Tonebox Recommended Pedals
Xotic EP Booster
Eric Johnson, Jimmy Page, and Eddie Van Halen are just some of the legendary guitarists who used the classic EP-3 echo effects processor’s preamp stage to create their signature tone. Thanks to boutique guitar effects pedal company Xotic, you can use that preamp too via the EP Booster, a boost pedal based on that very same preamp. The EP Booster can dish out up to 20dB of extra juice that you can use to hit your amp harder and make your signal soar above the mix.
Xotic SP Compressor
Boutique guitar effects pedal company Xotic shot for superb tonal quality with the SP Compressor pedal and they absolutely hit that target dead on. This extremely versatile and flexible compressor pedal based on the legendary Ross Compressor can deliver an amazingly wide array of compressor tones ranging from subtle to vintage and through to modern. A Blend knob lets you control the dry and wet signal mix. Inside, there’s an internal dip switch that lets you tinker with the compressor’s attack.
WMD Protostar
“Maker of the most powerful and versatile envelope filter on Earth” is a tough claim to prove, but WMD does just that with the Protostar. This so-called harmonic density engine packs quite the list of features. It has a built-in LFO, four different filter modes, a full-featured CV patch bay, and an input jack for an expression pedal / CB. It even tightens up your tone with an onboard compressor section and extends your control further via a dry / wet mix knob.
Line 6 HX Stomp
Achieve the sound of Helix amps, effects, and cabs in a portable pedal with the Line 6 HX Stomp. You may utilize this professional-grade multi-effects processor as a super stompbox, an add-on tone expander, audio interface, backup or travel rig, or even a full bass or guitar rig. The HX Stomp leverages the same HX Modeling technology as Helix. It can run as much as six processing blocks simultaneously, making it the most versatile and powerful stompbox-sized multi-effects processor in the market.
Mooer E-Lady
The Eleclady serves up a classic analog flanger sound and comes packed with a filter mode as well as oscillator effects. This guitar effects pedal from budget stompbox maker Mooer features two separate effect modes; Normal gives the effected signal a light, subtle sweep while Filter cranks the effect up for more dramatic sonic changes. The Eleclady may be tiny, but its versatile flange sound and full metal shell make it a roadworthy addition to your pedalboard.
Xotic SL Drive
Legendary British crunch tones compressed and bottled inside a tiny, easy to use boutique guitar effects pedal. The tonal lineage of Xotic’s SL Drive overdrive pedal traces a straight line back through the years to two specific Marshall amps: the Super Lead and the Super Bass. You’re basically getting two drive pedals in one, here; an internal dip switch lets you choose between the brighter high gain Super Lead and more bottom-heavy Super Bass settings.
Drive Pedals
Walrus Audio 385
Here’s a little tip: the tube-powered audio sections of old film projectors work amazingly well as guitar amps. That not-so-secret tip lies at the heart of Walrus Audio’s 385 overdrive pedal, a drive stomp whose tone is modeled after the sound of a vintage Bell and Howell 385 Filmosound projector. With dedicated Bass and Treble pots, the 385 gives users free reign over the overdrive’s overall EQ and its unique, dynamic, highly responsive, and amp-like tone.
Bogner Ecstasy Red Overdrive
The Bogner Ecstasy Red overdrive pedal empowers you to take charge of your tone. Designed after the iconic Bogner Ecstasy amplifier’s red channel, the Ecstasy Red offers any heavy distortion you could ask for. It boasts a three-band EQ that allows you to dial in your ideal tone and a set of four switches that brings your sound further. With the Ecstasy Red pedal, you can now have a pedal that sports the classic Bogner Ecstasy Red channel sound!
Ramble FX Kismet
The Kismet by Ramble FX combines a pure analog signal path distortion/overdrive with digital control. Progressive diode clipping provides the Kismet with an extensive gain range with the perfect amount of compression. The pedal can record and recall four memory presets and features a trick expression input that can control any or all settings, in any direction and amount, simultaneously. The Kismet has a MIDI input that expands its memory to 100 positions and is capable of controlling any of the settings.
Nux Morning Star
The Morning Star Overdrive lights up all the fundamental components of an exceptional blues breaker pedal, but NUX has incorporated something special to enhance the high-frequencies. Engage its footswitch to provide extra overhead with saturated grit to your clean tones. If you wish to drive your high-frequencies to a different stratosphere, press/hold the footswitch to on the Shine circuit that imparts another level of tone brightness. With the Morning Star Overdrive, you can go from blues breaker to blues sky rocket.
Chase Bliss Audio Condor
The Chase Bliss Audio Condor multi-effect pedal enables control over a broad range of effects, including tremolo, boost, overdrive, EQ, and filter tones. Boasting the ability to store presets and a potent parametric mids control, the Condor proves to be as majestic and powerful as the bird it is named after. This pedal also features a switchable overdrive circuit for shaping the guitar tone you want. The overdrive circuit complements stacking, so using it together with your favorite overdrive stompbox is recommended.
Caline Midlander Overdrive
The Caline CP-49 Midlander Overdrive guitar effect pedal gives you full control over all of the classic Tube Screamer’s sound at a fraction of the price. Powered by the same RC4558 chip that propelled the legendary Ibanez Tube Screamer to success, the CP-49 features enhanced sustain and a mellow, smooth overdrive tone that lets your true sound and unique playing dynamics shine through the dirt. The Caline CP-49 Midlander Overdrive comes with a true bypass feature.
ZVEX Vexter Box of Rock
Zvex’s Box of Rock Vexter pedal is a hard hitting little monster voiced to simulate the roaring sound of an overdriven 1966 Marshall JTM45 with all the knobs cranked up to 10. It dishes out classic rock tones from the mid ’60s to early ’70s like there’s no tomorrow and can also be used as a high headroom, low noise clean boost. Zvex’s Vexter line of silk screened pedals feature the exact same tone, feature set, and internal parts and circuits as their hand-painted counterparts. The only differences are the painting process and the price.
Bogner Uberschall
The Bogner Uberschall distortion pedal is a feature-packed pedal that delivers tonal flexibility. Modeled after the high-gain Bogner Uberschall amp, the Uberschall pedal brings all the heavy distortion you could imagine. It boasts five discrete Class A gain stages without diode clipping or op-amps, just like the Uberschall amplifier’s circuitry. This innovative approach provides clarity, amp-like touch sensitivity, and note separation. Although the Uberschall pedal delivers standard lower and medium gains, its real nature lies in in-your-face high-gain tones.
Source Audio Soundblox2 Multiwave Distortion
The Source Audio Soundblox 2 Multiwave Distortion boasts all of the original unit’s synth-esque and futuristic fuzz and distortion tones, housed within a portable, cast-aluminum enclosure. It features 23 distortion effects along with two user presets, universal bypass, a Clean Boost mode, three-level noise gate, three-band tone control, and a multi-function input jack compatible with an expression pedal, MIDI, or Hot Hand. You can connect a MIDI controller for external access to parameters and presets. The Soundblox 2 Multiwave Distortion includes both single- and multi-band processing.
Sabbadius MTBL
The MTBL “Made to Be loud” pedal from Sabbadius Custom Pedal Effects is a distortion and overdrive box. It has been built to create an effect that combines overdrive and distortion, and both can be blended and would sound extremely loud. This double effect pedal features the Sabbadius Black Distortion “MOSFET” and Sabbadius 80 Overdrive Tone “MOD.” The MTBL “Made to Be loud” pedal consists of handmade chicken head gold knobs made with epoxy resin.
Danelectro DJ-21C Black Coffee Metal Distortion Mini
Danelectro forgot what the word “restraint” meant when they worked on the massive metal distortion they packed into the Danelectro DJ-12C Black Coffee Metal Distortion guitar effect pedal. This is the stompbox for any musician who wants an all-out metal assault. It’s so easy to use it’s basically stomp-and-play, and it comes with Treble and Bass knobs to sculpt your tone. High gain, screaming distortion—crank it all the way up and drink some Duncan Hills. You’ll do Dethklok proud.
Vertex Dynamic Distortion
The Dynamic Distortion by Vertex is a sonic mix of rock ’n’ roll’s two most legendary distortion pedals: the 80s TS Overdrive and 60s Germanium Fuzz. This iconic combination gives you unrivaled touch sensitivity and clean-up with your guitar volume control from sparkly clean to fuzz to overdrive while delivering the full-bodied woolliness of an old-school fuzz and the midrange cut of a vintage TS pedal. The Dynamic Distortion boasts all the benefits of mixing the tonal DNA of these iconic pedals without the drawbacks.
Black Cat OD-1
The Black Cat OD-1 or “Freddie Fuzz” is an original design crafted based on the innovative properties of Analog Devices’ dual operational amplifier chip, OP275. It can go from clean to moderately crunchy to full-on saturated distortion. The Black Cat OD-1 responds to your pick attack and cleans up well when you roll back the guitar volume, just like a great Fuzz Face. It has been used by the likes of Lyle Workman, Beck, Steve Lukather, Scott Henderson, Kyle Cook (Matchbox Twenty), and several others.
