Customer Reviews
Very good book, but inevitably limited 
2008-09-17
Hunter writes very good guitar books and I own a number of them, including this one. Guiter Effects Pedals is well-written. To the extent it has a problem, however, it's coverage. One book, at a point in time, can only hope to cover the barest fraction of the available pedals and makers - even the major ones. Even Guitar Player magazine can't keep up, in spite of their long-running Stompbox Fever series. Along similar lines, it's hopeless to try to cover anything beyond bits and pieces of the philosophies underlying maker's approaches, technology trends, and controversial topics (like true bypass). As a result, while everything in Guitar Effects Pedals is accurate and usable, it inevitably comes off as feeling limited, even dated to a degree. I have to knock a star off for its limits. What it does cover is excellent, however.
I think what most players are really looking for when they buy this book is another Dave Hunter title: The Electric Guitar Sourcebook: How to Find the Sounds You Like. Limited in similar ways, still, it takes a more holistic approach to the end sound, considering the entire chain from guitar to the amp. Check it out.
So, why did I buy Guitar Effects Pedals? Primarily for the interviews with the early major makers in the back of the book. Buy this book if there's something specific inside of interest, or perhaps if you are just starting out considering effects pedals. Don't be suprised after reading this book, though, when someone starts a conversation about pedal effects in entirely new territory.
Pedal reference more than in depth education 
2008-08-24
I bought this hoping that it would explain the difference in how certain effects pedals achieve their sounds. Although there is a chapter in the book which outlines the basics of the different catagories of effects, it does not elaborate on the details of how they alter the signal. The majority of the book is a history of effects pedals, listing the popular products from various manufacturers as well as a list of famous pedal designers.
I wanted to read about components on the inside of pedals and what each one does in depth. This book does not give you that.
Great Book 
2008-07-15
This is a great book. Well written. Easy to understand. Great dvd that comes with it. It was even better than I thought it would be.
Great BooK!!! 2008-07-14
This book will be very helpful to the serious guitarist that seeks to understand guitar effects and their history. If the reader is new to the world of electric guitar effects then this book is a must in order to save time and money to get the right effects and in the right order. If the reader is a more "seasoned" (translate into "older") guitarist the history and trivia will be worth the price not to mention that there is sure to be some items that were previously unknown.
Divwalnut, Boulder, CO
Guitar Effects w/ great examples 2008-03-17
Having little to no experience with guitar effects and which pedal does what and, more importantly, what certain effects sound like, I found this book to be an excellent resource. It's also nice that the author doesn't make an attempt to steer the reader to a specific product, model or manufacturer. I found the historical approach to be very interesting and the organization of the book was well thought out. And I also enjoyed the interviews with some selected guitar effects "wizards."
My only complaint is the lack of a sound sample of all of the pedals/effects that were listed in the compendium in both chapters dealing with the effects themselves.
There is a chapter on how best to set up effects for different types of amplifier set ups. But again, the best part of the book is the suggestion throughout that the decision on what effect to buy or how to hook it up is entirely up to the individual and what sound the individual hopes to achieve.
If you're looking for a tutorial on how to wire your own effects, this isn't the book for you.
If you've been playing guitar for years, or are a beginner for that matter, and are looking for ways to create a new sound, then I would highly recommend this book.
Guitar Effects Pedals Book 2008-01-29
It's a golden age for guitar effects pedal users and makers right now, with over 40 years of design experience and musical experimentation to draw on. Your choice includes the original, pioneering "vintage" models, or souped-up "clones" from more contemporary designers. Dave Hunter spells out the pros and cons of both in this uniquely comprehensive guide. In a guitarist-friendly style, the book explores: what each type of effect does * how pedals work * the best order to connect pedals * and how to make the most of the pedals you have. Also includes exclusive interviews revealing eight top pedal makers' radically diverse approaches to building effects.
Wonderful -- Really Helps Figure Out TONE 2007-05-11
I am an experienced acoustic and classical quitar player who has always owned an electric guitar (tele) and a nice amp (Rivera R11255) but never really figured out how to get the kind of tone I like out of the instruments. (I need lessons and more practice time as well, but that's another story.) I was looking for a book + CD that would help me figure out what pedals to buy and why (I was always told that you had to have some pedals if you are going to play electric.)
This book + CD delivers the goods. Hunter gives tons of information on how and why guitar effects are used, their history, loads of data on classic, popular, and even obscure specific boxes. He tells you what some of your heros actually use to get their tone.
