The Pedals and Pickups Podcast

This week, we look at the history of Vox Amplifiers and their distinct, chimey voice. Then, we'll go into the tones of John Lennon on The Beatles' hit song "Come Together", rounding the episode off with a look at different types of EQ units and how to use them.

This week we check out the (admittedly sparse) history of California manufacturer Schecter Guitar Research, then we dive into the guitar tone of Linkin Park's Brad Delson on "One Step Closer". To wrap up this week's show we'll talk about the differences between balanced and unbalanced audio signals and how you can use them to your advantage in your home setup.

This week we talk about the development and history of the distortion monster known as the ProCo RAT, then recreate Graham Coxon of Blur's tone on the track "Song 2". After this, we'll take a modern tube amp and look at a few different methods to make it sound closer to the vintage tube amp tone we all crave.

This week we look at the history of slightly delayed goodness known as "flanging" and the pedals that create this effect. Afterwards, we'll go onto the tone of the late, great, Eddie Van Halen on the song "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love", then talk about tips and settings when you're setting up your track for a final mixdown or export in your DAW.

This week we look at the surprisingly ancient and rich history of tuners including the different types and which one is right for you. After this, we'll talk about the tone of Lita Ford from The Runaways on "Cherry Bomb", then we look at different things that can make or break a great vocal recording for your next song.

This week, we talk about the history of two of the most prolific guitars ever: the Gibson Les Paul and SG. We'll recreate the tone from Monster Magnet's "Space Lord", then move on to using plugins and how they can make your music sound more professional and ready to release.

This week I'm away for work, so I recorded an episode I've been wanting to do for a couple weeks: a dive into the book Stompbox by Eilon Paz. It's a great book that features a bunch of effects pedals that are popular with numerous different artists. In this episode we'll go over some famous pedals and popular settings used on them, as well as talk about some key points from the book.

This week we talk about the volume undulating goodness of Tremolo and look at getting the tones of Robby Kreiger from The Doors on the song Riders on The Storm. We'll also talk about the definition of gain, where it comes from, and how to use it to your advantage in your tracks.

This week we get our digital game on and talk about the wonderous world of modeling amplifiers and the history behind them. After looking into the tone of 1's and 0's, we'll recreate the tone of Simon Delaney on Don Broco's "Nerve" and talk about tools and accessories that make our lives as guitarists much easier and more... fulfilling? Does that fit, y'know what, it fits, who reads podcast episod...

This week we talk about the history of music retail giant Guitar Center, from it's humble beginnings as an electric organ store in Hollywood, CA to it's present day near-monopoly on brick and mortar music sales. After history class we'll talk tone when it comes to guitarist Brian Bonds of Florida Georgia Line on This Is How We Roll!

It's been about three months since our last episode because I had quite a bit going on personally, but I'm super excited to be back in the seat hanging out with you guys. This week, we're going to talk about the history of those green, gainy boxes of goodness: tube screamers. We'll also look at the tones from Knuckle Puck's song "Want Me Around", and talk about how to get a good lo-fi guitar tone...

This week we go into the history of the standard when it comes to the British amp sound: Marshall Amps. We'll use our newfound knowledge to build the tone of Billy Joe Armstrong on Green Day's "American Idiot" with budget gear, and we'll talk about how to select and set up a room for recording your guitar tracks.

This week we talk about the history and main different categories of delay pedals. We tone-chase after the great Josh Rand on the Stone Sour hit "Say You'll Haunt Me", and we look at what pedals are good for both guitar and bass, and what pedals you're better off springing for separate versions for each.

This week we'll use a DeLorean powered by NOS tubes and mojo to take a trip through each big era of Fender's history with amplifiers. After our escapade, we'll come back to the present to recreate the tone of Chris Stapleton on "You Should Probably Leave", and we'll discuss how country artists are unique in the way they use compressors.

This week we cover the history of common types of guitar pickups, analyze the tone of Mick Thomson on Slipknot's "Psychosocial", and demonstrate two effective ways to use a noise gate.

This week, we look at the history and different types of guitar synthesizer pedals and how they can help you achieve unique (and sometimes whacky) sounds in your music. We recreate Alex Lifeson's guitar tone on the song "Tom Sawyer", and we look at a few key factors when choosing your next set of guitar strings.

This week, we look at the history of Orange Amplification, the "Voice of The World", and their signature sound. We look at Caleb Shomo's guitar tone on Beartooth's "Aggressive" album, and we explore 4 different ways to double track your guitar. It's a bit of a late upload, but hey, it's episode 13, plenty of other things could've gone worse with that number!

This week we talk about the history of arguably the first "boutique" drive, the Bixonic Expandora. We re-create the guitar tone of Barry Stock from Three Days Grace on "Painkiller", and we make a pedalboard you can use to get a solid tone off of a few different genres on a budget.

This week we depart from our regularly scheduled nonsense to talk about budget gear and how it really might serve you better than you think. We use an extremely wallet-friendly rig to get Keith Richards's guitar tone on "Gimme Shelter" and talk about things to look for when buying a new guitar.

This week we look at a staple of 80's guitar tones: chorus. We recreate the tones of Johnny Stevens on Highly Suspect's "Lydia", and we talk about what parts of your rig are most important to your tone.

This week I'm traveling for work, so we take a (albeit pre-recorded) deep-dive on the history of the most popular fuzz circuits and architecture. In the spirit of talking about our favorite (but often most finnicky) pedals, we discuss the differences between true bypass and buffers when it comes to effects pedals.

This week we talk about the function and history of famous phasers in the guitar effects pedal lineup, the tone of David Gilmour on "Another Brick in The Wall Pt. 2" by PInk Floyd, and we go over some tips on choosing your first audio interface as a new home recording enthusiast!

This week we'll talk about the history of arguably the most widely used effect in every musical genre: reverb. We'll take a look at the tones of Alex Turner on Arctic Monkeys' song "R U Mine?", and discuss the pros and cons of using tube amps or solid state amps, exploring if you really do need a tube amp to get great tones (spoiler: you don't).

This week we talk about three key types of circuits that add dirt and flavor to your guitar tone: boosts, overdrives, and distortions. We recreate the searing, gain heavy guitar tone of Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath, and we talk about the differences between germanium and silicon when it comes to the construction of electrical components and their use in guitar accessories.

This week we look at the history of Fender's 1962 flagship guitar, the Jaguar, we review the gear used in Kurt Cobain's rig when Nirvana recorded "Smells Like Teen Spirit", and we talk all about the creation and use of Impulse Responses.