16 GUITAR EFFECTS PEDALS EVERY GUITAR PLAYER MUST HAVE
If you’re one of those “I plug directly into the amp and don’t need no stinkin’ guitar effects pedals” kinda
dude, then godspeed and thanks for stopping by. On the other hand, if you own a pedalboard upon which
you trip the light fantastic, stick around — this list of guitar effects pedals you must have will validate what
you might know, illuminate what you don’t know, and quickly help you generate a massive and highly
versatile sound palette.
1. Boost Pedal
Recommended: Xotic EP Booster Pedal
The simplest effect pedal is the clean boost. All it
essentially does is boost the signal of your guitar. Guitar
players loved this because it allows us to hit the front end
of our amp with more signal. This increased volume level
will drive the input section of your amp harder and
provide some more gain.
The earliest boost pedals used a germanium transistor
and were often in the form of a treble booster. The most
famous treble booster is the Dallas Rangemaster which is
rumored to have been used by Eric Clapton on the Bluesbreakers record, often referred to as the
Beano record or Beano tone. (This is because Clapton is reading a Beano comic on the record cover).
At the time Eric was using a Marshall JTM45 2×12 combo (commonly referred to as the Bluesbreaker
because of this recording) and a Les Paul and man does it sound good. Allegedly he was using the
Rangemaster to push the front end of the amp into more distortion. This has never been confirmed
to my knowledge but is the source of much Internet speculation. But I have played an old
Bluesbreaker amp with a Les Paul and it sounded pretty darn close.
Both Brian May from Queen and Ritchie Blackmore did use treble boosters for sure in their rigs to get
more gain out of their amps. Germanium transistors are very inconsistent and are subject to
temperature changes so they can be finicky. They also certainly color your tone to a large extent,
which is something you may want. Clean boosts that use silicon transistors are much more common
and reliable, they can also boost your signal without affecting your tone too much. For a general
clean boost, I would go for a modern one. If you want an old school sound, I’d check out a germaniumbased unit. Or like me, I’d get both.
2. Overdrive Pedal
Recommended: Ibanez Tube Screamer Overdrive Pedal
The term overdrive refers to when a tube amp is driven
past its range to supply a clean tone. This is something we
as guitar players have come to love and seek out. A
common question is “what is the difference between
overdrive, distortion, and fuzz as the terms have become
interchangeable?” The short answer is not a lot, just one is
more extreme as we go down the line.
Overdrive can be subtle and produce warm slightly
overdriven tones, think SRV. Distortion is easy to see as
simply more overdrive, these tones are more saturated and compressed. The spectrum of overdriven
tones is huge, from BB King’s slightly overdriven tube amp tones to Eddie Van Halen’s cranked
Marshall, to Metallica’s thick distortion, to Smashing Pumpkins’ fuzz tones. It is all actually the same
idea is a general sense, these tones may be gotten with amps, pedals, or a combination of both but
it is all the same idea, overdrive. What was considered a heavy distorted tone in the 70s is tame to
the metal sounds of today.
The Ibanez Tube Screamer is the industry standard for overdrive pedals. Kicked into legendary status
by the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan. The Tube Screamer TS808 was first released in the late 70s and
now catches a small fortune on the vintage market but fortunately, there are reissues and many
boutique clones out there. The Tube Screamer is not the only overdrive circuit of course, there are
many excellent options, it is just clearly the most famous. What makes the TS so cool is the way it
interacts with an already overdriven amplifier. It can add a nice amount of gain, sustain, and tonal
shaping options. They do provide a bit of a boost in the mid frequencies that many people love as it
helps to cut through a band. The list of TS users is extensive but Stevie Ray is the most notable.
3. Distortion Pedal
Recommended: Fulltone OCD Distortion Pedal
A distortion box produces what we call hard clipping, as
opposed to an overdrive pedal that produces soft
clipping. What does that mean? If we were to look at a
note on an oscilloscope we would see a wave (hence the
term sound wave) with a nice rounded top and bottom.
