electric guitar help

Sorry this question isn't about the war, but I need some help
concerning the electric guitar of which I have, obviously, limited
knowledge.

I was astonished to find all the different kinds of sounds and kinds
of "distortion" that are possible with this instrument. It's a
whole "electronic laboratory..."

In the first place, what kind of distortion pedals are there? I know
there are also various *levels* of distortion, and it seems to make a
lot of difference.

Also, lets say I wanted to purchase an inexpensive electric guitar to
try all of this out. Is it possible to just plug it into my mixer?
Don't I need some kind of *preamp?* Can I get such a preamp so that
I can run it through my stereo system, rather than purchasing one of
those big black box type amps that people keep destroying after every
concert?? Just curious. Are there any websites about this.

Any help would be *greatly* appreciated. I'm in the dark ages here...

Thanks!

J. Pehrson

----- Original Message -----
From: "Joseph Pehrson" <jpehrson@...>

> Sorry this question isn't about the war, but I need some help
> concerning the electric guitar of which I have, obviously, limited
> knowledge.
>
> I was astonished to find all the different kinds of sounds and kinds
> of "distortion" that are possible with this instrument. It's a
> whole "electronic laboratory..."
>
> In the first place, what kind of distortion pedals are there? I know
> there are also various *levels* of distortion, and it seems to make a
> lot of difference.

There's fuzz boxes - transistor distortion,
boost pedals - just a boost, shouldn't color the sound
tube pre-amp - a nasily sounding distortion
power tube amp distortion - the best, knock it into mayhem with some kind of
boost pedal.

> Also, lets say I wanted to purchase an inexpensive electric guitar to
> try all of this out. Is it possible to just plug it into my mixer?

You really need an amp. It all boils down to what you expect the guitar
to sound like.

> Don't I need some kind of *preamp?* Can I get such a preamp so that
> I can run it through my stereo system, rather than purchasing one of
> those big black box type amps that people keep destroying after every
> concert?? Just curious. Are there any websites about this.

alt.guitar.amps

* David Beardsley
* microtonal guitar
* http://biink.com/db

You're best off starting with some kind of multi-effect processor as
made by Boss, Zoom etc. Those have a fairly complete preamp section
with distorsion and EQ plus delay, reverb etc. and you really don't
need a guitar amplifier to get a good sound out of them. /Ö

--- In metatuning@yahoogroups.com, David Beardsley <db@b...> wrote:

/metatuning/topicId_4647.html#4649

> It all boils down to what you expect the guitar
> to sound like.
>

***That makes sense, David. Thanks for all the prompt tips...

Joe Pehrson

--- In metatuning@yahoogroups.com, Mats Öljare <oljare@h...> wrote:

/metatuning/topicId_4647.html#4651

>
> You're best off starting with some kind of multi-effect processor as
> made by Boss, Zoom etc. Those have a fairly complete preamp section
> with distorsion and EQ plus delay, reverb etc. and you really don't
> need a guitar amplifier to get a good sound out of them. /Ö

***This is great, Mats, and really is what I wanted to hear! Glad to
hear they include the preamp! The point is, mostly, so I can get a
sense of the different effects possible; I'm not pretending to be a
guitarist at this point!

Thanks so much!

J. Pehrson

> I was astonished to find all the different kinds of sounds and kinds > of "distortion" that are possible with this instrument. It's a > whole "electronic laboratory..."
> > In the first place, what kind of distortion pedals are there? I know > there are also various *levels* of distortion, and it seems to make a > lot of difference.

There are as many different kinds of distortion as there are amplifier circuits. But kinds of pedals, you could class them as

1) Pedals that contain a vacuum tube to give "authentic" overdrive

2) Transistor circuits of varying complexity.

3) Digital effects that use mathematical algorithms to emulate (1) or (2)

Digital multieffects are the most versatile, because they can switch between completely different algorithms. The cheaper ones can give a shallow sound, but are okay for playing around with. More expensive multieffects are still cheaper than a chain of pedals to do each thing you might want.

