No matter how enthusiastic and virtuous you are in playing the guitar. You won’t be able to extract the modified sound from your musical instrument without additional devices. For this purpose, consider adding pedals to your arsenal. But which one should you get? That’s a serious question. So, I am here to help you. I gathered a list of pedals every guitarist should own. Hope this article will help you make an educated choice.
Pick essential guitar pedals wisely
If you are like most guitar players, you may not have enough cash to opt for the entire pedalboard in one go. So, your only option is to slowly accumulate different pedals, extending the guitar’s sound capabilities. But where do you start, and what pedals should you buy first? Here is my vision of what pedals you should have at hand:
- Distortion – to add an aggressive clipping and crunch to your guitar tones.
- Delay – to experiment with the sound by delaying the guitar signals.
- Wah – to make the guitar sound more vocal.
- Noise gate – to eliminate hissing and humming.
- Phaser – to modulate up and down to different places on the audio spectrum.
When you already have several guitar pedals, It would help if you took care of their correct connection and power supply.
If you are a beginner
Before you find your own genuine sound, you will probably repeat after your favorite guitar players. So, if you are just entering the world of guitar effects, it’s better to narrow down your choice to the pedals the most-liked performers use.
Yet, if you are waiting for more precise recommendations on must-have guitar pedals from me, here is what I will say.
Distortion is one of the most popular guitar effects, so it would be nice to have this pedal in your collection at the outset. With it, you will emulate high-gain amps and produce a heavily clipped audio signal, which will be to the point in metal, heavy rock, and punk music. Also, you will be pleased with an overdrive, chorus, or delay pedal when you search for your own sound style.
It’s all about the money
You probably wonder if there is any difference between cheap and expensive pedals. The short answer is the following – it depends.
You should understand that low-budget pedals are made of cheaper materials. Therefore, they will affect the pedal’s durability, reliability, and longevity. As they have lower-quality switches, pots, and connectors, these pedals can be unreliable, which may be critical onstage.
However, there are some great-sounding cheap pedals, so paying more doesn’t make sense. You should especially have no concerns when buying cheaper alternatives of delay, wah, and phaser pedals. But mind that it is better to invest in more reliable and well-made distortion and noise gate pedals, avoiding cheap products.
