Pedal Setup

Some history...
Beginning in the 1960's, guitarists started using the floor boxes, commonly called pedals which could manipulate the signal before it reached the amplifier. The first effects of this type were the distortors (more precisely the fuzztone), used in mass by English guitarists. You can hear these sounds in recordings of the Rolling Stones, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and other guitarists from the mid 60's. Jimi Hendrix is associated with the Fuzz Face, which would become the most famous model of the time, even if the Wah Wah is the effect that has influenced guitarists the most. It's said that Jimi was practically dazzled by the sound of Eric Clapton's guitar with the Wah Wah (probably from the song Tales of Brave Ulysses)... This effect has had highs and lows over the years, but is still an ever present pedal with guitarists.
The flanger showed up in the 70's. In 1976 the ADA Flanger was introduced, which in a very short time became the model of reference. The Phaser, which is similar to its cousin the Flanger, was born in 1969 (the univibe used by Hendrix) followed by the Maestro Phase shifter, designed by Tom Oberheimer in 1971. The Phase90 by MXR came out in 1972 and was probably the favorite of classic guitarists, and had some strong competition from the Electro-Harmonix Small Tone. These effects were often heard in the sounds of most musicians in the 70's, such as Keith Richards (Rolling Stones), Jonny Winter, Joe Walsh (Eagles), Steve Howe (Yes) and many others.
The 70's saw the rapid expansion of every kind of effect, some with strange names. The Helectro-Harmonix for instance introduced a digital delay (the Memory Man) and the Flanger Electric Mistress, the Musitronics Auto Wah Mutron III, the Bi-Phase and the Octave Divider. MXR has a large catalog of products, such as distortors, compressors, fuzz, delay, chorus etc. Some original names? For instance the pedals designed by Dan Armstrong, such as the Orange Squeezer, the Red Ranger, the Green Ringer, the Purple Peaker, the Blue Chipper and others.
Roland introduced its line of pedals under the name BOSS, which would quickly become one of the most common names in guitar pedals. In 1975 the Chorus Ensemble was born (probably one of the first chorus pedals), and became part of the sound of many guitarists, such as Ry Cooder, David Lindley, Eric Clapton, Andy Summers and many others. As with any popular effect, many manufacturers produced their own model of chorus.
In the 80's the multi-effect rack systems appeared, initially causing a crisis in the pedal sector, even if solid companys like Ibanez, Roland (BOSS) and many others continue producing new and more technological models. Ibanez put the TS09 Tubas Screamer on the market, an overdrive that became a classic and was followed by the TS10. Then came the first valvular overdrive, designed by Brent Butler of Tube Works with the name Tube Driver, used by Eric Johnson.
During the mid 80's the fashion was to have a system composed of rack effects, powerful amplification, with preamplifers that offered such high gain that it made the common pedal distortors unnecessay, even if it was possible to find some overdrive pedals before the preamp. At the end of the decade, there was the increased availability of rack effects and sophisticated amplifiers with a good quality-to-price relationship, clearly creating more difficulties for the sale of pedal effects, and this seemed to imply the definitive end of the pedals, but then something happened. The return of the Blues, also on a commercial level, brought the rediscovery of the ''old'' sound, thanks to artists like John Lee Hooker, Gary Moore, Robert Cray, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and others. Many rock or fusion guitarists turned away from what was their "first love", like Scott Henderson, Larry Carlton, and Joe Satriani. All this was done because it was new, as was the Digitech Whammy Pedal, which was part of Steve Vai's and Jennifer Batten's (M. Jackson) equipment, but was also used by typical Jazz guitarists like Jim Hall. New editions of pedals could be found, such as the Ibanez TS9, the Wah Wah Vox, the mythical Fuzz Face, various MXR models, etc. Today the musical market is full of pedals and amplifiers (both re-issued vintage and new concept models). Many musicians have never stopped using the pedals, even incorporating them into their rack systems. Just to name names, we can say that Robben Ford uses a Ernie Ball volume pedal and a Dunlop Cry Baby Wah Wah, while Vai and Satriani use Boss distortors, and Eric Johnson the new Prescription Electronics pedals. I want to specify that if you go to see one of these artists play live, it is not guaranteed that they will always use these effects. A musician can even modify his own setup, therefore everything that is written above is to be considered purely informative. We close this history trip of pedals by remembering that the purchase of a pedal should be based on your own personal taste and the size of your wallet. In the next page we will see what is the best way to use combinations of more than one effect.