Lullabies to Paralyze - Queens of the Stone Age

Queens of the Stone Age was formed in 1997 by former members of Kyuss, including Josh Homme, the de facto leader and sole member who has been around since the founding. It continues Kyuss' riff-oriented, heavy music, but adds more delicacies than its stripped down predecessor; Josh Homme often describes QotSA's style as robot rock. Queens of the Stone Age also employs another guitarist, Troy Van Leeuwen, who also plays lap steel and keyboards in certain songs.

Josh continued to use his trusty Ovation GP guitar as his main ax, but can also be seen playing a Telecaster, an Epiphone Dot, a Gibson Marauder, and Gibson ES-225 among others. Of course, most of the times they are still tuned down at least a full step, but a C-standard tuning is not rare. QotSA is using various kinds of amps, but the most recognizable ones are the Ampeg Vt-22 combos and Ampeg VT-40's with 2x12 cabs, the Ampeg V, and the Vox AC30.

As you can see from the picture Homme is using a huge arsenal of pedals while playing; some of them might be just there to mislead people, he is famous for trying to hide the secret to his sound. Although he does a good job at masking his stuff, we'll try to pinpoint the cornerstones of his heavy sound. The two main overdrive/distortion pedals he uses are the Boss SD-1 and the Fulltone Ultimate Octave, the latter is a fuzz and an octave pedal in one. He also uses EHX POG Octave Generators and you can also see a Boss octaver on the picture. He uses multiple volume and wah pedals; you can't go wrong with a simple Dunlop CryBaby. Also, you can see some phasers on the board, an MXR Phase 90 and an EHX Small Stone. Since his rig is quite huge, if you want to dig deeper, you can look up the complete list at http://www.uberproaudio.com/who-plays-what/217-queens-of-the-stone-age-josh-homme-guitar-gear-rig-and-equipment.

Build Your Own Stompboxes

Is it easy? For most of us, no. Is it cheaper than buying one in local music shop? No, not really. Will it be as good as one made by professionals at least? Most of the times no. Then why do it, you might ask. Well, the most simple answer is that it's incredibly fun; designing the effect, gathering materials, assembling the parts, then finally seeing it actually work. Of course, some pedals are discontinued, and the only way to get one is to spend hundreds of dollars on it on Ebay, so in these cases, you might consider creating one yourself. In this post we'll look at the most basic things you'll need if you decide to build your own effect pedal.

Most of the pedals only need a few tools to be built - you'll need a Solder Station, Solder, a Multimeter, Desolder Braid, Cutters, Pliers, and Wire Strippers. Many homes already have these stuff, but if not, you can order a whole kit at http://www.buildyourownclone.com/tools.html. You should also get a good drill if you want to create custom casings (and it can come handy any time).

First of all, you'll need to take care of the schematics, but you can find these premade at quite a lot of sites, I'll include the links at the end of the post. Then comes the fun part, assembling the circuit, which you'll have to test before moving on to the next part. The most painful (or fun, for some) part is fitting the whole thing into the casing, this can be tricky. You should try to be as careful as you can, the best is to plan the installment beforehand. Throughout the whole process, it is essential to test the pedal every once in a while, so you recognize a faulty wiring for example before you've put it in the casing.

Ordering the parts is much easier nowadays than it was a few years ago, you can order most of these stuff from Ebay or specific DIY effects sites. The reason why this will actually cost you a bit more than buying the complete thing in a store is that it is much cheaper to buy these parts in big numbers, than buying only one or two. Also, because of this, pedal manufacturers can afford top quality parts, while it may not be possible for an average tinkerer. The links below will take you to these shops.

Links:
http://www.diyguitarist.com/
http://www.diystompboxes.com/wpress/
http://www.buildyourownclone.com/
http://www.tonepad.com/projects.asp?projectType=fx
http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/

Given to Fly - Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam is the sole band out of the commercially successful ones from the so-called "grunge" era (grunge is a ridiculously overused and meaningless term, so from now on we'll call it - behold! - alternative rock) that have been continuously playing since their debut album in 1991, Ten, without any longer hiatus or a complete change in their lineup. Pearl Jam aged well, like a wine or a cheese, there are no two albums that share the exact same style, their music has blues, classic rock, punk, country, and many other elements that are audible in their music, however, they've managed to create their own sound and own style.