Sabbadius Arena Fuzz
The Arena Fuzz by Sabbadius Custom Pedal Effects is a roar fuzz that plays arena class sound. It features a true bypass mechanical switch and allows you to play heavy bass like big muff as well as rough high tone. It comes in a red enclosure consists of white knobs. Each Arena Fuzz pedal has been handcrafted in Argentina by Sabbadius. Sabbadius is popular for its Mr. White booster, Texas Red Fuzz, 80 Overdrive Tone, and the Triple Trouble which packs the first three pedals.
JHS Pedals Muffuletta
For years, the Big Muff fuzz has been heard on various classic recordings and been through multiple variations that virtually any guitarist has a favorite version of its legendary tone. The JHS Pedals team wanted to pay homage to such an undeniably classic fuzz pedal, but could not agree on which Muff was king. With the Muffuletta, the group’s indecision is your gain. The Muffuletta loads five pure analog recreations of beloved Big Muff tones along with a JHS-exclusive take on the iconic stomp.
Fulltone Mas Malo
The Fulltone Mas Malo packs the sweet sustain, harmonic warmth, and picking sensitivity that you can expect from a vintage fuzz stomp. This compact and pedalboard-friendly distortion and fuzz guitar effects pedal is also one of the most versatile stompboxes you could add to your pedalboard. One minute it can crank out massive levels of vicious dirt with infinite feedback, and the next it can go full-on warm and natural ala vintage Jimmy Page. No matter the flavor of vintage fuzz, the Mas Malo can dish it out.
Catalinbread Octapussy
The Octapussy from Catalinbread is an Octavia-like octave-jumping fuzz pedal. Cello-esque textures, atonal landscapes, and drone melodies are all within reach, thanks to its Body and Gain controls, custom-voiced preamp section, and Atten knob. The Octapussy brings whole worlds of sounds and works best as the first pedal in your chain. This octave-up fuzz also works well at neighbor-friendly amplitudes, allowing you to explore and produce with love, even when cranking your amp is not an option.
Walrus Audio Contraband
Coat your sound in thick, heavy fuzz for an over the top metallic wall of sound attack with Walrus Audio’s Contraband fuzz stomp. Don’t let its single knob control scheme and enclosure size fool you; the Contraband packs a way heavier fuzz punch than you’d expect from such a simple and small stompbox. A unique Thick and Thin toggle lets you shape the fuzz tone depending on your guitar’s pickups—a humbucker may sound better in Thin mode, for example—or just expand the Contraband’s range of tonal possibilities.
MOSKY Silver Horse
The Klon Centaur is, hands down, one of the most copied overdrive pedals ever. It’s so often copied, in fact, that budget guitar effects pedal brand Mosky Audio made two Centaur-based overdrive pedals: the Golden Horse and this one, the Silver Horse. What differentiates the two is a two-way switch on the latter that lets you choose between Hard and Soft clipping modes. The Silver Horse also features a trio of dedicated control knobs for tone sculpting.
Mosky BROWN Distortion
Mosky Audio’s Brown distortion guitar effects pedal is a versatile dirt stomp built to grind your signal into the classic “brown sound.” It’s highly tweakable, with two separate tone controls that act as a two-knob parametric EQ for precise tone shaping. The Gain dial goes from low-gain early rock to modern high-gain dirt. The Brown pedal also comes with a Vintage/Modern voicing switch that lets you choose between a darker vintage sound and a brighter, more modern tone.
Danelectro The Breakdown
The deceptively innocuous Breakdown guitar effect pedal from Danelectro is basically a tiny six-stage gain booster that serves up everything from light, subtle dirt to smooth overdrive and further on to heavy, full-on distortion. Set the gain level with the Break-Up rotary switch and shape it further with the pedal’s Volume knob as well as your guitar’s own volume controls. This slim form stompbox doesn’t run on battery juice and needs to be connected to a compatible 9V power supply.
Electro-Harmonix The Mole
Dig deep into the bowels of your sound to unearth low-end frequencies that are positively subterranean. The Mole bass booster pedal from Electro-Harmonix gives your signal’s low frequencies a rich tone and a 20dB boost. Operation is dead simple: dial in the amount of boost via the Boost knob and step on the footswitch to start rattling ribcages. Whether you’re a guitarist or a bassist, this little critter will let you plumb the depths of your bottom end.
Mission Engineering V-Boost Red
The V-Boost by Mission Engineering is a switchless variable boost pedal that incorporates an integrated buffer, available in overdrive and clean variants. The V-Boost Red provides you with up to 15dB of boost with a little amount of clipping to give some warm, classic overdrive sound. You may utilize the pedal on its own instead of an overdrive or in front of other drive and distortion pedals to raise the input levels and dish out some added grit on the pick attack.
MXR Boost/Line Driver
MXR has teamed up with Custom Audio Electronics founder Bob Bradshaw to introduce the Boost/Line Driver pedal. It cleans up beautifully when you lower your guitar volume, making it highly responsive to picking dynamics sans affecting your tone. Top-grade components allow noise-free operation and smooth interaction with other pedals on your board. The Boost/Line Driver pedal boasts the distinctive sonic stamp of Bob Bradshaw. It provides you with up to +20dB of ultra-clean boost to revitalize the brilliance, sparkle, and punch of your sound.
NUX Stageman Floor
The Stageman Floor Acoustic Preamp + DI by NUX is an analog acoustic preamp boasting digital effects and looper function. Preamp featured with an extremely sensitive three-band EQ with input gain control, adjustable notch filter, and MID scoop toggle switch. It also offers a massive headroom that gives you the sound all-natural. The notch filter helps you cut the resonating frequency. The Stageman Floor consists of Treble, Middle, and Bass knobs, depending on the speaker/amp characteristic, acoustic guitar’s body type, and playing style, you may tune your sound to your liking.
Darkglass Microtubes B7K Ultra Gold
Whether you are going direct or plugging into a bass amp, the Microtubes B7K Ultra V2 bass preamp pedal from Darkglass is an excellent way to optimize your bass tone. It combines an independently switchable overdrive, powerful preamp, and four-band EQ to bring ample sonic options. The Microtubes B7K Ultra V2 carries Grunt and Attack switches that determine how the overdrive circuit affects your lows and highs. This pedal is great for bolstering your bass tone for recording or performance.
GOKKO ROCK-ACE
The Rock Ace GK-30 guitar effects pedal does a lot of cool things for a stompbox its size and price. You can plug in an audio player and use it to play along to a song or backing track. You can use it as a direct input (DI) box so you can plug directly into a mixer or PA board without messing up your tone. You can also use it as a preamp. The ROck Ace also comes packed with its own clean/distortion switch, giving you a wide array of tone options ranging from super-clean to full-on heavy metal.
EarthQuaker Devices Bows
Germanium transistors have long been the go-to transistors for guitar effects pedal makers who want to create truly vintage sounds. EarthQuaker Devices went one step further with the Bows preamp booster by basing it around the rare, low-noise NOS black glass OC139 germanium transistor. Using it is dead simple. Select Treble for a brighter tone or Full for a more bass-heavy sound using the two-way toggle switch and then dial in an output level with the Level knob.
Lehle Sunday Driver
Maximize your guitar tone with the Sunday Driver by Lehle. This high-end preamp comes in a portable footprint. It boasts JFET-based circuitry and gives you two operation modes. It eradicates signal loss through effects and leads, keeping your signal clear and strong. Position the Sunday Driver preamp between your amp and pedals, select the Driver setting and get ready for tonal bliss—regardless of how many stompboxes you are running. With the Sunday Driver, your sound becomes fuller, livelier, and more dynamic.
JHS Pedals Colour Box
The Colour Box by JHS Pedals gives you everything you need to emulate the signature tones of Steely Dan, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, and others. It is a pure analog design that copies the input of an original Neve console. It is a versatile and powerful device for stage and studio, with inputs for microphones and instruments. It delivers a vibrant and musical sound. The Colour Box pedal lets you sculpt your sound in a way that is impossible with standard amps and effects.
Wampler dB+
Tone suck—it’s what happens when you have too many cables between your guitar and your amp. Your tone suffers and loses those sweet natural high frequency notes, giving you a muddy overall sound. Wampler’s Decibel Plus solves that problem by delivering top of the line independent buffering and full frequency boosting without taking up a lot of space on your pedalboard. Not only do you get to keep those natural high frequencies, you also get a clean boost to make sure your guitar floats above the mix.
