £38. Hopefully that means they've improved their reliability - they certainly feel durable and offer true bypass. They have also sold a lot of these pedals so will have refined their designs over the years.

Recently they've started releasing more expensive models in the £80 and above range. This is an interesting approach because it puts them in the realm of other brands like Electro Harmonix and Boss. So a lot of people would probably prefer to pay say £10 more and get a brand they're more familiar with. However it all depends what you're after - if you're after a certain tone, and Joyo make a similar pedal, then they're still a great choice.

Joyo have also released a range of low cost amp heads in the last few years.

Mooer

Pedals based in the £45-100+ price range.

Based in China.

Mooer started off the mini pedal craze which is still going strong. These days Mooer have evolved, from simply cloning pedals, to creating their own unique pedals and amps. A lot of these involve advanced amp modelling and multi effects.

However their original core range was unashamedly based around offering mini versions of established pedals. They weren't subtle about it either - they released marketing material saying the exact pedal their version was cloning. They have a huge collection of around 60 pedals - clones of classic pedals as well as amp in a box type pedals.

Mooer are pretty widespread these days - you can see them in numerous stores up and down the country, which is quite unusual when it comes to clones. So like Joyo, their pedals are tried and tested.

Boss, Electro Harmonix & TC Electronic

Pedals based in the £55+ price range.

These guys are some of the biggest pedal companies in the world, so using the economy of scale, it means they can really push down the costs and fall into the sub £100 "cheap" category. Despite the massive production scale, reliability is still very good since they're not trying to build pedals as cheaply as possible. From our sales data, they are more reliable than the Chinese brands, but not by as much as the anti cloning brigade would have you believe. 

Big well known brands keep their resale value too, so definitely consider these pedals if you're on a budget. While they do sell expensive pedals, you may be surprised at how much some of their flagship pedals cost.

Boss are based in Japan, EHX the US and TC Electronic Denmark. The pedals are usually constructed in a range of countries. We believe EHX and Boss source their parts from Taiwan and TC Electronic do the same from Thailand. With EHX final assembly and quality control checks do take place in the US.

These days you can get a Nano Big Muff for £65, Boss DS1 for £55 and TC Ditto Looper for £65. All 3 brands do plenty more sub £100 pedals - that's not just distortion or boosts either - there's delay, octave, reverbs, noise gates and modulation.

Those Identical Mini Pedals

Pedals based in the £25-35 price range.

Made in China.

Ok, we didn't want to list every single brand of the cheap pedals you get on Amazon because a lot of them are identical. We're taking about the following brands to name a few examples, but there are literally hundreds of brands:

Donner, Mosky, Sonicake, Rowin, Muslady, Kokko, Valeton, Tom's Line, Amazon Basics, Musiclily

There's a lot of speculation as to whether these pedals are all made by Mooer. They're undoubtedly all made by the same factory somewhere in China. If you know the right person, anyone can get their own brand of mini pedals made.

They used to be sold on Amazon only. However, recently we've noticed that some big UK retailers have started offering their own versions of these pedals under brands they've created. The pedals themselves seem to be good for the money, and again are based on existing circuits.

Biyang

Pedals based in the £35-60 price range.

Based in China.

Biyang are a company who have been around for a while - their company also makes excellent quality tube amps under the Wangs brand name. We like Biyang because they don't just completely clone other pedals - they try to actually improve upon them. Take their Metal End Pro you may think "that's just a metal muff" but wait what's that? An amp simulator, a modern, normal and classic mode, a high cut and a normal, bright and warm setting. Also the OD-8 may seem like a Tubescreamer at first. Look a little deeper and you'll see that it has two extra chips you can place in the back and experiment with.

They also did a weird, but in our opinion underrated modular pedal system called the Livemaster.

Unfortunately sales were never great, but it was a really good idea, and likely down to not enough advertising spend as opposed to poor engineering. Their branding "Biyang" is perhaps another reason for this.

NUX

Pedals based in the £50-100+ price range.

Based in China.

NUX have been around for quite a while now, their pedals are perhaps towards the more expensive end of the clone scale. However, in a similar way to Biyang, they try to do something a little different, like adding stereo output and adding more modes and switches on their TS clone. They've also got pedals which combine 2+ popular pedals in one device, and pedals which are their own unique creations. For example they have a modelling effect processor which is about £300. Not a cheap pedal, but cheaper than other modelling pedals.

Raygun FX

Pedals based in the £20-100+ price range.

Based in the UK. Made in the UK.

Unlike other pedals in this list, Raygun FX are built in the UK and are priced in the £40-90 range. Towards the higher end of that scale you get duel foot switches and extra functions, and the lower end tends to be single effects. You can even get amp foot switches for under £20!  This is insanely good value for quality pedals hand made in the UK. We're seriously not even sure how they're priced as low as they are. Their branding and overall design looks a lot better than the other pedals mentioned on this page. They certainly don't look as budget friendly as they are!

Hotone

Pedals based in the £45-100+ price range.

Based in China.

Hotone pedals have a love it or hate it type design; they're a bit bigger than the standard mini pedals, usually with a single large knob at the back. Their mini range are again clones of popular pedals. For example they have their own versions of a Blues Driver and a Metal Zone. They also sell a range of mini solid state 5 Watt amp heads which are based on classic amps. The amps retail under £100 and most of their mini pedal range is £50-60. They have moved on to some really interesting stuff now based on pedal and amp modelling. They are quite a lot more expensive, however still much cheaper when comparing like for like products available on the market.

Tonecity

Pedals based in the £40-65 price range.

Based in China.

We really like the simple design of these pedals - colourful and modern. Although they may look very similar to the mini pedals mentioned above, we believe they manufacturer them themselves. They have a slightly different design with their glowing knobs, and a lot of their clones are unique - no other manufacturers make them. Certainly not in a small enclosure. For example they make their own versions of a Mad Professor Deep Blue, Analogman King of Tone and a Carl Martin AC Tone.

Others

There are a few other low cost brands too which aren't as well known. Caline also produce mini pedals under the Azor and Movall brand names. We have tried a few of these, and like Caline pedals, they seem great quality for the price.

There's a line called Aural Dream based in China. We've not had experience with them, but they do seem to sell a good range. Reviews on Amazon seem to be a bit mixed, they also looked like they were designed in the 90s. However, they could be worth more research if you're after synth, organ or octave pedals.

TC Electronic have released a super cheap (£30) range of pedals which seem to have been well received. The consensus seems to be that they're good for the money but obviously not as high quality as the more expensive TC Electronic pedals, often introducing a touch more noise. 

Danelectro seem to have released a brand of plastic pedals in the last few years in the £65 price range. We believe it replaces their old range of plastic pedals which were very good (think a higher quality version of Behringer pedals).

Moen Pedals seemed to be very popular a few years ago with an excellent copy of a Univibe - their Shaky Jimmi. We can't find many of their pedals available online these days so aren't 100% sure if they're still around or not.

• JJ ONE - Guitar amp.
• JJ239 - Tube monoblock.
• JJ322 - Stereo single.
• JJ243 - Stereo preamp.
• JJ543 - Integrated power amplifier
• JJ283 - All tube preamp.
• JJ828 - AB1 amplifier.

Please contact us for a quote and up to date shipping time.

Wangs amps aren't that well known outside China. They do something a little bit different. Most Chinese companies go straight for the lowest price possible. They usually use lower quality components and reliability can be a little suspect. So yes, you'll have a cheap tube amp which may sound ok for a while, but it's unlikely you'll be blown away.

Wangs use high quality European and Japanese components along with durable wooden enclosures backed up by their warranty scheme. They're often described as semi boutique, but without an astronomical price tag. It’s weird to describe them as this, but they’re budget boutique (Guitar World actually called them this - and we think the label works really well).

OK, let's address the elephant in the room. The name. Yes we all like a cheap laugh but Wangs is actually pronounced "Wongs". It's a very common name in China and named after the amps designer - Mr. Wang. But if you can look past the name you'll find some real gems.

Let's look at some of the smaller amps in their range, since these are the most popular.

VT-1H

The VT-1H is one of the smallest and best value tube amp heads on the market. Our customers have told us how much they like to use this for recording and practice. It’s possible to use it for smaller, quieter gigs too but gigging isn’t where this unit shines.

The VT-1H is described as VOX-like with an incredibly good lower end. It’s super easy to use with the single volume and tone control, and it’s simple to quickly dial in great tube tones. Perfect if you’re going for a simple and clean sound – just your guitar and amp.

However like all Wangs amps it does work well with pedals, so there’s plenty of room for experimentation.

See what our customers think of it here!

Mini 5

Update - The Mini 5 is getting some incredible reviews. We really encourage you to check them out!

The big brother of the VT-1H comes with more options and more power (5w). It runs on a pair of 12AX7 tubes and a 6Z4 rectifier. There are Bass, Middle and Treble controls as well as the Volume knob. There’s even a 3 way selector switch with Tube, Standby and Diodes as well as a 2 way selector with Bright and Warm modes.

The Mini 5 is incredibly clean, dynamic and responsive. Yet it works well with pedals too which really allow you to hone In on a specific tone.

Despite its size it really sounds much bigger than it is. It can even go loud enough for gigs.

You can buy the Mini 5 from us – make sure to check out our customer reviews on that page too. But we would say positive things about it since we’re selling it. So we encourage you to check out the following forum post which has some reviews:

Squier Talk

VT-5 HW

The VT-5 is a combo amplifier and is perfect if you want to experiment with tube tones. It’s essentially very similar to the Tweed Champ but at a fraction of the cost. The build quality on this thing is really high. You’ll notice the premium wood finish and leather handle.

But inside is where the real magic happens. It has a Celestion speaker along with Japanese and German components. It’s hand wired meaning that Wangs can put which components they want inside, and not just one which will work with a PCB board. However there is a cheaper PCB version available too. You’ve got all the controls you need to shape your tone – Vol, Bass, Mid, and Treb as well as the pentode and triode switch to control the 12AX7 and 6V6.

The best way to understand this amp is by actually hearing it:

Check out the amp on our site here.

You May Also Like

If you're looking to buy tubes we do sell them here.

Firstly we'll answer a question we've been asked a few times. Is there an actual tube shortage because of the invasion of Ukraine?

Some articles I've seen online seem to suggest the shortage is just a way to pump up prices. In our opinion there is definitely a shortage of the Russian made tubes for obvious reasons. This initially put JJ Electronic under huge strain with 1+ year lead times. However now the situation has stabilised. It's still hard to get Russian made tubes, but there should be a decent supply of JJ ones available. There was likely a fair amount of panic buying which made the situation worse initially.

What is a Vacuum Tube?

A vacuum tube is a device which is currently used in audio devices, and used to be used in a range of electronic equipment. They come in varying size, from 5cm all the way to 12cm+ and are commonly constructed from glass, plastic and metal materials. They often resemble a glass bottle or jar with metal bits inside.

It essentially controls the flow of current and amplifies signal in audio applications. It has the added benefit of providing a touch of that tube distortion which makes a tube tone more pleasing to the ears. It's for this reason people still use tube amps.

Basic Terminology & Naming

Firstly some terminology to avoid confusion in the future. Are tubes and valves the same? Yes – “tubes” and “valves” are used interchangeably, they refer to exactly the same thing. It’s just personal preference which one you use. We’ll stick to saying tubes in this article since that’s what I’ve always called them.

You’ll notice that most tubes also have a series of letters and numbers after them – this can add to confusion too. This is because a single tube can have two different identifiers. This usually refers to either the European or American designation. Often both terms are included in product descriptions for clarity. Here are some of the most common tube types with the European name followed by the American name. 

ECC83 (EU) is the same as the 12AX7 (US).

EL84 (EU) is the same as the 6BQ5 (US)

ECC82 (EU) is the same as the 12AU7 (US)

But what do those letters and numbers all mean? On some of the tubes, the code simply represents the product code, for example the ECC83. However, the American designation often contains some information about the tube. The 12AU7 for example can be split into several parts:

12 - Filament voltage.

AU – Product designation.

7 – Number of elements.

Any extra letters often refer to an update in the version number, or an adjustment by the factory. They needed to distinguish it from the old version.

What do Vacuum Tubes Do?

Tube used to be used in a range of electronic equipment (computers, radio, TV and general electrics) but was replaced by the transistor which you get in standard solid state guitar amplifiers. However, they’re still used in musical equipment and devices. They’re really good at:

• Amplifying signals.
• Inverting the polarity of a signal.
• Mixing signal together and splitting them.
• This makes them great in audio applications.

How do Vacuum Tubes Work?

First we need to look at the parts of the tube to understand how they work. Most tubes, but not all of them contain these components. It’s best to think of a tube from bottom to top with each part fulfilling a certain task which allows the next component to do its job. It’s a one-way street.

The Filament

The first component that truly is common to all tube types is the filament.  The filament is the part of a vacuum tube that you see glowing when the amplifier is powered on. 

When an electrical current flows through the filament, it creates both heat and light. It’s actually the purpose of the filament to create heat, and therefore light. Not just something to make it look cool (I’ll admit that I used to think that’s what it was for). The heat is essential for working with the following component – the cathode:

The Cathode

The cathode is an element located next to the filament so they can best work together. It is negatively charged.  It has a coating on it that when heated (by the filament), releases electrons.  That is the whole point of the cathode, to release free electrons into the vacuum tube after being heated. If there wasn’t a vacuum this wouldn’t work.

Electrons work like a magnet -  a positively charged electron is attracted to a negatively charged electron and vice versa.  After being released from the cathode, the electrons flow to the next component – the anode, due to this charged attraction.

The Anode

The next element is called the anode, or plate. It’s positively charged. It's job is simply to attract the free electrons released by the cathode after being heated by the filament. It’s the end point and in a way, it “collects” your guitar signal when it has been inserted through the next element…

The Grid

The grid is a charged piece of metal located between the anode and the cathode. It’s where your guitar signal enters the equation – your guitar signal is connected to the grid. If the grid is negatively charged, then the flow from the anode to the cathode is reduced. This is because a negative (from the cathode) and negative force (from the grid) repels. However, if the grid is positively charged then the flow of electrons in accelerated since positive and negative attract.

This is the amplification in action. The amplification process also adds that tube distortion to the mix.

When Everything Links Up

So to summarise – the filament is the heat generator. If it’s not generating heat, then the tube isn't working. This heat then causes the cathode to release electrons towards the anode due to the negative to positive flow. However, in the middle is your guitar signal and grid which is where the amplification takes place as long as there’s a positive charge. This “boosts” the electrons on the way to the anode and exits the tube on the way to the rest of the amplifier and then speaker.

For beginners I have oversimplified this process in order to aid understanding, if you want specifics check out the further reading at the bottom. Also this video help explains the process very well:

Different Types of Vacuum Tubes

You’ve probably seen loads of different tubes. Some small, some big, some long and thin. Let’s look at the different types:

Rectifier - Diodes

The purpose of a diode / rectifier is to turn alternating current from your house supply into direct current like from a battery.  A diode is a two element tube that does not have a grid mentioned above. Nearly all electronics need to turn AC into DC.  A diode tube also needs the help of some capacitors to make this possible.

The rectifier will usually work in conjunction with the transformer. They aren’t always essential in amps, sometimes the rectification takes places using non tube based technology or the transformer alone.