Pearl Jam's history is so long and varied that I will not attempt to tell you the whole story; if you are interested, you should definitely check out PJ20, Pearl Jam's 20 anniversary film. Worth the time. PJ has gone through a bunch of drummers since their inception, but all the other founding members are still part of the group. Vocalist/Guitarist Eddie Vedder, guitarist Mike McCready and Stone Gossard, bassist Jeff Ament, along with drummer Matt Cameron (who also played and plays with Soundgarden) and guest keyboard player Boom Gaspar form one of the most creative and influential bands of all time.

Hopefully those who want to recreate Pearl Jam's sound have thousands of dollars/euros/whatever lying around, 'cause it will be expensive. PJ has always used a "classic" sound, it blends together perfectly, experimental sounds have rarely appeared on their songs. Since they usually go with 3 guitars, but at least 2, it is essential that their parts do not overshadow the others. The two full-time guitar players could be called "Strat" (McCready) and "LP" (Gossard) - in the early years of the band, they mostly played these two instruments, but since then, they've been switching them more regularly (money is good). McCready can be seen playing a Les Paul Junior, while Gossard uses Strats and usually an acoustic if the song requires one.

 There are some pedals that we can say are mainstays of the Pear Jam sound, but there they have used dozens of pedals throughout the years, so we'll only take a look at the most basic ones. One of the pedals that is used by both Mike and Stone is the famous Ibanez TS-9. This overdrive pedal is capable of giving your sound from a mellow middle boost to a crunchy distortion-like tone. (Low Budget Tip - You might want to check out the Joyo Vintage Overdrive pedal, which is a clone of the TS-808 with the same chip, sounds great for its price.) Pearl Jam often uses phased sounds, using pedals like the MXR Phase 100, which is available at almost any shop if you want to try it out. For delay, they've used a wide range of BOSS delay pedals, including the DM-3, DD-3, and DD-5. Two Dunlop effects are usually used in their rigs, the famous CryBaby (535q) and the Rotovibe, which is a chorus/vibrato pedal, simulating the sound of the rotating Leslie speakers. If you are interested in a complete list of gear used, with tabs, biographies, etc, you should check out GivenToWail.com, great site.

Blues for the Red Sun - Kyuss

Kyuss, the legendary desert rock/stoner rock/metal band, that launched the career of Queens of the Stone singer/songwriter/guitarist/generalbadass Josh Homme, is an interesting take on a blog dealing with guitar effects. Their sound can be attributed to Josh's unusual choice of amps, tunings, but not so much to the extensive use of effects, which stands in contrast with the approach of QotSA.

Kyuss was formed in 1988 under the name of Katzenjammer, then Sons of Kyuss, and in 1991, they finally changed their name to Kyuss. The two continous members were singer John Garcia and guitarist Josh Homme, other members included Nick Oliveri, Scott Reeder, and Brant Bjork among others. The band disbanded in 1995. Today, two original members, John Garcia and Brant Bjork are touring as Kyuss Lives!, playing Kyuss songs.



Kyuss became the prototypical stoner act, drone guitar riffs, heavy bass, hard'n'loud drums, and strong vocals. Josh Homme mainly used an Ovation GP guitar, which is the single most important part; this guitar is capable of producing a unique sound that no other guitars can. Homme later said in an interview that he prefers unique guitars, guitars with a story, and that he tends to buy used guitars because of this. He also said that he never owned a Gibson Les Paul or a Fender Stratocaster. To get that solid stoner sound, you should also roll back the tone knob on your guitar a bit (or a lot). Kyuss mostly played in a C standard tuning, so you'll want to set up your guitar to accommodate that, and .12 or .13 strings are recommended. Use your neck pickup.

Josh used bass amplifiers in Kyuss, we know of a Tubeworks Mosvalve RT2100 ES in particular, but he used various other amps, including Marshall JCM900s and 2000s. Though we know some of the models he used, we don't really know the little "magic tricks" they used to tweak the sound of the amps, this is the main reason Josh Homme's sound is so elusive. As for the equalization, you should turn up the bass and the mids, and turn down the treble. You should also crank up the volume to get a natural, crunchy, overdriven sound.