Morley Man FX Dual Boost Distortion
The folks at Morley know a thing or two about good guitar tone. They also know that sometimes some extra gain muscle is all that separates a milquetoast solo from a killer one during a gig. That knowledge and experience are evident in the Morley Man FX Dual Boost Distortion. a classic analog distortion pedal with two separate boost switches for cutting through the mix. The clean boost gives you up to 20dB of extra gain, while the distortion boost gives you another 15dB.
Laney Black Country Customs Steelpark
Boasting incredible versatility, the Black Country Customs Steelpark boost pedal helps you cut through and takes your sound in front of the mix. It works well with gain pedals. You can run it in front of your distortion or overdrive for a more compressed, driven sound or position it after to increase your distorted sound’s volume. The Steelpark consists of four control knobs and a three-way mode switch, allowing you various ways to find the ideal boost for your rig.
Tech 21 Boost Chorus
Tech 21’s Boost Chorus guitar effects pedal owes a lot of its sound to classic chorus effects from the ‘70s, serving up a rich, period accurate vintage chorus. Six dedicated pots give you unprecedented control over the effect’s sound. The Pre-Delay knob alone provides a wide range of tonal flexibility, letting you dial in everything from a vintage chorus to a slapback echo. There’s also a Multi Voice function that fattens up your sound even further with a very natural ensemble-like effect.
Tech 21 Bass Boost Fuzz
Hairy fuzz and massive boost for your bass in a single stompbox. The Boost Bass Fuzz from Tech 21 serves up the classic, creamy germanium fuzz tone you need, plus up to 21bD of punchy crystal clear boost via a separate boost section. Dedicated Drive and +Clean pots give you complete control over the wet and dry signal mix, while the Tone control knob lets you sculpt your fuzzed out sound even further. Plug into a Bass Boost Fuzz and go massive.
MXR Micro Amp +
For over two decades, MXR’s Micro Amp has been a mainstay among some prominent artists due to its ability to sweeten up and boost your bass or guitar tone and push the front of your amp. The Micro Amp+ builds on that legendary unit with EQ controls that allow you to beautifully shape your boosted signal as well as several updates that level it up. You can dial in up to +26dB clean boost. Specially-tuned Treble and Bass knobs allow for fine tonal sculpting. The Micro Amp+ also features true bypass switching and low noise circuitry.
Modulation Pedals
TC Electronic Corona Chorus+
Created with a tip of the hat to the aesthetics of the original chorus, the limited-edition Corona SCF comes with several features that make the Corona a very popular design. It boasts the TonePrint technology by TC Electronic with access to exclusive TonePrints of the classic SCF sound. It combines the aspects of two of TC Electronic’s most iconic designs. While the chorus pedal comes in a pedalboard-friendly modern chassis, the Corona SCF features the original’s straightforward look with model-correct graphics.
MXR JIMI HENDRIX UNI-VIBE
The UniVibe Chorus/Vibrato’s thick wash which pervades the landmark Band of Gypsys album is undoubtedly among the most transcendent tones ever recorded. Boasting a chorusy, phasey, Leslie-sounding goodness, Jimi Hendrix had summoned surprisingly lush textures that sound like you can spoon them out of the speakers. The UniVibe pedal gives you those vintage tones in all their stellar analog glory and at a portion of the size of the original Shin-ei unit utilized by Hendrix. It sports a colorful, iconic artwork from rock artist Gered Mankowitz.
Joyo JF-05
Crisp and transparent chorus effects that won’t drown out your core tone’s unique characteristics. The JF-05 Classic Chorus guitar effects pedal is Joyo’s approximation of another true classic, the Boss CE-2. This rock-solid, compact, and budget-friendly stompbox features dedicated Rate and “Width” (the CE-2 has a “Depth” knob, get it?) control knobs for shaping your chorus tone from subtle embellishments to full-bodied, 12-string washes. Its clear, soft, and watery chorus effect makes the JF-05 Classic Chorus an absolute steal.
JOYO Classic Chorus
Solid as a rock and packing complex, clear chorus tones, the JF-05 Classic Chorus from Joyo is clearly punching way above its price range when it comes to sound quality and tonal textures. Rate and Width knobs, the latter of which is a take on the classic Boss CE-2’s well-known Depth knob, give you a lot of room for sonic experimentation. You can dial in everything from subtle embellishments to sonically intricate 12-string sounds without drowning out your core tone.
TC Electronic June-60
The June-60 Chorus from TC Electronic is a faithful reproduction of the chorus circuit available in the Juno-60 synthesizer—the legendary synth sound that defined the cult movie themes of an era and ignited numerous 80s hits. You can now take the beloved chorus sound from among the most revered, vintage synthesizers back to the future. The June-60 Chorus features a two-button interface for spectacular and intuitive modulation tone. It incorporates pure analog Bucket Brigade Delay circuitry and true bypass.
Dwarfcraft Devices Body Mod
The Dwarfcart Devices Body Mod guitar effect pedal is a Chorus, Flange, and Octave pedal all rolled into one–but with an extra twist! The Flux knob affects each modulation effect in wild and wonderful ways. In Chorus mode, it adds a bit of a feedback loop with an upper octave effect. In Flange mode, the Flux knob works as a resonance dial. In Octave mode, it lets you filter the effect’s parallel sub-octave and upper octave signals.
Emma Electronic Discumbobulator V2
The original EMMA DiscumBOBulator was arguably the world’s best auto-wah, making appearances at the feet of Ida Funkhouser, Richard Fortus, Warren Haynes, and Pino Palladino. When building the revamped version, Emma Electronic has improved the filter-triggering, extended the dynamic range, tripled the headroom signal, and added a 10dB independent boost. The DiscumBOBulator v2 features an extensive range of vintage auto-wah tones and new filter sweeps. It also boasts precise tracking, both on chords and single notes, and a wide frequency spectrum, making it perfect for virtually any instrument.
TWA Wah Rocker
Totally Wycked Audio’s Wah Rocker stomp resurrects the legendary Guyatone Wah Rocker “Duck Box,” a funk machine that has lent its distinctive sound to such greats as Lenny Kravitz and David Torn. The TWA Wah Rocker is based on Guyatone’s original WR3 circuit and adds a host of mechanical improvements including TWA’s Shortest Send Switching (S3) true bypass function. Tone-wise, it’s pure Wah Rocker funk; all the squawky, slippery, and souped-up grooves of the original, minus the vintage price tag.
WMD Protostar
“Maker of the most powerful and versatile envelope filter on Earth” is a tough claim to prove, but WMD does just that with the Protostar. This so-called harmonic density engine packs quite the list of features. It has a built-in LFO, four different filter modes, a full-featured CV patch bay, and an input jack for an expression pedal / CB. It even tightens up your tone with an onboard compressor section and extends your control further via a dry / wet mix knob.
Source Audio Soundblox 2 MANTA Bass Filter
The Soundblox 2 Manta Bass Filter from Source Audio boasts 12 meticulously tailored filter effects along with eight distortion variations, a feature never available before in the Soundblox line of filter effects. These styles of distortion are not only crunch or amp simulation; they are configured to work alongside the filter effect selections. The Manta’s filters are controllable by two envelope followers, square, sine, and saw tooth LFO. Similar to its fellow Soundblox 2 pedals, the Manta is compatible with the Hot Hand 3 Wireless Effects Controller, Source Audio Dual Expression Pedal, and MIDI control signals through the Soundblox HUB.
Carl Martin Classic Optical Envelope
Carl Martin got a call from an old guitarist friend who despised using his wah all the time but wanted to maintain some of those effects. Here comes the Classic Optical Envelope—an envelope filter for bass or guitar boasting several cool options. It carries two footswitches—one for fx on/off (buffered) and another to choose between three modes (Low Pass, High Pass, and Band Pass). The Classic Optical Envelope also includes controls for Level, Drive, Q, and Tone.
Eventide ModFactor
When it comes to modulation effects, Eventide’s ModFactor multi-effects pedal is the pinnacle. You get all the classics—Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Rotary, Tremolo, and Vibrato—plus a couple of unique Eventide effects. There’s the dreamy, pulsating Undulator, which combines two delays, two detuned voices, and a tremolo effect. Also included is a RIngMod effect that adds futuristic bell-like overtones to your sound. The ModFactor can hold up to 100 presets, has true analog bypass, and supports real-time control via MIDI or expression pedal.
Strymon Orbit
The Orbit dBucket Flanger pedal by Strymon provides you with the swooshing sound of coveted classic analog flanging effects. With a powerful combination of front-panel controls, you can go from chorus-esque detuning to extreme jet plane effects. Comprehensive I/O and deep-editing secondary features enable you to tweak the pedal’s sound to suit your performance requirements. The Orbit dBucket Flanger pedal lets you capture those cool analog tones popularized by Van Halen, The Beatles, and others.