> Also, lets say I wanted to purchase an inexpensive electric guitar to > try all of this out. Is it possible to just plug it into my mixer? > Don't I need some kind of *preamp?* Can I get such a preamp so that > I can run it through my stereo system, rather than purchasing one of > those big black box type amps that people keep destroying after every > concert?? Just curious. Are there any websites about this.

It depends on your mixer. I've got a MINI MiXX here which the guitar goes directly into, and works as a preamp for Kyma. With a full size mixer, you'd usually plug the guitar into a balanced socket, in which case you're supposed to use a DI box, although you can get away without if you have the right cables. But that all means you'll need another way of doing the effects (it may be worth trying your PC for this). If you've got a multieffects box, you can treat it as you would a synthesizer, and even plug headphones into it.

You can also use your guitar effects with a synthesizer. They're well worth having around.

People use specialist guitar amps because they give that particular sound you hear on records. The amp does some of the distortion, and fuzz pedals won't sound right if you go directly through a hi-fi. But you can also get boxes that emulate an amplifier, and this will be one of the things multieffects do.

The disadvantage of relying on a guitar amp is that you have to play around with microphones when you want to record it.

Scarab amps are the most exciting -- they spontaneously explode during concerts!

Graham

--- In metatuning@yahoogroups.com, Graham Breed <graham@m...> wrote:

/metatuning/topicId_4647.html#4658

If
> you've got a multieffects box, you can treat it as you would a
> synthesizer, and even plug headphones into it.
>

***Hi Graham!

Thanks for all the help. Actually, I see that "Zoom" has some fairly
inexpensive multieffects boxes and one would just plug the guitar
into them and *headphones* in the line out(best in apartment land...)

I don't know how good they sound, but it might be a good way for me
to go, just to get an idea of all the potentialities, since I'm not
going to be playing live.

Although, there are so many geriatric rock bands around these days,
it might not be a bad idea to start one under the "grandfather
clause..."

J. Pehrson

Hello Joseph!

> Thanks for all the help. Actually, I see that "Zoom" has some fairly > inexpensive multieffects boxes and one would just plug the guitar > into them and *headphones* in the line out(best in apartment land...)

Indeed, I started with a Zoom 505, and that's what you'll hear in the "Celestial Radishes" piece I did for the Tuning Punks page. I think that particular model's obsolete now, but there's a new improved equivalent.

> I don't know how good they sound, but it might be a good way for me > to go, just to get an idea of all the potentialities, since I'm not > going to be playing live.

If you plug in relatively cheap headphones, it'll sound quite good. The problem will be when you plug in really expensive headphones, or send it through an extortionately expensive Hi Fi, and find it doesn't sound much better. That'll improve as you pay more money. You should be able to try them out in the shop.

> Although, there are so many geriatric rock bands around these days, > it might not be a bad idea to start one under the "grandfather > clause..."

Does old Sanity have grandchildren now? Well, I'm sure he'll make a great band leader.

Graham

--- In metatuning@yahoogroups.com, Graham Breed <graham@m...> wrote:

/metatuning/topicId_4647.html#4663

>
> Indeed, I started with a Zoom 505, and that's what you'll hear in
the "Celestial Radishes" piece I did for the Tuning Punks page. I
think that particular model's obsolete now, but there's a new
improved equivalent.
>
> > I don't know how good they sound, but it might be a good way for
me to go, just to get an idea of all the potentialities, since I'm
not going to be playing live.
>
> If you plug in relatively cheap headphones, it'll sound quite good.
> The problem will be when you plug in really expensive headphones,
or send it through an extortionately expensive Hi Fi, and find it
doesn't sound much better. That'll improve as you pay more money.
You should be able to try them out in the shop.
>

***Got it. Thanks Graham!!

Joseph

--- In metatuning@yahoogroups.com, Mats Öljare <oljare@h...> wrote:
>
> You're best off starting with some kind of multi-effect processor
as
> made by Boss, Zoom etc. Those have a fairly complete preamp section
> with distorsion and EQ plus delay, reverb etc. and you really don't
> need a guitar amplifier to get a good sound out of them. /Ö

what dave b. said to my suggestion of the line 6 pod on
makemicromusic, i say to this suggestion. i've been trying this
approach for years, mats, and it never sounds remotely like the real
amp experience. the line 6 is a step closer, at least.