Guitar Effects Gallery

Guitar Effects
What kind of guitar effect are you searching?
These are the most used guitar effects pedals

WAH PEDAL
• Guitar effect pedal that controls in a continuous way a filter of mid frequency
• Popularized by Jimi Hendrix at the end of the sixties. Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Stevie Ray Vaughan and guitarists of other types of music as funk use intensively the wah-wah
• If you are searching for a wah-wah pedal, I would begin testing a Dunlop or Budda

COMPRESSOR/LIMITER
• Modifies the dynamics of the sound. The strongest notes are
"compressed" until reaching a maximum level determined by you
• After compressing, you can set the output volume
to the desired level or in "0 db", that is the standard
• You will be able to achieve a "larger" sound ,
with greater sustain, but with less dynamics
• These effects add sustain to solos and are very notorious in the long notes
• The compressor pedals that I like most are the MXR Dyna Comp and the Boss CS-3

ACOUSTIC SIMULATOR
• Some guitarists need to “simulate” acoustic guitar sounds with an
electric guitar on stage, to obtain an acoustic “air” or to achieve an
special sound using the simulator as a part of a guitar pedals chain
• Also, the electro-acoustic guitar can be processed through
an Acoustic Simulator to achieve a "more real” sound

OVERDRIVE/DISTORTION
• A very used guitar effect to achieve distortion tones that sound good in any
amplifier and situation. Many players get their main tones from these pedals
• If what you want to emulate the overdrive of some amplifier, some major brands
like Hughes & Kettner, Soldano or Marshall offer pedals designed for this purpose
• Some advantages:
1. They have greater sustain and distortion than most amplifiers’ overdrive
2. There are a huge variety of pedals available
3. They are more portable and cheaper than amplifiers
4. Also, they can be used as boosters (E.g. Boss DS-1 and Ibanez Tube Screamer)

EQUALIZER
• They are Graphic Equalizers whose frequencies
are found inside the range of the guitar’s sound
• The most popular are the seven band guitar equalizers as the DOD FX40B
• They can be used in tandem with the equalization controls
of any guitar amplifier or as a part of an effects combination

PHASER, FLANGER, CHORUS & TREMOLO
Is very difficult to explain with words how they sound, which is the difference between a flanger and a phaser or between a chorus and a tremolo. You have to listen to them, especially if you are a guitarist that have not yet experienced with them. In this group, Electro-Harmonix has a long tradition. These are some of their sounds (mp3 audio): Phaser, Flanger, Chorus, Tremolo, y Modulation

ECHO/DELAY
• The classic effect of repetition that I listened for the first time in Queen’s "Now
I’m Here", where Brian May shows us how the masters work. The Edge uses it to
build complex rhythmic sequences where the delay is predominant. Eddie Van
Halen and Joe Satriani use the delay almost all the time, but with a less volume
• Delay Controls:
1. Delay time; the length of each repetition
2. Delay feedback; the number of repetitions
3. Delay mix; the balance between the clean signal and the delay
• Here are some examples (mp3 audio) from the
DigiTech DigiDelay :Delay 1, Delay 2, Delay 3

PITCH SHIFTER
• This guitar effect is based on the same principle of the delay:
the recording and reproduction of a sound. In the pitch shifter,
you can change the tuning during the reproduction
• You will be able to add thirds, fifths, eighths or any other interval to the note that are playing. Examples: Pitch Shifter 1, Pitch Shifter 2 (from the Boss SUPER Shifter)
• There are "intelligent" pitch shifters; in which you can introduce information about
the harmony. It will sound like two guitarists playing in duet in perfect harmony

REVERB • One of the most used effects in recording studios and on stage. It can be added to any instrument • In a recording situation, the reverb of all the instruments is usually added at the moment of the mix • On stage situations, it has a lot more sense to have the control of the reverb on your own pedal board • The reverb types that you will find on most guitar pedals are: room, hall, plate and some variations of them

Power Search!

VOLUME PEDAL
• Guitar effect that is used to raise or decrease
the volume of your signal via a footpedal
• Connecting the volume pedal before the amplifier is the same as using the volume control of the guitar. This is only recommended if you are seeking somewhat special
• Connecting the volume pedal in the "effects loop" of
the amplifier is ideal to raise the volume for guitar solos
• For the guitar, I recommend you a MONO volume pedal,
unless you use a stereo guitar or two amplifiers simultaneously

MULTI EFFECTS
• Combines various guitar effects in a single unit
• Some multi effects are large pedal boards that have all the effects inside.
Others are MIDI pedal boards that control a rack Multi-Effects unit
• Line 6 is the indisputable leader in this category and the POD is
its more representative product. Here, some mp3 audio examples:

POD 1 POD 2 POD 3

POD 4 POD 5 POD 6

POD 7 POD 8 POD 9

POD 10 POD 11 POD 12

• Multi Effects advantages:
1. They occupy less space
2. They weigh less
3. They cost less
4. Since there are not cables among the
effects; a sound with less noise is produced
5. They are programmable. You can use various effects simultaneously, adjust each of their parameters and save
all in a memory to recall them just by pressing one pedal

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