Examples:

• 6X4
• 5AR4 / GZ34
• 5U4
• EZ81

Preamp - Triodes

A preamp will amplify the signal and prepare it for further amplification by the power tubes. Or it’ll act as 100% of amplification in smaller tube audio devices. A triode is the tube which usually does this. A triode is the most common sort of tube. It’s a three element tube which has all of the parts mentioned in the previous section.  They can amplify the signal but also create some distortion. 

Triodes can combine signals and split them into two separate signals.  They can also invert the polarity or phase of a signal.

Examples:

• ECC81 / 12AT7
• ECC82 / 12AU7
• ECC83 / 12AX7
• 6072 / 12AY7

Power Tubes - Tetrodes Pentodes

Power tubes further amplify and drive your signal. They are required on larger amps in order to drive the bigger speakers. Tetrodes and Pentodes are usually used in the power amp section, as they are capable of amplifying your input signal much higher than a standard triode. Tetrodes are four-element tubes and pentodes are five-element tubes. 

Typically, these tubes work in a similar way to triodes but have additional elements called screens.  Screens are usually in between the cathode and anode. It “screens” the anode and grid improving performance. 

Examples:

• EL84 / 6BQ5
• KT66
• KT88
• 6V6
• EL34 / 6CA7

There are different types of tubes in one of the three groups above which all can all sound different. They can sound better or worse at different points along the sound spectrum which results in different uses. And then alternate brands can sound different when compared to a competitors equivalent.

Tube Brands

Tube brands can be split into modern production tubes, and older brands which aren’t made anymore (often called NOS or new old stock).

Modern Brands

Explaining the different brands of tubes get tricky. There aren’t many factories which still produce tubes, and a lot of the brands you see on the market will be a “rebrand” of a tube already out there – maybe with a minor tweak. There are 3 factories who currently make 95% of all tubes:

• JJ Electronic based in the Slovak Republic.
• NewSensor based in Russia (closely linked to the Electro Harmonix pedals company).
• Shuguang based in China.

NewSensor don’t sell their tubes under that name. Rather they have a few different brands which are very similar but with minor changes / design tweaks. The main ones are Electro Harmonix, Sovtek, Genalex and Tung Sol.

Any other brands you see are rebrands of these three main factories. For example some of the stock Fender, Marshall and Mesa Boogie tubes are rebranded from these factories.

There are subtle differences between the three factories, the below are some generalisations about the different tube brands.

• JJ Tubes - Tight bottom end and crisp clear tone.
• NewSensor range – Decent amount of gain and quite thick sounding. However again there are major differences between NewSensor brands.
• Shuguang – More gain than average (probably the most gain-y) and are quite bright.

Everyone has a brand that they like. Searching online or obsessing over reviews isn’t always that helpful. There are numerous posts online saying X brand is terrible, while there are as many posts saying that brand X is the best out there. Always be suspicious of blanket statements like “All tubes from brand X that I’ve had have failed”. This will almost certainly be a badly biased amp, some other fault in the amp, or one tube blew and they’re over exaggerating.

Also you get people saying "I replaced brand X with brand Y and brand Y sound much better!" The reason brand Y sounds better is because they're newer. And new tubes sound better than old worn out tubes. You can't compare old tubes to new tubes. So it's not a fair comparison. The only way to know is to try a certain tube for yourself.

NOS / Vintage Brands

Vintage tubes are very much in demand because they are thought to be incredibly well made and some think sonically superior. The problem is that these tubes are no longer in production and are quite rare. Consequently they’re expensive. It’s certainly not a case of new tubes being bad and old tubes being good, like with many things in the world of tubes, it’s subjective.

These tubes are usually sold as NOS or New Old Stock. They are unused old tubes from brands such as Mullard, General Electric, and Phillips.

In reality there will probably be minimal difference between the tone of an amp with NOS tubes, or one with the modern production brands. I’d be incredibly surprised if someone could consistently tell the difference between the two in a blind test. If you want the very very best, or are reproducing an authentic vintage amp then NOS are a great choice. But for all other purposes the modern brands also sound great and save you quite a bit too.

Many modern brands also have premium ranges which claim to meet and exceed some of the vintage tubes. However these will cost more than their standard range.

Some possible tangible reasons that old NOS tubes could be better are:

• Materials used which are now heavily reduced, or not used at all, due to safety concerns (such as nickel). But were actually a better material to use musically. 
• Standards needed to be much higher back then. Now if a tube fails, your amp breaks. Back then, a super computer or a MIG jet failed. So the old suppliers, who needed to compete fo military contracts, needed the BEST possible quality and reliability.
• The new manufacturers had to start from scratch because the old designs had been lost. This is before the days of digital backup. Additionally, back then was the period of lifetime jobs. People got very good at their jobs over a lifetime and really honed their craft.

However, other advances in technology can compensate for this.

Experiment if you can and see what sounds best to you and your style.

Tube Amps vs. Solid State

There are two types of amplifiers – tube amps and solid state amps. The solid state amps do use "replacements" for tubes – transistors. They are still fulfilling the same function of diode and triodes tubes, just with an alternative technology. They’re much cheaper too.

With sound it always comes down to subjectivity, but a lot of people do prefer the sound of tube amps. Both types can sound very good. Much will depend on the build quality of the amp itself. But let’s take a look at why tube amps could be better from a technical point of view.

It’s best to think of tubes not just as amplifiers, but also means of adding distortion. Distortion and tube amps are practically inseparable, even if you don’t think you can hear any distortion, it’s there. Just light. We’re not talking about distortion pedal levels of distortion here. Without distortion a guitar could sound thin / weak / empty. It’s the distortion which makes it sound better – warmer and well rounded. This type of distortion compared to solid state distortion is called harmonic even ordered. It’s second order distortion which means more of a musical distortion, more pleasing to the human brain.

Tube amps also have softer clipping - so they overload gradually. The more input, the more distortion. But there's no sudden point where they suddenly start to clip. Unlike solid state, there would be no sharp edges if you looked at the waveform. So tube amps should sound warmer and more well rounded because of this. 

Legendary producer Alan Parsons (Beatles, Pink Floyd) summed it up quite well when he said:

"There’s a place for modelling. It’s usually because of budget or convenience. But I’ve always maintained that guitars invariably sound better with a couple of those glass tubes behind them." 

The link at the bottom of the page will get you started on wiring Artec pickups as well as their other devices (quadra control circuits). The document may not have your exact pickup - Artec have hundreds of different designs so it'd be confusing to include all of them. But you should be able to use a similar pickup to help get you started.

Usually, for humbuckers, the following colour wires usually have these functions, please consult the wiring book for specifics. The process should be the same whether they're a telecaster or Les Paul style humbucker.

Black - Is ground.

Red & White - are often tied together if a humbucker. Remember to insulate them.

Green - Switch / signal.

The red & white should be separated if you want to coil split (some people call this coil tapping) and switch between both parts of the humbucker.

For single coil it's usually simpler. You'll probably only have two wires - the ground and the live. Again the ground wire will usually be black and the live wire will be coloured. Usually red, yellow or green depending on the exact pickup.

Depending on your guitar the wires themselves will be connected to the volume potentiometer, or "pots". Or a selector switch. If you're building a guitar, volume and tone are usually 500k pots for humbuckers and single coils pickups normally use 250k pots. If you're changing from single coil to humbucker, or vice versa, you may need to change your pots.

View our Artec pickups here. 

Quadra and Sound Controllers

The circuit boards are marked up pretty well, but if you're having trouble these diagrams should help:

For you beginners - this guide is for you.

Construction

The construction can come down to several key elements. What is the string made from? How is the string wound? And what shape is the middle of the string?

Not all strings in a set are wound to give that coiled appearance; only the thicker ones – E, A and D. The G, B and e strings will always be unwound. They just consist of the core. Wound strings mean that strands of wire are wrapped around the string allowing it to produce a lower sound. They can be wound in different ways. Here are the two main methods:

Round wound – This is where a rounded wire is coiled around the string creating a bumped / ribbed surface. Offers high levels of grip yet also has quite a bit of string noise as you fingers go up and down the fretboard (from your fingers brushing against the strings). 

Flat would – Flat wound strings, as you'd probably guess, are wound with a flat, square piece of wire. This results in strings which are very (but not completely) flat. There is less noise from your fingers with these. Flat wound strings are more uncommon on electric guitars, they're more commonly used on bass guitars. Please see the below image to see this illustrated. 

There are more options in relation to the construction of the string. The core will nearly always be made out of steel, however it may be wound with a different material:

Nickel Plated – One of the most common materials used. The nickel usually plates steel providing a great combination of magnetic properties (so the pickups can receive the sound of the guitar) and the nickel balances out the bright sound. A good combination.

Pure Nickel – Pure nickel strings are also available. Generally speaking, the more nickel in the strings, the “warmer” they sound.

Stainless Steel – Are bright sounding and long lasting. Unfortunately they have the ability to wear down your frets.

Lastly the core can be a different shape. It can be...

Rounded – Round string have more contact with the core. This means they're very easy to move and have a good amount of sustain. However they can be inconsistent in relation to tone and reliability (they are prone to unravelling if you're not careful).

Hexagonal – When the string is wound around the hexagonal core, it bites better into the core resulting in a more secure and tighter string. A very constant and high quality string.

Which strings you use will mostly depend on personal preference. However the strings considered “standard” will be round wound nickel plated with a hex core. This sort of string (like the one we sell in our strings section) is what most beginners should try out first. Once you've got a good idea of what they sound like and their advantages / disadvantages, you can begin to experiment with other types.

Gauge

The other important factor in relation to how the strings sound is its gauge. Regardless of the construction of the string it will have a certain level of thickness. There then may be other sets of strings which are exactly the same brand / construction but have a higher or lower gauge.

How the string gauge or thickness impacts the guitar sound is common sense really. Heavier strings are harder to fret but they produce a louder sound when plucked and the sound from them lasts (or sustains) for longer. They contain much more energy than a lighter string. However it's harder to do things like pick really fast with them simply because you pick has more string to move over. The fact that they're harder to fret doesn't help either when playing faster styles of music. However you can get used to this with enough practice and finger strength.

Gauges are usually described from the thickness of their thinnest string, to the thickness of their thickest string. Some are then given a description, like “light”, “regular” or “very heavy”. You're probably familiar with some of the names Ernie Ball give their strings for example. This diagram should help get your head around the idea:

Strings may be named after their size range. E.g extra heavy would be 13-56 and regular light would be 10-46. Beginners will be best suited to the regular light or extra light strings since they're easier to press down. However they may be more prone to snapping if you're not gentle with them.

So What Do I Need?

If you're a typical rock guitar player a set of nickel plated round wound strings with a hex core will be fine. Regular light for general rock and extra light if you want your strings to bend a bit easier. The heavier gauges are for if you play metal, and extra heavy is often used with alternative tunings such as drop C.

Most string manufacturers won't name the strings as above. But you just need to read the gauge values which should be similar to above to see what type they are. 

Typically most guitarists use regular light strings, not medium, as you may expect.

As you start to learn more about guitar you may be more comfortable experimenting with strings constructed of different materials. 

Have a look at our collection of low cost guitar & acoustic strings. We sell our own inexpensive range of strings as well as some of the bigger brands who have been chosen because of their tried and tested value. 

Your problem may be that you don't know enough about guitars, in that case, this guide is for you. We've made a list of 20 ideas below which should be suitable for guitarists of all skill levels and abilities.

Guitar Strap

The straps which come with guitars are usually as cheap as they come. Even with a guitar worth £500+, the strap may only cost £4-5. So take a peek at the guitarist's guitar you're buying for - does it look cheap? If so you can't go wrong with a strap. Check out our selection. 

Set of Strings

Guitar strings break all the time. You can never have too many guitar strings. If you're not sure which ones to get, just google 10s electric guitar strings. Or 12s acoustic guitar strings if you're buying for an acoustic guitarist.

A Band T Shirt

This one doesn't need much of an explanation. Who doesn't love to show off their favourite band in the form of a T-shirt?

Guitar Bag 

If you know a musician who transports their instrument for gigging / practice (or will be in the near future), a guitar bag could be a great idea. Not only does it protect against scratches and damage, it makes the instrument easier to carry as well as providing extra pockets for cables.

Strap Locks 

Do you know what's painful? Having a 6 kg guitar come loose from the strap and smash into your toes. What makes it even more painful is the possibility of a broken guitar. A simple set of strap locks can reduce the chance of this happening. So if you can sneek a look at the guitarist's guitar, check if they have a metal bit firmly holding the instrument in place. If not then strap locks could be a good gift.

Guitar Stand

If the guitar is left to stand up against the wall it can either 1. fall over and break, or 2. scratch the wall. And if you just leave it there lying on the floor then you're just asking for trouble.

Picks & Pick Holder

Guitarists can never find guitar picks when needed. At a party and want to shred some sweet riffs? No picks. At a summer time festival? No picks. Going to band practice? Yeah no picks. The trouble is they probably actually own dozens of them, so get them a pick holder keyring. Put the picks in and attach it to the key ring. Problem solved.

Guitar String Cleaner

A bit of a novelty, but a string cleaner can help keep strings sounding better, for longer. It also has the hygiene benefit of making sure the strings don't get caked in a disgusting amount of dirt too! 

Guitar Tuner

Everyone needs to keep their guitar in tune, even the pros. If you know your musican friend hasn't got a tuner then it's going to be a very much appreciated gift. Simple clip on tuners can provide great reliable tuning results too, so you don't need to spend a bomb.

Lessons

Good for everyone; even a pro guitarist should never stop learning. A great site for lessons is jamplay.com they provide great quality lessons and have some big name guitarists providing lessons too. This makes it a great idea for beginners and pros alike.

Finger Strengthener 

When you're first starting to play the guitar finger strength is something essential. New guitarist's fingers will just be plain week. But with a strengthener it's possible to improve finder strength without actually picking up the guitar. This means a guitarist can do it anywhere.

Mini Guitar Amp

This isn't just a novelty, they're actually really fun. You can clip these small amps onto your belt and walk around with them. They run off batteries as well so there great for travelling / holidays. We sell a mini amp - it's not a Marshal stack but it's available at a great price.

Chord / Tab Book

Another great one for newbies. Having a chord book is an incredibly useful reference tool. There are also tab books, which tell you how to play songs (usually by a certain band). While these are available on the internet, tab books are usually more accurate.

Slide

Guitar slides aren't used in all genres of music, but regardless, they're still fun to experiment with. It's a case of you not knowing how cool they are until you actually own one. They are used to create smooth transitions between notes by sliding up and down the strings, as opposed to using your fingers. 

String Winder

Do you know what takes absolutely ages? Winding guitar strings. You feel like you're putting in loads of effort but accomplishing nothing. That's where a string winder comes in - it makes tuning 10 times easier. A cheap and cheerful gift. 

Guitar Pick Necklace

There's actually quite a bit of guitarist jewellery and fashion out there. Guitar pick necklaces, guitar string bracelets and other items made out of guitar items. Google it to find more. However you'll need to tailor this to the person you're buying for to make sure it fits their style.

Pick Punch

Ok let's be honest - these aren't going to make the highest quality picks known to man. They are however a really cool idea because you can essentially make a plectrum out of any thin plastic material. For example you can make one out of gift / credit cards or carton lids. A novelty? Yes. But it is pretty useful.

