Simply put, guitar effects are used to make your tone sound better than they would with just a guitar and amp, or are used to create interesting tonal textures. Some effects are more widely used or essential than others. Reverb, overdrive and a select few modulations make up the majority of guitar rigs. Some guitarists never move past these three pedals, while other guitarists go on to build large pedalboards with a range of different effects.
This is the best way to expand your creative horizons as a musician. For a beginner, it’s best to stick with reasonably priced, tried and tested stompboxes with simple controls just to get a feel for the sound they make. Once you have this basic understanding, then it’s a good idea to try out some more unique effects.
What are Guitar Pedals?
For the true beginner, guitar pedals or effect pedals are also called effect units or stomp boxes. They are used to alter the sound your electric guitar makes in a specific and controlled way. Other common pedals to those mentioned above include chorus, reverb, distortion, loop & tremolo. Pedals are typically adjusted using buttons & control knobs along the top or sides of the pedal, changing the sound, sustain and other variables to your sound.
Besides altering the sound, pedals such as tuner & volume pedals, compressors & noise gates can be used to clean up, adjust, or limit certain other problems without directly altering the guitar tone.
There are so many variables in organising what we call a signal chain; the order of pedals in between the guitar and amp. Every change has an effect on the sound. You’ll need to consider everything from powering your pedals, to the order of pedals in the chain, and to the sound they make when they’re switched on.
Power supplies are a major factor. You need to provide pedals with power from the mains. A good power supply with isolated outputs sends electricity evenly to multiple pedals and protects them from sudden power surges and shortages.
Daisy chaining is an alternate method to use if you only have a regular mains plug. It only requires a cheap daisy chain cable – a quick solution. However, it’s a lot less reliable and reduces the performance of the pedals. Many pedals also run on batteries and can yield some great results when used in fuzz pedals. However, this is an expensive route to follow as pedals burn through them very quickly.
From here, turn your pedal on, have a play with the dials and learn as you go. The best way to get to grips with a new pedal is by putting it through its paces.