to play funk guitar. This is
Tone Report Weekly, so of
course I’m here to talk about
pedals and tones. For the
purposes of this article I’ll
just assume that you’ve done
your due diligence when it
comes to developing a solid,
proper technique, and that
you just need a little help
deciding what your funk
pedalboard should look like.
Many of the genre’s iconic
guitarists didn’t use effects
Guitars
and
amps
Before we get into pedal
talk, we should take a
moment to discuss the
foundation of your funk, the
guitar and amp. Honestly,
just about any setup can be
made to work, as long as a
crisp, biting clean tone can
be conjured up. In general,
a guitar with some kind of
brighter, vintage output
pickup set is the best option.
Strat and Tele style guitars
are standard issue for funk,
as are humbucker or P90-
equipped semi-hollowbody
guitars like the Gibson ES-
335 or Epiphone Sheraton.
Generally speaking, however,
a single-coil will get you
there quicker and easier
than a humbucker for that
scratchy chank.
As far as amps go, any
amp that can get loud
enough and stay clean
enough will do the job,
but classic Fender tube-
powered models like the
Twin Reverb, Deluxe Reverb,
and Princeton are pretty
close to the ideal. Brightness
and clarity are of the utmost
importance, so choose
accordingly. Solid-state amps
are particularly suited to the
task, whether it’s something
at all (sometimes they didn’t
even use amps), but modern
players will likely want a
broader range of colors and
tones available.
modern like a Quilter or
one of the new Seymour
Duncan pedalboard amps,
or something old-school like
a Roland JC-120 or the cult
classic Lab Series L5.
It should also be mentioned
here that many iconic funky
tones, from Nile Rodgers to
Prince, have been recorded
direct to the board. For that
ultra-dry, snappy, in-your-
face sound, direct tones are
where it’s at. Of course, you
probably won’t want to go
direct in most live situations,
but having a quality DI box
on hand is always a good
idea. I like the Tech 21
SansAmp series, but any
decent DI will get you there.
ToneReport.com
11