Author: Alex Reid

Guitar effects have transformed the world of electric guitars and allowed musicians all over the world to get more and more of that renowned instrument. Characteristic distortions and choruses used by legendary guitarists are recognized by fans everywhere and many people have set to emulate the same effects at home. Wah-wah pedals, delays, tuners, equalizers are just a few among the vast group of famous guitar effect pedals. But what about some of the lesser known effects? Read this guide to find out if you know what they all do.

Fuzz

Fuzz pedals often stand in the shade of their more well-known cousins, overdrive and distortion pedals. All three belong to the same family of pedals – they distort the original sound. Among them, it’s the fuzz that has the most powerful effect. With the fuzz effect, it is hard to tell whether you’re still playing or has your amp gone completely bonkers. The resulting sound is very, well, fuzzy, and almost unrecognizable. The gritty grunge effect was at first achieved by purposefully breaking the amp. Malfunctioning amps would sometimes result in a similar broken sound that we know from the fuzz nowadays. Fuzz tends to act very unpredictably and it can be difficult to harness its power. The best fuzz pedal for beginners should have all the basic control settings (volume, attack) that are easily adjustable.

Pitch shifters

Pitch shifters are the most versatile pitch pedals, although they aren’t as heavily utilized. As the name suggests, they shift the pitch of your original sound and change the notes into different ones. They can either replace the original sound completely or just add the changed shift on top of it to add more depth. Some pitch shifters will have a harmonizer option that can revolutionize the way you play. The harmonizer option allows you to create a beautiful harmony to the sound you play and make it seem like there is a group of other guitarists perfectly harmonizing to your lead. Modern pitch shifters come with many various settings, depending on the model. They can effectively create soft distortions or choruses, maybe even replacing some of your other pedals.

Tremolo and Vibrato

Tremolo and vibrato pedals are very often confused because they seem so similar. To understand the difference, you only need to remember that tremolo pedals deal with volume and vibrato pedals with pitch. These pedals increase or decrease the volume/pitch in a steady motion.

Tremolo pedals allow you to achieve the characteristic effect of the volume dropping and rising steadily. The speed is adjustable which means that you can either get very quick volume shifts that are perfect for when you want to convey something like urgency. Regular pitch shifts that are created with a vibrato pedal have a more undulating character. It makes it seem like the player is adjusting the whammy bars with great accuracy. The speed and the range of the shift are adjustable.

Most people could save a ton of money on cooking if they only wanted to. This the area of life on which we tend to overspend, often indulging ourselves in unnecessary luxuries. If you struggle to make ends meet or just want to save more money this month then take a look at these simple tips about how to spend less on your meals.

Cook at home

Home-cooked meals will almost always be cheaper than going out or getting take out from a restaurant. When restaurants set their prices, they need to add up not only the cost of ingredients but also labor costs, etc. and then make a profit. So, of course, their prices will be higher than what you would spend making the same meal at home. Cooking at home will also be healthier for your body because you can control exactly what goes into your food.

Stick to a budget

Making a budget is the most effective way of making sure that you won’t spend more than you want on food. Calculate how much you can afford for groceries and try to see how much your average meal should cost. Plan what you are going to eat beforehand so that you don’t buy unnecessary items at the store. If you have some leeway with your funds then it is fine to indulge yourself once in a while but otherwise, stick to the budget.

Plan for emergencies

There will be times when you won’t be able to either shop or cook for yourself – for example, when you get sick. A lot of people would turn to take out in this situation but that’s an easy way of ruining your carefully-planned budget. You should always have some emergency rations at home so that you won’t fall into this trap. Simple products like pasta sauces in a jar or instant meals will do. If you find them discounted somewhere then it might be a good idea to stock up. Here you can find the best instant ramen by CurrentC.com.

Use the same ingredients for different meals

Using the same ingredients for a few days in a row, even if you don’t cook the same meals, is how you can save yourself time when grocery shopping and cooking. For example, if on Monday you are planning to make rice with curry then cook more rice than needed and use the leftovers on Tuesday to make simple fried rice with vegetables. You will save both time and gas/electricity it takes to boil water and cook rice in it. If your recipe call for two egg yolks then search for another recipe that uses two egg whites so that you won’t waste anything.

Prevent food from going bad

Spoilt food is bad both for your budget and the environment. Throwing out food feels and is wasteful so try to prevent that as much as you can. That’s why you should know how to store different types of food. For example, never put bananas in the fridge because that will make them spoil more quickly. Also, use your ingredients in the right order – start with the items that spoil the easiest.