Guitar Care Kit

Care kits usually have a range of items which a guitarist will use to care for their guitar. This means keeping it clean and providing tools to make necessary adjustments. We sell a guitar gauge which is part of a kit. It's good for taking various measurements. If you know the person you're buying for sets up their guitar, then it's another option. 

Cable

Similar to guitar picks - it's always a good idea to have a spare guitar cable. They're something which guitarists find can wear out or get lost pretty frequently. So it's a safe idea for a gift. We've got a great quality guitar cable with a lifetime guarantee.

Guitar Phone Mount

More and more great apps are being released which can benefit guitarists. Nearly all guitarists at some point will look up guitar tabs (tabs tell you how to play songs). This is where a guitar mount can come in handy. It essentially clips onto the head of a guitar so it can hold a smart phone without needing anyone to hold it. 

You'll see a lot of other tempting offer out there, like guitar pedals. However the problem with pedals is that you'll need to know a little bit about playing the guitar yourself to actually know what you're buying. So it's best to stick with the above ideas unless you've after a specific pedal.

It’s really easy to get into a fixed mindset when learning the guitar, and if you’re teaching yourself it can be hard to know to break through that barrier and improve. It’s absolutely crucial that we see ourselves make progress, or it can really kill our motivation.

On this page I’ve looked at 45 points which have personally helped me both improve my technical skills and ability to write songs. Some tips are obvious and some aren’t. But if you’re a newish guitarist with just a few years experience, hopefully you’ll learn a thing or two. So let’s get started!

1. Play Some Different Styles of Music.

You can learn an incredible amount by learning songs from other genres. It really stops you from getting too “set in your ways” with your guitar playing.

New chords, new scales, new timings new techniques – you will learn them all. These then can be applied to your playing within your favourite genres, so you can start to play some really creative stuff.

2. Experiment with an Effects Pedal.

Not only can pedals add a little something extra to your sound, but sometimes they can make you fall in love with playing the guitar all over again. As we know, part of improving on the guitar is always staying motivated.

Also, when you're able to make some really unique sounds come out of your guitar it opens up a ton of new playing options for you. We sell plenty of low cost effects pedals so be sure to browse our store for ideas!

3. Learn the Basics of Guitar Theory.

Theory isn’t essential, but it can make certain things easier. Firstly it allows you to talk in the language of music. If you have literally zero knowledge of theory it can be hard to play with others. Something as simple as telling you which chord a riff is based around will be much harder if you don’t know any chord names.

Knowing theory will also eliminate some guesswork with your playing - you’ll know what sort of chord / note should come next in your song. You only have so many hours in the day so improved efficiency with your playing is always welcome.

4. Watch Others Play.

Watching others play guitar is incredibly useful. They don't even need to be better than you. Once I was watching one of my friends play who technically wasn't that good. But even though he was strumming some pretty basic chords, he was playing them in a way I'd never thought about.

It made me realise that the way I was playing these chords was too sloppy. Consequently I knew where I needed to improve.

5.Record Yourself.

When you're playing guitar, you're not always listening. You're thinking about which notes you're playing, which bit is coming up next, where to move your fingers, and a whole host of other things. Only part of your brain power is dedicated to listening.

So that's why it's a good idea to record; you'll hear and notice things about your playing that you never knew existed.

You'll also learn the basics of recording which is a useful skill in itself.

6.Get a Professional Lesson

Guitar teachers can really help you break through barriers and reach the next level. You don't need to make lessons a permanent thing, but a handful of 1 hour lessons can be more beneficial than practicing scales for 24hours.

Remember; it's their job to make you better on the guitar. They can see things which you may not have even noticed.

7.Always Have Self Improvement in the Front of your Mind.

I think it was Einstein who said this was the definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This can apply to guitar playing too. If what you're currently doing for your practice sessions isn't making you improve, then you need to change. Otherwise you're just wasting your time.

Try learning something your wouldn't normally, or focus on a different aspect of your play. Putting in lots of time and effort without seeing results will kill your motivation.

8. Take a Break From Guitar.

This ties into number 7 above, especially reading back that Einstein quote again. Sometimes you can practice too much. Taking a break and coming back with a fresh perspective has really helped me in the past when I've hit a rut. A “fresh” start can help you approach things from a different angle.

Use the time to pursue one of your other hobbies, or just listen to a ton of new music.

9. Learn More Scales.

This may sound incredibly boring to some players, but scales really are a cheat sheet to sounding awesome. It can make writing your own solos and riffs much easier and certainly make your improvisation better.

Quite simply, the more scales you learn the more options open to you when song writing.

10. Learn Some Unusual Chords.

Yeah power chords sound pretty cool, but the truth is that most bands use them heavily. They're nothing to write home about. Why not look at some chords which are a little bit more unusual to add some uniqueness to your songs?

They'll also get your fingers used to going in more unusual positions so can improve your playing technically.

11. Try Some Finger Exercises.

Finger independence and strength is essential for certain genres of music. Especially for technical stuff. Doing some finger exercises can really help with this. The great thing is you don't need to be anywhere near a guitar to do them.

You can do them at work, school, on public transport; wherever. Although you may look like you've had one too many coffees.

12. Try a Different Sized Pick.

When you first start playing you usually use a standard size pick. This is fine at first because it gets the best all round performance. However thinner picks can allows you strum faster while thicker ones allow you to play single notes faster.

A different pick thickness could allow you to master a particularly tricky song with more ease.

13. Know the Basics of Drumming.

Knowing some basic drum beats can help immensely with guitar playing. It will certainly help with your timings, riff writing, and ability to work well as part of a band. Personally, as soon as I could hold a simple beat, my guitar playing developed more of a flow. You don't need to be amazing - even playing on RockBand a little will teach you what you need.

14. Go for Quality not Quantity When Learning New Songs.

It can be easy to rush through a song sloppily learning a few of the main riffs and chorus. You can play it back pretty well, but certainly not perfectly. Take the time to learn every single bit of the song so you can play it exactly as it was written. This will ensure you fine tune your technique and playing to a near professional level.

15. Learn a Song Which May be Too Hard For You.

If you don't push yourself you're not going to improve. So have a go at learning a really technically demanding song, or a song with very unusual timings. Unlike above, it doesn't need to be perfect. The main point is that you're out of your comfort zone and learning.

16. Pick up a New Technique.

It's easy to stick to to what you know. Why not learn some new techniques which perhaps aren't associated with the bands you like. If you like heavier genres why not learn how to properly fingerpick.

If you're used to playing softer genres learn how to sweep pick. It will open up loads of new possibilities for your song writing.

17. Get Others to Critique Your Playing.

Yeah we all hate criticism, but it CAN help us improve. Remember that when we play we're thinking about one thing – playing the right notes. Not analysing our own playing technique. So ask for some honest feedback from your friends. Even non guitarists can provide some valuable insight.

18. Experiment With Different Tunings.

There are lots of tunings out there and experimenting with a few different ones may help you refine your sound. Especially if you play heavier genres you can try drop D or drop C tunings.

Try using a capo to try different tunings out if you play more acoustic / folk songs.

19. Play a Gig.

It’s a totally different experience playing in front of others compared to playing alone. There is that added element of pressure. Not only will this make you up your own game before the gig, it should also help your composure and concentration.

If you can play a few songs live with few mistakes, playing alone in your bedroom should then seem relatively easy.

20. Honestly Look at Your Playing.

As with everything in life it’s hard to honestly look at your faults. However this is something which is crucial when it comes to guitar. You need to be brutally honest about where your weaknesses are.

Don’t just think “yeah that kind of sounds like it does on the CD; now let’s play something else”. Find what’s not good and make it better. You’re not fooling anyone but yourself.

21. Get into a routine of playing every single day.

It's true what they say - practice makes perfect. So get into a solid routine of playing every single day. Even if it's only for a minimum of 10 minutes.

The thing I find about routines and guitar playing is this – it's easy to stay in them once you have one, but hard to start one in the first place. But after a week of playing every day you should be well on your way to getting into a solid routine.

Comfort is important while you're practicing, so invest in a good strap!

22. Have Goals.

You must have goals in relation to your playing. Otherwise you're not accomplishing anything. Putting hours and hours into playing the guitar and not improving can kill your motivation. But asking yourself what you want to achieve in the first place can help structure your practice sessions and help you get the results you want.

23. Don't Rush.

When we're learning a new song we naturally want to do it as soon as possible. However rushing through a song can be damaging. Yes you can play the song through so it kind of sounds like the song its meant to, but it doesn't sound great.

Taking your time to learn the song can save you time in the long run – you don't need to go back and learn everything again. If you feel like you're needing to rush a certain part of the song, chances are you're not able to play it fast enough. Try playing at 70% speed and building up from there.

24. Cut Back on Your Effects & Distortion.

Excessive effects and distortion can sometimes hide imperfections and mistakes in your playing. Cutting back can help you better hear the problems with your playing.

While effects are useful, and can make you sound better, don't use them for making up for sloppy play or other problems with your playing. Use them to find tune, refine and perfect your sound.

25. Relax.

I find that trying too hard, or trying to overplay the guitar can negatively impact your sound. Having a relaxed & calm frame of mind can make your playing efficient, smooth and effortlessly flowing.

26. Think About Timing.

It's easy to get into bad habits with your song writing, you can get stuck in a very rigid mindset. So when you're trying to write a cool sounding riff, you think of more and more complex scales. Sometimes a riff can sound better if more thought is put into the actual timing rather than the notes.

Guitarists like John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers are great at doing this – sometimes his solos just consist of a handful of notes but a ton of thought and feeling has gone into them.

27. Train Your Ear.

Training your ear is a crucial step for guitarists – there are way too many benefits to mention. However the most important could be song writing - many guitarists have a song or riff in their head and then attempt to translate it onto the guitar.

Having a good ear can make this much easier and remove that element of trial and error when attempting to improve a guitar part.

28. Try out Different Strings.

Did you know strings come in different gauges? For the beginners out there a gauge is essentially a thickness. Heavier / thicker strings are harder to fret but they produce a louder sound when plucked and the sound from them lasts (or sustains) for longer. They contain much more energy than a lighter string. However it's harder to do things like pick really fast with them simply because you pick has more string to move over. The fact that they're harder to fret doesn't help either when playing faster styles of music.

So changing your string gauge to one more genre appropriate can really make you sound better or make it easier to play in the style you want.

29. Make Your Own Rules.

Don't ever get into a mindset of “the guitar must be played this way”. Experimentation and mixing up different styles is a great way to always be pushing the boundaries. We talk about this in our article on pedal chains & setup. There are loads of valid ways to set up your pedal board. It's all about what sounds good to you.

30. Learn How to Improv.

Improvisation can help lots of different aspects of your guitar playing. So while working on improv, you’ll actually be improving in lots of other areas too.

You’ll improve your ability to come up with cool riffs, ability to work as part of a band, soloing, theory, technical skill and maybe even your overall creativity.

31. Build Up.

You need to walk before you can run. So when learning a challenging song start slow and slowly build up. Trying to cut corners to quickly learn a technical riff will be very obvious when you come to play it. You'll sound amateurish and sloppy.

32. Warm Up.

If your hands go from doing nothing to attempting a complex solo, not only do you risk straining yourself, they just won’t be able to do what you’re asking of them.

You should keep it simple & slow for at least 5 minutes. Play a few casual scales or a few easy songs, then you should be good to go.

33. Play With a Metronome.

Playing guitar with a metronome has helped me in several areas of my guitar playing - my timing, my song “flow”, my ability to work as part of a band, and it even helped improve my speed.

As a guitarist I always just assumed my playing was in time, but using the metronome helped me see I wasn’t - I was way off. It puts timing in the forefront of your mind which is something incredibly useful for new players, when you’re a beginner you mostly think about notes, not the rhythm.

34. Keep Your Guitar Well Maintained.

Give your guitar some love. Keep the strings relatively new, the body dust free and the fretboard clean. You can also set the guitar up (either do it yourself or professionally) which can improve playability and intonation problems.

35. Watch Live Bands.

As we mentioned above, you can learn a lot from watching others play. That goes double for professionals. What you hear on a CD will be much different when played live.

Furthermore seeing the live energy of your favourite bands can inspire you to practice even more.

36. Enjoy Yourself.

Isn't it easier to do something that you love? When you're practicing you should always make sure you're having fun. Yeah learn scales and chords, but don't JUST do that, or you'll soon start to lose your motivation.

So make sure you play some songs you enjoy, even if you're not massively benefiting from them or learning anything new.

37. Listen to Some Non Guitar Music.

It’s not just guitar music which can give you cool ideas and inspiration. Listening to other genres can help too; practically anything should be able to be translated onto the guitar. It’s also a good idea to listen to other guitar based genres which you wouldn’t usually listen to.

They can provide you with lots of ideas.

38. Get Serious.

It’s easy to strum a few chords out once in a while, or just noodle around for 20 minutes, but you’re not going to improve doing that.

Yes playing the guitar is really fun, but if you get in a serious mindset you’ll be able to achieve so much more. If you put in the work, and really think about what you’re doing, results will come.

39. Teach Others.

There's a saying I've heard a few times - “to truly understand something is to be able to simply teach it to others.” Teaching others the guitar can show you where your knowledge is lacking, it also helps to refresh yourself on the basics.

40. Join a Guitar Community.

We’ve got some cool links to some of the top guitar sites out there here. There are some great guitar communities out there, mostly revolving around a “forum” structure.

These communities are excellent ways to get advice and form friendships as players of all skill levels usually participate in the community. Especially useful if none of your friends are guitarists.

41. Play in Silence and Undistracted.

This links into the “get serious” tip above. Just like when you’re reading or working, playing the guitar while undistracted is the best way to go. If you’re watching the TV while playing your full attention isn’t going into either activity. If you actually want to accomplish something work undistracted.

42. Know When you Need a Better Amp.

An amp is not just an amp. If you have a great quality guitar, pedals, and overall skill, yet a poor amp, you're not going to sound great. Remember that it's not just about volume, but overall tone and richness of sound.

You're never going to sound professional with a second hand piece of junk.

43. Embrace Technology.

In the world of the guitar, much of the time, older is better. But we shouldn’t ignore some of the new technology. You’ve got programs like Power Tab helping you learn songs, virtual pedal board software and wireless guitar systems. Then you’ve got a whole host of apps which makes learning the guitar easier.

44. Sort out Sloppyness.

It's not just about being able to technically play a note, but being able to play it consistently and make it actually sound good. So it's much better to be able to play one song perfectly, rather than 10 songs to a sub par level. Realising this simple fact can help you improve tenfold.

You'll never be a great guitarist if your playing is riddled with mistakes and poor technique.

45. Research Your Influencers Influences.

I think this is very important, it’s the purest way to understand your favourite bands. In music, unlike many other aspects of life, we know that older doesn’t mean worse - older bands are still awesome. Understanding their musical styles and in turn being influenced by them can make you “sound” quite unique in your songwriting.

If everyone is influenced by bands from 10 years ago, and you’re influenced by bands from 25 years ago, it could make you stand out that little bit more.

