SATURDAY // Plug Into Some Locally Made Guitar Pedals At The CMJ Stomp Box Exhibition

Hundreds of bands are playing New York this week as part of the annual CMJ Music Marathon, but there's only one showcase where you can pick up a guitar and jam, even if you're not in a band.

Organized by local music magazine The Deli, the NYC StompBox Exhibit runs through tonight, Saturday, October 22 at Googies Lounge and Ludlow Guitar in the Lower East Side. The exhibit will feature tons of different guitar effects pedals from companies both big and small. Bring your guitar along (or use one of the ones that they'll have on hand),  plug into one of the pedal boards that'll be set up, and you can start wailing away like Hendrix or Clapton or whomever your favorite guitarist happens to be.

While bigger brands like Moog, Line 6 and Digitech will be represented, some awesome local companies will also be showing off their stuff. One of those is Death By Audio, a boutique hand-made effects company based in Williamsburg. Founded by Oliver Ackermann, guitarist and singer for the band A Place To Bury Strangers, Death By Audio's pedals include Robot, an "8-bit resynthesizer," Interstellar Overdriver and and Apocalypse, a five channel distortion box. They've also created custom pedals for bands including U2, Nine Inch Nails, Wilco and Lightning Bolt. Fridgebuzzz, another Brooklyn-based company, makes the Land of the Rising Fuzzz, a versatile fuzz distortion pedal. Also on hand will be pedals from Long Island's Pigtronix and New Jersey's Eventide.

The exhibition is free, but if you want to make sure you get a chance to try out the pedals, RSVP for a priority pass.

-- John Ruscher