As for the effects, you can get a fuzz or a Boss SD-1, after all this amp magic, the distortion will mostly come from the amp itself. As for the fuzz, an EHX Big Muff could work as a general solution, or you could get an EHX Germanium Muff for a bit more crunchy low end. Though Josh never really used fuzz in Kyuss, it might work for some of you with amps that have a lower gain. The other effects are quite elusive, and haven't been used a whole lot in Kyuss, but a few people recommended getting a Visual Sound H2O for the chorus/delay modulation.

Black Arts Toneworks

In this post I am going to introduce you to my favorite boutique pedal makers (boutique pedals usually mean high-quality, hand-built stuff), Black Arts Toneworks. They have 3 main models, the Pharaoh, the LSTR, and the Black Forest, all of them being some sort of overdrive/distortion/fuzz effects. Every BAT pedal is hand-built, and their quality and appearance separates them from all other companies, but Mark still manages to keep prices relatively low. BAT's collaborator, Gr8Scott Graphics also offers custom graphics for a few more dollars.

Pharaoh

First of all, the Pharaoh is a killer looking Fuzz pedal, absolutely wonderful. It is also probably the most verstatile of the three. It has four knobs (Tone, High, Fuzz, Volume), and two switches (Hi-Lo output, Germanium-No diodes-Silicon). This fuzz is capable of giving you from a cleanish boost, through a gentle overdrive, to a facemelting fuzz tone. It's special characteristic is that it lets through enough of your mids so that your guitar sound won't be "highjacked", you'll still retain your guitar's sound. The Hi-Lo switch sets the headroom, so Hi will sound a bit more saturated and distorted (fuzzy) than Lo. The most intriguing part is the 3-way switch, which lets you choose between a Germanium or Silicon diode/transistor, or you can bypass them if you leave the switch in the middle position. Another interesting thing is that Pharaoh is capable of functioning with bass guitars, and some people actually use it for that.



LSTR

Another fuzz pedal, the LSTR ("Lester") is "the Pharaoh's unruly brother, LSTR provides the opposite of the Pharaoh. The LSTR is an all out rock machine tuned and blended to deliver the signature Black Arts low end along with more fuzz than mamma allows , unique tone controls and LSTR's understated, striking beauty. Teaching kids to smoke, play games and drink beer." After these words there is not much more there to say. While the Pharaoh is a bit dialed back, this fuzz's gain is over the top. Its 4 switches (Tone, Scoop, Fuzz, Volume) lets you create a variety of sounds, from the classic Big Muff to a Pharaoh-ish open sound.



Black Forest

The Black Forest overdrive/distortion is a traditional OD/Distortion, but of course at its best. Black Arts Toneworks created a versatile (see a pattern here?) pedal, that can give you overdriven, distorted, or even fuzz-like tones. "The pedal takes the classic ColorSound OD circuit and drags it through the soil." The 6-way Depth control switch makes you have total control over this pedal, cycling through different capacitor modes. The first thing you'll realize when you stomp on this pedal is its rich and fat sound, definitely a must have for players looking for a more classic sound.

Where to Buy Stuff?

One of the biggest obstacles when you try to get into guitar effects is where to look for them, where can you check out what they do, compare prices, etc, so in this post I'll show you a few sites and tools where you can get started.

Internet stores are real good, because they are reliable, they can get almost anything, fast and cheap, but on the flipside, you can't try them out personally. Because of this, buying guitars from them might not be the best idea (though I think most of them have a buyback policy, meaning you can send back stuff you don't like), but buying stompboxes is alright. Most of them offer free shipping to the US, but you can get good rates for almost any civilized country. My two favorites are ProGuitarShop.com and PrymaxeVintage.com, but there are dozens of other shops online. A great feature of these sites is that you can filter your search results according to the type of gear you are looking for, for example, you can take a look at all the tremolo pedals, without knowing any of them by name. The reason why ProGuitarShop stands out is the gear reviews they post online, these videos are among the most thorough and detailed ones available on the interweb.

