Tell me more ×
Musical Practice & Performance Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for musicians, students, and enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 0 down vote favorite

Possible Duplicate:
Glossary of Guitar Effects

What are the major types of effect pedals for electric guitar?
I.e., as a novice, what effect pedal types should I be aware of, that "everybody" knows about?

share|improve this question
I realize you could find this question subjective and a basis for discussion with no finite answer, but please help me rephrase it if you think it is not a good fit for music.SE! Or do I have to go elsewhere to get a simple answer for this? – Ulf Åkerstedt Jun 28 '12 at 20:50
This is very subjective, depending not only on where you are, but what type of music you listen to. It is likely to lead to a list of answers, which is not a good fit with the SE model. – Dr Mayhem♦ Jun 28 '12 at 21:28
@DrMayhem: Hmm. I was thinking there would be a universal list regardless of genre - hence "everybody". Maybe I'm wrong? – Ulf Åkerstedt Jun 28 '12 at 21:31
I think you may be wrong - I know I would use a very different set of pedals for blues, surf, jazz, metal, rock etc. And even the ones I would use across genres would be used in different ways. – Dr Mayhem♦ Jun 28 '12 at 21:34
1  
Possible duplicate: music.stackexchange.com/q/1838/36 – Alex Basson Jun 28 '12 at 22:31
show 4 more comments

marked as duplicate by Luke, Dr Mayhem♦, Alex Basson, NReilingh♦ Jun 29 '12 at 3:57

This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.

2 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

To try and provide a sort of answer - for different genres, and based on the various covers bands I have played in over the years, the most common effects used (and the ones I couldn't do without) are:

Blues:

Fuzz, Overdrive, Delay, Wah and Reverb

Metal:

Distortion, Compression, Whammy/Pitchshifter, Noise Gate, Reverb

Surf:

Fuzz, Delay, Phaser

Rock:

Fuzz, Delay, Phaser, Compression, Reverb, Flanger

Quite a variety, but I'm interested if answers come to a consensus.

share|improve this answer
Wah wah too for blues (SRV, Hendrix, others). – filzilla Jun 29 '12 at 22:07
Agreed - can't believe I forgot that one – Dr Mayhem♦ Jun 29 '12 at 22:39
up vote 0 down vote

With the help of Dr Mayhem's answer, Alex Basson's linked possible duplicate question, and some googling I'm thinking perhaps this could be a relatively relevant list of major types (or groups) of effect pedals:

  • Reverb
  • Delay
  • Compressor/Limiter
  • Distorsion/Overdrive/Fuzz
  • Flanger/Phaser/Chorus
  • Pitch Shifter/Harmonizer/Octave
  • Niose Gate
  • Boost
  • Wah/Auto-Wah
share|improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.