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Guitar Pedal Clone List

Gift Ideas for Guitarists

Artec create a range of great value guitar pickups which really punch above their price point. Numerous manufacturers have worked with Artec in the past to create their own range of pickups (some names who you’ll surely know). However to offer you the best price, we’re selling them under the original Artec name. You won’t always get fancy packaging and logos – just a great sounding product.

Their mind blowing value makes them a great brand to feature here on Spartan Music. Currently we stock a few acoustic and electric guitar pickups but we’ll be adding more from their range in the future. Currently we have p90s, rail humbuckers, filtertrons, an acoustic soundhole and standard single coil strat pickups.

We’re currently writing a beginners guide to pickups for those of you who want to take your first steps into the world of pickup buying.

Take a look at the pickups we currently have in stock.

Pickups aren't too hard to install, although it's a little bit daunting at first. You can read a great guide on installing them here. If you'd like more of a visual guide youtube is your friend.

We’ve also added more straps to our collection such as new padded, leather and polyester straps with brand new designs. Like our other best selling designs these straps offer great comfort, style and of course value for money.

Unlike many of the budget straps out there our range provide comfort and have a genuine premium feel and look. Yet we don’t slap a stupid price tag on them. Click here to see the full collection of straps.

Check out some of the designs below. We've got different colours of the leather straps and alternative designs of the polyester straps including electricity, union jack, chords, and skulls. We of course are still selling our original range of best selling Spartan Music cotton guitar straps.

There are a lot of great pedals out there manufactured by some of the well known manufacturers. Some of them can be relatively expensive which means there's a big market for guitar pedal clones. 

This can be done legally because very few circuits are actually patented, and only brand names / designs can be copyrighted.

Below we've put together a list of popular pedals and their corresponding inexpensive clones, some of which we sell. These are all real clones, not pedals which pretend to be original and cost twice as much as the pedal they're cloning. So the ones we list here are clones, and don't try to hide that fact (and in some cases even make it obvious with a nod to the original in the name).

This is a work in progress. It's certainly not complete and there's a fair bit of guess work in there. Please get in touch if you know of inexpensive clones which aren't on the list!

It should be noted that some pedals are heavily influenced by the original, as opposed to being a 100% clone. So for a few of the below pedals, the manufacturer has put their own twist or improvement on it.

Sources for the info is our own knowledge, contributions from readers of this article (thanks!), and straight up awkwardly asking the manufacturer who they're cloning. 

Full disclosure - we are an e-commerce site and sell some of these pedals to customers in the UK / Europe. Clicking on the links should bring you to the product page. We started selling Electro Harmonix pedals and they often reissue their classic pedals; just check the category to see them. 

We've not included the clones which are more expensive (a lot over £100).

Ibanez Tube Screamer

• Biyang OD8 X Drive
• Biyang OD10 Mad Driver
• Caline CP-49 Midlander
• Joyo JF01 Vintage OD
• Caline CP49
• ENO ES9
• Mooer Green Mile
• Behringer Tube Overdrive
• Digitech Bad Monkey
• Musiwewe Green
• Mosky Mini Screamer

EHX Big Muff

• Biyang FZ-10 Fuzz Star
• ENO BMF
• Behringer Vintage Distortion

EHX Metal Muff

• Joyo JF17 Extreme Metal
• ENO Metalistik
• Mooer Blade
• Biyang Metal End

EHX Electric Mistress

• Mooer Eleclady

EHX Triangle Muff

• Mooer Triangle Buff

EHX Rams Head

• Moen Fuzz Moo

Fulltone OCD

• ENO Trouble
• Caline CP-50 Leon Drive
• Joyo JF02 Ultimate Drive
• Caline CP50
• Mooer Hustle Drive
• Danelectro Cool Cat Drive
• Tone City Dry Martini Overdrive
• Mosky Obsessive 

Fulltone Ultimate Octave

• Joyo JF12 Octave
• Caline CP-53
• Tone City Fuxx Fuzz

Pro Co RAT

• ENO Myomorpha
• Mooer Black Secret
• Biyang DS8 Mouse
• Behringer Distortion Modeler
• R-attack Little Bear
• Mosky Black Rat

MI Audio Crunch Box

• ENO Classic
• Joyo JF03 Crunch
• Musiwewe Red
• Mooer Cruncher
• Caline Sand Storm
• Mosky Crunch Distort

MXR Dyna Comp

• Biyang CO10
• Joyo JF10 (/ Ross Compressor)
• Caline Hot Mushroom - discontinued
• Caline CP52

MXR Phase 90

• Biyang PH10 Phaser
• Joyo JF-06 Vintage Phase
• Mooer Ninety Orange
• Tone City Summer Orange

Boss BF-2 Flanger

• ENO BF-2 Flanger
• Behringer Ultra Flanger UF100
• Digitech Turbo Flanger
• Daphon E20FL

Boss BD2 Blues Driver

• Digitech Screaming Blues
• Behringer Blues Overdrive
• Biyang BL-8 Blue (or maybe Way Huge Red Llama)
• Mooer Blues Mood

Boss CE2 Chorus

• ENO Chorus
• Biyang CH10 Chorus
• Joyo JF37 Chorus
• Mooer Ensemble Chorus 
• Digitech Multi Chorus
• Behringer Ultra Chorus UC200
• Daphon E20CH
• Tone City Angel Wing

Boss DS1 Distortion

• ENO Trinity
• Mooer Ultra Drive
• Danelectro FAB 1 Distortion
• Digitech Hot Head
• Daphon E20DS

Boss OC3 Octave

• ENO Octaver OCT-1
• Behringer Super Octaver SO400
• Mooer Pure Octave

Boss DD2 Delay

• Joyo JF08 Delay
• Mooer Reecho
• Caline CP-17
• Behringer DD400

Boss DM3 Analogue Delay

• ENO AD6 Delay
• Biyang AD10 Delay
• Mooer AnaEcho
• Daphon E20DL

Boss EQ7

• Biyang EQ7
• Behringer EQ700
• Danelectro Fish 'n' Chips
• Daphon E20GE

Boss DM2 Delay

• ENO AE-1 Ambient Echo

Mad Professor Deep Blue

• Caline Blue Ocean
• Tone City Tape Machine

Mad Professor Sweet Honey

• Joyo JF36 Sweet Baby
• Tone City Sweet Cream

Xotic BB Preamp

• Caline Orange Burst
• Tone City Kaffir Lime
• Caline Big Orange
• Mosky BB Preamp

Xotic RC Booster

• Mooer Pure Boost
• Joyo JF38 Roll Boost

Tech21 Blonde

• Joyo JF14 American Sound
• Caline CP-55

Tech21 British

• Caline CP-58
• Joyo JF16 British

Tech21 Liverpool

• Joyo JF13 AC Tone
• Tone City Black Tea
• Caline CP-56

Tech21 California

• Joyo JF15 California
• Caline CP-57

Dunlop Uni-Vibe

• Moen Shaky Jimi

Suhr Riot

• Joyo JF34 US Dream
• Mooer Solo
• Tone City Wildfire
• Caline CP-501
• Mosky Crazy Tone

Demeter Tremulator

• Joyo JF-09 Tremolo
• Mooer Trelicopter
• Danelectro Cool Cat Tremolo

Carl Martin Plexitone

• Joyo JF-32 Hot Plexi Drive
• Caline Englishman
• Tone City Golden Plexi (Maybe not clone - just Plexi sim)
• Mosky Plexi Distortion

Marshall Guv'nor

• Danelectro Daddy-O Overdrive 

Klon Centaur

• EHX Soul Food
• Caline CP-43 Pegasus
• Caline CP-99 Medusa
• Fredric Golden Eagle
• Wampler Tumnus
• Tone City Bad Horse
• Mosky Golden Horse

DOD Overdrive Preamp 250

• Caline White Heat - Discontinued

Fulltone Fulldrive 2 

• Caline Crazy Cacti

Wampler Plexidrive

• Caline Rockface - Discontinued

Diamond Compressor

• Caline Pressure Tank
• Mooer Yellow Comp

Boss Acoustic Simulator

• Mooer Acoustikar

Xotic AC Booster

• Mooer Flex Booster

Super Shifter PS-5

• Mooer Pitch Box

Lovepedal ZenDrive

• Caline CP-502 Mellow Drive 
• Mooer Rumble Drive

Paul Cochrane Timmy

Rebrands

Rebrands: A rebrand is where a factory (likely Mooer or someone who has cloned Mooer) internals into a different enclose they made for another company. Not all rebrands are exactly the same, but they’re usually cloning the same pedal. There are dozens of Mooer rebrands on the market, so we’ve not listed everything we think is a rebrand of a Mooer pedal since that’d just saturate the list. Here are the pedals we suspect of being rebrands:

• ENO
• Donner
• Xvive
• Rowin
• Mighty Sound
• Tomsline
• Blaxx
• Fame
• Fender
• NCZ Audio

Joyo also seems to offer rebranding services, but not as much as Mooer. Ammoon and Harley Benton are rebranded Joyo pedals.

Tone City and Movall always seemed to share the same pedals too. But Movall seem to not be around anymore.

A company called DemonFX have been making quite a few clones recently. They've got the Revv G3, a few Darkglass pedals, Friedman BEOD, Origin Cali76 several KoT pedals and others. We've not included them on this list because to us they're closer to counterfeits than clones since they keep the branding almost identical.

You May Also Like

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List of Pedal Types

Cheap Pedal Brands

Even though they've been out for a few years, it's safe to say that many of us don't know all that much about wireless guitar systems. And those that do may be a bit sceptical of them due to a lack of knowledge.

We thought it was the perfect time to write a quick guide on the systems which hopefully tells you everything you wanted to know.

1. What are they?

Essentially they are an electronic device which replaces the role which your guitar cable plays. So instead of using a cable to connect your guitar to your amp, you'd just use a wireless guitar system. The system then transmits your guitar signal from your guitar, to your amp without the need for a physical connection. As with guitar pedals, there are loads of different brands and types of technology in use. So two system can be completely different.

A typical device is made up of two parts - a transmitter and a receiver. You'll also usually get some sort of charger or adaptor for powering the device. Some are rechargeable. 

2. The Types of Systems Out There.

There are quite a few different sorts of wireless systems out there covering different price ranges and brands. You have the usual low cost - low performance variety, all the way up to professional grade equipment. The systems will either be analogue or digital which we'll look at in more detail below.

Typically the more expensive systems will have better reliability, range, quality and other adjustable options.

Here are some of the best known manufacturers of wireless systems:

• Line6
• Sennheiser
• Shure
• AKG

We stock the Joyo system because of it's great value. It's perfect for those experimenting with a wireless system for the first time. It's also suitable for casual gigging - but test it first!

3. How do they Work?

The majority of wireless guitar systems work in quite a similar way. Essentially most systems will have a transmitter connected to your guitar and receiver connected to your amp. When the system is on, and you play your guitar, the transmitter sends out a signal. This signal will then be picked up by the transmitter and put into your amp / pedal chain. 

3.1 Analogue vs Digital Systems.

When the guitar signal is transmitted, it needs to be converted into an FM signal. On analogue systems this means the signal needs to be compressed (at the transmitter) then uncompressed (at the receiver). Consequently this means that some quality is lost. However on digital systems this doesn't happen. So the quality should be exactly the same as a standard guitar cable. 

Another reason why digital systems are a little better is because they handle the bass sounds better. FM wireless guitar systems (non digital) can operate in two groups, VHF and UHF. VHF stands for Very High Frequency and UHF stands for Ultra High Frequency; they are both types of radio wave. The main difference is the frequency that they operate. VHF is ranged 30 – 300MHZ and UHF is ranged 300MHZ – 3GHZ.  Bottom E can sometimes drop outside the range and therefore quality is lost. Digital technology doesn't have this problem. It has the full spectrum of sounds available.

One last benefit of digital systems is that they're much less likely to experience interference from other devices such as TV and radios.

4. Why Get One?

In some cases, especially if you use a really long guitar lead, wireless guitar systems can actually sound better. This is because of the tone loss associated with having a long cable. This obviously isn't an issue with wireless systems. 

However the main reason to get one should be the ability to be much more manoeuvrable. This is great both on stage or for practice. You can freely walk around without worrying about accidentally pulling out / tripping over your cable. It will also ensure that your setup stays a little bit neater. There's nothing worse than untangling a great big mess of cables! 

A lot of things are going wireless these days because of the convenience and extra mobility - so why not guitars too?

5. Do they Work with Pedals?

Wireless systems work fine with guitar pedals. All you need to do is plug the receiver into the start of your pedal chain as opposed to your amp. Remember, just think of system as an advanced guitar lead! It may actually be easier to play with pedals because then you can use the power supply from your effects chain.

There may be a small difference in sound when compared to using a standard guitar cable. So some of the setting on your pedal may need adjusting.

6. Are they Reliable?

Initially when wireless guitar systems first came out, there was a concern that they weren't that reliable. Like all new technology there were a few a teething problems. Some devices cut out quite a bit, others picked up radio transmissions. However the technology improved rapidly, and these problems are rare, even in the cheaper systems. Unfortunately wireless systems have got a bit of a bad reputation because of these early problems. A few guitarists really look down on them because of the initial problems.

Currently, on a digital system, interference is virtually impossible because it's looking for a specific frequency, not just any frequency. Also the systems rarely cut out (the more expensive ones practically never do it) compared to the older systems.

The fact that professional touring musicians use wireless systems should prove the point that they are reliable enough and worries about reliability, while valid several years ago, aren't really a problem any more.

7. Boosting Performance.

There are a few things you can do to ensure that you get great sound and reliability from your device. They're mostly common sense but are easily neglected, especially if you're new to going wireless.

• Make sure there aren't too many objects in the line of site between your transmitter and receiver! Although an object won't stop the signal, they certainly won't help. So ensure that you don't put your pedal board behind your amp or other instrument like a keyboard.
• With certain devices, the waves may bounce off other objects. This means that waves arriving at the receiver after a bounce can result in a low quality sound. To avoid this make sure the playing area is relatively neat and object free (as above). You should also walk around your area of play to see if there are any trouble spots you should avoid.
• Don't stray too far. Wireless systems do have a range so make sure you stay well within it. If you go past the limit you may get cut outs. There is another problem with going too far away, even if you're easily still in range. The further away you go, the longer sound take to reach you. Consequently you may begin to play out of time in a band situation.
• Keep your batteries charged. Performance may start to go once you battery begins to run low. Many devices have a display which tells you your current level. So try to replace batteries if you're around 20%. This is especially important during gigs. 

We're really excited to announce that we now stock a range of Joyo products - one of the top names for getting incredible value when buying your guitar gear. Joyo have been making pedals for several years now, and have gradually increased in popularity as people realise how good their products are for the price.

Most Joyo products are heavily influenced by a certain existing pedal. For example the Tube Screamer, OCD or Suhr Riot. However the great thing about Joyo pedals is that they don't just try and emulate these classic pedals, but actively improve upon them too. So if you do your research online, you'll actually read that a few people prefer the Joyo pedal compared to the original (which usually costs £100 more)! Such is the subjectivity of sound.

As well as the pedals we also have some of their other products, such as mini amps and wireless guitar systems, in stock. Keeping with the Joyo philosophy, they also offer some incredible value. They provide comparable quality with products double (or more!) their price.

