25 Guitar tips

To help you get the weirdest and wackiest effects, five pro guitarists, including Richard March from Bentley Rhythm Ace, have come up with the best tips on strange sounds
E-BowieThe E-Bow is an electro-magnetic device that creates a magnetic field around the guitar string causing it to vibrate.This creates endlessly sustained notes,and was used to great effect on tracks such as David Bowie's Heroes. Using the same principle of persuading the string to vibrate without plucking it, try holding an electric razor against the string while holding down notes on the fretboard.Even more extreme sounds can be created using the motorised wheel of a battery-operated toy car. RM
Plucking frenzyStriking the strings with a plectrum creates a very different sound to using your fingers, but why not experiment with different things? Almost any material can be rhythmically rubbed or tapped against the strings, providing different and unusual textures. Try a nylon scouring pad, a piece of copper tubing, a piece of sandpaper... basically whatever you have lying around. However, bear in mind that jam sandwiches don't tend to give very good results, and while sawblades and files can create some evil sounding scraping effects, they do have a tendency to cut through your strings! Time to go tapping mad. RM
Baby sitarSet up a digital delay with about 80% feedback, 70% mix, no filtering, and a delay time of 9ms, then play single-note lines in the key of A, or A minor. Because 9ms is, near as damnit, the equivalent of 110 cycles per second (the pitch of your open fifth string), the delay will resonate a sitar-like note of A under everything you play. Throw in some music theory by using the A Mixolydian mode (A B C# D E F# G A) for maximum sitar-hero effect. JB
Delay tripperWhile you've got that delay unit to hand, think about the delay time in relation to your track. One fave studio guitarist trick is to set the delay to 1.5 times the speed of the song. The maths works like this: if your tempo is 120bpm, that's two beats a second, or an 8th note every 250ms. So a delay time of 375ms means that for every 8th note you play, you get a 16th note in the gaps. Use a lowish mix setting (around 25% level, 20% feedback) for a subtle trippy feel to the groove. Turn up the level and feedback to experience mind-bending chaos! JB
Sax and violinsOne of the reasons a guitar sounds so distinctive (and sometimes clichéd) in a mix is thanks to the 'twang' at the front of its attack envelope. You can reduce it with a compressor, and flatten it completely with heavy distortion, but you can effectively make your lead guitar sound like another instrument with creative use of a noisegate. Set the attack time to between 30ms-400ms, and pluck single notes, stopping each one before you play the next. Each note fades in, violin-like, at the speed of your gate's attack. This is how products like the Boss GT-6 achieve the 'Slow Gear' effect. JB
Trigger-happy audioThe guitar usually generates its own pitch and amplitude envelope, and we take this for granted. But with a simple bit of sidechaining, you can chop your guitar envelope up with a hi-hat, snare or even vocal line. Record a straight guitar part using long, sustained chords (go for as much delay and compression as you like). Then apply a noisegate with the fastest attack and release available, but set it up with a sidechain so it's triggered by another instrument; you'll need to fiddle with the threshold to get it exactly right. Your guitar will have an trance-style 'chopped' sound in rhythm with the other instrument. JB
Whale noisesThis is a tricky technique, but well worth it if you want to impress people by making your guitar sound like a whale. Set up your effects in this order - distortion, chorus, and delay - with all the guitar's tone controls up full, and its volume at zero. Use a delay time of around 400ms, feedback at 30%, and the level at 80% or above. Put your little finger on the volume control, pluck the note, then bring in the volume slowly as you bend the string up as far as you can. When the volume's at full, release the bend (with the note still ringing on), then take the volume back down to zero.Try it on the fifth and sixth strings, pitchshifted by two octaves, for sperm, blue and humpback (though you'll need to add a pulse wave LFO and some digital clipping to achieve the distinctive call of the dwarf minke found off the Great Barrier Reef). 15th fret on the D string gives you porpoises. JB