When we overdrive or distort a note the top and bottom
of the sound wave flattens out or clips. The more
clipping of the wave the more distorted the note. A fuzz
pedal produces so much clipping it is seen as a square
wave, completely flat on the top and bottom of the wave. There are many excellent distortion boxes
on the market but some classic industry standards are the Rat distortion box, the Boss Super
Overdrive (a bit more of a distortion box really), MXR Distortion +, Boss Distortion, and the Boss
Heavy Metal Pedal.
Many distortion pedals can also be used as overdrive pedals simply by reducing the gain, so once
again we see how these terms are a little loose. In high gain amps like a Mesa rectifier the amp is
taking advantage of gain staging, many pedals do this as well. Gain staging is simply putting one
overdriven tone into another and cascading them to produce even more gain or distortion. So in a
Mesa, one preamp tube is being run into another to bump up the level of distortion, there can be
any number of gain stages. We can also do this by stacking pedals as well, as we will see in the gain
staging pedal chain section. Dialing in a good distorted tone can take some time and slight EQ changes
can make a big difference.
4. Fuzz Pedal
Recommended: Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face Pedal
The fuzz pedal is one of the earliest stomp boxes on the
market. A very simple circuit the fuzz box altered the
guitar’s signal by transforming it into a square wave. The
first widely available fuzz was the Maestro Fuzz-Tone by
Gibson. The Fuzz Tone pedal was released in 1962 and
didn’t really catch on until Keith Richards used one on the
opening riff of “Satisfaction” and the floodgates opened.
Another definitive fuzz pedal of the late 1960s was the
Sola Sound Tone Bender made famous by Jeff Beck and
Jimmy Page.
You can hear one all over Led Zeppelin’s debut record and all over Jeff Beck’s trademark “Heart Full
of Soul” intro riff from the Yardbirds. He also used it extensively on the Jeff Beck Group sessions. Of
course, the most famous fuzz pedal is the Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face. This pedal was favored by Jimi
Hendrix and set the benchmark for fuzz tones that we are still chasing to this day.
There are two distinct kinds of transistors used in fuzz pedals, germanium and silicon. In the early
1960s, silicon transistors were fairly new and very expensive and germanium was the norm.
Germanium transistors are susceptible to temperature changes and noise so they can be unreliable
at times. They do have a very distinct tone, they also react very well to the guitar’s volume knob by
cleaning up very well. As silicon transistors became less expensive they largely replaced their
germanium counterparts in pedals due to their stability. The Silicon fuzzes generally produce more
gain but often don’t clean up as well.
As a lover of fuzz pedals myself I have both kinds and find uses for them, they sound different and
excellent. Other famous fuzz users are Eric Johnson, David Gilmour, Joe Bonamassa, and Stevie Ray
Vaughan to name a few. When shopping for a fuzz, try to play as many as you can next to each other,
even of the same model. Due to the transistor values, the same model pedal can sound and feel very
different from pedal to pedal.
5. Octavia Pedal
Recommended: Fulltone Octafuzz Octavia Pedal
The Octavia was created by Roger Mayer for Jimi Hendrix in
1967. Its musical debut can be heard on “Purple Haze” on the
Are You Experienced record. One of the many ground breaking
sounds on this recording. The pedal produces a doubling effect
an octave above the fundamental note. The octave is similar to
a ring modulator in that it is kind of dirty and strange sounding.
The best way to get this sound out of an Octavia is by using the neck pickup on the guitar and by
experimenting with the tone knob to get a more pronounced octave effect. Some other famous
Hendrix tunes using the Octavia are “Who Knows” and “Machine Gun” from Band of Gypsies. If you
want to put together a Jimi Hendrix pedal board, the Octavia is a must. There are many great reissues
of this pedal on the market, but if you get a chance, like fuzzes, try a few of them next to each other.
Even a few of the same pedal, as they often sound very different. One may have more of an octave
effect or be warmer sounding etc. This is due to the use of the transistors that can often have slightly
different values that can make big tonal changes.