The best place to do research is YouTube. Just by typing a few keywords, for example the name of the pedal you are looking for and it will usually give you quite a few results. Bear in mind that the sound you hear might differ from what it would sound with your gear, sometimes different guitars, amplifiers, and low-quality mics or cameras can alter the sound significantly. Generally, you'll want to check out reviews that show you the gear they use (or maybe even use various kinds of guitars), and most importantly, when talking about stompboxes, you should look for videos that use ONLY the given pedal you are looking for. Two channels you should check out - ProGuitarShop's channel, that I've mentioned before (http://www.youtube.com/user/proguitarshopdemos?ob=4), and Gearmanndude's channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/gearmanndude?ob=4), where he definitely adds his own tone to the reviews.



Amazon and Ebay are two other great sites if you are looking for guitar gear. Amazon mostly sells new stuff, while Ebay has both new and used gear. Sometimes you can get good discounts if you buy on these sites, so always look around before buying something - another seller might be offering it at a much lower price. One thing you have to check before buying is the shipping price, because they can get quite high, especially if you live far from the retailer.


On Ebay, if you know what you are looking for, you can try to look for used gear. You should be careful though, unless you have a full knowledge of the item you want to buy, you can end up with stuff that don't meet your expectations. Always do the research, always look at the photos, most of the times the scratches and other damages are highlighted, so you won't experience any unpleasant surprises after unpacking. Don't even bother buying stuff that don't have pictures of them. You can also ask the seller questions about the item, most of the time they will be more than willing to answer, they want to sell their merchandise after all. Another thing to look at is the feedback the seller has, the higher it is, the more pleased their customers were. Usually you won't find anything lower than 99%, these communities function real well, no one will really try to screw you. One last thing you need to know is that if you buy something on these sites, you are virtually signing a contract, so you are obliged to pay for the things you ordered.

A History of Bad Men - Melvins

The Melvins are another band from the state of Washington, the band was formed Buzz Osborne (aka King Buzzo), Matt Lukin, and Mike Dillard while they were attending Montesano High School in Montesano, WA. Out of the founding members, only King Buzzo remains in the band, who is, apart from his well-known ties to Kurt Cobain, famous for his weird hairstyle (I love it though), bizarre humor, and his sludgy, mid-tempo guitar playing. It is difficult to tell the genre of music they are playing; the easiest thing would be to call it alternative or alternative punk, but a sludge metal, doom metal, or a stoner rock label could also suit it. The Melvins is a case in which these labels definitely fail to tell you the whole story, they have changed and reinvented themselves countless times, for example, their current lineup includes two drummers, which is rarely used in popular music.

Osborne's guitar of choice has been the iconic Gibson Les Paul for a long-long time, which can be seen on the picture on the left, but while rehearsing in the same building as the band Isis, he was introduced to his new crush, an Electrical Guitar Company Standard Guitar, which is made out of aluminium, equipped with Les Paul pickups.

King Buzzo's approach to effects is to keep it simple. As you can see in the video embedded below, currently he only uses 5 pedals in his live rig: a BOSS ODB-3 Bass Overdrive, a BOSS DD-3 Digital Delay, an MXR Blue Box, an MXR Dyna Comp, and a BOSS TU-2 Chromatic Tuner as his tuner. His pedalboard is the perfect example of 'less is more', even with these few pedals, he can achieve various tones and sounds.


The two most exciting pedals on this board are the BOSS Bass Overdrive and the MXR Blue Box (which is a relatively new favorite of mine). The Bass Overdrive is, as its name implies, primarily made for bass players, but King Buzzo decided to use it for his guitar as his main overdrive/distortion. This pedal gives that special, sludgy sound to the newer Melvins records; we have to be grateful to BOSS that this pedal happens to be able to function at higher frequencies too. The other intriguing pedal is the MXR Blue Box, which is a Fuzz and an Octave pedal combined. It has real simple controls, one knob for the output and one for the mixing of the fuzz and the octave. Turned to the left, it gives you only two octaves down, and all-out fuzz when turned to the right. Gotta love this glitchy stompbox.