https://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Effects-Practical-Handbook-Softcover/dp/0879308060i've had this book for maybe 10 years, but i think i only listened to a little of the cd a couple times...and that was coz i had this predetermined idea in my mind 'well, what about this pedal?'. duh to me. the other day, my sinus was acting up, so i was looking for something to just sit and listen to that was 'not radio or tv'. i stuck the cd in the stereo...and...
when i say i was truly shocked...i mean it. this dave hunter, he has written a number of books...some of them are 'just coffee table', but a couple are damn deep with data and information. this (and some others) come with a cd. if you have NOT heard the cd, then anything you may think or opine is 'speculation'. the momma fly told the baby fly 'speck not'. go buy or check out the book and cd, and you will KNOW something that i bet 75% of the guitar playing public does not know. they say they do, but they are parroting someone else's words or they just got this 'thang', you know?
there is just nothing like 'hearing it for yourself', and not on youtube, either. or some mfr's dvd or video. i sat right in front of my stereo, and hunter played pretty much identical riffs thru the same amp with the same guitar(s) and same mic or he went direct (and he told you he was doing that with chorus and i think delay..or i might be wrong..but he told ya)....and the skin come off my eyes like the scales of st. paul's! and the muffs off my ears!
now, there were a few boxes that, yes, they were very, very different...and some 'good' and some 'awful' different. generally, tho, all that bulls--t is hype and lies. the closest thing i have ever read that explains the situation succinctly is:
http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheEmperorsNewClothes_e.htmlnow, having complained about all this, i have some pedals, like the t rex tap tone...they can put it in the box with me. it's way after hunter's book was published, or my copy, anyway, but i can hear 'the difference' when i mess with the controls....over any other delay i have had or heard...but really, how many distortion boxes are there? how do all those people make a living, anyway? geez....maybe this is why lately i have been doing acoustic, vocal and harmonica on tracks?
ps, for what i think is an outstanding low price harmonica, look up 'buckeye music'. i got one of their $10 ones and i put it on my last track. i can't tell a lot of difference in the $10 harp and a marine band. blashfeemy!
anyway, what my dad said, 'son, save your money.' applies more than ever to pedals after i listened to the hunter cd.
this has been a pubic service announcement.
