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A Master List of Guitar Effects
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Many beginning guitar players don’t realize it, but when you decide to learn the electric guitar, you are also getting a crash course in how guitar effects can change the notes you play. There are literally dozens of different guitar effects you can employ at any given time, but they tend to fall into six major categories: distortion, filtering, volume effects, time effects, modulation and pitch. There is a seventh category for other miscellaneous effects, as well. Typically these effects are controlled with effects pedals, either as a single programmable guitar pedal board, or by using several guitar pedals linked together. In another article, I also discuss how the order of guitar effects makes a difference.
List of guitar effects #1 - Distortion Effects – If you listen to rock and roll or heavy metal, you are likely familiar with distortion. Used wisely, distortion can add a raw and urgent sound to any guitar. Distortion can be broken down into many different categories, including overdrive, crunch, fuzz, high gain and more. With overdrive, the sound is manipulated to sound warmer, as if you were using an old fashioned tube-style amp. With crunch, the sound can be compared to the sound of an amp on the verge of blowing. A fuzz effects pedal actually simulates the sound of a broken amp with holes poked in it, and hi-gain is the sound most closely associated with heavy metal.
List of guitar effects #2 - Filtering Effects – Filtering effects are fairly self explanatory: the sound from your guitar is digitally filtered and changed. When you employ an equalizer, you can break up the sound into pieces and make one part higher and other parts lower. The wah pedal is one of the best known filtering effects. It allows either high parts of the signal to come through or low, depending on which way the pedal is stomped. The talk box was made famous by Peter Frampton during his career and can provide a truly unique sound.
List of guitar effects #3 - Volume Effects – Just like filtering effects can filter the notes you play, a volume effect can adjust the volume so that certain parts are emphasized and others are muted. The most common way to achieve this effect is with a volume pedal that is controlled by the player. Tremolo is used by guitarists who want to simulate the effect of turning the volume knob on their guitar up and down rapidly without moving their hands. A compressor works just like the volume pedal but the effect is much more gradual over a period of time instead of instant.
List of guitar effects #4 - Time Effects – When you use a time effect, you can draw out notes you played seconds ago or you can clip other notes so they become overlapped by notes you played previously. When you use a delay or echo effect, you are letting a note either repeat itself once, or over and over again for as long as you like. If you want the echo effect to last even longer, you would employ a looping effects pedal. Reverb is a lot like echo but the sound slowly dies away over time.
List of guitar effects #5 - Modulation Effects – If you’ve ever listened to a song and felt a kind of Doppler effect where the music seems to chase itself from one speaker to another, you’ve just heard a modulation effect. This type of modulation can be achieved by a rotary speaker or speaker simulator. If you are looking for another way to achieve a similar effect, you can use a vibrato petal. If you are after a woosh-like sound, a phase shifter (or phaser) might be just what you are looking for. Guitarists like Eddie Van Halen have made using a flanger pedal famous. This modulation effect gives the impression that the recording tape has been slowed down and then sped up for a 60’s style effect. Finally, the chorus pedal gives the impression that you have company on your guitar solo. It can accurately mimic the sound of two guitarists playing the same thing at the same time.
List of guitar effects #6 - Pitch Effects – As the name suggests, pitch effects can alter the octave of what you are playing, either up or down. Octavers and pitch shifters can both accomplish this sound for you rather easily.
There are still more guitar effects not listed here, and as pioneering guitarists and producers experiment with bending, contorting and adjusting sound, there will be an ever growing influx of guitar effects into the future. The only way to really know what all of these great guitar effects sounds like is to try them out for yourself!
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