Stomper
This is not a guitar pedal. It's a different type of stomp box. Call it a Stomp box, porch board, electric percussion thing, whatever... I'm calling mine a Stomper! It's a wooden block with one or more dynamic microphone inserts inside, so guitarists / musicians can add some rhythm to their playing by tapping their feet to produce a percussion sound. It's like amplifying the sound of your foot tapping on a wooden stage or box.

My Stompers are a simple percussion effect along the lines of a small floor tom or wood block, depending on how and where you tap them and what's on your feet. They provide a percussive sound to complement your overall sound, but they're not a substitute for a bass drum! Try tapping different parts of the Stomper to get different effects. I've found some great sounds can be had by boosting the lows and mids and just tapping lightly with your shoes or boots. Tapping around the centre of the Stompers gets a bassier sound. Tapping at the edges or corners gets more of a floor tom or woodblock effect. You don't need to stamp your foot or toe hard to get a nice percussion sound.

Legendary Australian blues guitarist Phil Manning has been using a stomp box for years. His stomp box is a Shure SM58 wrapped in a blanket stuffed into a wooden box. He runs that into his PA so his levels are high and he can really get a some loud sounds from it! My Stompers aren't as loud, but they're cheaper and more convenient.

My Stompers are made of various Australasian  timbers, some with veneer or ply caps and others in solid timbers. The timber makes no difference to the sound.
The "Stomper" - small
'Little Stomper' with one dynamic mike insert
Approximately 125mm by 140mm by 50mm thick including the rubber feet. Because the mike insert doesn't have much timber surrounding it this is the loudest Stomper, but also the most hollow sounding and echoey.
The "Stomper" - large
'The Stomper' with one dynamic mike insert
Approximately 240mm by 140mm by 50mm thick including the 4 rubber feet. The mike insert is at the far end of the Stomper, so your heel goes at the socket end. Good floor tom or woodblock sound with much less of a hollow or echoey sound.
'The Stomper' with one dynamic mike insert
Some comments from users of my Stompers:

"Collected the stomp box today. Plugged it into the SWR bass amp (I mainly play bass) and it sounds great. Also sounds OK in the Marshall AS amp (my partner plays guitar and sings)." 

"Mate I have used the STOMPER on half a dozen occasions now and it’s a pearler, I run it through the front of house with out a problem.  Anyhow just a note of appreciation for you on a job well done." 

"Hey Rob. Just letting you know the new stomper is great. The different electrics make a huge difference. Thanks for a great product."

"Got the little stomper….Just want to congratulate you on a great little product, can’t wait to use it at a gig."
Please remember that belting into any of these Stompers at high volume levels can put some extra strain on your speakers... you're really asking the speaker cone to travel all the way in and out each time you give the box a hard tap or kick. Blues players especially seem to like really stamping their feet hard on these things. It's really not necessary but what chance is there of getting a blues guitarist to play anything at less than full volume?
This page last updated 05 June 2009.