Best of all, you can hear the sound on the CD -- this is absolutely key. There is no universally understood way to describe sounds in words: you have to hear them. Hunter provides nice sequences of licks, appropriate for each kind of box, and plays the same sequence for each box in a category of box (say, tube screamers, or chorus -- he plays the exact same sequence for each chorus box). That way, you get an apples-to-apples comparison of the sounds of different choices. It's great. The sound clips run from about 0:30 to around 1:20, plenty of time and licks to get the sound in your head. He doesn't demo every box on the CD (92 tracks) but very many and pretty much all the ones you're going to be wondering about.
I can't imagine a better tool for the beginner or intermediate player, looking to spend their money wisely on stomp boxes.
My eventual choices:
Visual Sound Route 66 American Overdrive
Proco Rat
Fuzz Face
Boss Digital Delay DD-6
Boss Chorus
the stomp box universe 2007-02-05
Very nice book with technical informations, history of guitar effects, description and pictures of many guitar pedals, interview of Roger Mayer, and the men from Electro-Harmonix or Fulltone (sorry, I don't remember their name), and some other...
I would have been nice to see some manufacturers like next (an old Japanese manufacturer), tech 21, and some models are missing. But it's impossible to have everything in only one book anyway.
Great primer for newbie with effects. 2006-11-26
I bought this book to try and get an overview of effects pedals. I think it does an outstanding job, providing a review of vintage effects as well as some of today's new pedal designers. If you are looking to get into effects pedals, this book is a great way to start.
A handbook everyone should have. 2006-08-15
While other books introduce you to various effects or briefly expose you to the type of sounds they make, none of them that I have read give you as much in-depth information as this book. If you are a novice to effects pedals like myself, or even an experienced player, you should read this book before buying any effects pedals.
The theme of the book is that guitarists played on what was available at the time, and most of them changed their gear over time in trying to attain better or new sound, so don't get stuck on who played what, hung-up on what parts were used in vintage vs. modern, or even by claims from pedal modifiers that their modifications to existing pedals are somehow superior to the pedals original manufacture. Decide for yourself what sounds good to you by testing various brands and even various models from the same maker or you could end up paying hundreds of dollars for something you thought was going to sound magical with your combination of guitar, amp, and playing style and be totally disappointed.
The book progresses from a look at each type of effect presenting the reader with definitions of each, how they work and alter the sound, what makes them special, and sample schematic for those that may be technically inclined to do additional research and build their own effects or for readers like me who have a curious nature. "Getting Great Guitar Sounds" by Michael Ross is a good companion to this book, as one or two definitions seemed to be a little deficient. The book then gives some history limited to items of historic, influential, or other significance i.e., things that have made a major impact or contribution to music and or effects themselves (additional history and side notes along with more photos can be found in "The Stompbox" by Art Thompson and I've seen, but not read Analogue Man's book about vintage pedals). Next, a chapter on the original effects makers followed by a chapter about the modern manufacturers. Following the makers is a chapter on tips and tricks, which I found to be the weakest chapter, but still rather good. Again, I would recommend "Getting Great Guitar Sounds" as a supplement. The book ends with a chapter of interviews with some of the makers, and is one of the best chapters as Mr. Hunter asks the makers most, if not all the questions a lot of players would ask and gets some pretty candid answers. I've read some of the authors other books on amps and such, and he has the ability to get those he interviews to really open up.
The CD that accompanies the book is packed with samples covering the various categories of effects. Each sample is long and varied enough and gives a good introduction to each type of effect. The author goes even further by providing, as best as he can, side-by-side comparisons of pedals by various makers for effects like overdrive and distortion and to a lesser degree the rest. The book provides all the pedal/guitar/amp settings used to make each sample. I found myself listening to the CD over and over again. First, straight through, then more focused when comparing pedals within the same category. After getting caught up in listening for which sample sounded best in it's category, I had to remind myself that the purpose of these comparisons is to broaden the listener's exposure to these effects and to reinforce the ideas expressed in the text. While one pedal may sound better than another on the CD, based on a single application and setup, it may not sound as good in another application with your own rig.
The author has limited this book strictly about effects pedals themselves with a word or two in passing about pedal related items. I would like to have seen a chapter or appendix about effects pedal related items, e.g., a short discussion about using batteries vs. power supplies designed especially for effects pedals, commercially available pedal boards with/without built in power supplies, and tips on how to travel with your pedals. The chapter might also include advice on the care and maintenance if any is required. I would like to have seen a small discussion about double pedals and multi-effect pedals which are more closely related to a stompbox than a rack effect. It would be nice if there were an appendix or a listing of each effect along with some songs and artist that demonstrate the effect. I felt like I was back in school as I was taking notes on each chapter writing down the effect including brand if noted, the artist and song if also noted, so that I could see if I had it in my record collection or if I needed to get a copy from the library or music store. Finally, I would love to have seen more photos in color. Part of the fun with effects pedals is all the colors they come in.
