Guitar Effect Expression Pedal
Do I need an amp or just a monitor/speaker?
I have my guitar running through a Line 6 M13 with several expression/volume pedals attached to that. Do I need to run my sound through an amp or will a speaker set or monitor do the job? If not what kind of amps should I be looking at since I’ve already got all my effects?
Thanks for any help … please bear with the stupid question (I’m new to this stuff).
Hello there,
How about some basics on the electric guitar. Call this electric guitar 101.
The electric guitar makes a very soft sound. You can hear it to practice in a silent room. It is not loud enough by itself for most purposes; the sound is pick up by the pickups (wonder how they got that name). The pickups have a magnet surrounded by a coil of wire. Your guitar is steel strings. When you pluck a string, it vibrates. The pickups sense the vibrations and translate that into an electrical impulse. The electrical impulse is carried through the cable plugged into the guitar. That signal is still very weak. You cannot drive a speaker with it. So, you plug your cable into an electrical device that will amplify that signal (called surprise: the amplifier). The amp will have a cable running to one or more speakers. The electronic signal is transferred to the speakers and the speakers magically turn it back into sound. All of that chain is needed with an electric guitar.
Some years back effects pedals came into existence. Don’t know when. The first one I played on was a fuzz box back in 68. (I started playing in 1957). Over the decades, the effects pedals have become quite elaborate. Some pedals now generate multiple effects or even had preset models (patterned off classic sounds). Line 6 makes those. Line 6 also builds those effects into some or most of their amps. To add some effects you introduce an effects pedal in the chain between your guitar and your amp. The pedal alters the signal coming from the guitar and passes it on to the amp. There are preamp boxes you can also add into the chain between the guitar and the amp. But, the bottom line is that you will still need an amp.
I love old Fender tube amps. Those are beyond the budget for beginners. So here are some other choices.
Line 6 amps are currently quite popular mostly because of the built in effects (eliminates the need for a lot of the pedals) and because they have preset models that simulate classic sounds (Fender tube, Marshall tube, etc.) I have a Spider II 150 watt 2×12 combo. It is a very good amp. Probably a good amp for newer players because you do not need to know how to create some particular classic sound, the amp already has it stored in there. If you get a Line 6 amp, you may not really need that pedal board. Not sure how it works with the amp. The pedal board for Line 6 amps are pricey, so do some research if your current pedal board will work as a substitute if you get a Line 6 amp.
However, since you have that pedal board, you are free to pick up some other brand of amp (you don’t necessarily need all the Line 6 built in amp effects). So lets talk about amps some.
First, seriously consider buying a used amp;. You can get much more for your money. Look at your local want ads, Craigslist, the Trader and the like. Also look on eBay. I also suggest you limit your search to a combo amp with 12 inch speakers. A combo amp means the amplifier and the speaker or speakers are contained in the same cabinet. The other option is to my an amplifier (called a head) and then buy a speaker cabinet. Until you need that gear for big gigs, get a combo amp. I say 12 inch speakers because, in my opinion, amp companies only put 12 inch speakers in their decent sounding amps. Sure there are amp with smaller speakers that are good. But keep it simple, and you do not need to know which amps are good. Just look at combos that have 1 or 2 12 inch speakers and your are probably safe. Since you have the pedal board, you can consider many brands of amps. Peavey, Crate, Marshall, and Fender are all good amps. When you see an interesting deal on an amp, go to Harmony Central and read the user reviews to see if it seems like an amp you would like.
