Adam Feibel
For the Ottawa Citizen
How does one become a guitar god?
Talent, certainly, but what about that signature sound that makes a performer stand out. To feed that sonic need some clever audio technicians turned entrepreneurs in the Ottawa region have gained considerable popularity in the guitarists’ market of handmade boutique guitar pedals — little boxes that give many artists their sonic imprimatur.
“People do great things with a guitar on its own,” says Steve Bragg, a forerunner among local guitar techs. “But sometimes we get emails from customers saying, ‘(The pedal), it’s writing songs for me.’ It’s not actually writing songs, but it allows you to endlessly fiddle … and draw inspiration from it.”
Bragg started Empress Effects (empresseffects.com) in 2005. Ten years later, the company has a spacious shop in Kanata, six other guitar geeks on the team and more than a dozen products on the market.
And that market isn’t as niche as one might think.
“Nebulus” by Empress Effects. Modulation effects such as chorus, flange and vibrato play with the electric signal in various ways to make unique sounds. Chorus creates the impression that multiple guitars are playing at once (think “Come As You Are” by Nirvana), flange gives the guitar a whooshing sound (often good for spacey solos or funky riffing), and vibrato alters the pitch in and out to make it pulse. Normally these are individual effect pedals, but Empress has combined them all into one. It’s an easy enough investment for guitarists who want all three effects, but those who don’t need all of them, who want to use more than one at a time, or who want more diversity among their setup are more likely to opt for individual pedals. It costs $299
The latest NAMM Show, a trade show held annually by the National Association of Music Merchants, drew close to 100,000 visitors. It’s the place to be for musicians to hear about hot new trinkets to add to their sound.
“It’s a big market in the sense that … most people who play electric guitar have at least played around with some pedals,” says Guillaume Fairfield, who founded Gatineau-based Fairfield Circuitry (fairfieldcircuitry.com) in 2008 and now has a half-dozen products on the market.
“Randy’s Revenge” by Fairfield Circuitry. One of the stranger effects you can find in a stomp box, a ring modulator will give a guitar a wobbly, clangy and downright weird sound comparable to a bell, cymbal or even an army of robots. Ring modulation itself is a function of electronic signal processing that gets its name from the circular pattern of the analog circuit of diodes that’s used for the signal multiplication and oscillation required to achieve this effect. Still with us? In short, it’s an adventurous, sci-fi-like sound normally recommended to be used sparingly. It’s also the type of effect you won’t find in just any company’s catalogue. Fairfield’s take on the ring modulator boasts simplicity coupled with customizability, though its hefty price tag makes it a hard sell for all but the most eccentric of players. It costs $315.
“Different pedals will affect the sound in different ways, so it’s a really easy way to change your sound.”
Also in town is Retro-Sonic (retro-sonic.com) and its line of seven vintage-style pedals. Tim Larwill founded the company in 2001, deciding to take his passion for rebuilding retro cars in a whole new direction. Now, his reworked pedals are being sold around the world.
David Arguin, the man behind Dave’s Pedals, specializes in using new and found parts to recreate a variety of vintage tones. Though the brand isn’t the most visible, the pedals can often be found amidst the jumble of boxes in some local music stores.
“Germ Drive” by Empress Effects. One of many of Empress’s tone-shaping pedals, the “Germ Drive” goes for a classic, rich, ’50s tube amp sound with simple controls. Those who want more options may favour their “Multidrive” or “Heavy” pedals instead, which offer multiple different sounds in one package. It costs $149.
His protégé Calvin McCormick also started his own business, McCormick Analog, out of his west Ottawa home. He’s spent the last three years customizing existing designs and repairing broken gear, but expects to debut his own invention by June.
Though online stores and gear-talk communities are certainly a big boon, independent guitar shops like Spaceman and Lauzon in Ottawa and Distoshop in Gatineau can help push local brands into the public eye.
Spaceman co-owner Scott Terry says innovative ideas and designs are what makes a company like Empress or Fairfield get noticed. In a market crowded with reissues and clones, it helps to be one-of-a-kind.
“Guitar players are very discerning and very picky about their tone,” says Terry, “and I think when they do find a company or a pedal that seems to be their holy grail, they really stick with it and champion it.”
The owners of Empress and Fairfield both say they have plans to launch new products in 2015, the culmination of years of design work in some cases. There’s always more noise to make.
“Barbershop” by Fairfield Circuitry. There are two main ways to get that classic rock ‘n’ roll dirt out of a guitar amplifier: Crank up the pre-amp volume until the speaker distorts, or use one of the thousands of overdrive pedals designed to emulate that sound. Expect to find some source of distortion, overdrive or fuzz in almost any blues or rock-oriented guitarist’s rig. Fairfield’s main seller, the Barbershop promises a slick and natural sounding overdrive with a no-nonsense design at a mid-level price, though its three-knob simplicity can sometimes be too little for guitarists who want more control over their tone. It costs $185.
