An effects unit, effects processor, or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing.
Vox is a British musical equipment manufacturer founded in 1957 by Thomas Walter Jennings in Dartford, Kent, England. The company is most famous for making the Vox AC30 guitar amplifier, used by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, Queen, Dire Straits, U2, and Radiohead; the Vox Continental electric organ, the Vox wah-wah pedal used by Jimi Hendrix, and a series of innovative electric guitars and bass guitars. Since 1992, Vox has been owned by the Japanese electronics firm Korg.
A guitar amplifier is an electronic device or system that strengthens the electrical signal from a pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce sound through one or more loudspeakers, which are typically housed in a wooden cabinet. A guitar amplifier may be a standalone wood or metal cabinet that contains only the power amplifier circuits, requiring the use of a separate speaker cabinet–or it may be a "combo" amplifier, which contains both the amplifier and one or more speakers in a wooden cabinet. There is a wide range of sizes and power ratings for guitar amplifiers, from small, lightweight "practice amplifiers" with a single 6-inch speaker and a 10-watt amp to heavy combo amps with four 10-inch or four 12-inch speakers and a 100-watt amplifier, which are loud enough to use in a nightclub or bar performance.
Peavey Electronics Corporation is an American company which designs, develops, manufactures and markets professional audio equipment. It is one of the largest audio equipment manufacturers in the world, and is headquartered in Meridian, Mississippi.
Scholz Research & Development, Inc. was the name of the company founded by musician and engineer Tom Scholz to design and manufacture music technology products.
Variax was the name of a line of guitars developed and marketed by Line 6 between 2002 and 2023. They differed from typical electric and acoustic guitars in that internal electronics processed the sound from individual strings to model (replicate) the sound of specific guitars and other instruments. The maker claims it was the first guitar family able to emulate the tones of other notable electric and acoustic guitars. It also provided a banjo and a sitar tone. The Variax was available primarily in electric guitar models, but acoustic and electric bass guitar models have also been available in the past.
Ampeg is a manufacturer best known for its bass amplifiers.
Fender amplifiers are a series of electric instrument amplifiers produced by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The first guitar amplifiers attributed to Leo Fender were manufactured by the K&F Manufacturing Corporation (K&F) between 1945 and 1946. Later, Fender began building its own line of electric guitars. Fender amplifiers would become favorite of many famous guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, also known in these cases for playing Fender guitars.
Electro-Harmonix is a New York City-based company that makes electronic audio processors and sells rebranded vacuum tubes. The company was founded by Mike Matthews in 1968. It is best known for a series of guitar effects pedals introduced in the 1970s and 1990s. EHX also made a line of guitars in the 1970s.
Re-amping is a process often used in multitrack recording in which a recorded signal is routed back out of the editing environment and run through external processing using effects units and then into a guitar amplifier and a guitar speaker cabinet or a reverb chamber. Originally, the technique was used mostly for electric guitars: it facilitates a separation of guitar playing from guitar amplifier processing—a previously recorded audio program is played back and re-recorded at a later time for the purpose of adding effects, ambiance such as reverb or echo, and the tone shaping imbued by certain amps and cabinets. The technique has since evolved over the 2000s to include many other applications. Re-amping can also be applied to other instruments and program, such as recorded drums, synthesizers, and virtual instruments.
The Fender Twin and Twin Reverb are guitar amplifiers made by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The Twin was introduced in 1952, two years before Fender began selling Stratocaster electric guitars. The amps are known for their characteristically clean tone.
Supro is an American brand, currently owned by Bond Audio, a manufacturer of effects units. Formerly, Supro produced musical instruments as a subsidiary of Valco. The brand entered into disuse after the closure of Valco in 1968, being later revived in 2013.
The Line 6 Flextone was the first in a series of guitar amplifiers to package Line 6's POD digital modeling system in a stand-alone amplifier product. Digital modeling allowed users to access guitar tones based on those of many popular vintage and boutique amplifiers. At the time of its release in the late 1990s, the Flextone series was a more affordable alternative to the company's flagship Vetta amplifier.
POD is a series of digital guitar amplifier modelers from Line 6. PODs are designed to digitally simulate amplifiers, as well as cabinet models and effects. All POD variants include headphone outputs and recording ports, and can be used to feed a signal into an amp or directly into a PA system. Some variants include USB for direct recording interface with a computer.
Yorkville Sound is a Canadian manufacturer of audio amplifiers, loudspeakers and related professional sound reinforcement equipment. Based in Pickering, Ontario, Canada, the firm has a global presence as an importer and exporter of audio electronic products.
Record is a music software program developed by Swedish software developers Propellerhead Software. Designed for recording, arrangement and mixing, it emulates a recording studio, with a mixing desk, a rack of virtual instruments and effects and an audio and MIDI sequencer. Record can be used either as a complete virtual recording studio in itself, or together with Propellerhead Software's Reason.
Jim Kelley Amplifiers is the trademark for the vacuum tube guitar amplifiers designed by Jim Kelley and manufactured by his company Active Guitar Electronics of Tustin, California between the years of 1978 and 1985. Approximately 600 of these amps were built during that time. The single-channel version of the amplifier employed modest gain in the preamp stages, Baxandall type bass and treble controls, a split load phase inverter, and four 6V6GT output tubes. The amplifiers produce 60 watts RMS at full power, and include a half power (30/60) switch.
The DL4 by Line 6, introduced in 1999, is a digital delay pedal. It is one of the first digital modeling effects units. The DL4 features models of 16 vintage delay effects, including the Echoplex, Roland Corporation's Space Echo, and the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man. It is also used for looping. According to a May/June 2000 review in Canadian Musician, it "delivers a cavalcade of features for a reasonable price."
Amplifier modeling is the process of emulating a physical amplifier such as a guitar amplifier. Amplifier modeling often seeks to recreate the sound of one or more specific models of vacuum tube amplifiers and sometimes also solid state amplifiers.
Vintage musical equipment is older music gear, including instruments, amplifiers and speakers, sound recording equipment and effects pedals, sought after, maintained and used by record producers, audio engineers and musicians who are interested in historical music genres. While any piece of equipment of sufficient age can be considered vintage, in the 2010s the term is typically applied to instruments and gear from the 1970s and earlier. Guitars, amps, pedals, electric keyboards, sound recording equipment from the 1950s to 1970s are particularly sought. Musical equipment from the 1940s and prior eras is often expensive, and sought out mainly by museums or collectors.