Source Audio Mercury
The Mercury Flanger from Source Audio serves up three types of flanger, namely Thru-Zero Flange, Classic Flange, and an extremely resonant flanger called Shadow Flange. In the Classic mode, you get a dramatic and deep effect in the style of vintage flanger pedals. The Thru-Zero or “Tape Flange” dramatically provides a discernible twisting effect that happens when modulating and dry signals reach their intersection point. The Mercury Flanger also carries a Delay knob for exploring the marvelous cosmic space between flanger and chorus.
CNZ Audio Flanger
The CNZ Audio Flanger pedal spices up your playing with a clean and crisp flanging sound while maintaining your distinctive guitar tone. It includes a Toggle switch that allows you to choose between two different settings for your electric guitar. It also carries three knobs—RANGE changes the depth of the flange effect, RATE controls the speed at which the flanger will modulate, while COLOR adjusts the signal amount that will be affected by the flange effect.
JOYO Vision
The R-09 Vision guitar effects pedal from Joyo is a modulation maniac’s dream pedal. It features two separate channels, each with its own set of highly tweakable modulation effects, that you can mix and match in parallel or series. Use a chorus on Channel A and an optical trem on Channel B. Phaser on A, Vibrato on B. It’s a giant sonic sandbox for you to play in. The R-09 Vision is an R Series pedal, meaning it also has cool ambient LED effects built into it.
Donner Mod Square
The Donner Mod Square is a modulation pedal that lets you have seven modulation effects, including Flanger, Vibrato, Rotary, Tremolo, Phaser, Chorus A, and Chorus B, to add musical color to your tone. It comes in an aluminium-alloy chassis consists of three function knobs (Rate, Depth, and E.Level) for setting the effect level. Use the E.Level control to adjust the effect level, Depth for the effect depth, and Rate to set the effect speed. Mod Square also features a true bypass switch and an LED indicator that displays the working state.
Rowin Mod Station
A ton of high-quality modulation effects, all packed into a small, very affordable stompbox that you can carry around in your pocket. The powerful LEF-3808 Mod Station multi-effects stomp from budget guitar effects pedal manufacturer Rowin comes with eleven distinct modulation effects, all of which can be further tweaked via its dedicated Level, Speed, and Depth pots. Its footswitch is also multi-functional: pressing down twice will switch between fixed and non-fixed mode while holding it down will let you store a setting you like.
Strymon Mobius
The Strymon Mobius packs twelve iconic modulation effects into a convenient guitar effects pedal. Handcrafted from the best components available, it brings together twelve of the most expressive, versatile, and organic modulation effects ever existed. Each vintage effect has been painstakingly emulated and then expanded upon to enhance versatility and broaden sonic possibilities. The Mobius is equipped with 200 inbuilt presets enabling the perfect modulation sound to be recorded and recalled at any time. That function is also controllable by a MIDI foot pedal to streamline the process.
CNZ Audio Phaser
The Phaser pedal from CNZ Audio delivers exceptional note bending and sound wave shifting effects to give your music depth and warmth with the likelihood of intense Phaser Effects. From wet to dry tones, you can add a massive range of modulation effects to your desired music. This user-friendly pedal comes with a cute space laser beam design. It enables beginners to tweak and tune their settings to provide a different feeling to their music, making them feel like a rock star.
DOD Phasor 201
The DOD Phasor 201 emulates the vintage analog phaser sound powered by more than four decades of tone creating experience. Better than ever before, the Phasor 201 features a crisp blue LED indicator, true bypass, and 9V DC power supply input. Similar to its predecessor, it carries a Speed knob that adjusts the speed and depth of the phasing effect, with beautiful tone at whatever range. True bypass lets your guitar tone stay pristine even when the pedal is off.
Donner Pearl Tremor
The Pearl Tremor from Donner boasts a pure analog phase effect and produces a plump and warm sound. It carries a toggle switch that lets you choose between Vintage and Modern. It also features an LED indicator that shows you the working state and true bypass, which gives a transparent tone. The Pearl Tremor is packaged in a sturdy, aluminum-alloy chassis. It should not be used in direct sunlight, high humidity, high temperature, or subzero environments.
Xvive V6 Phaser King
The 100% analog Phaser King from budget guitar effects maker Xvive is a bit of an odd duck, what with its 18v power requirement. The Phaser King’s tone, however, makes the power requirement completely worth it, as it delivers thick phaser sweeps reminiscent classic 10-stage phasers like the venerable MXR Phase 100 and the legendary Boss PH-2. The Phaser King also comes with an amazingly wide speed range, so you can dial in everything from slow-mo airplane takeoffs to almost vibrato-ish fast wobbles.
MXR ’75 Vintage Phase 45
The MXR Custom Shop’s ’75 Vintage Phase 45 reissue recreates the Phase 90’s elusive little brother to exacting details. Featuring two stages of phasing, the Phase 45 serves up its musical and subtle voice through a hand-wired circuit board and hand-matched FETs. Authentic tried-and-trusted components and hardware, including CTS pot, Switchcraft jacks, and a Carling switch. The limited-edition ’75 Vintage Phase 45 allows you to texture your tone sans overpowering your sound. It is suitable for far-out rhythms and groovy solos.
ZVex Sonar
Calling the Sonar tremolo pedal from boutique guitar effects pedal company Zvex “versatile” is an understatement. It does everything a more traditional tremolo pedal can do, but it also has some unique tricks up its sleeves. The Sonar can sound amazingly transparent but it can also chop your signal into absolute silence, slow down or speed up the tempo, and even duty cycle. This hand-painted version of the Sonar Tremolo comes with a lifetime warranty.
Tortuga Galapagos
A super simple and straightforward tremolo pedal that packs the same great vibrato sound of a classic tube amp. The Galapagos tremolo guitar effects pedal from Tortuga Effects emulates the warm swells and round sine wave pulses of a true vintage tube amp vibrato. The straightforward Volume, Depth, and Speed pots give unprecedented control over the vibrato effect, while a special Thump dial kicks the warmth up a notch. Turn the Depth and Rate controls all the way down and you can also use the Tortuga as a clean boost pedal.
Electro-Harmonix Holy Stain
The Holy Stain is notable for being Electro-Harmonix’s first true multi-effects pedal, and they really went all out. You get Room and Hall reverb, pitch shifting, and tremolo effects bolstered by analog overdrive and fuzz for creating a truly unique and rich sonic stew. The Holy Stain is like manna from heaven for true knob-twiddling aficionados, as all of its control dials dynamically interact with each other for an even wider range of custom tones and sounds.
Walrus Audio Monument V2
The Monument dual footswitch stompbox from Walrus Audio is essentially two tremolo effects in one. It’s both a harmonic and standard tremolo that lets you whip up a slew of rich modulation pulses with peaks and valleys that can be as smooth or as sharply jagged as you want them to be. The Monument V2 features a pretty sizeable redesign and has a much smaller form factor while still retaining the original’s terrific tremolo tone.
Supro SF1
Thanks to the SF1 footswitch from Supro, you can now easily manage the tremolo circuit of your Supro Coronado, Dual-Tone, and Black Magick tube combo electric guitar amps. It connects to your amp via an extra standard mono instrument cable. The SF1 is a single-button footswitch tremolo on/off remote compatible with any Supro combo amp and requires a mono instrument cable. It boasts a sturdy metal construction. Get extensive control of your tremolo with the SF1.
CNZ Audio Tremolo
The CNZ Audio Tremolo returns the classic tones of yesteryear with lots of control on your tone and slick vintage design. It does not sacrifice the tone for effect. It lets you maintain your beautiful guitar tones while adding deep to subtle effects from the CNZ Audio Tremolo pedal. Use the Depth knob to adjust the intensity of the tremolo effect, Speed to control the tremolo’s speed and tempo, and Bias to adjust the tremolo effect’s overall signal. The single switch and labeled dials make this pedal perfect for beginners and experienced players alike.
Dunlop Rotovibe
The Dunlop Rotovibe Chorus/Vibrato is capable of reproducing the rotating speaker sounds made famous by Hendrix and several others. It is an extremely expressive effect, credits to its inbuilt real-time control. You can pick between Vibrato and Chorus, select the effect’s intensity, and control the speed of the effect by rocking the pedal back and forth. The Dunlop Rotovibe combines a rotary speaker’s vintage appeal with a tremolo or chorus effect, delivering an abundance of Hendrix-like warble.
Koogo Mod Digital
The Mod Digital pedal from Koogo allows you to enjoy eleven distinct modulation effects—A.FILTER, B.TREMOLO, O.TREMOLO, PHASER, VIBRATO, U.VIBRATO, JET, S.CHORUS, T.CHORUS, P.FLANGER, and N.FLANGER. It is a fantastic pedal, leveraging a 32-bit high-performance DSP chip. Every tone is comparable. A range of modulation effects imparts musical color to your sound. The Mod Digital also consists of three function knobs labeled as Depth, Speed, and Level for setting the depth, speed, and level of the effect respectively.