Currently we have both the new and old range of pedals and amp simulators available. But keep your eye out on our Joyo collection for more new products soon.

Here are our first four straps in black, blue, red and tan varieties:

You can view all of the straps we have for sale here.

They're made from a soft cotton material (not that horrible plastic stuff!) and have leather ends. They're also fully adjustable with the durable metal buckle. At just £10 with free delivery they're a great deal.

In the future we'll be adding some more straps such classic leather styles and comfortable padded designs. We'll also hopefully be adding new colours to the existing range.

Our aim is to give musicians a better choice when it comes to straps. We believe you can have comfort and style without handing over extortionate amounts of money. We guarantee that you'll never be paying a big chunk extra just for a brand name. You'll be paying for a good quality strap. That's it.

ENO pedals (sometimes know as EX AMP) are a great new range of mini guitar pedals very similar to Mooer. They are essentially clones of very popular pedals such as the Metal Muff, Rat and OCD. However they're available for much less (under £30) and often take up a fraction of the space, so they're great for those of you with little space on your pedal boards. The fact that they're all true bypass and come with free delivery make them even more of a bargain. Here is a list of our ENO pedals along with the pedal they're a clone of, to see the full range just check out our ENO collection. 

• BMF Fuzz (Big Muff)
• CH2 Chorus (Boss CH1 Chorus)
• Classic (Mi Crunch Box)
• ES9 (Tubescreamer)
• BF2 Flanger (Boss BF2)
• Metalistik (Metal Muff)
• Myomorpha (RAT)
• Trinity (Boss DS1)
• Trouble (Fulltone OCD)
• Mini Tuner (Not sure if this is a clone of anything, maybe the Baby Tuner or Polytune)

As for the Biyang pedals we've got the new distortion, chorus and phaser from the Baby Boom range. We've also got the Metal End Pro which is a monster of a pedal. Even though it's slightly more expensive than the usual Biyang pedals (but well below the £50 mark), it's still excellent value, and the ultimate choice for guitarists who play heaver styles of music. To see it, along with the other new Biyang pedals, please take a look here, or check out the image below. You can see, just from looking how many options it has to customise your tone.

All guitarists are different, so we've done this from the point of view that the reader is a beginner / intermediate player. If you're experienced you probably won't need lots of online resources anyway, although some of the the ones listed on this page can still be useful. Especially if you've never heard of them before.

Let us know if we've missed out any important sites in the comments!

10. Ultimate Guitar

Ultimate Guitar is the jack of all trades really. It has it all; reviews, forums, tabs, lessons, news & interviews. It's a massive site with nearly half a million pages showing up in Google. A lot of the content on the site is user generated, such as the reviews.

This is both good and bad. It can be good sometimes because people put forward their honest opinions. However there are also die hard fans (ok, we'll say it; fanboys) of a certain band / piece of equipment who can post biased reviews. You can also get people who perhaps only have a year or two experience writing lessons or reviewing equipment which they don't fully understand.

However Ultimate Guitar certainly deserves to be in the list for its breadth of content and its sheer number of tabs.

9. AllGuitarChords & ChordBook

We've listed these together because they're both very similar. Yes they look like they were designed in the 90s but they're incredibly useful.

These sites basically list all the chords and scales you could ever want. There are hundreds! You pick the chord / scale you want, fill in the variations, and it displays it for you on a virtual fretboard. They're probably the best resources online for learning new chords and scales.

It's just a shame they're a bit advert heavy. A fresh lick of paint and an update also wouldn't go amiss.

8. Reddit

If you don't know about Reddit it's basically a social news sharing network combined with a forum where you can vote for, and comment on, the content you like. So the best content automatically gets voted to the top of the page. There are various categories about a massive range of topics, and there's one for guitar (as well as pedals and guitar lessons).

It's definitely worth a look every now and then. If there's something new & cool happening in the world of guitar, then chances are it will be on Reddit due to the power of social sharing. There's also a good community and range of guitarists willing to help each other out.

7. Harmony Central

Harmony Central is one of my favourite guitar communities on the web, with perhaps a slightly more mature audience than some of the other sites on this page. It's probably one of the best sites out there for discussing guitar gear and equipment.

There are tens of thousands of user reviews on there, so when you're thinking of buying a new piece of gear, check out Harmony Central first. Because there are so many reviews you get a really good idea about the quality of the product. You can make up your own mind as you weigh together the good reviews and the bad reviews.

The forums are also incredibly good and discuss a wide range of topics; not just guitar.

6. Drumbot

There are some incredibly useful tools for guitarists on Drumbot. There's a virtual drum machine which is a quick and easy way to create drum beats for practice sessions. There's also an interactive chord chart where you can browse hundreds of chords and have them virtually played back to you. You can then drag these chords into a song. This is great when you're writing songs and need some inspiration.

Additionally there's a metronome, a tuner, and a tool which find the BPM of songs. Great for guitarists of all levels.

5. Youtube

There is so much good stuff on Youtube for guitarists, I don't know where to start. I could easily write a top 10 list of the best Youtube channels for lessons or reviews.

If you're after something, whether it's a lesson, a demo, a live video, or a review, chances are that it will be on Youtube. Even if you want to see some obscure boutique pedal in action, or learn how to teach your cat to string a guitar, someone has probably made a video about it. Video can convey stuff that words or still pictures can't; nothing compares with actually seeing something in action. It's the next best thing to actually holding the product in your hands, or seeing the band live.

4. Jamplay

There are a lot of great free resources out there. But if you must pay for lessons, go for Jamplay; it's well worth the (subscription) money. They have an amazing set of professionally produced video based lessons from expert (and quite famous!) guitar teachers. These aren't just “let's hit record and hope for the best” style lessons; they're obviously very well thought out and structured.

There are also lots of tools included in the subscription such as interactive chord and scale libraries, backing tracks and even games to aid learning. Consequently practically all guitarists, regardless of level should benefit from Jamplay. So yes, you need to pay, but they are (probably) the best sets of online lessons on the web.

3. JoinMyBand

It can be hard finding band members – most of us aren't lucky enough for all of our friends to conveniently play a different instrument. And even if you are that lucky, they may not be any good! That's why JoinMyBand is such a good idea.

It's basically a classifieds site for finding band members. If you're posing an advert, you just find you local area and write a brief description about you and your musical influences. Then people reply to your advert and you (for example) go for a jam session. Alternatively you can just reply to an avert which is already up.

The site just connects like minded musicians who want to play music together. It's a simple & user friendly site which must have created thousands of musical inspired friendships. It's for that reason JoinMyBand makes the top 3.

2. Songsterr

Songsterr is similar to GuitarPro and Powertab (software which actually plays out guitar tabs for you), but it's based in your web browser and, better yet, it's free! There are thousands of tabs on the site, and if there isn't a song on there that you want, you can request it. All tabs are contributed by Songsterr users which can then be edited by other users (similar to the way Wikipedia works).

This means the accuracy is always improving as numerous musicians work together to make the tab as perfect as possible.

It's a great tool for learning songs which won't cost you a penny, although, paid versions of the site are available which have extra features such as being able to slow the tabs up & down.

1. Justin Guitar

Justin Guitar is an amazing site for beginner and intermediate players looking for lessons. The site contains hundreds of free guitar lessons. These lessons are incredibly high quality too. There are paid lessons and tutorials out there which aren't half as good as some of the lessons and videos on Justin Guitar.

The lessons range from learning guitar from absolute scratch, to learning scales, chords, various techniques, aural training and recording. Basically everything you could ever want.

So don't let the simplistic design put you off, this site is an amazing resource which gives everyone access to high quality & free lessons. The site isn't even plastered with adverts, although there are a few unobtrusive ones at the side. They say there's no such thing as a free lunch well, this is as close as you're going to get.

Individually these chords don't always sound that amazing, the trick is to mix them in with (or over the top of) power chords or use them with interesting timing signatures. So if you're looking for some soft melodic chords, these probably aren't for you. Unlike power chords, using them will need a fair bit of experimentation and thought.

Now I'm not an expert by any means, and for those who know about guitar theory (or jazz guitarists) some of these chords won't seem unusual at all. But hopefully for newer players it can work as a simple way to help break that “power chord only” mentality. I've included videos from the bands who use the chords so you can see them in action.

I'll try to give the names of the chords too (but some of them are so unusual they don't actually have exact names!)

At The Drive In

E ---

B -8-

G -7-

D -5-

A -7-

E ---

Name: Em7

This chord, or a similar variation, was used in One Armed Scissor by At The Drive In. I remember first hearing it and wondering what the chord was. It sounded like it had a real kick and managed to sound quite heavy without needing a ton of distortion. At the Drive In had two guitarists so they were fond of mixing the "different" chords grounded with more standard chords and timings. See it in action in the below video.

The Fall of Troy

E ---

B -10-

G -x-

D -8-

A ---

E ---

Name: Maj7 Interval Dyad

This is used by The Fall of Troy quite a bit. It won't necessarily sound good strummed in a chord progression, but works in short bursts. This chord has a similar impact and can be used in “breakdowns” in heavier genres of music:

E ---

B ---

G -9-

D -8-

A -7-

E ---

Name: Edim triad

You can hear the first chord in action around 6.5 seconds into this song:

The Fall of Troy actually occasionally use the alternative chords in quite normal 4/4 timings, or sprinkle them in amongst their "crazy single note hammer on / pull off frenzy". This is demonstrated really well in "Semi Fiction", have a look at the tab on the awesome site which is songsterr. 

At Dillinger Escape Plan

The Dillinger Escape Plan have some absolutely insane guitar parts, the most impressive of which is usually made up from single notes. But they also use some interesting chords. Similar to the chords used above they have that “discord” sound. Here are a few they use:

E -0----------

B -16--------

G -14-----6-

D -14-----x-

A ----------5-

E -------------

Name: EMaj7sus4 / Maj7 Interval Dyad

They're also fond of playing their standard tuned guitars as if they were in drop D. For example 43% Burnt uses this chord quite a bit:

E ---

B ---

G ---

D ---

A -3-

E -3-

Name: Fourth Dyad

Dillinger are a good example of a band who use chords from a non “rock” genre. In this case it's jazz, they just play the chords in a way which is miles away from the typical jazz band. Here is their song 43% Burnt:

The Mars Volta

The Mars Volta love to (guess it's more like “loved to” now :( ) use chords which are (relatively) high up the fretboard but which still have open notes. Like some of these:

E -0----------0-

B -0----0----5-

G -9----7----7-

D -9----0----0-

A -------7-------

E ----------------

Name: ??? / D6sus2 / Dsus2 

This, as opposed to the dischord of the Dillinger Escape Plan, can be used to create some pretty melodic sounds. An example of this is in the song Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus from Frances The Mute:

You also see quite a few chords consisting of just two notes which span quite a wide distance. Like these:

E -------------

B -10---6----

G -x-----x----

D -x-----x----

A -9-----6----

E -------------

Name: Barre F#m / Ebsus2 Barre

They are often played aggressively and in short bursts but can be used melodically with heavy reverb. However remember The Mars Volta do use quite a few effects in their songs so sometimes can get sounds which are harder to achieve with a standard setup.

Hopefully this has given you new players some ideas about the chords you're using. Experiment and find out what sounds cool / interesting. There are thousands of chord combinations on the fretboard (2341 not including 2 string power chords according to Premier Guitar) so why stick to the same shapes?

Students

We know how hard budgeting can be for students. You've got so many things to consider – course fees, going out, transport, rent, books; the list goes on.

But music and guitar can be such a big part of the student lifestyle. So hopefully we can help by reducing our already low prices by 5%. To claim the discount just contact us with your name and place of study. We'll then send you a unique coupon code good for 5 uses. Just enter it at the checkout.

It doesn't matter which stage of eduction you're at – university, college or secondary school; all students qualify. You don't need to be specifically studying music either.

Guitar Tutors

Guitar tutors also quality for a 5% discount. This code will have unlimited uses and will not expire. To claim just contact us with your name, address, and website. If you don't have a website just provide us with your social media profile address or business listing (e.g Yelp).

Social Media

You can get up to a 10% discount if you interact with us on social media. So if you frequently like our posts, follow us, or otherwise help us spread the word about our products, get in touch. It's our way of saying thanks. Just contact us with the names of your social media profiles, and we'll calculate the discount you're entitled to. The more you interact, the higher the discount. Just title your message "Social Media Offer".

Our social media profiles are displayed at the bottom of the page if you're having trouble finding them. We're also on Soundcloud which isn't in the footer.

You must be relatively active on these social media profiles (no brand new accounts with no friends!).

Hopefully connecting with us on social media will be able to save you further money since we're going to be providing social media only offers in the future.

Thanks for reading!

There are some very strong opinions about boutique guitar pedals. At one end you've got gear snobs who look down on people who've paid less than £150 for a fuzz pedal. At the other end there are those who can't believe people are essentially paying hundreds of pounds more for a basic pedal with a fancy new paint job.

This article will give you a little guidance if you're wondering whether to buy a boutique pedal.

Hopefully it will provide a nice and balanced account and give some reasons both for, and against buying boutique.

For the Newbies

We know that a few of our customers haven't been playing guitar for that long, and are still learning. So you may not actually know what boutique pedals are - this bit's for you!

Boutique pedals can be quite hard to define. You could get a pedal described as “boutique” which doesn't actually fit the following definition. However a genuine (you'll see why I used this word in the second half of the article) boutique pedal maker would like to think it has the following definition:

Hand made pedals produced in much smaller quantities than mainstream pedals which use the highest quality components. They often have a unique look and sound. Usually they are more expensive because of the smaller quantities they are produced in and the higher quality components used. Sometimes the pedals have extra knobs, settings or are designed to sound a certain unique way.

The Advantages

So why would you want one of these boutique pedals? Let's take a look at why you may be tempted to make at least one or two of your pedals, boutique.

Cool Design

Let's start with aesthetics – some boutique pedals can have awesome designs. Some really are more like works of art. If you're anything like me, you can find some of the mainstream brands a little bland looking. There's a reason for this – mainstream pedals don't want to take any risks and give you a reason not to buy the pedal. So they're less inclined to do something creative. They want to appeal to the most amount of people possible, and while there's not much to like about a plain orange pedal, there's not much to dislike either. Many boutique designers are free to let their imaginations run wild. And that “imagination run wild” theme is continued throughout all aspects of their construction.

The Care & Attention

A lot of care and attention goes into boutique pedals. The maker is usually just one person who has a vision. They'll have spent hours planning, experimenting and testing the original design. Then when it comes to the actual pedals which will be sold, they'll have needed to source the raw materials, construct and test the finished product. They'll want everything to be perfect, because it's their business and word of mouth can make or break them.

With mass produced pedals can you imagine every stage of the process having the same amount care? No, probably not. They care about maximising profit.

It's also great to support a great local builder who is following their passion as opposed to buying from a big company (perhaps who are located at the other end of the world). In the same way you may buy from a local family run butches instead of Morrisons or Tesco, buying from a local pedal builder may give you that warm fuzzy feeling inside.

The Sound

This is perhaps the best reason to buy a boutique pedal; if you want a unique & innovative sound. Because of a builders willingness to experiment and use a wide range of parts (even if they're more expensive) they're likely to sound very different.

