Guitar Effects Guide
By Ryan Gloman

There are tons of guitar effects out there and it is hard to make sense of them all. Many guitarists - not only beginners - have a hard time knowing which effect will help them achieve their desired sound. This is why I have put together a basic guitar effects guide. I am hoping to help out anyone who is perplexed by the confusing world of guitar effects. Warning to all gear heads: I am going to attempt to address what the effect sounds like as opposed to the technical effects on the signal.

I feel it is best attack this topic by splitting the effects into different categories. The categories I will discuss include volume effects, filtering effects, time delayed effects, and pitch effects. There are tons more effects out there that I am not going to cover. I am sorry if I left out your favorite. Remember, I am attempting to write a basic guitar effects guide. You could literally write a book or two on this subject though.

Volume effects:
Volume Pedal: This is a pedal that the guitarist can tip forwards or backwards with their foot. I bet you can guess what it does... That's right! It raises or lowers the volume. A volume pedal can lend some dynamic range to the guitar which it usually does not have. This can greatly enhance expressiveness.

Tremolo: To grasp this effect, imagine that you struck a note on your guitar and just held it. At the same time, a friend of yours takes the volume knob on the amplifier and twists it back and forth louder and softer very rapidly. Tremolo tends to have a vibrato like effect.

Filtering Effects:
Wah-wah pedal - This is an effect operated by a pedal. The best way to describe this effect is that it sounds as if the guitar is saying "wah-wah" as the guitarist moves his foot back and forth. It is not uncommon for the guitarist to make the appropriate shape with his mouth at the same time.
Phase Shifter - This effect may make your audience dizzy. Basically what is happening is that the signal from your guitar is being cloned and mixed back on itself. The produced effect is that your sound has a dipping swaying feel to it.

Time Delayed Effects:
Delay - Also known as an echo effect. This effect copies the signal that you send it from your guitar and delays it for a split second before producing it through the amp. You can get some really space-age trippy noises from this effect.

Reverb - This effect employs echoing to make you sound like you are in a large concert hall. The more reverb, the larger the venue.

Pitch Effects:
Octaver - This effect will make your original signal either an octave higher or lower than the original signal.

Detuner - This effect will alter the tuning of your instrument. For example, it may play everything a major third above the actual signal.

Now that you have some familiarity with what sounds different effects will produce, you are probably wondering how to achieve these effects. Many of the previously mentioned effects come in individual pedals.

You simply plug the pedal in as a middle man between your guitar and your amplifier. Also, there are many multi-effects pedals which give you the option of using these effects together. Finally, there are amplifiers out there that have built in digital effects.

My name is Ryan Gloman and I have a passion for guitar and a passion for sharing information. I hope that this article helps you on your way to becoming a great guitarist. I understand that learning to play the guitar can be a daunting task at times. Luckily, you can find tons of helpful info on the net. Check out this site for some great tools.

Source: Ultimate guitar blog.