6. Reverb Pedal
Recommended: TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb Pedal
Reverb is one of the earliest effects for guitar players, originally
built into the amp itself like the Fender Deluxe Reverb and Super
Reverb. Traditional spring reverbs actually send the guitar signal
into the springs causing them to vibrate and simulating reverb.
With the advent of digital technology reverb units, pedals made
their way onto the market but mostly as rack units, but as
technology improved and shrank many of those units can fit into
a pedal now.
There are many excellent pedals out there, I especially like the ones that contain multiple reverbs
like, plate, spring, hall, church, etc. Reverb can be a great subtle effect adding a slight bit of ambiance
to your guitar sound. This is especially nice when playing in small or dry rooms. Usually, the larger
the room, the less reverb you may want as the room produces its own reverb, which is exactly what
we are trying to create with the effect! One of my favorite reverb tones is the old surf guitar sounds
made famous by Dick Dale and the Ventures.
7. Analog Delay Pedal
Recommended: MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay Pedal
The first analog delay units used magnetic tape to record the
original signal and play it back shortly after. The most famous
tape units are the Echoplex and the Roland Space Echo. As
cool sounding as these units are they require a fair amount of
maintenance and they are rather large and aren’t practical for
the gigging musician. But boy do they sound good!
Another early analog delay was the Binson Echorec, this unit recorded your guitar signal onto a
magnetic disk much like a hard drive does. This unit was favored by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd.
Analog delay pedals made their debut in the 70s with the use of what was called bucket brigade chips.
These chips move the signal down a line like the way an old bucket brigade would pass buckets of
water down a line to put out a fire. The most famous of these pedals is the Electro Harmonix Deluxe
Memory Man.
A fantastic sounding unit and U2’s The Edge original delay sounds were a Deluxe Memory Man used
on “I Will Follow” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday”. Some cool added features to the Memory Man is the
added chorus effect you can put on the delays. This is one of the coolest delay pedals ever. Many
pedals now digitally model the sound of an analog delay pedal and come very close with the added
flexibility a digital delay pedal provides like extended delay times and tap tempo.
8. Digital Delay Pedal
Recommended: TC Electronics Nova Digital Delay Pedal
In the late 70s, digital technology boomed and made its
way into the guitar community. It first entered in the form
as rack units which were expensive and relatively large. As
costs came down and the technology shrank, digital delay
pedals were introduced into the market by Boss in 1984
with the Boss DD-2. Since then as technology advanced,
delay pedals now offer many features in a very small box
such as tape echo, analog, reverse delay, modulated
delay, and loopers.
The main difference between analog and digital delays is delay time and note clarity. Digital delays
can produce multi-second delay times whereas the Deluxe Memory Man offered a delay time of
550ms. Digital delay units also introduced the tap tempo function which is extremely useful when
using the delay as a rhythmic tool. There are many excellent companies producing excellent delay
units, certainly a groundbreaker was the Line 6 DL4 which is still popular today. Although I love the
sound of a true analog delay, the latest offerings from companies like TC Electronics and Strymon
offer so many options and analog emulation options it makes it a tough sell to stick with analog
delays.
9. Tremolo Pedal
Recommended: Fulltone Supa-Trem Tremolo Pedal
There are two basic tremolo circuits found in classic
amps; power tube tremolo and photocell tremolo. They
produce basically the same effect, a fluctuation in
volume. For the best definitions, I have come across I’ll
borrow from the Strymon website: “Power Tube
Tremolo utilized the LFO signal to directly influence the
power tube bias of the amplifier’s push-pull output
stage. The power tubes are biased into lower and higher
idle currents, creating the fluctuating gain that produces
the tremolo effect. The effects of crossover distortion at low tremolo volumes increased power tube
harmonic distortion at maximum tremolo volumes, as well as the influence of power-supply sag, all
add up to the boggy and dirty nature of this tremolo circuit.”
