Pedals aren’t just for electric guitars! Who says they get to have all the fun? For mandolin, they come in handy just the same. Whether you find yourself plugged into a sound system on the weekends, need help backing up your lead licks when you’re alone, or want to further experiment with your mandolin, pedals are fantastic tools.
Here is a list of the most important pedals that a mandolinist should have.
1. Tuner
Clip on tuners are wonderful devices if you’re playing acoustically and have a quiet room for the device to pick up your mandolin’s frequencies. But if you’re on stage a tuner pedal is a must. Pedal tuners don’t pick up any room noise, so you can be confident that your instrument is in tune.
Here are two reasons:
- There’s a lot of noise on stage, and a waiting crowd. Being able to tune quickly and effectively is the goal. That’s exactly what a tuner pedal delivers. It bases your instrument’s tuning just on what is being pumped through your cable and out to the PA. So you can rest easy knowing that what the audience is hearing is an in-tune mandolin.
- Sometimes you want to hear how you’re playing without the audience listening in. Example: you want to make sure you’re in the right key. Instead of risking playing wrong notes to the entire venue, you can mute your instrument the same way you’d tune up, and then make sure on your own.
2. Preamp
A mandolin’s natural sound quickly distorts when played through a pickup, monitors, and speakers. Your mandolin is an acoustic instrument, so the sound which makes it significant is it’s natural sound.
So, in walks the preamp. With a preamp, you have the ability to adjust how your instrument sounds coming out the PA. Essentially, what a preamp does is boost the electric signal coming from your pickup, giving you more reign on how you want to tweak that signal.
Which means you can make your mandolin sound how it actually sounds for the audience.
3. Looper
The best thing about being a musician is jamming with others. But, there’s not always someone to jam with. In fact, I’d estimate that 80 percent of the time spent playing mandolin will be spent in solitude. It’s just the way it goes.
You can always turn on the radio and learn to play along to those songs, but there’s another way that’s even more effective: a looper pedal.
With a looper pedal, you record yourself playing a backing track and then can add on layers. There’s no end with what can be done. Case in point, check out Andrew Bird, one of the great looper users:
Loopers are more than just fun. By using one you’ll become a better musician.
It’ll help you just as a metronome would, but with so much more creativity. Plus, you’ll hone your backing chords, something many mandolin players glaze over. Additionally, you’ll discover new ways to layer over those backup chords.
4. Compressor
These pedals fulfill a simple function: compressing your instruments dynamic range. Which means that it tames volume spikes.
When you play you mandolin acoustically you have control of your volume by how you grip your pick; the tone is in your hands. However things can get wonky over a PA. If you play loudly, the electric signal going through the PA might “peak out” or if you play too softly it’ll do the opposite.
A compressor will ensure that this doesn’t happen, and the tone of your instrument is consistent.
5. Overdrive
Here it is: the first of the pedals that create mandolin mayhem. An overdrive pedal creates the ultimate rock and roll sound.
What the pedal does is create the effect of turning an amp’s volume all the way up, making a fuzzy, punchy, rocky sound. But instead of having to risk blowing out your amp, or play at intolerable loudness, you just tap the pedal.
Check out Carlo Aonzo use overdrive ( starts about 1:28):
6. Delay
The delay pedal sort of brings about the opposite types of feelings that an overdrive does. It creates an ethereal, expansive sound. What it does is repeat what you play like an echo. But it can also create new effects to that echo, like reversing the signal, adding reverb, and a few other contortions too.
To make sure your delay is in time with the music you’re playing all you do is tap the pedal to the beat of the song and the delay will match it. It’s a fantastic pedal to have and it even has a built in looper too.
Accessories
Here are some accessories you may need for your pedals too.
This is a board to keep your pedals all in order and allow for portability:
This is to power your pedals:
Here’s how to link your pedals together:
In conclusion, if you’re looking for an easy way to add some new sounds and textures to your mandolin playing, pedals are a great place to start. Whether you’re just getting started with using pedals or are a seasoned pro, we hope this list will give you some ideas of pedals that can help take your playing to the next level. What pedal do you find indispensable in your own practice?
MandoZen 