Drive onUsing too much drive is traditionally a no-no but, with a spot of tangential thinking, can be used for musical purposes. For example, most multi effects units provide an effects loop into which pedals and so on can be patched, so try slapping a fuzzbox into an already distorted sound. The noise may be overwhelming, but the inter-modulation distortion can create some excellent squeaks and squalls. SB

Windy cityFlangers and phasers can be easily edited for full-on 'wind' effects. Set the resonance to eight or nine and the rate to around half, then stand well back. If the resonance is too high - which depends on the idiosyncrasies of the specific unit you're using - you may lose some clarity but this is a simple yet useful effect. SB
Sample simpleThese days, many of the multi effects units you see on the market possess a certain amount of sampling time and, although the quality and quantity are hardly likely to concern Akai, E-mu and all the rest, a bit of thought can provide a selection of ambient effects at the press of the Play button. SB
Feel the tremorsIf your guitar is loaded with a locking tremolo system, all manner of effects are attainable. Experiment with various delay settings with extra feedback or wah effects to add a certain something to dive-bombs. SB
Ring the changesAn increasingly wide selection of units have standalone ring modulation options. Korg and Zoom machines are usually good for this, and the effect itself - which resembles a couple of aliens chatting on a cyberphone - can really make your audience sit up and take notice, especially if used sparingly. SB
No strings attachedTry getting sounds and noises from your guitar without actually touching the strings. Pluck the area behind the nut, rake your pick down the trem springs (if relevant), tap the pickup pole pieces with a screwdriver and add some delay. SB

Turn the knobsIf you have a Les Paul type guitar (like the beauty you can see above) - or any with more than one volume control - try turning one of the pots off and quickly switching between pickups. This will give a 'morse-code' staccato type effects and it sounds especially great with loads of overdrive. SB
Model combosMany contemporary effects units feature a wide selection of amp and cabinet models, but try marrying off-the-wall combinations. For example, putting a Marshall model through a 1 x 8 cab sim, or a Fender amp through a 4x12 can give unusual sounds that can be exaggerated with the EQ sections. SB
Whammy mammyDigitech guitar effects units almost always feature a selection of their Whammy effects, and there's much detuning shenanigans to be had, from subtle country bends to all out bomb-drops. Heap on the reverb and compression for added character. SB
The real thingA unit like the GT-6 (left) covers a lot of ground by putting loads of effects in one box, but why go for a digital simulation when you can have the real thing? Actual stompboxes, originally designed for guitarists, are available and used by many engineers and producers to add a bit of character to the sounds in their recordings. The advantages are that individual pedals can be easily mixed and matched and the knobs can be grabbed and twisted at will, but mainly it's the warts'n'all lo-fi quirkiness created by that old analogue circuitry that appeals.Simulations can be damn good, but there are some down and dirty sounds that can really only be attained from the original pedals themselves. TC
Effects orderA machine like the Boss GT-6 allows you to alter the order of effects in the signal chain and that is obviously something you can do using separate effects pedals. Changing the order of effects can change the sound dramatically. The conventional order is compressor, EQ, distortion, modulation, echo/delay then reverb with the shorter of the time-based modulation effects coming earlier in the chain, ie, phaser before chorus.The logic behind this particular chain is that compressing the signal before the distortion gives a smoother distortion; boosting EQ before distortion allows you to choose which frequencies will distort most; and the subtleties of the moduation and delay effects are better heard after any harmonic alteration caused by the distortion. However, convention is there to be turned on its head when necessary, so for the maximum sonic variation, be sure to experiment with your effects order. TC
Battery vs mainsIf using a stompbox always make sure it's got a fresh battery in or, better still, run it from a 9V AC adaptor. Some pedals, and in particular digital delays, can use up a PP3 in no time at all with the sound degrading very quickly. The antithesis to that is that a PP3 that is on the way out can quite easily change the character of the sound in a way that may be musically valid when used in a fuzz/distortion/overdrive pedal. TC