TC Electronic Tailspin
The Tailspin Vibrato by TC Electronic serves up a ton of gorgeously-vintage vibrato tones within a stompbox. Boasting a pure analog, bucket-brigade design, the Tailspin Vibrato gives you anything from pitch-bendy, warped-vinyl tones to gentle wobbles to incredibly smooth slow or fast whirling-speaker organ sounds. A durable metal enclosure with dedicated Output, Input, and True Bypass indicates that the Tailspin Vibrato is both pedalboard-friendly and roadworthy. Grab one now for wave after wave of vintage goodness.
Keeley Super Mod Workstation
Pedalmeister Robert Keeley wasn’t kidding around when he named this modulation multi-effects pedal the Super Mod Workstation. It features two banks loaded with eight high-quality modulation effects each, from thick chorus and pristine digital delay to rotary emulation and wah. Mix ‘em, match ‘em, stack ‘em–you have the power. The Super Mod Workstation also comes with a dedicated tap tempo footswitch as well as expression pedal support for real-time parameter control. A truly super stompbox.
J. Rockett Tranquilizer
Get a Phase 45, Univibe, and Leslie all within one box with the Tranquilizer. It is a reproduction of the original Phase 45 pedals and incorporates additional features. It is capable of the classic sounds of Univibe, Leslie, Phase 45, and vibe only. It carries a Focus knob that serves as the key to all things morphing. Unlike the original Phase 45s, the Tranquilizer lets you control the low-end whomp of your tone. If you are looking for the perfect modulation pedal for your rig, look no further.
Strymon Ola
The Ola dBucket Chorus & Vibrato from Strymon covers an extensive range of sonic territory, from very subtle studio stereo richness to ping-ponged vibrato and milkshake-esque pedal chorus, to impart different textures to your arrangements. You can use each of these three effects types in any of three modes for an interactive or traditional experience: a Ramp mode allows you to add after-effects to chords with a selectable ramp-up speed, while Envelope mode lets you manage depth and speed with your playing dynamics.
Mooer Pure Octave
The Pure Octave pitch shifter guitar effects pedal from budget stomp creator Mooer creates and blends sub and upper octaves with your original guitar signal for a ticker, wider sound. A rotary dial lets you mix and match a five-octave sonic range for a total of 11 octave modes. You can control the amount of the octave mixes via the Sub and Upper micro knobs while a Dry micro knob controls the level of your dry signal.
GOKKO OCTAVE FUZZ
The Octave Fuzz GK-31 guitar effects pedal from GOKKO gives you classic fuzz and octave up sounds for a very reasonable price. Dedicated Volume, Tone, and Fuzz control knobs let you explore a wide range of fuzzed-out sonic possibilities. There’s also a two-way selector switch that lets you choose between a normal tone and a mid-cut tone. The Octave Fuzz also features separate footswitches for the fuzz and octave up effects for total effect control.
MXR Slash Octave Fuzz
Two timeless and iconic rock music icons—MXR and Slash—have joined forces to build the Slash Octave Fuzz. It boasts a searing Fuzz tone combined with an independent Sub Octave voice and Octave Up Fuzz for beefing up your sound with a sinister growl. It includes an arsenal of internal and external controls. The Slash Octave Fuzz comes with a distressed hot-rod paint job and special Slash artwork. It features true hardwire bypass, pure analog circuitry, and solid construction.
Catalinbread Octapussy
The Octapussy from Catalinbread is an Octavia-like octave-jumping fuzz pedal. Cello-esque textures, atonal landscapes, and drone melodies are all within reach, thanks to its Body and Gain controls, custom-voiced preamp section, and Atten knob. The Octapussy brings whole worlds of sounds and works best as the first pedal in your chain. This octave-up fuzz also works well at neighbor-friendly amplitudes, allowing you to explore and produce with love, even when cranking your amp is not an option.
Danelectro DJ-12 Chili Dog Octave Mini
A seriously musical stompbox for the shoegazer on a shoestring budget. The Danelectro DJ-12 Chili Dog Octave can generate up to two extra octave tones, each of which has its own control knob. OCT1 gives you a clear, more treble-focused tone one octave down from your guitar signal while OCT2 is a heavier, more pure-sounding tone that’s also dropped one octave down. This guitar effect pedal can also track notes pretty well, even bent ones.
ZVex Jonny Octave
The Jonny Octave stomp from boutique guitar effects pedal company Zvex is as quirky as its name.This octave up pedal is designed to make single notes you play on your guitar sound like they’re actually being played further up the neck by one or two octaves. The Jonny Octave is clean and extremely transparent; you don’t have to worry about your core tone getting drowned out by the octave up effect. If you feel the octave volume pots don’t give you enough tone sculpting power, there are four internal gain trimpots that you can adjust for more tonal flexibility.
Top Categories
Timing, Dynamics & EQ Pedals
JOYO AQUARIUS
The Aquarius guitar effects pedal from Joyo pulls double duty as both a multi-mode delay pedal and a looper. Use each function separately or use both simultaneously to create some truly righteous soundscapes. The delay section comes with eight different delay modes including digital, analog, and a glitchy 8-bit style delay. The looper part of the equation gives you up to five minutes of recording time. As a part of Joyo’s Revolution or R Series line of pedals, the Aquarius comes with some cool switchable ambient LED effects.
EBS Retracer
The EBS ReTracer is a full delay workstation crammed into a portable pedal that leaves space for other effects on your pedalboard. It allows you access to various engines with individually adjustable parameters. Build your signature presets and record them at any of the over 200 slots available. You may run the ReTracer in stereo, mono, or dual (true stereo) mode, with Buffered, Tail, or True bypass mode set separately for every sound. The ReTracer boasts comprehensive tap tempo settings and is compatible with MIDI and expression pedals.
Pigtronix Echolution 2 Ultra Pro
The Pigtronix Echolution 2 Ultra Pro blends sophisticated digital and analog processing intended to provide you with a superb delay pedal experience. It is capable of capturing the ambient lushness of the best studio delay processors. It can very well handle instrument and line level sound sources. The Echolution 2 Ultra Pro offers low-noise, high-headroom delay processing with virtually any rig. It boasts stereo inputs/outputs, sporting a pure analog dry signal path plus an extensive analog tone sculpting and filtering before and after delay line.
Chase Bliss Audio MOOD
The MOOD from Chase Bliss Audio is a dual-channel granular micro-looper/delay. Built to be immediate and playful, it is a study of interaction, and is designed to be “internally collaborative.” The MOOD enables audio to freely pass back and forth between its two sides—wet channel and loop channel, which were developed by Old Blood Noise Endeavors and Drolo FX respectively. The MOOD’s heart is a clock control that accelerates or slows both sides in harmonized steps.
Vox Double Deca Delay
Capture lush sonic landscapes with the Tone Garage Double Deca Delay from Vox. This solidly constructed unit leverages a trio of the legendary 3205 BBD chips for a deep delay. Select long or short delay modes or combine them for an ambient tonal character. A separate modulation control adds a hint of a chorus to your sound. From classic tape echo delay to 900ms of spacious delay, the Double Deca Delay pedal has you covered. Broaden your tonal palette with this versatile pedal.
Supro Delay
The Supro Delay is an innovative, pure analog echo pedal leveraging a pair of MN3005 bucket brigade IC chips to give you sounds that range from 20ms slapback to 600ms of buttery vintage delay. Besides the Level, Repeats, and Time controls, the pedal also carries a newly-designed Filter knob that delivers band-pass and low-pass functions on one knob. Inspired by the heydays of recording to tape and analog pedals, the Delay has been designed by Howard Davis, the master engineer of the Pigtronix Echolution and the iconic late-70s EHX Deluxe Memory Man.
Dr. Scientist Mini Reverberator
The Mini Reverberator by Dr. Scientist loads nine different reverbs into one compact box. This incredible sounding stompbox takes an all analog dry signal, 24-bit A/D/A conversion, and adjustable decay time to the plate and does it so well. The Mini Reverberator features three plates, three rooms, two halls, and a rotary speaker setting that will let any reverb fan sit and meddle for days on end sans repeating a sound. The dry signal stays analog from input to output and is adjustable using the Mix control, so your instrument’s base tone is never modified or colored.
Wampler Ethereal
Boutique guitar effects pedal maker Wampler set out to create an excellent ambient pedal that didn’t require three master’s degrees and a stack of manuals to use, and they succeeded with the Ethereal reverb and delay stomp. No crazy knobs, switches, or sliders, just clear, well-defined pots that let you dial in a wide range of heavenly ambient reverberations. And here’s a secret: the Ethereal has two delays inside it that let you come up with some really crazy sounds.