“Photocell Tremolo is found in mid-1960s American amplifiers. Those classic circuits used a lightdependent resistor to attenuate the input signal, coupled with a miniature neon bulb that is
connected to the LFO. As the LFO oscillates, the bulb gets brighter and dimmer which in turn varies
the resistance of the LDR. The varying resistance works with other circuit impedances to change the
signal level, which produces a characteristically ‘hard’ sounding tremolo that moves between two
levels, reminiscent of a square wave.” Got that? Well it is tricky and they do sound somewhat
different but essentially they produce the same effect. The pedal I am using here, the Fulltone SupaTrem uses a photocell to produce the sounds found in the classic Fender amps and most common
tremolo circuit.
10.Chorus Pedal
Recommended: Boss Super Chorus Pedal
Chorus pedals really made their mark in the 80s with the
likes of the Boss CE-1 and CE-2, the Electro Harmonix
Small Clone and the TC Electronics Stereo Chorus. I found
a nice definition of chorusing on Wikipedia: “Chorus
pedals mimic the effect choirs and string orchestras
produce naturally by mixing sounds with slight
differences in timbre and pitch. A chorus effect splits the
instrument-to-amplifier audio signal, and adds a slight delay and frequency variations or “vibrato” to
part of the signal while leaving the rest unaltered.” A chorus is a modulation effect but the
modulation we hear is produced by delaying the wet signal a very short duration causing the doubling
effect we hear. So it is actually a time-based effect.
Chorus pedals can provide a nice subtle doubling effect to the guitar or an extreme “watery” effect
when maximized. Famous tunes that use chorus is “Come As You Are” (1991) by Nirvana, and “Brass
in Pocket” (1979) by The Pretenders. But basically, almost any clean guitar sound in the 80s had some
chorus on it! Certain effects are timeless such as overdrive, reverb, and delay. Other effects like
chorus can evoke certain time periods such as the 80’s so that is something to keep in mind when
using an effect.
11.Flanger Pedal
Recommended: MXR Flanger Pedal
The flanger is one of the more distinct effects out there,
known for its jet-like sweeping sounds, it can also be
very subtle as David Gilmour and Andy Summers have
shown. It is similar to a chorus pedal in that it is a
modulation time-based effect. The flanger delays a copy
of the original signal and mixes it in with the dry signal.
The displacement of the time causes the swooshing
effect. This can be done in multiple stages to produce a
more dramatic flanged effect. “Originally flanging was
done with tape machines” as explained here in a quote from Wikipedia. “The name “flanging” comes
from the original method of creation.
Originally, a signal would be recorded to two tape machines simultaneously. The playback-head
output from these two recorders was then mixed together onto a third recorder. In this form, minute
differences in the motor speeds of each machine would result in a phasing effect when the signals
were combined. The “flange” effect originated when an engineer would literally put a finger on the
flange, or rim of one of the tape reels so that the machine was slowed down, slipping out of sync by
tiny degrees. A listener would hear a “drainpipe” sweeping effect as shifting sum-and-difference
harmonics were created. When the operator removed his finger the tape sped up again, making the
effect sweep back in the other direction.” Famous tunes using flange effects are “Unchained” by Van
Halen, “Spirit of Radio” by Rush and “Bold as Love” by Jimi Hendrix. The flange on “Bold as Love” is
credited as being the first recorded use of the effect in stereo.
12.Univibe Pedal
Recommended: Fulltone Deja Vibe Univibe Pedal
The Uni-Vibe was released in 1968 and became an
immediate favorite of Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, and
Robin Trower. It is actually a phase shifting effect, but
what makes it groundbreaking is its use of an LFO (low
frequency oscillator) to create a sweeping effect. It
also uses a photocell to control the speed of the
sweeping effect. That is basically a little light bulb inside
the unit that will pulse at whatever speed the rate knob is set to. Also the brighter the pulse of the
bulb the more dramatic the effect.
Unlike the unit I am using here, the original units were large, AC powered, and the speed was
controlled with an external pedal. Vintage Uni-Vibe pedals are very expensive at this point but
fortunately, we can find some very high-quality reissues. Famous uses of Uni-Vibe are “Machine Gun”
by Jimi Hendrix, “Bridge of Sighs” by Robin Trower, and “Breathe” by Pink Floyd.
