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Okay, so at work i had a conversation with someone and they stated that Tom Scholz "invented the first effects pedal." My gut tells me that is was probably someone from Les Paul's or Leo Fender's circle, but i couldn't find any concrete proof of that. does anyone have a website that profiles the history of the stompbox as we know it? thanks.

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I can't help you but it definitely wasn't Tom Scholz.

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Tom Scholz invented "The Rockman" headphone guitar amp, with built in effects.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockman_%28amplifier%29

The Dallas Ariter Company is a good place to start looking, since they were responsiable for two important early effects, the Fuzz Face and the Rangemaster. Also, Les Paul messed around with various effects in the 50s, some of them on-board his guitars. I doubt that there is a known definative answer, since a lot of things happened all aound the same time...

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David Sumpter
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Well... Scholz was born in 1947. The DeArmond Tremolo Control pedal was already around in the late 40's.

http://homepage.mac.com/danielformosa/dearmond.html

Don't know who actually made the first guitar effect... but that rules out Scholz.

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Build me a new pedal... and step on it!

What about amplifier reverb/trem/vibrato footswitches? What about pedal steel guitars? Are we talking about a stand alone unit with a footswitch that was market directly to 6 string guitar players to be used in-line between the guitar and amp? How old is the Gibson Maestro fuzz?

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Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

these are all points i brought up. i think pedal steel players were using volume pedals as early as the late 30's. i had a maestro fuzz, and it was made in the very early sixties.

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Days add up whether we like it or not. We can't stop them from doing so. What we can do is decide what they add up to.
MY MUSIC

We need to define 'stompbox' first.

Foot control for musical instrument or amplifier?

Effect for guitar that is turned on & off with a footswitch?

What IS a stompbox really?

let's define stompbox as "an electrical device that effects the signal generated by any electric guitar which can be switched on and off via push button switch and is placed on the floor so that the performer's foot can control the aforementioned switch."

how's that? its really just a rewording and adding of terms from wiki.

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Days add up whether we like it or not. We can't stop them from doing so. What we can do is decide what they add up to.
MY MUSIC

This fits the definition... and it was first available in 1946. Anybody got one earlier?

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Build me a new pedal... and step on it!

OK... from Gibson.com: "...and in fact the first stand-alone effect of all time was a tremolo unit made by DeArmond, the Model 800 Trem Trol..."

The DeArmond came as a pedal, and was turned on/off by a footswitch.

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Build me a new pedal... and step on it!

the key word is "STAND-ALONE", and i think we have a winner. well, there you have it, a nice little tidbit of useless pedal information to impress all your friends. THE FIRST STAND ALONE GUITAR EFFECTS PEDAL WAS THE DeARMOND MODEL 800 TREMOLO.

i tell ya, you drop that line and ladies are bound to come running!

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Days add up whether we like it or not. We can't stop them from doing so. What we can do is decide what they add up to.
MY MUSIC

So anyone have a PCB layout for it?

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Think I have a couple of those in the garage ... I'll draw up a schem later.



D'ya think they'll be worth anything?

Only if the hippest, trendiest band in the land has a guitar player that may have possibly used one at one point.

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I've read about that Dearmond tremolo and it's actually pretty bizarre. It has a vial full of mercury inside that is vibrated by a motor. When the mercury is shaken, it open and closes open a connection that passes signal. Billy Gibbons is a big fan of that one.

the article listed earlier in the thread uses windex. who knew that windex and mercury were interchangeable. haha.

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Days add up whether we like it or not. We can't stop them from doing so. What we can do is decide what they add up to.
MY MUSIC

thanks for the article on that trem DIYorDIE. also, keith, we're ready for the kit.

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Days add up whether we like it or not. We can't stop them from doing so. What we can do is decide what they add up to.
MY MUSIC

Yah, that's what we need in the Trem Forum... "I just spilled all of my Mercury on the floor. I wiped it up with my bare hands... I'm not feeling so well and I can't seem to remember why I'm here or what I'm doing... now what...?"

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I... have become... uncomfortably numb...

Toms a member at http://www.thewateringhole.net with me. I'll ask him

Interesting about the Rockman...I still have one of those (and it still works )

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what is it with mercury being poison and all that? i mean ive never touched it but my friend said he used to play with it when he was a little kid, bare hands...i guess you need to drink it or something?

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Mercury causes brain damage and profound memory loss... or at least I think it does... as with old age, the memory is the first to go... and for the life of me I can't remember what the the second thing to go is...

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I... have become... uncomfortably numb...