(This article comes from our friends at GuitarTricks.com – check out their site for tons of guitar-related tips and tricks!!)
Effects Pedals for the Guitarist Who Has It All
By Shawn Leonhardt for Guitar Tricks and 30 Day Singer, the original platform for online guitar lessons.
If you’re a guitarist who has moved beyond beginner guitar lessons, you might have all the standard guitar effects pedals you’d need. Now you may be looking for more ideas on how to expand your collection. While it is unlikely to stumble upon a pedal that is new or obscure, there are a few different directions you can go in your sound sculpting. Here are some potential guitar effects pedals for the guitarist who has it all.
Multi-Effects Pedals
If you are looking for new pedal ideas then it is likely you have the basics of distortion, fuzz, chorus, reverb, compression, equalizer, and more. If you are missing some of these, they can be found in pedals that provide more than one effect. In some cases these multi-effects units have wah pedals and even loopers installed. Loopers are essential for practice as they allow you to create the atmosphere of a backing band. You could lay down a backing track of barre chords, then practice your pentatonic scales over that.
In fact, if you are missing any necessary pedals, digital multi-effects units will provide you with all the standard guitar sounds along with a pedal for expression or volume. A higher budget will give you a sturdy build with lots to choose from. And even the smaller boxes and effects being released often handle more than one signal task. Here are some more recent multi-effects pedals that provide a variety of sound morphing abilities.
Dreadbox Raindrops
Electro-Harmonix Epitome
Darkglass Aggressively Distorting Advanced Machine
Boomerang III Phrase Sampler
Valeton Multi-Effects Processor
Dreadbox Hypnosis
Boutique and Experimental Pedals
Boutique guitar pedals are known for high quality components and unique or quirky effects. Like multi-effects pedals they are created by mixing different kinds of signals to get a new sound. These pedals are also often known for having custom artwork and sometimes a limited release to increase their appeal.
Obviously the more appealing the higher the price it will be, so you want to be sure the pedal is suitable when spending more. Listen to product demos and reviews to make certain the sound it creates will be worth the money. Here are a few examples of some boutique and experimental pedals, as you can see some have absurd names that give you an idea of what the pedal does!
Walrus Audio Descent Reverb
Tortuga Single Malt Vintage Delay
Way Huge Swollen Pickle
Beetronics FX Zombie
KMA Machines Chief Disruptor
Side Effects Mocking Bird
Synthesizer Pedals
One of the best ways to find new sounds is to try new instruments, barring that you can make your guitar sound like something else! If you get a synthesizer pedal you can explore the world of electronic music with your guitar. This can range from stereotypical 80’s synth square and saw wave sounds to more complex atmospheric pads.
You can also use synth and modular effects to plug your guitar into if you have the right interface. Modular synthesis consists of plugs and patches to create simple bleeps and bloops or deep polyrhythms and textures. It’s all up to your imagination, just be aware that modular synth units are as addictive as guitar pedals and it can all get rather expensive!
Source Audio C4 Synth
Meris Enzo
Red Witch Synthortron II
Empress Zoia
PandaMidi Future Impact
Digitech Dirty Robot
Microtonal and Unique Pitch Shifters
As a guitar player you are usually stuck with semitone note movements because of the fret locations. Some special guitars exist that have different spaces for microtonal playing, but these can be very expensive. More effects pedals are being built that allow us to divide our note intervals up, giving us new options in tone. Most pedals deal with semitone intervals, but some allow a thickening of the notes to create unique harmonics.
A pedal that emulates a sitar will help your guitar tone appear to move in quarter tones and more recent models allow for even further microtonal movement. Other pedals allow for these fine adjustments to be stacked up creating even more sonic possibilities. These effects below have great potential to play amazing harmonies within the normal Western scale and in some cases move beyond those intervals.
EarthQuaker Devices Rainbow Machine
Gamechanger Audio Bigsby Polyphonic Pitch Shifter
Electro-Harmonix Ravish Sitar
Catalinbread Karma Suture Germanium
Neunaber Chroma Chorus
Digital Effects and Software
Digital guitar effects, apps, and software are readily available for various platforms and devices including your smartphone. Even if you are an analog user, digital effects are a great way to discover new ideas that you can later transfer over. Besides pedals, digital effects can also model any kind of amp or mic so the amount of sound sculpting you can do is incredible.
The nice aspect about digital effects is they are more convenient for practice at times as you do not have to worry about the pedalboard. However you do need a proper interface to plug into your smartphone or computer. Once you have the interface there are tons of apps and programs to start experimenting with. The only other physical device you may need is a MIDI stompbox or expression pedal to help control the digital effects.
TC Helicon GO
UA Volt
Focusrite Scarlett
IK Multimedia AXE I/O Solo
NI Komplete Audio 2
SSL 2
Bespoke Guitar Effects Pedals
If you really have all the styles of pedals above and plenty of software, it may be time to investigate custom made products. Whether you have been experimenting with analog or digital you may have some ideas of tones and textures that you cannot find. In that case you need to find an effects pedal maker and see if they can create the unit you need to get the vibe of your genre.
If you are lucky and live in the right location, one of the best ways to find potential pedal makers and boutique items is to go to a music gear convention. There is no better way to see what is new on the market and what other guitarists are doing with said effects. Whether you meet in person or find them online, you will want to put more effort and research into any custom-made guitar items.
If you are a guitarist who has every effects pedal you must experiment and think out of the box to find new ideas. Find units that mix effects, emulate other instruments, alter the pitch, or use a new technology to shape the signal in a variety of ways. It also helps to keep an eye on social media to see what other guitarists are doing, you may even find new ways of using the gear you already have!
Shawn Leonhardt is a writer for Guitar Tricks, a platform for online guitar lessons with over 4 million subscribers.
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