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar+Amp
Later,
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Stompbox $55.55 A professional-quality pedal for your effects. With four assignable foot switches and a 1/4″ effects pedal input jack, our StompBox allows musicians to use a compatible iOS device (i.e., iPhone, iPad or iPod touch) as a portable, programmable effects board and practice rig. StompBox effectively recreates the experience of an actual pedalboard. Developed in partnership with Frontier Design Group … |
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Moog Music MF101 Moogerfooger Low Pass Envelope Filter Pedal $289.00 Classic Analog SoundWhat is a Lowpass Filter?A lowpass filter removes high frequencies from a tone. It makes the tone sound more mellow or muted. The lower the cutoff, the more muted the tone sounds. Imagine a window shade. As it is pulled down, it cuts out the higher light, then the light from the middle of the window, then finally all the light. A lowpass filter does the same sort of thing to th… |
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Boss ME-25 Guitar Multi-Effects Pedal with AC Power Supply, Samson HP10 Headphones, and (2) Sonic Sense Instrument Cables $205.49 Sonic Sense Package Includes: The Boss ME25, a Boss ps120 AC Power Adapter (which doesn’t come in the me25 box), Samson HP10 Headphones for playing your guitar through the ME25 at all hours of the night, and (2) Sonic Sense instrument cables. The compact and durable Boss ME-25 Guitar Multi Effects Processor inherits its high-quality sounds from Boss’s flagship ME-70, and packs a ton of Boss tone t… |
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ZOOM G1x Guitar Effects Pedal $79.99 * Effect Types: 54 * Effect Modules: 8 * Patch Memory: User 40 + Preset 40, Total 80 * Sampling Frequency: 96kHz * A/D Conversion: 24-bit, 128 times over-sampling * D/A Conversion: 24-bit, 128 times over-sampling * Signal Processing: 32bit * Frequency Response: 20Hz-40kHz +1.0dB/-4.0dB (with 10kohm load) * Display: 2 digit 7 segment LED * Input: 1/4″ phone jack (Rated input level: -20dBm, Input im… |
Whats a RTS cable?
my expression pedal says i need a RTS cable. to connect it to a multi effects guitar pedal. Does anyone know what cable that is? (Hex Expression pedal by rocktron)
I think they mean a standard stereo 1/4 inch TRS cable. From what I remember of my roadie-ing days that’s how all effects pedals were connected..
“Rocktron’s HEX Expression Volume Pedal is a multi-function pedal that can be used both as a volume pedal and as an expression pedal with a large variety of processors and MIDI controllable equipment. The design of the pedal allows you to use a simple stereo-to-stereo cable for expression connection, minimizing cable use on stage.
An adjustable rocker tension screw allows you to adjust the pedal action for a lighter or heavier touch.
The expression jack accepts a 1/4″ stereo RTS cable and lets you plug into the expression port in your MIDI footcontroller or your expression port in your MIDI controllable device and thus operate the HEX as a MIDI expression pedal.
Use the input and output jacks to function as a standard volume pedal. The output jack accepts a standard guitar cable and lets you plug the HEX output into the next effect in your effect chain or directly into the input of your guitar amplifier. “
Zoom G1X Guitar Pedal Effects
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Stompbox $55.55 A professional-quality pedal for your effects. With four assignable foot switches and a 1/4″ effects pedal input jack, our StompBox allows musicians to use a compatible iOS device (i.e., iPhone, iPad or iPod touch) as a portable, programmable effects board and practice rig. StompBox effectively recreates the experience of an actual pedalboard. Developed in partnership with Frontier Design Group … |
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Moog Music MF101 Moogerfooger Low Pass Envelope Filter Pedal $289.00 Classic Analog SoundWhat is a Lowpass Filter?A lowpass filter removes high frequencies from a tone. It makes the tone sound more mellow or muted. The lower the cutoff, the more muted the tone sounds. Imagine a window shade. As it is pulled down, it cuts out the higher light, then the light from the middle of the window, then finally all the light. A lowpass filter does the same sort of thing to th… |
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Boss ME-25 Guitar Multi-Effects Pedal with AC Power Supply, Samson HP10 Headphones, and (2) Sonic Sense Instrument Cables $205.49 Sonic Sense Package Includes: The Boss ME25, a Boss ps120 AC Power Adapter (which doesn’t come in the me25 box), Samson HP10 Headphones for playing your guitar through the ME25 at all hours of the night, and (2) Sonic Sense instrument cables. The compact and durable Boss ME-25 Guitar Multi Effects Processor inherits its high-quality sounds from Boss’s flagship ME-70, and packs a ton of Boss tone t… |
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ZOOM G1x Guitar Effects Pedal $79.99 * Effect Types: 54 * Effect Modules: 8 * Patch Memory: User 40 + Preset 40, Total 80 * Sampling Frequency: 96kHz * A/D Conversion: 24-bit, 128 times over-sampling * D/A Conversion: 24-bit, 128 times over-sampling * Signal Processing: 32bit * Frequency Response: 20Hz-40kHz +1.0dB/-4.0dB (with 10kohm load) * Display: 2 digit 7 segment LED * Input: 1/4″ phone jack (Rated input level: -20dBm, Input im… |
Tagged with: audio • bass • effects • guitar • guitar effect expression pedal • hardware
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