Know your noiseGuitar pedals dedicated to providing a distortion effect, generically known as fuzzboxes, are undoubtedly more numerous than all the other types of pedal. These pedals are generally marketed as either overdrive, distortion or fuzz pedals but, arguably, the terms are interchangeable as all of these pedals work by clipping a signal to a greater or lesser degree.If you're confused by the distinction between fuzz, distortion and overdrive as applied to these pedals, here's my rough guide:Overdrive is a smoother, less harsh distortion more akin to driving the valves in an amp into soft clipping, it is more likely to maintain the character of the original sound.Distortion is a more aggressive crunchier and grittier effect that can alter the basic character of a sound.Fuzz is a distinctive harsh and buzzier sound associated with clipping the signal so that it more resembles a square wave. And if that still doesn't make sense, see me after class. TC
With or without?It's fairly standard recording studio practice to record sounds dry and add any effects and ambience at the mix stage. This is because once a particular type and amount of ambience is recorded, you are stuck with it and it could prove difficult to blend into the mix. However, in the situation where a guitarist uses spring reverb from their amp and/or specific guitar effects pedals as an integral part of their sound, it makes sense to record the overall sound, as it would be otherwise difficult to duplicate. One thing to be aware of though, is that a full-on effect that works great in a live gig situation could possibly be a bit grating when heard over and over again on a recording, so think about toning the effects down a touch. TC
E-BowTo get a continually sustained sound from a guitar you can use the E-Bow, as mentioned by Richard back in tip 1. It's a small electronic device that, in lieu of picking, is held over one string to induce continuous sustain, similar to using a bow on a cello or violin. E-Bows are very useful for creating background drones in a track, and can be used quite effectively to play the root notes of any chord being played, which when sat in the mix and reverbed can add an eerie depth to a track. TC
Weird & wonderfulThe E-Bow works like it does because guitar pickups respond to any electrical field placed near them, so any electrical device placed close to the pickups will be amplified. For more sonic mayhem and creating all sorts of shrieks and whoops, try a battery-powered children's toy near the pickups, or the electric razor trick, and see what happens. Add all your effects to taste. TC
The chopperYou can turn your rhythm guitar playing or some sustained feedback into something extremely tight and rhythmic that would not sound out of place alongside quantised music from a sequencer by using a noisegate to cut up the guitar signal. This will make it sound like a sequence of staccato notes or a radical tremolo effect. The guitar signal (either while being played or previously recorded) can be fed through a noise gate and a repetitive rhythm pattern from a drum machine or sequencer can be fed into the gate's key input causing the gate to open and close in a rhythmic fashion and chop the guitar signal into segments. TC
Tape up your strings If you are using a guitar with a loud overdriven amp and distortion pedals to create feedback in a particular key or to play power chords made up of just two notes or multiples of those two notes, the other strings can have an adverse effect on the sound if not muted. One easy way to mute the strings without using your fingers is simply by removing the strings you don't need while recording a particular part. An alternative method, which doesn't affect neck/string tension, is to use gaffer tape or suchlike to tape up the strings you don't need and stop them ringing. TC
The contributors:
Richard March (RM) is half of Bentley Rhythm Ace with Mike Stokes and was bassist with the group Pop Will Eat Itself. The Bentley project has so far produced two albums - Bentley Rhythm Ace and For Your Ears Only - and currently the boys are torn between DJing gigs and studio work on the next album.
Simon Bradley (SB) has been a guitarist for 29 years, and has reviewed gear for Guitarist magazine for half a decade. He's recorded loads demos of effects units for their cover CD and is a techie agony aunt for Total Guitar magazine.
Trev Curwen (TC) is a regular technical writer for Future Music, and can usually be found doling out advice in our Q&A section (see p128). He's best known for his engineering work (he worked on Portishead's debut album), but who'd have guessed that he's a mean guitarist and a fan of using and abusing guitar effects?