Stompboxes/stomp boxes (Being your own percussionist)

[buddy]

Disclaimer: I don't sell any of the products mentioned below, and have no connection with any manufacturers or retailers. I only use some of the products, in my own unpolished way.

For solo guitarists, adding some percussion to your act is difficult at best. Some people might be able to play guitar with one hand, but that's way out of my league. If you have at least one vocalist (not encumbered with a guitar or other instrument) with you, you might be able to have them do additional duty as a tambourine operator, but otherwise, the beat will probably come from tapping your foot or feet. Even for duets or trios who don't have a drummer, a "stompbox" can let you be your own drummer. A stompbox (not to be confused with various effects pedals that are often called stompboxes) is usually an empty metal or wooden box with a guitar pickup or microphone inside. When "stomped" or tapped with a foot, the sound can be amplified and produce a kick drum (bass drum) sound for rhythm as you play.
We probably all know at least one drummer joke, and I'm certainly not picking on drummers here, but many times "there's never one around when you need one." A stompbox will always be in time with you, and you won't have to buy it beer, pizza, etc.

The following is from my rudimentary knowledge of stompboxes, much of which I gleaned while Googling around for more information

There are two basic types of stompboxes, active and passive. Active boxes require a power source, usually a 9 volt battery. There are also some boxes, more like an effect pedal, that produce a sampled sound or combination of sounds when triggered by a pad on the box (e.g. the Cajokick, which can be played with foot or fingers) or a stompbox connected to the pedal. The converters require a battery or external power supply.

If you watch any of the online videos demonstrating various 'boxes, it's best to use headphones, unless your computer has a good sound system attached, including a subwoofer. If you're playing with a stompbox, it might also be a good idea to run the 'box through a bass amp or subwoofer for better bass effect.

The first stompbox I acquired was an SX SBX II from Rondo Music. The SBX is an active 'box, and uses a 9V battery.


My next purchase was a Footbass. The Footbass is in a metal box, doesn't require a power source, and has two output jacks. The builder says that's in case one jack fails, but the box is pretty solidly built, so I might use one output to trigger my Finhol™ Stompcon™.

Finhol is a German manufacturer of musical instruments and accessories. I found a good deal on an SC-01 Stompcon from a U.S. retailer, and decided to try it. This is the SC-01:


My testing of it so far shows that it will work with the SBX II or the Footbass. I've only briefly tried it into my Roland Micro Cube amp (5" speaker), and the 12 different sounds it produces seemed pretty realistic.

Recently the Finhol Cajokick showed up from a vendor on eBay. The Cajokick produces some different sounds from those made by the Stompcon. (Cajon Bass, Bass Drum, Synth Bass, Hi-hat, Ride, Rimshot, Cowbell, Tambourine, Cabasa, Handclap, Clave and Guiro.) The Cajokick can be used on the floor, and tapped with the foot, or attached to the side of a cajon and played by hand.
Schlagwerk is another German company, making cajons and other percussion instruments. They also make a Cajokick, which looks virtually identical to the Finhol. I haven't tried either one yet, but I'm tempted to get one some day. (I have an LP cajon.) The Schlagwerk CKICK1 is available on Amazon and at Musician's Friend.

The only box (pedal) I've seen so far that can produce more than one sound per trigger is the Finhol Auto Stomp™ Player. I think it can be switched into an automatic mode and have tempo (50-200 BPM) set by tapping the stompbox that triggers it. List price on the ASPB-01, which includes a Kick Box Basic to trigger it, is $649.99; without the Kick Box, $579.99. The U.S. distributor is Big Bang Distribution in Northridge, CA.

Among the numerous brands of stompboxes are two made in Australia, the Peterman Puck'N Stompa and the Wazinator. This video of Juzzie Smith using a Wazinator led me to buy a couple of his CDs, tune an old electric guitar (with a rather high action) into Open E, and start thinking about learning to play "cross harp" sme day. (In another video, he explains how he's playing an A harmonica in E for that song.)
[video type=youtube]"The Keys" [video][video][/video][/video][/video]

[michelew]

Great info in here Doug! That's really useful.

It's such a cool approach. Do you do many open Mics and the like? Play in a band at the moment perhaps? It sure sounds like you've got performance experience.

Now my GAAS is screaming at me. THANKS!

Cool thread.

[daryl]

Cool. Here's a link demonstrating the Finhol Auto Stomp:

[BobR]

michelew wrote:

Great info in here Doug! That's really useful.

Thanks. Now I need to set up something to demonstrate the tonal differences between the SBX II and the Footbass. I think the Footbass has a humbucker pickup inside; not sure about the SBX.
The 'boxes can be sensitive to where they're hit, which can be a good thing or a bad thing. There may also be some tonal differences from wearing hard-soled shoes. I think I've seen a demo video, possibly on the Peterman site, where he played barefoot, and it seemed to work pretty well.

Somewhere on the PorchBoard site, I think they make mention of being able to get different sounds according to how and where it's stomped. The PorchBoard used to be made of mahogany, but now they're using a composite material made from recycled plastic.

Do you do many open Mics and the like? Play in a band at the moment perhaps? It sure sounds like you've got performance experience.