Remember that mass produced brands are always looking for something which will appeal to the most people. This is so they can sell more units. But sometimes that isn't what you're after. You want something specific, and there's a chance boutique pedal can fulfil your specific need.

Mainstream & popular bands aren't liked by everyone, and the same goes for pedals.

The Disadvantages

But it's not all good. Here are a few valid criticisms of boutique pedals.

Do You Know What You're Buying?

There are a few different cases of companies finding a decent low cost pedal manufacturer (such as Biyang or Joyo) and then asking these companies if they can provide custom paintwork and logos. They'll then sell these £30-40 pedals for over £100 and imply that they're boutique / hand made (although technically they are hand made, just not with their hands!) . There's nothing wrong with re-branding (it happens all the time), but when you're essentially charging £70+ more for a paint job and misleading customers, it's a little insulting. You can read a little bit more about this scandal here.

The problem is that for most of us, there's no way to know if a pedal is actually boutique. Even if we look inside, it still can be hard to tell. Sometimes a fancy new paint job, or a good marketing campaign can play tricks on our ears. We start to actually think that the pedal actually does sound better. So if you are buying boutique, make sure you trust the designer! Unfortunately many people have already been scammed.

Do they Actually Sound Better?

If you look at the professional musicians you'd think they'd all be using boutique pedals if they were so much better. Although some pros do use boutique pedals, they're in the minority. Most professional boards consist of familiar brand names.

Of course sound is subjective. But that's the point really. If you're looking for a specific sound that you want then fair enough. But don't fool yourself into thinking that everyone will love your specific boutique sound over a mass produced pedal. In fact I think in a blind sound test between one of our under £40 Biyang fuzz pedals, and a £200 boutique fuzz, at least some would prefer our the Biyang.

Think about all the R&D money which goes into the big brand pedals. As well as all that testing, and all that experience. They've made pedal building into an art form. They've perfected the whole process and made it as efficient as possible. Yes they may not have the character or warmth of boutique pedals but they know what they're doing, and they do it very well. That's why mass produced pedals sound so good, even though we know lots of love and (as much) care hasn't gone into them. But that doesn't matter does it? It's about how they sound.

The big pedal brands are big precisely because they're good at what they do.

Value For Money

I'm really a sucker for a great deal, which is why you see such inexpensive gear on this site. Maybe some boutique pedals are “better” than mass produced pedals. But are they good enough to warrant a price tag two or three times bigger? For that to make sense they should be at least twice as good, which they're not.

Think about what's actually in a boutique pedal too. At the end of the day it's a metal box full of various electronic components. These components, even the highest quality ones, can't cost more than £20. If bought in wholesale this number could be much lower. Yes; there's the labour time and the initial development too. But if the pedal builder has a good system in place building certainly shouldn't take more than an hour or so.

The fact is that building pedals is often the only source of income that many pedal builders have. So they NEED to be that price in order for them to make a decent living. They're not priced that way because of the massively extra quality.

Also, not all boutique pedals are any good, or even acceptable. You only need a basic knowledge of electronics to build one yourself. Anyone can build one and start selling online. These people sometimes have the cheek to think they too can overcharge. That's like me walking into Harrods and trying to sell a dirty t-shirt I've drawn a few stars on for £99.

It's Natural to Want More

We've got to remember that many boutique builders are running their own business. And the fact is they're only human, so they're not going to leave money on the table when they could be making more. That's just stupid.

Many of the big pedal brands today probably started as a small boutique company. They then found ways to become more efficient, automate processes and save costs. For example they could find another electrical component which is half the price of the one currently being used. Yet there is no performance difference. So they use it and knock their prices down to encourage more buyers and spread the word about their brand.

So this is where the definition of “boutique” can get a bit blurred, and what you think of as a perfect boutique pedal, isn't boutique at all. Does being successful automatically make you non boutique?

Conclusion

It seems that much of the time there are two different groups of “boutique”. Firstly there are those pedals which are pretending to be boutique and are in fact dressed up or re-branded mainstream brands. These builders / companies are very bad and any anyone who tries to pull the wool over your eyes like this shouldn't be trusted. In a similar group are pedals which actually are built from scratch, but aren't actually any good. It's technically a boutique pedal, it's just not been planned very well. These people have the arrogance to think their terrible pedals should be priced as highly as the good boutique brands. Just because they're both broadly classified as “boutique”.

However there are some excellent independent boutique pedal makers out there who will make an excellent pedal which is something a little bit different to boot. It may be exactly what you're looking for, and superior to the mass produced pedals (for you).

The challenge is actually finding a great boutique brand since most boutique pedal builders market themselves simply by word of mouth. Probably one of the most popular and reputable boutique builders is Analogman. Other names worth looking into are MojoHand, Wampler and Strymon.

Fuzz FZ10

Who doesn't love a good Fuzz pedal? The FZ10 has been compared to the legendary Big Muff pedal but also with its own unique modes. However this pedal is a bargain priced well under £40. As with all Biyang pedals it's true bypass.

See it here.

Analogue Delay AD10

Delay pedals are incredibly fun and can be used to make a wide range of experimental and subtle sounds. The AD10 can delay over 1 second, yet it has a great analogue sound. An excellent versatile pedal.

Read more here.

Tremolo TR8

Tremolo pedals aren't one of the most common pedals, but they can produce a really unique & cool sounding effects. The TR8 is from the Biyang Tonefanier range and comes in a cool looking metallic casing. 

We'll be looking at these pedals in more detail at a later date with our “virtual demonstration” videos. Hopefully this will give you a better idea of what the pedals are capable of.

Read more about the TR8.

Who are Biyang?

If you're not familiar with Biyang, they specialise in producing pedals which excel at one thing – value. They've been building pedals for over 15 years and have received some great reviews over that time. They're actually so good, that some companies have been rebranding their pedals as high quality boutique pedals and adding £50 onto the price tag (we'll look at this in more detail in a future post).

They're very similar to Joyo, Mooer, ENO and Moen branded pedals. So they're not as popular as the big brands like Boss and Electro Harmonix, but that means they don't charge hundreds of pounds extra just because they're a “big brand”. We think that in a blind sound test between a Biyang pedal, and one of the big brands (perhaps 2-3 times more expensive), only the most experienced guitarists would be able to tell the difference. In fact, if you do your research on the web, some guitarists even prefer Biyang pedals over the more expensive brands.

We stock two main brands from Biyang:

• The Tonefancier Range – Tonefancier pedals really look classy with their polished metal design - people will never guess they cost you just £40! They feature high quality, classic circuitry and lots of options for customising your sound.
• The BabyBoom Range – These are a new compact colourful pedal range which really pack a punch. Due to their size they easily fit onto practically any pedal board yet they still have an incredibly strong metal design.

So that's why we stock Biyang pedals – they fit in perfectly with our philosophy that all players should have access to quality pedals & guitar gear they can experiment with.

There's a lot of obvious stuff here (which new players may not know about) so feel free to skip to the relevant section below:

1. Introduction

I must admit, setting up your effects pedals can be pretty confusing at first since you have little idea about what goes where. Most of the time you just end up randomly connecting everything and hoping for the best. I know that's what I did.

But did you know that you can substantially alter the sound coming from your guitar depending on where in your chain a certain pedal is located? Knowing a little bit more about common pedal positions can help you improve your sound. However, there's no real “right” or “wrong” way to do things. It's all about experimentation and personal preference.

2. Getting Everything Set Up

So forgetting about the exact pedal order for a bit, how do you even get your setup working in the first place? The first task is making sure they're all powered.

2.1 Power Supplies

Power supplies can get a bit confusing since most of us don't know the first thing about electronics. To simplify things – most pedals will work with any given power supply as long as it's the same type. For example if you're using a standard 9v pedal, it should work with a 9v adaptor or 9v battery.

But you'll also notice that the pedal has a mA reading too. It will usually be in the form of a scary message on the back of the pedal such as “Only use a 200mA adaptor with this pedal”. When I bought my first pedal I was a little worried about it overloading and it exploding due to this message, since my adaptor was higher than 200mA. Fortunately this just means that the total current draw of the pedals connected to the power supply shouldn't exceed 500mA. If they do (for example if I had x3 80mA pedals = 240mA) then your 200mA adaptor is in danger of overheating.

Let's take a step back; we said before that more than one pedal can be connected to a power supply. How would this work? This uses something called a daisy chain. It means you don't need 1 power supply for each pedal. It lets you connect several pedals from one power supply. This sounds really convenient doesn't it? Unfortunately there are two problems associated with it.

1. As we said above, the total mA of the pedals connected to the power supply shouldn't exceed the mA of the adaptor. Otherwise it could become overloaded causing damage. So always calculate the combined mA of the pedals attached.

2. It can also create something called a ground loop. This is where two or more devices are connected to the same ground through different paths. The problem with this is that it can create a really annoying humming noise.

Of course these problems can be overcome by using a battery. However as you probably know they run out pretty quickly and can cost a fortune to replace. An alternative is to buy an isolated power supply which should habe substantially less hum than a daisy chain since it eliminates the ground loop. Unfortunately these aren't cheap. They range from £50-150+ depending on quality compared to the £10 which an adaptor costs.

You'll only really need to worry about isolated power supplies if you're starting to get a little bit more professional. An adaptor with daisy chain / 9v battery will be fine for most beginners.

2.2 Getting Things Connected

Now you know about powering pedals, it's time to connect your pedal(s) to your amp. Look at your pedal and you should see two holes. One of the left and one on the right. They may be labeled “in” and “out”. Simply insert the jack attached to your guitar into the “in” slot. Then with another jack cable connect the other “out” side of the pedal to the amplifier. It should go into the same input slot of your amp that you usually plug your guitar into.

If you've got more than one pedal you'll need to connect them via a patch cable. So you'd connect one pedal with the jack attached to the guitar, and the other pedal with the jack attached to the amp. You then connect the two (or more) pedals with the patch cable so they form a nice chain.

3. Pedal Positioning & Arrangement

Onto actual pedal positioning. Each pedal the guitar sound goes through changes it a bit. First let's try and get see why order matters. Let's say the signal leaves our guitar and goes into the first pedal (wah), and then into the second pedal (distortion). This would distort the wah sound. But if we connected the distortion and then the wah, a wah would be added to the distortion. Yes, these would sound similar, but not the same.

Let's look at a few different pedal types in turn, going from what should (generally speaking) be connected closest to your guitar end, to what should be connected closer to the amp end.

3.1 Tuner Pedal

Think about a tuner pedal. Will it be better to try and tune your guitar with the pure unaltered signal right out of your guitar, or after several effects have substantially altered its tone? Obviously it's going to be better at tuning with a nice clean tone. So you should put it towards the start of your effects chain. This is one of the few pedals where there is a right place to put it.

3.2 Wah & Compressors

The wah pedal depends on having a pure signal in order to get the most out of them, so may sound good towards the start. However it's equally acceptable to have it a little later in the chain (after distortion) to accentuate the wah sound.

Compressors are often a good pedal to put next as this prepares and evens the volume ready for the subsequent effects. However whether to put the compressor before or after distortion effects is the subject of much debate. Experiment to see what you like the most.

3.3 Distortion & Overdrive

Distortion pedals are commonly put next. If certain effects are added before distortion their distorted output doesn't sound as good. Think about a reverb pedal. Adding reverb before distortion will distort the reverb effect. A distorted echo probably isn't something you want. The same goes for effects like chorus and phaser, they don't always sound good distorted.

3.4 Modulation Effects

Next other pedals like phaser, chorus, flanger should be placed due to the reasons mentioned above. Placing them after the distortion makes sure they don't get distorted and ensures the essence of the effect stays clear.

3.5 Time Based Effects

With the delay pedal (or other time based pedals such as reverb or a looper pedal) you'll want them to be located towards the end of your chain. You want it to delay all of the effects so far, not delay some then have other non delayed effects on top. Placing another effect after the delay pedal can make your tone sound “uneven”.

3.6 Volume

If you have a volume pedal it should probably be at, or close to the end of your chain. You'll want it to evenly change the sound of everything that has come before it. Many players also use it before any time based effects too so they can delay the whole volume change.

4. It's All Subjective

Keep in mind that music is subjective. So while we've made recommendations here, don't treat them as being set in stone! Experiment and see what sounds good for you. Going against some of the common rules can help you find some really unique sounds. Some pedals like equalisers have even less rules. Place them where you need to specifically manipulate your sound range. It's up to you to experiment and find out where they sound best in your setup.

5. Example Setup

To get a rough idea, an example setup could look like this:

Guitar > Tuner > Wah > Compressor > EQ > Distortion > Phaser > Chorus > Delay > Volume > Amp

However this setup would also be perfectly acceptable:

Guitar > Tuner > Compressor > Wah > Distortion > EQ > Chorus > Phaser > Volume > Delay > Amp

6. Effects Loops

We can make things a little bit more complicated with effects loops since they're a different way to attach effects to your setup. Essentially they insert the effect after the preamp. Usually effects are inserted before the preamp. The preamp essentially prepares your sound for the main amplifier (the bit which actually makes it louder). However inserting effects, especially time based & modulation effects, after the pre amp can make them sound better. Simply think of the preamp as another effect in the chain. Some effects may sound better after it, rather than before. As above this comes down to personal opinion, but it's something else which you can experiment with.

6.1 How Do I use an Effects Loop?

So you actually want to use a loop? Actually setting up an effects loop is pretty easy but can differ between amplifiers. Let's say that we wanted to take the delay and chorus out of this setup and put it in the loop:

Guitar > Tuner > Wah > Compressor > Distortion > Chorus > Delay > Volume > Amp

We'd remove the pedals (so the distortion and volume would be connected) and look at our amp. There should be something which says “FX Send” and “FX Return” or something similar. Here's what it looks like on my amp:

You'd connect the input of the chorus pedal to the “FX Send” and, assuming the delay is connected via patch cable, the output of the delay pedal to the “FX Return”. So your new setup with an effects loop would look like this:

Guitar > Tuner > Wah > Compressor > Distortion > Volume > Pre Amp > FX Send > Chorus > Delay > FX Return > Main Amp

Some very small practice amps may not have the ability to use effects loops.

7. Conclusion

There you have it. A brief overview of powering and setting up your effects. Hopefully this will give you a basic base on which to go forward and experiment. Remember – sound is subjective!

8. Further Resources

There's a lot said online about the various positions you can put your pedals in, some guides get a little bit more in depth than us too. So you may find some of these resources useful:

Boss guide on the order of pedals.

Find the guitar setups of your favourite bands.

Guitar pedal subreddit. A great guitar pedal community where setups often get posted. 

You May Also Like

Low Cost Pedals & What They're Cloning

Guitar Pedals - List of What's out There

There's a lot written about true bypass online, and it can get very technical and hard to understand. In this guide we'll keep things simple and tell you about the basics of true bypass; hopefully in clear and simple language and without the need for complex schematics!

If you're after true bypass pedals, our Biyang pedals are all true bypass.

A Definition

True bypass is to do with a guitar pedal when it's part of a chain, but is turned off. So if you're going to get a pedal which will be on all the time, true bypass won't matter to you too much.

However if a pedal will be on and off frequently (like with a fuzz pedal), then true bypass does matter. This is because (if the pedal's not true bypass) it's still connected to the effect circuitry. Even when the pedal isn't in use. This can substantially alter your sound and lead to tone loss because the circuitry of the pedal can “suck” away some of your tone.

