Who are the Adam and Eve of Pedals ?

[Electric Warrior]

Fuzz Face is the second stage of mk 2 Tone Bender.

The Fuzz Face is a clone of an early version of the MK1.5 Tone Bender.
The MKII is a MK1.5 with a buffer stage added to its front. Many MKIIs were originally MK1.5s that Sola Sound upgraded to MKII specs.

[iainpunk]

The MKII is a MK1.5 with a buffer stage added to its front.

a gain stage, not a buffer stage, look at the collector and emitter!

[Ben N]

Once we identify Adam & Eve, next we have to find the snake.

[Electric Warrior]

The MKII is a MK1.5 with a buffer stage added to its front.

a gain stage, not a buffer stage, look at the collector and emitter!

Ha! I've seen it being called a buffer stage so often, I assumed it was true. 
It sure keeps the signal over the threshold of gating, so it certainly adds gain..

That schematic should have a 10k on Q1s base and OC75s, btw.

[StephenGiles]

What was the first song to use distortion ?

Can't remember if it was "I cant get no Satisfaction"

or Rumble

from 1963 perhaps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBPwwdd9a14

[amptramp]

We already have a thread on the Heathkit TA-28 fuzz here:

https://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=90489.0

The interesting thing is the power from a 1.5 volt battery.  It would have come out around 1974.

[matmosphere]

I had heard a story about the Kinks using a slashed speaker on something, and that being the start of the "fuzz" sound, but I'm pretty sure that there were other fuzz sounds before that.

I think a lot of that earlier stuff is more overdriven or distorted amps. I'm sure that a whole series of books could be written about it. I'd read them.

[garcho]

Chorus comes from Hammond organs yeah? then Roland, then the CE-1. Maybe DM-1 is similar. The arrival of BBD ushered them in. Often, the seminal designs are basically the first audio hack of a common device, or more relatively recently, fleshed out app notes.

[teemuk]

I think a lot of that earlier stuff is more overdriven or distorted amps. I'm sure that a whole series of books could be written about it. I'd read them.

Or just overdriven / poor quality recording equipment. AFAIK, big problem was capturing the LOUD tone of overdriven amps in studio. Some of distortion is just due to recording technique, such as Howling Wolf (IIRC) playing his guitar in a corner, facing it, so that walls reinforce the guitar's sound.

[iainpunk]

Chorus comes from Hammond organs yeah? then Roland, then the CE-1. Maybe DM-1 is similar. The arrival of BBD ushered them in. Often, the seminal designs are basically the first audio hack of a common device, or more relatively recently, fleshed out app notes.

the ''chorus'' comes from leslie speakers, which were usually hooked up to electric organs and later being used by guitarists including Hendrix. a japanese dude thought he could replicate the sound in a smaller enclosure and build the first UNIVIBE. that is the first phaser, which was followed by a bunch of other phasers that did some things different. when BBD chips came, the chorus and flanger were invented, at first to replace the phaser, but they discovered that they were different enough that the chorus and flanger were marketed as a different kind of effect, alongside phasers.

cheers, Iain

[teemuk]

There were "phase shift" vibratos before the Univibe. Magna Electronics / Estey (e.g. Magnatone amps) made them with varistors in an all-pass filter whereas Jennings (Vox) employed variable resistance of vacuum tubes panning between two differently phase-shifted signal paths. FETs and LDRs made the design more compact and I believe Univibe just eventually popularised the circuit. They certainly did not conceive it.

First Bucket Brigade Device chorus may have been made by Roland but I believe the technology, similarly to first spring reverb units, was initially built for telecommunications, not for music industry.

"Phaser" as musical effect was initially discovered when someone, accidentally or not, slowed down a tape echo manually. I wouldn't be surprised if there exists a tape echo unit with such feature.

[Steben]

"Phaser" as musical effect was initially discovered when someone, accidentally or not, slowed down a tape echo manually. I wouldn't be surprised if there exists a tape echo unit with such feature.

Isnt that flanging?

[teemuk]

We must not forget historical perspective either. In the early days many effects were developed for organs - not for guitars - and from there the inventions were slowly adopted. Forerunners were usually companies that manufactured organs and accordions.

Maestro's Fuzztone was initially designed as a "synthesizer" that could turn guitar to sound like a horn instead. Jennings had a whole range of such "synthesizer" products. The famous guitar riff in Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" was initially a demo track for horn meant to be recorded later. They decuded to keep it instead, which had dramatic impact to future of guitar music.

[iainpunk]

There were "phase shift" vibratos before the Univibe. Magna Electronics / Estey (e.g. Magnatone amps) made them with varistors in an all-pass filter whereas Jennings (Vox) employed variable resistance of vacuum tubes panning between two differently phase-shifted signal paths. FETs and LDRs made the design more compact and I believe Univibe just eventually popularised the circuit. They certainly did not conceive it.

yes, but the univibe was the first 'effect pedal' the other vibrato's were built in to amps, organs etc. and this thread being about pedals, i didn't take them in to account. also, the univide made a big difference to the forerunners, more stages with all having different frequency ranges and mixing in clean to get that swooshy effect instead of the vibrato effect.

[garcho]

If this is about the adam and eve of guitar pedals, surely the electric organ is the Garden of Eden and Ma Bell is god.

Howlin Wolf wasn't on guitar, Hubert Sumlin was, the guy who invented rock guitar. He played loud overdriven guitar riffs when everyone else was just chucking chords or playing bottleneck.

[ThermionicScott]

Or just overdriven / poor quality recording equipment. AFAIK, big problem was capturing the LOUD tone of overdriven amps in studio. Some of distortion is just due to recording technique, such as Howling Wolf (IIRC) playing his guitar in a corner, facing it, so that walls reinforce the guitar's sound.

I've heard of Robert Johnson doing that, too.  Probably occurs to most guitarists at some point.  Something about the guitar just compels us to find ways to change its sound, doesn't it? 

[teemuk]

Could be it was Robert Johnson instead, my memory fails me often.

Back to topic, as far as I know two very first "effect boxes" ever were a volume pedal, simply titled "Volume Pedal", and an electro mechanic tremolo effect, titled "Tremolo Control", from DeArmond. Both manufactured by Rowe Industries in the early 1930's. The latter, initially a carry-on effect, was refined to foot-operated form in circa 1948.

[willienillie]

All of the Robert Johnson recordings are on acoustic guitar, no amps.  The recordings themselves are somewhat distorted though.  It was the 1920s after all.

[ThermionicScott]

All of the Robert Johnson recordings are on acoustic guitar, no amps.  The recordings themselves are somewhat distorted though.  It was the 1920s after all.

For sure.  I was referring to him facing a wall (or corner, as it may have been) with his acoustic. 

[willienillie]

He just really liked that wallpaper.

Oops, I should have said 1930s, not 1920s.

I taught him all those songs in the 20s, that's why I got confused.