Honestly, I haven't played out in 20+ years. I reeeeally need to work on my guitar technique, because I'd like to at least set up some occasional jams with other local amateur musicians. I know a few local players, most of whom are way better than I am, but that doesn't bother me because I know I can learn something from them. (As long as I don't end up looking like I don't know anything, it's good.)
The last place near me that was holding open mics ended their program in June. There are others in the state, but "a bit of a ride" from where I live.
If there isn't already at least one thread about how to find other local musicians to jam with, that could be a whole new topic.

Now my GAAS is screaming at me. THANKS!

I thought this might have that effect. :laugh:
I'm thinking of trying a Puck'N Stompa, but I'd have to either decide whether to get the bass, snare, or "Tok" (rimshot) version. I'd probably want one of each, then I'd need the right base station to hold everything. Since my portable PA (Kustom PA50) only has two inputs (¼" phone and XLR on each) and an auxiliary input, I might need a splitter box. And on it goes . . . :ohmy:

I can see I'm eventually going to have to try looping the percussion effects, too.

[neverfoundthetime]

daryl wrote:

Cool. Here's a link demonstrating the Finhol Auto Stomp.

Good find, Daryl. The end of the video shows the tap-tempo feature. B)

[michelew]

Gosh Doug the world of stomp boxes/pedals sounds like a slippery slope. For a woman with GAAS it's daaaaaangerous indeed. But it sounds like SO much fun!

It's a good thing I don't perform in public. I'd just have another excuse to exercise my GAAS. Still David and I are looking for another way to add some more rhythm sounds to our songs. ... it's a good thing I'm too poor to even consider following in your footsteps. I can dream though.

Keep us posted about what you end up getting and how it's working for you. I'd love to hear it in action when you're ready.

M

[michelew]

declark0453921691 wrote:

daryl wrote:

Cool. Here's a link demonstrating the Finhol Auto Stomp.

Good find, Daryl. The end of the video shows the tap-tempo feature. B)

Just watched the video. Very cool!

[sandysue]

I saw a used Porchboard Micro Bass listed on Reverb.com, and it reminded me to check this thread. How's the GAS, Shel?

I just remembered that somewhere around here, I have two pairs of foot tambourines, from a couple of different manufacturers. Those could come in handy for a solo guitarist, too.
Those have to kept out of the granddaughters' sight, or #1 Granddaughter will want to take some home with her. I gave her a little green tambourine (like the Lemon Pipers' song) for one of her Christmas presents last year. I'm surprised her parents are still speaking to me. :laugh:

Still working on recording a demo/comparison of the SBX II and Footbass. Maybe I'll include the Stompcon in there, too.

[michelew]

How's the GAS? Haha! What a ratbag Doug! well if I check these stomp boxes out too often....I don't need a crystal ball to work out the future there.

My GAS is in hibernation at the moment, thanks for asking, but speak quietly so as not the wake the beast.

I imagine your granddaughters are having a great time with their tambourines. I too like to give kids gifts that get them into music; like little ukuleles. They're so much fun. maybe we'll see you playing together on a video at some point.

This stomp box gear looks like great fun.

Thanks Doug.

[davidrfinn99165]

The newest addition: Meinl FX10.
A few weeks ago, I discovered that Meinl Percussion had an effect box for ten sounds. The FX10 is made by Shadow Electronics, another German company, which might be better known for the guitar pickups and the Stompin' Bass they make.
Like the Finhol and Schlagwerk pedals, the FX10 produces sampled sounds, but doesn't need a separate stompbox to trigger it. The activating pedal looks like a volume or wah-wah pedal, but has a much shorter "travel" to it. Two of the effects (4 and 9) can produce double sounds, i.e. one when the pedal is depressed, and one when it's released.

There is another momentary footswitch next to the activation pedal, which cycles through the ten sounds in ascending order. The sounds are:
0 - Kick Bass
1 - Cyber Kick
2 - Tribal Bass
3 - Straight Tambourine
4 - Double Tambourine
5 - Clave
6 - Hand Clap
7 - Dry Cowbell
8 - Straight Cabasa
9 - Double Cabasa
Some of them seem to have a little reverb effect built-in, a little sustain to the sound. The "Cyber Kick" is a slightly strange sound, almost like a cymbal mixed with bass drum. "Tribal Bass" is kind of like a floor tom. Mike Dolbear's review says the "double" sounds are about 3 dB louder than the others. I noticed some sounds do seem a little louder than others, but didn't have a way to measure the level.

At US $199.99, the FX10 is less costly than the Finhol and Schlagwerk converter boxes, but has two fewer sounds than any of those. Then again, one of the sounds on my Finhol SC-01 Stompcon is "Pickup Stompbox," and I've already got two boxes to do that. (The SX SBX II and the Footbass.) The FX10 doesn't require a stompbox to trigger it, so that could be an additional savings for someone just getting into adding percussion to their solo/duo act.
I printed a "cheat sheet" for mine, because the selected sound is just indicated by a segmented LED display; there's no list printed on the top as the other brands have.

I bought a used one on eBay, and tried it out with my Roland Micro Cube amp. The mono output has a nasty hum (which the seller called "feedback"), but the stereo jack works just fine. I think the sounds are all good, although some might be more useful than others. As soon as I get a chance, I'll drag out an A/B-Y box and compare the FX10 to the SC-01, and maybe post a video.

Sorry for the new G.A.S. attack, Shel.