What a true bypass pedal does it this – it bypasses the circuitry of the pedal as if there wasn't a pedal there at all. It means the pedal, when turned off, acts more like an extension of your guitar cable. Hopefully these two very simple pictures will help explain this in further detail:

Hopefully you can see how, theoretically, the left pedal should sound better than the right one. Obviously when these pedals are on, the signal path would simply flow through the "Guitar Circuitry".

How Do They Actually Work?

Let's get a (tiny) bit more technical. If you actually open a pedal up, the above pictures would be pretty hard to see. To the untrained eye a true bypass pedal would look the same as a non true bypass one. One major difference is the switches used.

As we said above, a true bypass pedal pedal should bypass the circuitry of the pedal - this includes the LED too. This can be done using a Triple Pole Double Throw (3PDT) switch - both the LED and the signal can be bypassed this way. A 3PDT switch is common in boutique pedals, but because of its added expense (and unreliability) a Double Pole Double Throw (DPDT) switch is used in most mass market true bypass pedals. However if it's connected to the LED, it's not real true bypass. However special circuitry can be used to overcome this .

So the above two switches (used correctly) simply allow the two circuits (pedal on & pedal off) to be electrically separate. A non true bypass pedal on the other hand will usually use a SPDT (single pole double throw) switch. With this switch, when the effect is off, the circuitry is still part of the connection. This provides an opportunity for the tone to become “lost”.

Are There Any Disadvantages?

So we've established that a true bypass pedal should sound better than a non true bypass pedal when it's turned off. But are there any disadvantages associated with true bypass?

Adding Cable Length

You may know that the longer the guitar cable, the more tone loss, especially towards the high end of your sound. Having several true bypass pedals in your setup is similar to adding to the length of your guitar cable. So with enough pedals, you could experience loss, especially when you consider the patch cables connected to your pedals too. However it takes quite a few pedals to create a noticeable difference. With just a few, the difference will be barely noticeable.

Cut Off

With some pedals (such as delay or reverb) there may be a problem when you turn the effect off. You may want the effect to gradually & subtlety fade away. However remember how true bypass works – the effect will be cut out from the guitar signal path as if it never existed. This may be undesirable for some guitarists. In some cases non true bypass pedals can create a little bit of a gradual fade out with some effects.

I Keep Reading About “Buffers” - What Are They?

Again, this is an area where people like to go into excessive technical detail. Basically a buffer can help preserve your guitar sound when you have long cables or a lot of pedals. It helps keep a natural sound as if you were using a short guitar cable. Buffers can either be in the form of a separate pedal, or actually built into an effect. For new players buying their first few pedals, they're not something to worry about.

What's the Bottom Line?

As a beginner you don't want to overcomplicate things. If you're thinking of getting a few pedals then they'll probably sound better if they're true bypass. But at this stage, time spent worrying about your tone will be better spent practising.

Remember that sound, and what sounds “good” is subjective. So in a way, what I've told you here shouldn't matter too much. If it sounds good to you, then it is “good”.

Also remember that there are thousands of different pedals built in different ways. And that's not including boutique pedals. Any one of these pedals could be built differently than what has been generalised here. Without opening them up, and having the knowledge of electronics to actually know what you're looking at, there's no way for sure to know exactly how it's built.

So when buying pedals, rather than asking if it's true bypass or not, just ask yourself “Do I like the way it sounds?”. It's that simple.

Want to Know More?

Hopefully this article has at least brought you up to speed on some of the terminology which is often thrown around and given you a basic understanding of the terms. But hopefully we've helped you realise there's nothing wrong with the “I don't worry too much about tone – I just play” attitude. Especially at this early stage in your guitar playing life.

As we said in the start of the article, we've tried to keep everything nice and simple. But if you to get a little bit more technical check out this page. It gives you all the technical details any budding audiophile you could want.

Read a little bit more about them on this page, as well as new items coming soon.

Volume Pedal

Yes we know that a volume pedal isn't the most mind blowing guitar effect in existence. However, they can be really useful for lots of guitarists - especially those who are going to be gigging. As we know it's virtually impossible to make adjustments to the volume while you're actually playing.

The good thing about our pedal is that it doesn't need any batteries or power supplies. It's a nice and simple design. Just plug it into your setup and forget about it. Keeping in line with our low cost, high quality philosophy the price, as you would expect, is great too.

The pedal is just £20.99 which includes free delivery as always. Some volume pedals on the market can cost £60 and upwards!

So for a simple no frills solution, read more details here.

Micro Guitar Amp

Not only are micro guitar amps really fun, they're really useful too. As you can probably guess, they're just really small guitar amps which provide around 3 watts of power.

They're great if you don't want to be carrying a full sized amp around with you – these can literally fit in a small bag since they only measure 6x12x12cm. They don't need a power supply either – they run on a single 9v battery (which comes included). Despite the size they sill have distortion and tone control.

They even work with headphones too. So they're great for practically any guitarist as a gift, or just a cool accessory and £15.99 is all you pay.

Check it out!

In the Next Few Weeks...

But that's not it - we've got 3 amazing new Biyang pedals coming in the next few weeks. Watch this space for more information very soon.

Recording your own songs is something that all guitar players consider at one time or another. For some of us it may be the start of attempting to break into the music business professionally. For others we may be looking to hear exactly where we can improve as players. However for the vast majority of us it's just for the fun of being able to write a song, record it, and say “I made that!”.

1. Introduction & Aims

Our aim is to actually make these recordings sound pretty good. So we won't just be sticking a microphone in front of the amplifier which you bought from the pound shop! We'll be using a real line in. The songs will have one (or more) guitar parts, drums and bass. You can even add vocals if you wish. Hopefully thinking about the different instruments in the song will make you a better guitarist

2. What We'll Need

No luckily you don't need to buy a range of studio equipment. But you may need to buy one or two things first. They shouldn't cost too much though, although more expensive options are available if you're after a little bit more quality. You'll need:

• Your guitar.
• A computer.
• A set of headphones.
• A jack to 3.5mm cable / audio interface / jack to USB cable.
• Recording software such as Audacity.[Free]
• Drum software such as Drumtrack.[Free]

Accessories such as guitar pedals are optional, although definitely recommended if you don't want to sound awful. 

You'll also need to have actually written a song with at least one guitar part. Don't rush things and think “It'll come together during recording!” Know the parts you're going to play perfectly. 

3. Recording

Ok, we've got everything we need. Let's start recording!

3.1 The Drums

As you probably know, the drums form the base of most songs in modern guitar songs. They keep time and make sure everything stays in order. But they also can sound amazing too, and really complete a song. If you listened to your favourite songs, minus the drum parts, they'd probably sound empty or hollow.

3.11 Using Drumtrack

So we're going to create a simple drum track for our song. And don't worry, you don't need a drum set. We're going to create one using software. I personally use one called Drumtrack (linked above). It's free and does the job pretty well.

So load up Drumtrack. Actually making the drum part of your song may be quite hard if you literally have zero knowledge of the drums. But if you've played Rockband before, or can just play a simple beat, making a drum track shouldn't be too much of a challenge. Just choose your timing signature (let's say it's 4/4 for simplicity) and tempo and begin to make your drum track. You click in the box to hear one instance of the beat. If two circles are vertically in line, they get played at the same time. Here's a simple beat I've made if you don't know where to start:

Just make sure whatever you make has a consistent recognisable beat. Don't make it like one crazy drum solo!

You work on the “bits” of the beat in your song, and then but these different bits together via the top part of the screen under "Song Editor".

3.12 Exporting

Are you happy with the drum track you've created? Don't skip over this part of the process – it's very important! Get it as close to perfect as possible. Play over the drum track with your guitar and make sure it sounds good. Once you're 100% happy it's time to export. To do this just click file, then export WAV. Choose a memorable file name and click save.

3.2 Guitar

At last – on to actually recording the guitar.

3.21 Using Audacity

For recording we're going to use a program called Audacity (linked above). There are other options available which do very similar things (Garageband is good if you use a Mac), but for the purpose of the tutorial let's stick with Audacity. It's really easy to use – I’ll explain how to do stuff as it's needed. Firstly let's get the drum track we just made loaded up. Just click on file, import and audio. Then find and click on the drum track and click open.

You should see it populate the screen. This will now play in the background when you're recording. Now we can begin recording the guitar.

3.22 Connecting Everything

But first we need everything set up so we can play our guitar parts. There are a few ways you can do this. All work equally well at this level and which method you use will mostly depend on the number of 3.5mm slots available to you.

Do you have two free slots? Great, use one to connect the guitar to the computer (using a jack to 3.5mm cable. Tip - you can alternatively buy a 3.5mm to 6.35mm adaptor which slots on the end of your standard jack; these only cost £3), and another for your headphones. You need headphones so you can hear what you're playing and what's currently recorded – the drum track in our case.

Do you only have one slot? Then your headphones will need to go in here. So then you'd need either a jack to USB cable (to connect to one of the spare USB slots) or an audio interface.

If in doubt pick up a cheap audio interface – they're designed for making song recording easier. They just need one slot to connect to your computer - the headphones and a standard jack cable then plug directly into the interface. You don't need a jack to 3.5mm / jack to USB cable.

Now you should have everything connected – your guitar and your headphones. If you have any pedals / multi effects you want to use just set them up normally. However instead of plugging them into the amp you plug them into your computer / audio interface, and then connect your guitar to the pedal as normal. Don't worry if you don't have any pedals, you can add effects after you have recorded the guitar part via Audacity. But they won't sound as good.

In Audacity locate the audio symbol. Click on the drop down next to it:

This is where you select that you want the audio to come out of your headphones. Now we need to find the microphone symbol and change this to a line in so Audacity know the type of signal it's going to receive.

Note: If you want to record your acoustic guitar, and don't have an acoustic pickup, you're going to need to record via a microphone. This process is pretty simple – just connect any sort of microphone to your computer and place it close to your guitar. Remember to make sure that microphone and not line in is selected in Audacity.

Hit record and make sure everything is working as it should. Remember you can adjust various levels, and amounts of distortion later if you're not using pedals.

3.23 Recording

You can now begin recording. Try and play your song through perfectly. One problem you may have is playing it through perfectly, especially if it's a technical song. If you do have trouble just split the song up into segments. So get the intro perfect, then the chorus, then one of the verses. You just need to make sure everything is synced up properly. Luckily with the help of the drums, this shouldn't be too hard.

3.24 Syncing

Play the drum track and the first guitar part back. One thing you may notice is that the first guitar track, and the drums don't seem to be properly synced. That's OK – it happens sometimes. There is a time lag between when you play, and when the guitar is actually recorded. What you can do is make the necessary adjustments by dragging either the guitar or drum track left or right so it's in line with the other track.

3.3 Second Guitar, Bass & Vocals

Now everything is in sync you can record your second guitar part. Once this is recorded you'll probably need to drag it in line with the drums and first guitar part.

I like adding a bass part to my songs too. Don't worry, you don't need a bass guitar. I simply played the root note of the rhythm parts and then increased the bass with either an equalizer pedal, or in the Audacity options after recording. As before you'll need to drag the bass track and sync it up with the others.

Optional – record the vocals, but remember to select microphone and not line in.

4. Editing

Great – that's all the tracks recorded! Now you can start to mess around with things a little bit more.

First let's clean everything up a bit. If you see any bits of unwanted noise you can remove them. Highlight the part you want silenced and click “generate” then “silence” and hit OK.

There may be bits of the song which are causing a problem - for example a spike in volume or other unwanted noise. It will look a little bit like this in Audacity:

But you can't remove them using the method above, because it results in a small gap where no audio is audible. In this case you can use the Repair tool. Highlight a very small section of the problem audio and go to “Effect” and “Repair”. This will remove the problem, but hopefully keep the rest of the audio intact so there won't be a gap in your song.

If you want, you can also make one guitar part come out of the left, and the other out of the right. To do this find the relevant guitar part and move the L-R slider here:

It's best to have the drums and bass coming out of both speakers, so keep those sliders in the middle.

5. Mastering

Now everything is nice and neat we can start messing around with some of the effects on Audacity. This bit is essential if you've not used any effects pedals while recording. I don't want to give a full lesson on Audacity here (experiment with it yourself!), but here are a few of the essentials for mastering your song. It's best to mute all tracks but the one you're working on. This makes it easier to hear the changes you've made.

• Distortion – To add distortion highlight the relevant section, go to “effect” and then scroll down and click on “SC4”. Adjusting the bar which says “Makeup Gain” will increase the distortion level. It's best to use a distortion or overdrive pedal prior to recording because you can adjust your sound much more.

• EQ – The equaliser is an important part of the mastering process. If you don't have an equaliser pedal it becomes even more essential. Again, highlight the section you want to edit, go to “effect” and click “equalization”. Here you can boost or reduce specific parts of your sound. For example, you could increase the bass of the rhythm guitar, and maybe increase the mid range of the lead guitar. You especially need to do this for the bass guitar section.

• Compression – Compression is a good tool for evening out the volume of your sound. This makes everything sound nice and consistent. When using compression you'll want to highlight relatively large sections of your song (preferably entire instrument segments), then go to “effect” and “compressor”. You should keep similar settings for the other instruments so the overall sound is even. Compression can also be done (better in most cases) with a pedal.

6. Exporting

Now you're pretty much done! Save the project so you can make more changes in the future. This format isn't easily shared. But luckily we can use Audacity to convert your song to an MP3 file. Click file, export, and then select “MP3” from the drop down list.

Conclusion

That's it. Your first song is done and ready to share. Hopefully, as well as learning the basics of how to record, you learnt a little bit more about the construction of songs. Remember that practice makes perfect. If you want to get a little bit more professional you can start investing in paid tools & equipment, or a better selection of pedals. Generally speaking pedals are going to be better than any effects which are added after recording.

You're telling me I can get 20+ effects, in once device, for under £80? Multi effects pedals sound great don't they? But they may not be the perfect solution that you think they are.

Not for all players anyway.

In this post we'll look at multi effects in a little bit more detail and hopefully help you decide if you should buy one over a traditional pedal.

Firstly, What exactly are They?

Most of you can probably skip this section and go onto the next one. But to a beginner guitarist, there's so much equipment out there, and things can get a little confusing. So let's get our definitions straight.

Generally speaking, a multi effects pedal can provide loads of different effects in one device – overdrive, distortion, delay, flanger, chorus; you get the point (if you want a full list of all the effects available click here).

Many can also emulate different preamp types such as British, tweed and classic.

They usually come in a relatively large plastic (or metal for the more expensive ones) housing and have some sort of digital display where you can set everything up. They're more like a mini computer than an effects pedal. Many have foot switches too which let you conveniently change the effect / setup currently active.

Reasons You Should Get One

So let's look at some of the reasons why you should get a multi effects pedal (or MFX as the cool kids say). Well firstly they give beginners a lot of room to experiment and get a handle on the different sorts of effects. This is simply because of the sheer number of effects available on one device – it's pretty much all of them. You can actually customise your sound quite a bit too, as some have rudimentary equalizers built in, as well as the pre amps. This is perfect if you're trying to play a song by your favourite band, but are lacking a certain effect or type of guitar sound.

