Stompboxes - effects units
Effects units are available in a variety of formats, which provide for the needs of varying musical 
situations (recording, live performance) and budgets, and integrate with particular instrument setups. Stomp-box style pedals are usually the smallest and least expensive type of effect device for a typical effect purpose, and they are the most rugged format. Rackmount devices are larger, and they need to be protected in a rack case if they are taken on the road; at the same time, rackmount devices typically offer a wider range of functions and input-output jacks than the equivalent stomp box. As well, a rack-mount compressor or reverb unit designed for use in a studio will often have less noise than its stomp-box counterpart that is intended for use with an electric guitar.
Stompboxes / effects pedals, are effects units designed to sit on the floor or a pedalboard and be turned on and off with the user's feet. They typically house a single effect. An effects pedal is connected into a signal chain using two 2-conductor (conductor and shield) instrument cables with 1/4" jack plugs (or "phone plugs"). The input jack is usually on the right side, and output on the left; thus the signal path for a chain of pedals is usually right-to-left. Some effects pedals have stereo out via two mono out signals, and a few have stereo input jacks as well as stereo output jacks. Some effects pedals have expression pedal in-jack (e.g., some ZOOM multiFX stompboxes) or an additional pedal-in jack (e.g., some overdrive pedals can have an additional switch added for a "turbo" distortion boost effect).
The simplest stompbox pedals have a single footswitch and one or two potentiometers for controlling the effect, gain, or tone, and a single LED to indicate the status of the effect the the player. The most complex stompbox pedals have multiple footswitches, eight to ten knobs, additional switches, and an alphanumeric display screen that can indicate the status of the effect with short acronyms (e.g.,DIST means "distortion").
Several pedals can be linked together in a chain. An effects chain can be placed between the guitar and the guitar amplifier's preamp section, within the guitar amplifier's effects loop, after a guitar amplifier's DI (Direct Inject) line-level tap jack, after a "dummy load" attached to the guitar amplifier's output jack, or at the mixing board to process the miked guitar-speaker signal.
When a pedal is off or inactive, the signal coming in to the pedal is shunted onto a bypass, so that the "dry" or unaffected signal can go on to other effects down the chain, and thus any combination of effects on a chain can be created without having to reconnect boxes during a performance. "True Bypass" means the presence of an isolated wire passing straight through the effects pedal, as opposed to "buffered bypass," which uses active circuit elements to connect the input to the output. While these are 2 popular configurations, there are other bypass methods, such as input-only bypass which is semi-passive.
The instrument signal can be routed through the stomp boxes in any combination, but to shape and preserve the clarity of the basic distortion tone, it is most common to put wah and overdrive pedals at the start of the chain; pedals which alter the pitch or color of the tone in the middle; and delay (echo) and reverb units at the end. When using many effects, unwanted noise and hum can be introduced into the sound. Some performers use a noise gate pedal at the end to reduce unwanted noise and hum introduced by overdrive units or vintage gear. Some performers make more complex signal chains by adding a loop selector pedal to switch between two effects loops. A guitarist might create a grungy rhythm guitar tone with an overdrive pedal, a lo-fi pedal, and a sub-octave pedal, and then use the loop selector pedal to switch to a shimmering, clear tone created with a reverb pedal, an acoustic guitar simulator pedal, and a chorus pedal. Another more complicated way of using multiple pedals is to use a line selector/mixer pedal to blend two effects loops together.
situations (recording, live performance) and budgets, and integrate with particular instrument setups. Stomp-box style pedals are usually the smallest and least expensive type of effect device for a typical effect purpose, and they are the most rugged format. Rackmount devices are larger, and they need to be protected in a rack case if they are taken on the road; at the same time, rackmount devices typically offer a wider range of functions and input-output jacks than the equivalent stomp box. As well, a rack-mount compressor or reverb unit designed for use in a studio will often have less noise than its stomp-box counterpart that is intended for use with an electric guitar.Stompboxes / effects pedals, are effects units designed to sit on the floor or a pedalboard and be turned on and off with the user's feet. They typically house a single effect. An effects pedal is connected into a signal chain using two 2-conductor (conductor and shield) instrument cables with 1/4" jack plugs (or "phone plugs"). The input jack is usually on the right side, and output on the left; thus the signal path for a chain of pedals is usually right-to-left. Some effects pedals have stereo out via two mono out signals, and a few have stereo input jacks as well as stereo output jacks. Some effects pedals have expression pedal in-jack (e.g., some ZOOM multiFX stompboxes) or an additional pedal-in jack (e.g., some overdrive pedals can have an additional switch added for a "turbo" distortion boost effect).
The simplest stompbox pedals have a single footswitch and one or two potentiometers for controlling the effect, gain, or tone, and a single LED to indicate the status of the effect the the player. The most complex stompbox pedals have multiple footswitches, eight to ten knobs, additional switches, and an alphanumeric display screen that can indicate the status of the effect with short acronyms (e.g.,DIST means "distortion").
Several pedals can be linked together in a chain. An effects chain can be placed between the guitar and the guitar amplifier's preamp section, within the guitar amplifier's effects loop, after a guitar amplifier's DI (Direct Inject) line-level tap jack, after a "dummy load" attached to the guitar amplifier's output jack, or at the mixing board to process the miked guitar-speaker signal.
When a pedal is off or inactive, the signal coming in to the pedal is shunted onto a bypass, so that the "dry" or unaffected signal can go on to other effects down the chain, and thus any combination of effects on a chain can be created without having to reconnect boxes during a performance. "True Bypass" means the presence of an isolated wire passing straight through the effects pedal, as opposed to "buffered bypass," which uses active circuit elements to connect the input to the output. While these are 2 popular configurations, there are other bypass methods, such as input-only bypass which is semi-passive.
The instrument signal can be routed through the stomp boxes in any combination, but to shape and preserve the clarity of the basic distortion tone, it is most common to put wah and overdrive pedals at the start of the chain; pedals which alter the pitch or color of the tone in the middle; and delay (echo) and reverb units at the end. When using many effects, unwanted noise and hum can be introduced into the sound. Some performers use a noise gate pedal at the end to reduce unwanted noise and hum introduced by overdrive units or vintage gear. Some performers make more complex signal chains by adding a loop selector pedal to switch between two effects loops. A guitarist might create a grungy rhythm guitar tone with an overdrive pedal, a lo-fi pedal, and a sub-octave pedal, and then use the loop selector pedal to switch to a shimmering, clear tone created with a reverb pedal, an acoustic guitar simulator pedal, and a chorus pedal. Another more complicated way of using multiple pedals is to use a line selector/mixer pedal to blend two effects loops together.