In depth: Justin Meldal-Johnson and the Malekko Diabolik

In depth: Justin Meldal-Johnson and the Malekko Diabolik

One of the hardest working bassists in Los Angeles found time to come over to Pedals And Effects to show us his new pedal: The DiabolikJustin Meldal-Johnsen has been bringing bass to modern music for over twenty years.  In addition to performing with BeckNine Inch Nails, and Dixie Chicks, Justin has also produced some wildly successful albums for M83 and Paramore, to name a few. Justin never stops; and coming up with a pedal concept is just one more accomplishment for him.

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Throwback Thursday: Stanley Clarke at the Berkeley Community Theater 1979

Throwback Thursday: Stanley Clarke at the Berkeley Community Theater 1979

Today’s Throwback Thursday is to a moment when I was younger that solidified my drive to become a bass player. I know that a lot of musicians of my era know who Stanley Clarke is. When I was coming up, he and Jaco Pastorius were legends but I had found Stanley first. I was so into Stanley because he was always winning best bassist awards, he was part of Return To Forever and he could play insanely fast. Perhaps unsurpassed to this day on electric bass. When I was young, I just wanted to burn like him.

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How to not "bungle" your nice guitar and other tricks

How to not "bungle" your nice guitar and other tricks

Pedals And Effects coming at you with something a little different today. Today Nick wanted to impart some knowledge; some cheap tips and tricks for the regularly gigging musician. Also I hop on board and share some lifelong tips and tricks from the early Racer X days, when Paul Gilbert and were flat-out broke!

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Interview: Tom Cram the Head Honcho at Digitech and DOD

Interview: Tom Cram the Head Honcho at Digitech and DOD

Pedals And Effects has always had a string of good luck with having really great musicians coming on to talk about gear, and this interview with Tom Cram is one of my favorites. Tom runs things at Digitech and DOD and he is an awesome musician and gear head like us all. He came through with great stories from the past, insight to what has been going on and what lies ahead for one of the greatest pedal making companies of all time!

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Throwback Thursday: The Late Show With David Letterman

Throwback Thursday: The Late Show With David Letterman

Two years ago this week, the final episode of The Late Show With David Letterman aired. David was a staple of the late night talk show block, and he left a long lasting model and legacy for current talk show hosts. During the final week of his show, a lot of musicians I know posted photos of their performances on the The Late Show. One thing about the David Letterman show was that they were absolutely fearless in bringing on musical acts of all types from all over the world. 

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Demo: Tim Lefebvre with Earthquaker Devices & Way Huge

 Demo: Tim Lefebvre with Earthquaker Devices & Way Huge

This is something I have always wanted to capture for Pedals And Effects, where someone comes in and we setup pedals he or she has never spent time with, then that musician comes up with sounds on the spot! When I had the amazing Tim Lefebvre come through to video some stuff for the site, Tim had mentioned he was really interested in Earthquaker Devices pedals and that he had not really had a lot of experience with them (though now he has since acquired some!) so I put Tim and Earthquaker Devices to the test!

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Keeley Mesmer Astral Delay

Keeley Mesmer Astral Delay

Keeley released this crazy pedal on 4/20 and even if you're not a stoner, you need this Mesmer Astral Delay on your board ASAP! This is one of the crazier pedals we have had sent to us in a while, but it is incredibly musical and ingeniously designed. The Mesmer is, how we saw it, an octaver, sequencer, short delay sort of looper sound manipulator all in one small package!

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Flashback Friday: Emma Electronic Okto-Nøjs

Flashback Friday: Emma Electronic Okto-Nøjs

I know it hasn't been a long time since my last post on the Emma Electronic Okto-Nøjs, but I wanted to add something to that post that I left off. I wasn't sure it was necessary, but I made a video that had an example of me using the sound I created with the Okto-Nøjs played over a beat. I did a similar video before in a post for the Pigtronix Mothership Synthesizer pedal years ago and thought it was worthy then because I wasn't sure bassists were going to get how to use such a dynamic effect in a band or musical situation.

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