The effects themselves also allow for a decent amount of customisation. For example, you can choose the extent and rate of the effect.

I remember when I was a beginner guitarist, and I bought a multi effects pedal. I wanted to play some heavier genres of music. The distortion on my amplifier just didn't cut it. Even when it was maxed out. The multi effects pedal had some really high gain modes, and these were great for making my guitar sound more suitable for the songs I wanted to play.

Probably the main reason to get one is cost. Let's say you want to play around with 8 different effects . Even with cheap £20 pedals this could cost you £160. That's not including the cables & power supplies too. Then there's the space issue; you don't want your setup to start looking like this:

Image by artist David Byrne

 So in conclusion they're: 

• Very low cost per effect.

• Don't need lots of leads.

• A great way to experiment.

• Don't take up much space.

• Some have downloadable content / upgrades

Reasons You Shouldn't Get One

But it's not all good. If we're looking at the lower cost multi FX pedals, the problem is, they just don't sound as good as pedals. You can really tell they're digital, unlike with many pedals which can give you that “I can't believe it's not digital!” feel. Also, even though you can customise the effects, you have no way near as many options as you do with an actual pedal. You can't customise your sound any way near as specifically.

When you're a beginner, this may not be much of a problem. You might find it harder to tell the difference between a below average effect, and a good one. You'll just want to hear the effect in the first place. However the more you play, the more you improve. So eventually you will be able to hear the difference, and you'll want to make further changes to its sound. When it gets to that stage, maybe you'll wish you bought even a low cost pedal.

It may depend how serious you think you will be about playing the guitar. Buying decent pedals (they don't need to be a pro standard!) early on can actually be an investment.

Multi effects pedals aren't really a good choice if you intend to gig either. When was the last time you saw even a small local band use a multi effects pedal? They can be very unreliable live. It's often necessary to make minor adjustments during a live set – this also can be very hard with a multi effects pedal. With a normal pedal you just kneel down and adjust your pedal. Two seconds and you're done. But a multi effects pedal will require quite a bit more messing around.

One last point is this - even though you get lots of different effects for one low price, do you realistically need them all? Most guitarists, unless you're into really experimental or progressive stuff, will only need a handful of pedals. You could get two decent pedals for the price of one multi effects pedal. For example our X Drive Overdrive is just under £40 but will be suitable for practically all guitarists, except maybe very experienced / pro guitarists (and even then it's a great backup!).

So the negatives are:

• They don't sound all that great.

• They're not that good at gigs.

• You can buy a few good pedals for the price of one multi effects.

• Less ability to fine tune the effect.

Oh God Not Another Generic “It Depends” Answer

Yes I’m afraid it is. Multi effects pedals are great for beginners & very casual players who want to experiment, don't plan on improving quickly, and definitely won't be doing any gigging in the near future. 

However for players who are perhaps a bit more serious about the guitar, several low cost pedals, or one or two decent mid range pedals probably will be the better choice. You will realise how limited your multi effects pedal is sooner or later.

Of course there are some more expensive multi effects pedals which can sound great. For the purposes of this article (because it's aimed at beginners) we've assumed the multi effect is question is a relatively cheap one.

If you've got a little bit more money to spend then it really does come down to personal preference. Do you want one device which can do lots of stuff, or a single pedal which really specialises? Many guitarists (mostly perfectionists after perfect tone!) wouldn't go near multi effects, but others who lean towards more experimental styles swear by them. Otherwise it could cost upwards of £300 to even begin to get the effects they need.

Hopefully you now have the information you need to make the decision yourself. It really is a choice which needs to be made on your specific set of circumstances.

Here I'm going to look at all of the different kinds of pedal available on the market. Hopefully this will help act as an effects pedal guide to beginners who are looking to buy their first pedal, and just don't know where to start. We'll look at the name of the effect, what it does, and an example of the pedal (mostly Boss and MXR pedals as they're probably the best known). Oh, and I won't be looking at any of the niche boutique pedals; that would take ages!

I'll leave out most of the technical details because it can get quite complicated and start requiring a basic knowledge of electronics. It also starts to get a bit jargony.

1. Distortion

It's best to start with the most obvious pedal, one you've probably heard of already. Distortion! The term “distortion pedal” is actually used quite a bit as an umbrella term to refer to 3 different types of pedals.

Although it's not really wrong to do this (they all distort the signal of the guitar) I'm going to be a little bit more specific and split the group up into 3 types – distortion, overdrive and fuzz (these second two are discussed below).

 Distortion is can be quit a heavy, obvious effect which provides a good amount of sustain & crunch to your sound. Because it heavily distorts the sound, it can sometimes hide the actual tone of the guitar.

However you can still hear the original tone of your guitar and amp in there somewhere. It just makes everything sound much more aggressive.

Example pedal: Boss DS1

2. Overdrive

An overdrive pedal still distorts your sound, and gives it an extra punch, but it's great at keeping more of the sound of your amplifier & guitar intact. So it sounds a little bit more natural.

It drives or “pushes” your amplifier more subtly than a distortion pedal so it doesn't sound too heavy or overpowering. Yet it still gives you that beefy, thicker sound.

It's often used in classic rock and blues but is a versatile pedal which is on the pedal board of millions of guitarists around the world.

Example pedal: Friedman BE-OD

3. Fuzz

Fuzz is the most extreme of the distortion effects and kind of sounds like it's pushing your amplifier to breaking point. It provides a bass heavy and noisy guitar tone and means that it's very hard to hear any of your original guitar tone.

However it's still a very diverse pedal depending on how you use it. It can be used to create very heavy attacking sounds, or add more of a discrete buzz which isn't too overpowering.

Remember that these definitions are usually subjective. But a general way to look at the three pedals would be this:

The different pedals are differentiated by the amount of the distortion / saturation they provide. Overdrive has the least, fuzz has the most, and distortion is somewhere in the middle.

Overdrive------->Distortion----------->Fuzz

It's best to experiment with these pedal to find out what you like the sound of the most.

Example pedal: The Big Muff

4. Wah

A wah pedal, you'd never guess, makes a “Wah” noise. Go ahead and say it (but make sure you're alone first or you'll look crazy). You'll notice that when you say wah your lips start close together as if you're whistling and then expand until your mouth is open. This is exactly what a wah pedal does to your guitar signal.

But instead of using your mouth to control the amount of wah, you use a foot pedal. The more more you press down, the more obvious the wah sound is.

This lets you manipulate and emphasise parts of your sound. It's especially good during solos.

Example pedal: The Cry Baby

5. Delay

Delay is another effect which does what it says on the tin. It delays your signal by a varying amount and then plays it back. This creates a doubling effect. The pedal will let you define how long the delay is.

Digital pedals can usually delay for longer, but some people think that these digital pedals don't sound as good as analogue alternatives. Delay pedals are great for creating experimental effects and sounds, but can be subtle too.

Example pedal: Source Audio Nemesis Delay

In addition to digital and analogue delays there are even more types. Here are some of the delay sub categories:

• Slapback - Usually a shorter delay of a few tenths with little trail to the note. So usually just one repeat.  Often use to fatten up the note.
• Reverse - A weird delay, bit has its uses. It basically is like a standard delay, but plays the note backwards. Not commonly used (however I remember hearing some in a Fall of Troy song - can't remember which one!)
• Lo Fi - Repeats are usually less crisp than standard delay. Very subjective if this is a sound you like or not.
• Tape - Tape delay aims to replicate the delay from the old technique of using tape machines.
• Chorus / Phase delay - a standard delay but with touches of a modulation effect added in.

6. Chorus

The chorus effect sounds like hundreds of different guitarists playing what you are, but very slightly out of time. The effect also creates a mild wobble type noise.

Overall the sound sound rich, full and thick because of the chorus effect.

It can be used effectively both as a subtle effect or a more obvious experimental effect.

Example pedal: The Boss Super Chorus 

7. Flanger

Flanger is very similar to chorus, however it can provide a little bit more of an obvious effect.

It's got more of a wooshing sound which goes up in pitch and then down again. People often say it sounds like a plane flying past.

Unlike the chorus effect it doesn't sound like there are hundreds of guitarists copying your sound, but still can thicken your tone up.

Example pedal: The DigiTech Turbo Flanger

8. Phaser

Again the phaser pedal is similar to the flanger and chorus effects. It creates a sweeping sound by creating peaks and troughs in your guitar tone. You can alter the height of these peaks and troughs by manipulating the controls on the pedal.

The phaser also adds a similar, but not as obvious, effect to the guitar tone as the chorus. So it sounds like there are a few guitarists playing the same as you.

Example pedal: MXR Phase 90

9. Tremolo

Tremolo sounds like your volume is being turned up and down very quickly after you play a note. However the sounds gets blended together nicely so it doesn't sound too obvious or out of place. Essentially it proves a nice wobble sound.

The controls on the pedal control how big this volume change is, and how quickly it occurs. It's not too far away from the phaser, flanger and chorus pedals, but still sounds unique when compared to them.

Example pedal: The Supa-Trem

10. Looper

The looper pedal is more of a utility pedal. It doesn't add an actual effect, but it lets you record a segment of guitar which will then be played back through your amp. The idea is that live guitarists would use this when there are two guitar parts, but only one guitarist. So the process would look like this:

1. Hit the pedal and play the rhythm riff.

2. Hit the pedal again, the riff plays over and over without input from you.

3. You then can play the lead part over the rhythm.

4. Hit the pedal again to stop the loop and go into the next part of the song.

A looper pedal is mostly for live guitarists, but it can be cool for anyone to experiment with.

Example pedal: EHX 360 Looper

11. Reverb

Many amplifiers come with reverb already installed, the problem is, it's not always that good. Essentially reverb is an echo, and a reverb pedal can provide you with a few different atmospheric reverb sounds.

A good reverb pedal can range from adding just a slight echo, to making it sound like you're in a massive cave. It adds a large amount of atmospheric depth to your sound and can complement other effects.

It sounds especially good with a clean, undistorted tone.

There are often different pedals which specialise in a certain type of reverb, or do all three. Often the main reverb types are described as:

• Spring
• Hall
• Room

Example pedal: Biyang RV-10

12. Compressor

Compressors aren't exactly the most exciting pedal, but what they are good at is evening out your sound and making you sound more professional.

It normalises the volume of your guitar, so if you pick a string lightly, and then heavily, it should sound the same.

They're often used for live playing or in recording. Additionally most compressors also have the ability to sustain notes (which means make them last longer).

Example pedal: Wampler Ego Compressor

13. Volume

Sometimes it's not always possible to use the volume control on your guitar; you need two hands to play the guitar after all. For that reason we have volume pedals. They let you alter the volume of the guitar simply by using a foot pressure pedal.

You may want to do this for several reasons – fade outs / ins, volume swells, or just adjusting your volume mid song.

They're not a complex pedal; many don't even need powering.

Example pedal: Roland FV500

14. Octave & Pitch

First we need to know what an octave is. An octave is the distance between one musical note played at a higher or lower pitch. To hear this on your guitar play the open E string. Now play the 12th fret on the E string. You can hear that it's the same note. That's an octave simply because there are 12 semitones in an octave.

An octave pedal automatically plays the current note you're playing up or down one octave. So it's like playing fret 0 and fret 12 at the same time. This makes a really thick & full sound when used with single notes. These pedals can be made to make some very unusual sounds.

Pitch shifter pedals are a close relative to the octave pedal, but slightly less specialised. They can do an octave or two up and down, but also the variations in between an octave.

Both pitch shifter and octave pedals work best with single notes, they don’t sound good with chords.

Example pedal: Boss Super Octave

15. Noise Gate

If you've got quite a few pedals, even if they're true bypass, you're going to get some unwanted noise. This will usually be in the form of a buzz or hum and will be especially noticeable when you're not playing anything; when everything should be quiet.

So how do you stop your amp sounding like it has a bees nest inside? A noise gate. It simply cuts off all sound going into your amp when the guitar is silent.

So it's not removing the noise, but hiding it. A "gate" is a good way to think of it - it goes at the end of a pedal chain and closes, preventing any noise getting through.

Example pedal: Electro Harmonix Silencer

16. EQ

EQ pedals allow you to fine tune the bass, treble and mids of your sound. While many amps allow you do this to a certain extent, a pedal gives you much more choice about the specific band of sound you want to add or take away.

This is because most equalizers have 7 bands which you can manipulate. EQ pedals are for experienced guitarists who are trying to fine tune their sound; they know what they want to change (maybe they want to boost a section of their mids), and with an EQ pedal they can do this.

Example pedal: Biyang EQ 7

17. Acoustic

Acoustic simulator pedals simply turn your electric guitar sound into that of an acoustic guitar. This can be really useful if you want to play a song played on an acoustic guitar, but don't actually own one.

For live performances it's often used when there's only one guitarist, but a really quick change from an acoustic sound to an electric sound is needed.

However since a good acoustic guitar simulator can be over £100, it may be best to buy an actual acoustic guitar if you just want it for playing acoustic songs.

Example Pedal: Boss AC3

18. Tuner

Well this is an obvious one. A tuner pedal will plug into your guitar setup so you can quickly and accurately tune your guitar. It's a good pedal for all players to have. For casual bedroom players you get to accurately tune your guitar without the need for a flimsy guitar tuner.

For guitarists who gig, you can accurately and quietly tune your guitar in between songs. Most pedal based tuners can also tune a range of alternative tunings like down a step / half a step. It's not an exciting pedal, but it's pretty much essential if you're getting serious about guitar.

Example pedal: Spartan Music PT-02 Tuner

19. Boost

Boost pedals increase the output strength of the guitar signal before they hit your amps preamp. Consequently less gain is needed from your amp to get a distorted tone. So they keep your tone very clean but give it more of a push.

They can be used for a range of purposes. Some people use them as a volume boost during solos. Other keep the boost pedal on all the time to fatten up the sound without adding dirt.

Example pedal: Keeley Katana Mini

20. Multi Effects

Multi effects pedals have a range of effects all in one pedal. They're great for experimenting with the different effects at a budget. For example if you divide the Caline CP-38 cost by different 7 effects it has, you're paying under £6 for each one. So it's great for experimentation, although sometimes it can be a case of "jack of all trades, master of none".

There are different varieties of multi effects which specialise a bit more. For example pedals which mix together distortion, overdrive and boost, or specialise in a range of delay effects.

Example pedal: Caline Lucky 7

20. Buffer Pedal

This type of pedal you just plug in and forget about. There aren’t usually many options or things to change. It's put in your pedal chain to help maintain tone by converting the signal to a lower impedance. Most people won’t need them unless you have a very long pedal chain with excessive amounts of cables. Some pedals have buffered bypass which performs a similar task.

Example pedal: JHS Little Black Buffer

21. Filter Pedal

Filter pedals can make some very unique sounds. They're not always subtle. A lot of the time they're emulating another instrument, Electro Harmonix, as well as other brands, make pedals which allow you to sound like a synth, a sitar, a piano, or a range of bass instruments. But they don't need to sound like anything specific, although a lot do sound synth-y. These are very fun to use and can provide some very usable tones - especially in electro music.

Example pedal: Earthquaker Devices Organizer

While this isn't an exhaustive list, I think it covers the main pedals. There are also “utility” pedals such as DI pedals or splitter pedals, however these are more a recording and production tools in pedal form.

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