13.Phase Shifter Pedal
Recommended: MXR Phase 90 Phase Shifter Pedal
Phase Shifter pedals found their way into the guitar
community in the 70s with pedals like the MXR Phase 90,
Mutron Phase Shifter, EH Small Stone, Foxx, and others. The
sweeping sound it produces is unmistakable and a legendary
trademark of many guitarists sound. The MXR Phase 90 can
be heard all over Van Halen 1 and II. Brian May used the Foxx
phase on “Sheer Heart Attack,” The Eagles “Life In The Fast
Lane”, and Led Zeppelin’s “The Rover” to name but a few.
The effect also took Nashville by storm in the 70s as well and was a favorite of Waylon Jennings’
music and others. What the effect does is mix the guitar’s signal with a slightly delayed reproduction
of the signal. This delay shifts the waveform a few milliseconds thus producing the out of phase
sound. It then uses an LFO (low-frequency oscillator) to control the sweeping effect of the phaser.
This pedal is key to the classic VH guitar sound!
14.MXR Phase 90 Phase Shifter Pedal
Recommended: MXR Dyan Comp Compressor Pedal
A compressor “compresses” the signal that your guitar
produces by normalizing the dynamic range of the audio
input signal based on a threshold value. This effect is used
virtually everywhere in recording. Everything you hear in
music that is produced today is compressed in some way–
and it can sound anything from a subtle barely noticeable
effect to a thick, dampened squish.
The benefit of a compressor lies in that every note played will
be at nearly the same amplitude, and therefore nearly equal
in volume. This will help normalize tones that are sometimes lost in the mix because of complex
overtones, and it will result in a more articulate sound. Notice that if you don’t pick all notes of an
arpeggio at exactly the same pressure you will likely get a different sound for each note, especially if
you are playing a tube amp. Tube amplifiers react dynamically to stronger and weaker signals it’s the
allure of them and thus the non-uniformity of picking at different strengths will be exaggerated. A
compressor will fix this problem and normalize all notes of the arpeggio regardless of the player’s
technique and equipment, which is consequently why many soloists prefer them.
Compressors also have the ability to increase the sustain of notes beyond sounds that are normally
usable on the instrument; yet another reason the effect is a popular tool in the soloist’s arsenal. The
tiniest signal can be normalized to the same amplitude of a fierce pick attack, and a trailing note will
resonate at the exact same volume until the string stops inducing a signal on the pickup.
15.Volume Pedal
Recommended: Ernie Ball VP JR Volume Pedal
The volume pedal is about as simple as a pedal can get. It
is basically an external volume knob that you work with
your foot. They are an excellent way to control the volume
of your rig and can be placed at different places in your
guitar chain. When placed first, for example it can be great
for volume swells (as we will see), reducing your amp gain
by acting like your guitar’s volume knob. If placed after
your gain section it will bring down your overall volume
without reducing changing your tone or gain. You can
really experiment with the placement of a volume pedal to see what matches your needs.
16.Wah Pedal
Recommended: Dunlop Original Cry Baby Wah Wah Pedal
The Wah Wah pedal is one of the coolest guitar effects
ever. Released in 1967 as the Vox Clyde McCoy. Oddly
enough Clyde McCoy was a trumpet player as the pedal
was to be used when amplifying the horn. Fortunately,
guitarists picked up on the almighty wah. The name Cry
Baby has become de facto for the wah as it became the
most popular. A wah is basically an active tone control
that boosts lower frequencies through higher ones by
using the sweep of the pedal. A guitar’s tone knob is
passive and just rolls off high end, the wah electronically boosts frequencies.
What makes the wah so timeless is its versatility, it can emulate a human voice, be a rhythmic device,
boost a screaming lead, a tone shaping tool, among other uses. The first known commercial recording
of a wah pedal is Cream’s “Tales of Brave Ulysses”. As we know the distinctive sound caught on with
just about every guitar player on the planet! There are too many uses of the wah to mention here,
almost 50 years later it is still a must have pedal for every guitarist. For an in-depth look at wah history
and a great read please check out “Analog Man’s Guide To Vintage Effects”.