Guitar effects

Effects are added to the 'dry' signal of a guitar. They change the sound of your instrument and depending on how they are set the change can be subtle or obvious.

Here's a break down of the most common effects.

1. Reverb - The most basic form of effects. This makes your guitar sound as though it's in a particular room or space and adds real depth to your sound. It's very common. Usually a good reverb can be set to patches such as "hall' or 'stadium', these patches represent actually playing in the areas the patches are named after.

Probably the most useful and essential effect.

2. Delay - Another well used effect it takes the original signal (what you play) and simply repeats it at a set time and volume. It thickens up the sound of your guitar.

3. Phaser - Sounds great mixed with gain or just straight clean. A 'fluttering' type of sound that can be set with depth and rate.

4. Flanger - A jet like sound that seems to rotate around the signal. Similar to the sound of modulating harmonics.

5. Chorus - A great effect for 'doubling' the sound of your guitar. Great for clean 'glassy' tones.

6. Distortion or Gain - The more Gain the more 'rock-like' your tone will become. Blues players use a little (usually). This gives us that classic 'just breaking up' tone. Add some more and we are getting close to that great rock type of 'crunch'. For metal feel free to dial it up all the way to 11!.

7. Whammy - A pitch shifting device that micro-tonally moves the pitch.

8. Wah-wah - Sounds like a crying baby ( you can get one called the 'Cry-baby). This is essentially a tone control.

9. Rotary - In the 60's someone had the bright idea of placing a speaker into a rotating cradle. It sounded great, this effect does the same thing without throwing your speaker about!

Effects come as pedals or racks.

The pedal form sits on the floor and it switched on or off by your feet, racks are  cases that house all your effects.

Top brands include Boss, Dod, Digitech and right at the top of the pile are T.C. Electronics.

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