Keeley Hooke Reverb
Vintage, tube-amp style spring reverb and tremolo effects in a box. The Keeley Hooke Neo-Vintage Spring Reverberator guitar effects pedal has enough reverb-shaping tools to drown in. It features a three-position toggle that lets you engage three different reverb modes: classic Spring reverb, a trippy Trem-Verb, and a church organ-like Fugue effect. Open the Hooke up and you can access an internal switch that enables three more reverb modes: a Trem-Verb with longer decay, spring-plate reverb, and a vibro-spring effect.
Supro SF2
Featuring the dual footswitch Reverb and Tremolo on/off remote for just about any Supro combo amp—the Supro SF2. It requires a TRS cable (not included) to connect to an amp. It boasts a rugged metal construction and a two-button format that turns Reverb and Tremolo on or off remotely. It is compatible with Rhythm Master, Tremo-verb, Royal Reverb, Titan, Saturn, and Jupiter guitar amps. With the SF2, you get full control over your Supro tube combo electric guitar amp’s reverb and tremolo effects.
Dr. Scientist Atmosphere
The Atmosphere by Dr. Scientist boasts 16 custom programmed reverb patches that include classic reverb sounds such as spring, plate, room, hall, and there are several shimmer style octave patches, an interesting pitch-shifting patch, as well as a delay/reverse reverb patch. Aside from the Patches, the Atmosphere also has a large display screen containing valuable info in a readable format. Other features include powerful inbuilt LFO for modulating parameters, full MIDI implementation, plus you can even choose your preferred bypass screen.
Seymour Duncan Silver Lake
With a ton of innovative multi-reverb pedals available, it is refreshing to see one as beautiful-sounding and intuitive as the Silver Lake Dynamic Reverb pedal from Seymour Duncan. It is a powerhouse reverb workstation, combining sophisticated reverb algorithms with powerful tone sculpting options and dynamic control for a deep sonic experience—whether you want a wash of massive ambiance or subtle sounds. The Silver Lake Dynamic Reverb’s foundation is the proprietary Dynamic Expression control and a set of eight well-crafted reverb algorithms.
MXR M282
The MXR Dyna Comp Bass compressor gives you the most iconic compression sound, customized and tuned particularly for bassists. Built upon the CA3080 “metal can” integrated circuit for broader dynamic range, silent operation, and superior transparency, the Dyna Comp Bass is complete with fundamental controls for sculpting that sweet Dyna Comp swish. Regular Dyna Comp compressors tend to squash bass signal dynamics, depriving bassists of the transparency necessary to make the low end fundamental shine. The Dyna Comp Bass includes Clean and Tone knobs for preserving low end integrity and tonal dynamics respectively.
Emma Electronic Transmorgrifier
Working musicians need various compressors in their arsenal to be ready for different playing situations. The TRansMORGrifier eases their job by providing additional tools for the task at hand. It loads the best qualities of several classic compressors into a single unit while simultaneously eradicating the drawbacks typical to vintage designs. It consists of Ratio, Attack, Release, and Level knobs to assure you a continuous and precise variation to your sound. Highly interactive, these controls enable custom tailoring the compression to suit the job at hand.
MXR Bass Compressor
The Bass Compressor lets you take your beloved studio compressor to the stage. It boasts a full arsenal of controls— Input, Output, Release, Attack, and Ratio—that helps you fine-tune your sound, from mild peak limiting to hard-squashed compression effects. The Bass Compressor features a Constant Headroom Technology, which allows you massive headroom and smooth performance. It comes in a sturdy, Phase 90-sized, lightweight aluminum enclosure. It includes true bypass switching to keep your low end clean and tight.
Carl Martin Comp/Limiter
Carl Martin’s Comp Limiter is a studio-quality compressor within a pedalboard-friendly enclosure. It was born out of the request of musicians seeking a studio-level compressor that comes in a convenient, yet versatile pedal. Limiting and Compression are serious business for guitarists. These are capable of transforming your tone from being incredibly musical to sounding as if you are playing via a crushed tin can. To make this extremely dynamic pedal user-friendly, Carl Martin pre-set the Response and Threshold controls, leaving only the Level and Compression knobs.
ammoon MOSKY Compressor
Budget guitar effects pedal brand Ammoon’s Dynamic Compressor is a bit of an upgrade to its red-painted cousin, the Mosky Audio Dyna Compressor. Instead of a single Comp knob, its control layout hews closer to the classic MXR Dyna Comp with the paired Output and Sensitivity knobs. The way it tightens up your guitar signal and enriches your sustain is also reminiscent of a classic Ross Compressor from the ‘70s. What all this means is the Dynamic Compressor is one hell of a workhorse compressor that’s not only small but also budget friendly.
Pigtronix Philosopher’s Tone Micro
The Philosopher’s Tone Micro from Pigtronix is capable of making your instrument come alive. It consists of a Blend control, Treble EQ knob, and Sustain control for giving body to your leads, adding harmonic lushness to your tone, and taming your rhythm-guitar work. Best of all, you get all that power within a mini, pedalboard-friendly chassis that efficiently operates on 9 volts. With the pedalboard-ready Philosopher’s Tone Micro, you can significantly increase the sustain of your guitar with almost no noise.
WMD Utility Parametric EQ
WMD’s Utility Parametric EQ is the perfect always-on pedal for sculpting your tone. Don’t let the simple three-band layout fool you; the Utility can a lot of power under its hood. The three frequency knobs let you dial in the filter’s center frequency; frequency ranges are 31Hz to 1.6kHz, 100Hz to 4.8kHz, and 300Hz to 16kHz. Each frequency pot also has its own dedicated Q and level dials for controlling the filter’s sharpness and the cut / boost, respectively.
Greer Amps Special Request
The Special Request by Greer Amps is a single knob boost that adds character and color to your sound. An internal voltage and D-Style FET based preamp indicate that you get loads of power behind it, helping the Special Request pack a powerful tonal punch. The Special Request possesses elements of EQ and compression at some points when you roll its single knob. It stacks nicely with other pedals and helps any player achieve their full tonal potential.
Tom’sline Bass EQ Mini
Budget guitar effects pedal manufacturer Tomsline’s Bass EQ stomp does exactly what it says on the tin: let you shape the overall EQ and tone of your bass signal. The five EQ bands—62.5Hz, 125Hz, 500Hz, 1KHz, and 4KHz—can each be cut or boosted by up to 18dB. You also get a single Level pot for controlling the overall volume output. Use the Bass EQ to brighten up your sound, build a heftier bottom end, or tame any unwanted frequencies in your signal.
Joyo JF-11
The JF-11 6-Band EQ guitar effects pedal is a true workhorse when it comes to tone shaping. Make your highs stand out with more harmonic articulation, keep muddy mids from getting lost in the mix, or boost lows for additional bottom-end chunk. Its six EQ sliders each provide up to 18dB of boost or cut, plus each slider has its own LED indicator to make them easier to adjust while you’re on a dark stage.
J. Rockett Rockaway Archer
The Rockaway Archer from J. Rockett was built as a complete solution to iconic guitarist Steve Stevens’ EQ and overdrive needs. It boasts an extensive range of sounds, from clean boost to tube-like distortion that integrates smoothly with the tone of various amps. It falls under the “transparent overdrive” category, allowing you to dial in a nice amount of gain without drastically changing your guitar’s tone. The Rockaway Archer is an excellent way to hit the front end of an amp harder compared to a stock Archer pedal.
MXR 6-Band EQ
The Six Band EQ from MXR grants you control over all the fundamental guitar frequencies, with every slider capable of providing 18dB of boost or cut. It is perfect for producing scooped-mid rhythm tones with massive low end. The Six Band EQ can remove onstage feedback and impart natural-sounding warmth to a quack acoustic pickup. You may also utilize it in the effects loop of your amp for a massive, customizable lead boost. The Six Band EQ is great for pickups on acoustic guitars.
Utility Pedals
Joyo Irontune
Your pedalboard may have the best-sounding and most expensive effects, but it won’t do you any good if you don’t even have a reliable guitar tuner. The Joyo JF-326 Irontune is a tiny, budget-friendly pedal that does the very important job of making sure your guitar is in tune. It’s fast, too, plus an easy to read LED display lets you know how in-tune or how far off you are. As one of Joyo’s Ironman pedals, the JF-326 Irontune is small enough to fit in your front pocket and features a flip cover for keeping your control dial settings safe.
Korg Pitchblack Mini (White)
The limited-edition white Korg Pitchblack mini features a large, easily readable LED meter with a light-emitting surface for exceptional visibility at whatever setting from stage light to daylight to entirely no light. The incredibly smooth eleven-segment LED meter enables precise visual tuning from different angles. The Pitchblack mini lets you select from four display modes. Thanks to its large note name display, red LED that displays the on/off status, and a tuning guide that shows whether your instrument is flat or sharp, you can always tune precisely and immediately in any situation.
