What is a Guitar Effects Pedalboard?
One of the quintessential pieces of equipment all guitar players drool over is an effects pedal board. Today, unlike 20 years ago, a guitar effects pedal board can mean different things. To some, it simply represents the boards that guitarists use to mount their effects pedals on. These boards could contain power supplies and even specialized switches used for routing the signal path in custom ways.
Others think of an effects pedalboard as a floor-based multi-effects processor. There are many different examples of a guitar pedal that provides multiple functions in a small, easy to handle package.
Not All Pedalboard Effects Are Equal
It wasn't long ago that guitar effects were only available in pedal form. It was the early eighties when the multi effects processor really started to become popular. Multi effects became popular quickly because they could be used with guitars, basses and electronic keyboards, as well as PA's. For the guitarist, this meant you didn't have to pack around those bulky guitar effects pedalboards. For the bass player, with a bass guitar processor you now had the ability to have as much fun with your sound as the your bands guitarist. Of course, you could purchase a rack-mounted effects processor to perform the same work. Though these devices were a bit more money, your rack could have wheels which made it easy to move from place to place, if you were the traveling type.
But multi effects units no longer have to be rack mounted. More recently guitar effects processors have gone from being rack mounted, to floor based. And to keep things more familiar, manufacturers have dubbed these floor based processors guitar pedalboards.
And because acoustic guitars now have piezo pickups built into their bridges, using guitar effects on them becomes even easier. You can plug an acoustic guitar, bass guitar or an electric guitar into a guitar amp, put your favorite pedal in the signal path and enjoy some incredible tone, without having to spend thousands of dollars on top-of-the-line equipment. Or better yet, use your guitar amps effects loop to insert your favorite guitar effects processor and you're an instant tone master! Even keyboards can benefit from this wonderful technology.
Acoustic or Electric Guitars, pedalboards are great!
So whether you are a guitar effects pedal aficionado, who believes that the best effects come from a guitar pedal designed to do one thing and only one thing - or - you are the kind of person who loves to play with the latest technology, you will agree that not only is it one of the best ways to protect your guitar accessories, if you own an effects pedalboard, guitar playing will always be interesting.
