Goal: To create and explore FPGA/MCU based guitar effects solutions, creating something that is cheaper, technically advanced, and great-sounding without buying off the shelf guitar gear.
An FPGA based multi-effects pedal. Users can plug in their guitars and start playing, no computer required, selecting presets with physical pedal-like buttons for different effects such as distortion, delay, reverb.
Key features:
- configurability at home with a computer
- users download profiles from an online community
- users can tune the parameters of the design which are uploaded to the FPGA as weights
- Live experience identical to a single pedal
- 5V power supply cable
- 1/4 inch cable in and out between guitar and amp
- stomp pedals for switching profiles/effects
- Effects modeler
- supply the pedal with clean and modified signal, FPGA will recreate that effect and store it as a preset, allowing users to “steal” pedals
Kria KV260 FPGA
Line 6 Multi Effects Pedal: “100 pedals in a box.” A hardware/software which can recreate the transformations from classic guitar pedals and combinations of pedals, saving them to presets and allowing guitarists to change sounds live.
Key Features:
- Faithful recreations of classic and sought after vintage pedals and effects
- Easy switching of profiles with stomp buttons like real guitar pedals
- Users configure the pedal at home, live is plug and play
- setup is equivalent to a single effects pedal
- a demo from Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan
Guitar Plugins: A software which simulates the eq characteristics of popular and sought after amplifiers.
Key Features:
- models even tone knobs, so the gain knob on the modeled amp has the same curve and sweet spots as the real amplifier
- presets and intuitive UI, allows users to set a preset and understand how that tone is created
- models multiple amplifiers in series
- Only $200 for amplifiers and sounds that cost upwards of $10k
Neural DSP John Mayer plugin
Amp Profiler/modeler: A hardware/software which models the sounds of classic amplifiers, not just what they theoretically sound like, but even when mic’d up and in a large room.
Key features
- classic and iconic sounds packaged into one small module, with presets that allow users to quickly get started with sounds from classic records/players
- customizability, allows users to change and experiment the settings of classic amps
- expensive, costing over $1k
Kemper Profiler 600w PowerHead
Wireless Expression Pedal: A hardware which wirelessly sends midi packets to a computer which can assign that to any eq or setting in a plugin, allowing it to control volume, gain, treble, reverb.
Key features:
- wireless for no wires and messy setup
- latency isn’t as much of an issue because its an expression pedal and doesn’t control the notes, but should be tested in hand
- completely configurable with a DAW to control any signal you want, customizable
Boss EV-1-WL Wireless MIDI expression pedal