What Are Guitar Pedals?

guitar pedals are a great way to add a lot of variety and character to your guitar tone. They are essentially electronic circuits that manipulate the electrical signal from your guitar via various methods to produce a specific effect. The result is then sent out through the output jack to be fed into an amplifier or other devices. Pedals can be either analog or digital. Analog pedals use a variety of transistors, resistors, capacitors, diodes and other electronic components to produce different sounds. Digital pedals on the other hand take a sample of your guitars electrical signal, convert it into binary code (ones and zeroes) and then alter the code with an effects algorithm before sending it on.

Exploring Guitar Pedals: A Guide to Effects and Sound Manipulation

Time-based pedals – which include reverb and delay pedals – are also common types of guitar effects. These pedals can be used subtly or heavily to add depth and a sense of space to your guitar sound. These are really great for adding ‘choral’ effects, making it sound like there’s more than one guitar playing the same part, as well as adding a psychedelic or even orchestral feel to your tone.

Overdrive pedals are another common type of effect, and can be used to add a lot of gain and extra punch to your guitar’s tone. Overdrive pedals are great for pushing your guitar into some incredible feedback sounds, reminiscent of the kind Jimi Hendrix was famous for using back in the day!