One of the biggest advantages of playing the electric guitar is its ability to create different and unique sounds. Because you are using electricity to create the sound that you hear it gives you the ability to manipulate the electrical signal the guitar creates. Today Im going to write about the three most common electric guitar effect pedals.
The first effect I want to talk about is the Overdrive, or Distortion pedal. These pedals add a warmth and thickness to the sound of your electric guitar. They do this by clipping and compressing the original guitar signal.
You can choose from hundreds of different distortion pedals. Everything from heavy 60′s fuzz to light distorted overdrive is available in a distortion pedal. So it goes without saying the you must have a Distortion in your effect collection whether you’re playing Metal, Country or Rock-N-Roll.
The second effect I’d like to talk about is the Delay Effect. The delay effect is created by replicating your original guitar signal and playing it back at an interval after the original signal. You can have the signal be repeated once or as many times as you wish to create the desired echo effect.
You will use your delay effect primarily for increasing the depth of your guitar sound as well as layering the repeats to create complex harmonies. Using shorter delay times to thicken your sound and longer delays to create rhythmic harmonies are essential functions of the delay effect. Delay effects are used in every musical genre there is.
The third type of effect pedal you should have is the Chorus effect. Chorusing is created when your original guitar signal is slightly delayed, modulated and then combined with the original guitar signal. The effect created simulates the sound of multiple guitars being played at the same time.
Guitarists use the Chorus effect to thicken the sound of their guitar. When a stereo chorus effect is used the spatial separation of the signals can give a lush, full sound to the electric guitar. Chorus effects are used in every type of music played on electric guitar.
At some point in their development, all guitarists begin to search for more sounds for their instrument. Guitar effect pedals offer an easy and affordable way to increase your tonal pallette. That’s why I recommend Delay, Chorus and Distortion as your top three choices for getting your effects collection going.