TC Electronic Polytune 2 Mini
Ever since the PolyTune’s introduction in 2010, TC Electronic has been looking to make tuning speedier, better, and more impressive. The PolyTune 2 Mini guitar tuner does all of that in abundance. With 109 super-bright LEDs, it is easily readable at any stage condition. The PolyTune 2 Mini is an incredibly compact tuner with chromatic, strobe, and polyphonic tuning for precise and fast tuning. Polyphonic tuning lets you tune all your strings simultaneously, while speedy chromatic tuner delivers 0.5 cent precision.
Digitech LUXE
If you want to beef up your tone without that weird warbling effect from a flanger or chorus, you need to see the DigiTech Luxe. The Luxe is an astounding unison/detuning pedal that sounds fantastic on your bass or guitar. It allows you to blend a slightly detuned input with the dry signal to produce a constant thickening sound identical to the studio technique of double tracking. Whether you are playing chords or single notes, the Luxe delivers a solid, rich, and true pitch-detuning effect.
Korg Pitchblack Mini (Black)
Bassists and guitarists worldwide love Korg’s Pitchblack pedal tuners for their design, quality, and durability. While the Pitchblack mini comes in a tinier, sleek package, it possesses all of its exceptional tuner functionalities. It boasts a large LED screen with excellent visibility and supports battery operation despite its small size. The Pitchblack mini contains stabilizers to avoid overturning. It also features a high tuning precision of +/- 0.1 cents. Small yet powerful, the Pitchblack mini can satisfy your demands.
Carl Martin Tuner
The Carl Martin Tuner is attractive, simple, efficient, and handy for any type of guitarist. Housed in a classic die-cast black enclosure, the Tuner is switchable between standard readout and strobe. Both are clear, bright, and readable from a standing position. The Tuner is an excellent addition to your Carl Martin pedal collection. It features a true bypass on/off for a clean signal path, mute switch for silent tuning, and can be calibrated from 437 to 443.
Rowin Beat Loop
The LBL-01 Beat Loop is a versatile and affordable combination drum machine and looper pedal from budget-priced guitar effects pedal manufacturer Rowin. The looper section can record for up to five minutes in each of 30 separate storage locations. The drum machine has two drum groups with 40 drum types, half of which are standard while the other half is electronic. The LBL-01 Beat Looper also has a separate dual footswitch controller that lets you control the drum section.
ammoon Stereo Looper
Budget guitar effects pedal manufacturer Ammoon’s Stereo Looper turns you into a one-man band. The Stereo Looper’s feature set is similar to the Electro-Harmonix 720, which incidentally sells at almost twice the Ammoon’s price. The Stereo Looper comes with 10 selectable independent loops, each of which can record up to 10 minutes of high quality uncompressed audio. It also features 24-bit A/D/A, a 44.1KHz sample rate, unlimited overdubs, and undo/redo along with footswitch-controlled reverse, half speed, and fadeout effects.
Rowin Tiny Looper
Budget guitar effects pedal maker Rowin’s LN-332 Looper is an extremely compact and jaw droppingly affordable looping pedal that lets you record up to 10 minutes of high quality audio, just like its just slightly bigger brother, the Rowin LEF-332 Looper. You can also store and upload pre-recorded audio onto the LEF-332 Looper via USB. Controls are easy; there’s a Volume knob and a single footswitch that controls recording, playback, and overdubs. Perfect for practicing or composing at home.
JOYO R-07 AQUARIUS
With multiple built-in delay effects, a tap tempo function, and a looper with five minutes of max recording time, the R-07 Aquarius gives you a ridiculous amount of bang for your buck. The delay comes in eight flavors—Digital, Analog, Tape Echo, Tube Echo, Reverse, Low Bit, Galaxy, and Mod—plus you get dedicated Volume, Tape (Feedback), and Tone controls for tone shaping. The R-07 Aquarius is an R Series pedal, meaning it has cool ambient LED effects built into it.
Digitech Jam Man Express XT
The JamMan Express XT is the easiest-to-use and most compact DigiTech looper yet. DigiTech describes it as the “most full featured compact looper” available. The JamMan Express XT looper loads plenty of handy features into a sturdy, compact, all-metal package. Featuring ten minutes of stereo looping, Jam Sync, Silent Clear, and true-bypass, the Express XT is a welcomed addition to your JamMan XT looping set-up. The revolutionary JamSync function allows you to hook up several units to create a multi-track looping rig.
Rowin Looper
Looper pedals are becoming more and more ubiquitous these days, especially on the pedalboards of solo artists and home recording enthusiasts. Budget guitar effects pedal maker Rowin’s LEF-332 Looper is a compact looping pedal that lets you record up to 10 minutes of audio. You can also export and import loops from and onto the LEF-332 Looper via USB. Controls are easy; there’s a Volume knob and a single footswitch that controls recording, playback, and overdubs.
ZVex Super Ringtone II
The Super Ringtone II is boutique guitar effects company Zvex’s juiced up 16 step version of the original Ringtone sequencer. This insanely versatile ring modulator can deliver everything from subtle, hypnotic detunes through to otherworldly laser battle sounds and all points between. You can use it no matter the time signature you’re playing in by choosing between 16 steps in the sequence. The Super Ringtone II also features tap tempo control, MIDI sync, a hold feature, eight programmable memory banks, and delta speed control.
EBS Retracer
The EBS ReTracer is a full delay workstation crammed into a portable pedal that leaves space for other effects on your pedalboard. It allows you access to various engines with individually adjustable parameters. Build your signature presets and record them at any of the over 200 slots available. You may run the ReTracer in stereo, mono, or dual (true stereo) mode, with Buffered, Tail, or True bypass mode set separately for every sound. The ReTracer boasts comprehensive tap tempo settings and is compatible with MIDI and expression pedals.
TC Helicon VoiceLive 2
With the VoiceLive 2 from TC Helicon, it is more convenient than ever to craft beautiful-sounding vocal harmonies on stage. You can produce as much as eight harmony voices and manage them from your MIDI keyboard, guitar, or even MP3 player. Six effects blocks offer delay, pitch shifting, doubling, distortion, reverb, and megaphone effects. The rugged floor-based VoiceLive2 also incorporates a digitally controlled mic preamp allowing you to set its gain even when you are singing. The Tone algorithm instantly sets EQ, de-essing, and compression features.
Strymon Volante
With the Strymon Volante Magnetic Echo Machine, you enjoy the full gamut of analog-esque echoes—reel-to-reel studio echo, tape echo, and magnetic drum echo. It also serves as a multi-head delay with separate vintage spring reverb and onboard looper. The Volante pedal lets you dial in the vintage vibe, from the organic saturation and soft clipping of overdriven magnetic media to machine speed, head spacing, wear, mechanics, and more. You can get full control over each parameter through MIDI.
Donner Verb Square
Boasting a collection of reverb effects that gives musical color to your tone, you sure get your money’s worth with the Donner Verb Square. It features seven-mode reverberation effects: Mod, Plate, Church, Room, Hall, Spring, and Studio. This incredible pedal consists of Tone, Decay, and E.Level knobs that you can utilize to set the effect tone, select the duration of the reverberation, and determine the effect level respectively. The Verb Square also features an LED indicator, digital circuit design, and true bypass.
Two Notes Le Crunch
Two Notes’ Le Crunch dual channel preamp pedal packs the classic vintage crunch attack of a Marshall amp stack—the defining sound of rock’n’roll. Channel A is pure plexi overdrive, while channel B kicks things up into a higher gear with more gain and a powerful post-gain EQ. These channels can be used independently, in parallel, or cascaded for extreme tonal versatility. Each channel also features its own dedicated control knobs and EQ sections for iron fisted tone tweaking.
TC Electronic G-System
For years, TC Electronic has been a leading creator of various high-quality audio equipment for recording studios. Its G-System is the first comprehensive floor-based guitar system to provide an unparalleled arsenal of effects, integration, and control. The special mix of two DSP sections delivers excellent amp switching, analog loops, floor control, effects, as well as 9VDC power outputs for your pedals to obtain the utmost level of integration possible. You can select from a rack or floor-based setup, determine how the effects are routed, set the footswitch layout, and pick from over 25 onboard effects.
Radial Big Shot Mix
The Big Shot Mix by Radial Engineering lets you blend your instrument’s direct sound with effects like how a professional mixing console allows you to add reverb to a dry vocal. It is configured for demanding guitarists and bassists who wish to introduce excellent effects pedals to their signal path, less the noise and artifacts resulting from cheap buffers and poor circuitry. Similar to other Radial pedals, the Big Shot Mix boasts solid, roadworthy construction and a durable footswitch.
Throne Room Pedals Push To Talk
Tonebox isn’t just about giving guitarists and bass players all the toys they could ever want; we have stuff for vocalists, as well. The Push To Talk Box from Throne Room Pedals is a prime example. It’s an innovative take on an A/B switcher box; instead of an instrument, you plug a mic into its XLR port and use the latching footswitch to switch between channels. You can use it to engage effects on a secondary channel or to talk to your sound tech even during the middle of a performance.
