The Five Best Guitar Effects Pedals for New and Pro Players


If you or someone you know is looking to build a collection of the best guitar effects pedals then let me start by saying, “Welcome to the best club ever.”

I love guitar gear.  It’s an obsession for me.  I spend so much of my free time researching gear that it only seemed logical that I should start putting some of this passion into a website. So, if you want information, I have already done the research.

Why trust me?  I have been playing guitar for over 20 years and I have experimented with tons of pedals. During my lunch breaks, I sneak off to Guitar Center and New York City’s boutique guitar shops to try out all the new (and vintage) toys.  I have the product lines practically memorized for all of the major guitar companies.  My brother is also a gear head and it’s all we talk about.  Did I say that I love gear?

Now is perhaps the best time to buy guitar effects pedals because there are tons of options, quality is at an all time high and prices are cheap.

Below is my list of the five perfect pedals to start with. I tried to keep prices in the $100 range with one pedals as low as $49. (Click on the links to check the prices on Amazon.)

I have strived to suggest pedals that are easy to use, sound amazing (duh) and have stood the test of time.

Anything you pick from the list below will be cool today and something you will still use years later.  Many of these pedals appear on the boards of touring rock stars.

I’ll list these in the order I think you should buy them and then I’ll list the order you should connect them once you hook them all up together.  Here we go!

1: Tube Screamer – Classic or Mini (click links to see prices):

This is the most famous overdrive pedal and with good reason. The Tube Screamer has managed to remain in constant use by professional guitarists for decades.  Everyone from your weekend warrior to Stevie Ray Vaughn have used a Tube Screamer to define their sound.

The Tube Screamer is now available in a less expensive “mini” option, making it easily fit onto a pedal board.  Please note that if you buy the Mini you will need an external power supply.

If size isn’t a concern, I would suggest getting the full size Tube Screamer because you can run it off of a battery.   You can see the size difference in the video above.

Why start with this as your first pedal?

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UniVibe sounds: EHX Ring Thing Vs Fulltone DejáVibe

The Ring Thing by Electro-Harmonix does a lot of things beyond ring modulation. I’ll compare it’s rotary phaser sound to the Fulltone Deja Vibe, a faithful recreation of the original UniVibe. Please let me know if you have any questions about these pedals.
I’ve owned these pedals for several years and I know them well.

Some additional thoughts: I should have reduced the blend on the RingThing to demo a more subtle sound. Sorry about that.
I still prefer the sound of the DejaVibe and I have continued to use that on my board. The foot controller is the big bonus to me as it’s really easy to dial in the speed. I also like the less colored sound it produces, it layers in a nice texture without overtaking my rig.

If you want a Univibe pedal I highly recommend the DejaVibe. If you want a fun toy that can make a bunch of cool sounds get the Ring Thing. The Ring Thing is SUPER cool. For example, I made a demo of it’s wicked octave fuzz settings: https://youtu.be/Mdj1YHNkKJs

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Check prices:
Electro Harmonix Ring Thing:
Amazon link: http://amzn.to/1S4UfbI

Fulltone DejáVibe:
http://amzn.to/1YyVnM3

Boss RC-2 looper:
http://amzn.to/27R1qjl

PedalTrain Pedal Board:
http://amzn.to/1rveVDG

Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus Power Supply:
http://amzn.to/1YyVV4u

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