Learn to Play Electric Guitar: Special Tip on Effects

The electric guitar is one of the most versatile instruments in modern music. It can create rhythmic/percussive textures in one moment, and smooth, singing sounds in the next. Not only that, but an almost limitless combination of new sounds may be created simply by playing with which effects, amplifiers and types of guitar get paired together.

This sonic variety provides you with a unique opportunity to create a 'signature sound'. Sadly, most of the current music curriculum for guitarists ignores these issues. The truth is that learning to play electric guitar is process which continues well beyond achieving proficiency in music theory, much less the rote motor skills necessary to manipulate the strings.

For that reason alone, I decided to create this quick tutorial about the use of effects pedals in the hopes of helping you break free from the “three chords and some distortion” rut so many guitarists find themselves stuck in.

The long and short of this tutorial is: You must learn how to 'chain' your effects pedals

I am aware that some guitarists prefer 'all-in-one', multi-effect pedal units (e.g. Digitech RP series) for their ease, convenience and versatility, and they are wonderful devices in theory. There are plenty of situations where a multi-effect pedal is the appropriate tool for the job.

The problem comes when you tire of the limitations of whichever multi-effects unit you're using.

You might think “an effect is an effect”, but this simply isn't true. The electronic circuitry of any effect pedal can add to/subtract from your overall tone in the same way that the type of wood your guitar is made of, or the pickups it uses, will influence your tone.

This is why you'll see many professional players use a variety of effect pedals, and they'll often have a favorite model for a particular type of effect.

In order to 'tweak' your sound, you must understand the 'proper' chaining of effects pedals from guitar to amp. There exists a loose set of rules regarding the placement of different types of effects in a chain for the best 'signal to noise' ratio.

While these rules are not absolute, you'll find that they hold true from a general standpoint a majority of the time. Like the saying goes, though, you have to know the rules before you can break them.

A Good Effects Chain

Guitar -> Wah -> Distortion -> Chorus -> Amp + Delay (sent separately through the amp's effect loop)

or

Guitar -> Wah -> Distortion -> Chorus -> Delay -Amp
As you may notice above, Delay is typically the last effect in any chain. You will have to plug from the Delay (at the end of the whole chain) into your amp's input jack if you are using a one-channel amp.

For two-channel amps, it is generally recommended to plug your Guitar-Wah-Distortion-Chorus chain into the input jack, while plugging your Delay (separate from the chain) into the amp's “effects send/return” loop.

Doing so gives you a more 'natural' feeling sound because the Delay will modulate the amplified signal, rather than adding noise (and potentially over-driving the amp) as it happens when you allow the delay signal to be amplified.

Now, in order to 'break' the rules, you need to learn more about what each of your effects actually does to the signal put into it. This gets easier once you realize that there are just a handful of ways to shape a signal.

In general, you will find that the effect of your is doing one (and sometimes more than one) of the following things to your signal:

1. Adding to it

2. Subtracting (or 'clipping) from it

3. Modulating it

A distortion pedal, for example, creates noise ('distortion') by clipping the signal. If you look at the waveform shape of a guitar signal, it is pretty close to a Sine wave. The smoother the wave, the smoother and clearer the signal.

Imagine if you clipped off the tops of the 'curves', creating something closer to square wave? It's going to sound harsher and 'buzzier'. In other words, it's going to sound distorted!

Likewise, imagine if you could modulate a signal so that the peaks and valleys (amplitude) were more extreme, their spacing (phase) less regular or the peak frequency response (tone) filtered in or out?

In the first case, you would affect volume. In the second case, you would affect the timing or regularity of of the signal. In the third case, you would affect the clarity (as interpreted by the human ear) of the signal. All of these are modulations.

Now, think about this: Would it sound better to modulate a distorted signal, or to distort a modulated signal?

In general practice, the answer is that it depends on whether the modulation has a less than negligible impact on volume. Remember that distortion is created by clipping the peak amplitude of a signal, which also effects volume.

So, you have to look at which effects cause the most significant attenuation in volume, and then chain them in order of most to least. You take the 'hit', so to speak, up front rather than allowing the entire processed signal to take a drastic cut at the end of the chain.

Keep in mind, too, that you must also balance the location of volume cuts (as well as boosts) against the amount of noise introduced into the signal.

Again, this isn't all cut-and-dry. Placement of effects is very much dependent not just on their type, but how many are involved. Figuring out what works so you can shape your sound is one of the most exciting stages of learning to play electric guitar.

My hope is that this tutorial has given you enough basic information to start experimenting with effects placement for yourself, so you can find the exact sound you're looking for!

For that reason alone, I believe that guitar-centered music instruction should be revised to include lessons on how to shape your sound.

Sadly, most of the current music curriculum for guitarists ignores these issues.