MXR A/B Box
The MXR A/B Box serves as your economic and easy signal switching solution. It lets you route your instrument signal to two different output amp paths. It allows you to change between amps or run them simultaneously with individual effect settings so you can discover your ideal sound. You may employ the Thru jack to connect to an amp, tuner, or other devices that you want to receive a steady signal. The A/B Box is housed within a sturdy die-cast housing with high-quality switches and jacks.
Lehle Sunday Driver SW
The Sunday Driver SW from Lehle is a portable high-end preamp for acoustic and electrical instruments. It allows acoustic guitars, electric guitars and basses, as well as other stringed instruments like cellos, double basses, and violins to unleash their musical potential. Boasting a high-quality JFET technology, the Sunday Driver SW lets you switch between two operation modes: D (Driver) and S (Sunday). In off status, the Sunday Driver SW offers two modes of operation—TB (True Bypass) and TS (True Sound).
MOSKY Mini Loop Box
The Loop Box from budget guitar effects pedal manufacturer Mosky Audio is a compact, no-fuss way to rein in the mass of stompboxes on your pedalboard. Plug your guitar signal into its IN jack and it’ll act as a single switch for all of the pedals you’ve daisy chained together. You can also use the Loop Box to keep two instruments–an electric and an acoustic guitar, for example–into one amp without any switching hassles between songs. Finally, you can also use it to feed your guitar signal into two separate amps.
Mission Engineering VM-Pro (Black)
An incredibly sophisticated volume pedal, the VM-PRO by Mission Engineering addresses several typical issues with volume pedals, which cause mismatching and tone sucking problems. The VM-PRO works with your electro-acoustic, electric, bass, or baritone guitars. It is also compatible with several other electric and acoustic instruments, including steel guitars, electronic keyboards, and instrument microphones like horn mics and harmonica. The VM-PRO features onboard buffers, sparkle control, isolated tuner out, and compatibility switches for utilization with active and passive pickups.
Emerson Custom Concord
Get superb clarity and signal response with the Concord Utility Buffer from Emerson Custom. It will maintain a clear and strong signal for your board. It is equipped with premium audio-grade components to put back the sparkle and clarity, which can sometimes vanish when you utilize long cable runs or multiple effects pedals. You can place the Concord anywhere in your chain for optimal performance. It also includes a bright blue LED that tells you it is working to give you the best tone imaginable.
Mosky Dec Mini
The Dec Buffer Booster from budget guitar effects pedal brand takes its circuit design and tonal cues from the Wampler Decibel+ buffer and boost pedal. It packs two essential pedalboard problem solvers into one compact pedal: excellent, stable signal buffering and a pristine clean boost. Controls are dead simple; you get one knob that controls the gain level and one footswitch. THe Dec Buffer Booster knows what it’s supposed to do and does it well.
Dophix Buffer
Use the Dophix Buffer to prevent signal loss when employing long cables or multiple effects connected in cascade. It may also be utilized as impedance matching for several pedal connections. The Dophix Buffer is extremely useful for thwarting and improving the background noise, increasing the noise/signal ratio. Each Dophix product is different and handcrafted in its Florence laboratory. The Dophix team oversees every stage of production and testing to ensure the best quality. Dophix manufactures high-quality products based on the universally recognized philosophy of “Made in Italy.”
Orange Amp Detonator
Running two amps is an accepted way of capturing bigger tones in the studio and on stage. No matter if it is changing between two amps for their characteristics or employing them simultaneously for vast walls of sounds, professionals have been using this setup for years. The Amp Detonator by Orange is arguably the tiniest active, wholly functional, buffered ABY pedal available. The transformer output was painstakingly engineered to become as transparent as possible, while the two outputs are buffered with a low-noise, linear circuit. Drive lengthy cable to your amplifiers without clarity loss and change quietly between them.
JHS Pedals Little Black Buffer
The Little Black Buffer by JHS Pedals is the remedy for poor guitar sound resulting from employing numerous pedals. Since it gives the perfect input impedance for your rig, you can quickly notice your guitar sound is reinvigorated with a full, natural tone that sounds like you are connected directly into your amp—regardless of how many pedals you utilize. The Little Black Buffer is your ticket to a sound signal chain and a small price to pay for tonal perfection.
TC Electronic Sentry
Enjoy a dynamic, noise-free performance with the Sentry Noise Gate pedal from TC Electronic. Leveraging the groundbreaking multi-band System 6000 algorithms, it provides you with smooth, natural-sounding noise reduction. The Sentry Noise Gate comes packed with a classic hard-gate mode sporting a Return/Send loop for dealing with noisy pedals or utilizing it for creative sidechaining. It consists of controls for Decay, Threshold, and Damp. Keep your rig’s noise in check with the Sentry Noise Gate pedal.
Mooer Noise Killer
Pop the Noise Killer at the end of your pedal chain and say goodbye to annoying buzzes, hisses, and hums. This noise gate pedal from budget stompbox maker Mooer ticks all of the important boxes: it’s tonally transparent, has a wide threshold range that goes from -70dB to +10dB, and has silky smooth gating. You can also set the gating to Hard or Soft with a two-way toggle switch. Set it, forget it, and enjoy a noiseless signal.
Behringer Noise Reducer
Cut all those annoying hums, buzzes, and unwanted noises out of your guitar signal entirely with the Behringer Noise Reducer NR300. You can dial in your perfect response using the Threshold and Decay knobs, use the send and return loop to reduce noise from your other pedals, or even cut out your signal entirely with a single stomp. If you love using guitars with single-coil pickups and high-gain amps but hate all those extra noises that clutter up your signal, this is the pedal for you.
Electro-Harmonix Hum Debugger
Signal hum can be a source of headaches and frustrations for all musicians. Throw a Hum Debugger into your effects chain, though, and you can kick that annoying sound to the curb. This hum eliminator isn’t a noise gate, and neither is it a noise suppressor, but it extracts hums and buzzes from your signal and turns it into dead silence via some sonic voodoo courtesy of Electro-Harmonix. Accurate and precise noise elimination has never been easier to achieve.
Caline The Noise
Any noise in your guitar signal should only be limited to the noise you want to add to it. Cut out any unwanted noises and hums with the Caline CP-39 The Noise, a noise gate pedal that won’t take a big chunk out of both your wallet and your precious pedalboard real estate. Two main control knobs drive the CP-39: a sensitivity knob that dictates at what level the noise gate becomes active and a two-way toggle that lets you choose between a steep volume cut or a smoother, more gradual cut.
Electro-Harmonix The Silencer
Give unwanted signal noise a double-tap to the head with Electro-Harmonix’s The Silencer. This sophisticated noise gate pedal gives you Threshold, Reduction, and Release controls for precise fine-tuning that takes your gear and playing style into account. It doesn’t just help eliminate annoying buzzes and hums, either; the Silencer also expands your pedal routing options. You can use it as an inline noise gate or add it to an effects loop to kill noise from specific pedals.
JOYO O.M.B
Joyo’s OMB Looper and Drum Machine turns you into a one-man band with a single stomp. This single pedal can act as a looper, a drum machine, or a combo looper plus drum machine. The looper function lets you record up to 40 minutes of audio and features unlimited overdubs, auto-align, and count-in. You get seven drum patterns and seven drumbeats in drum machine mode, plus you can add fills to the patterns and use a tap tempo function. The OMB is an R Series pedal, meaning it has cool ambient LED effects built into it.
Singular Sound BeatBuddy Mini
The Singular Sound BeatBuddy Mini is a drummer within a guitar pedal enclosure. It provides entirely hands-free, creative control of the beat. No matter what instrument you use, you can easily transition from verse to chorus, insert fills, throw in drum breaks, add accent hits, and more to yield an unparalleled live drummer effect. Utilized in the music programs of Berklee College of Music and Frost School of Music, the BeatBuddy Mini is arguably the most efficient way to enhance your rhythm and master different genres while improvising and having a great time.
Joyo JAM BUDDY (Orange)
With its pair of built-in 2” speakers packing 4W of output each, the Jam Buddy is Joyo’s solution for musicians looking for a quick way to practice without having to lug along a big and heavy amp. Bluetooth connectivity also lets you connect your phone or media player to the Jam Buddy so you can play along to a song or rhythm track. This floor-based multi-effects unit also features clean and overdrive channels,
Digitech Jamman Solo XT
After inventing looping many years back, the DigiTech JamMan Solo XT gives you the ultimate stereo looping experience. Increase the energy in your performance and gain new inspiration with almost infinite loops. Smooth transitions between looped phrases make the Solo XT an indispensable device for performing and composing. It features ten pre-loaded drum loops from Pat Mastelotto. Enjoy the stereo looping experience you desire from simple backing loops to complex loop layers with your band or by yourself. Polish your performance with Auto-Quantize, Auto-Record, three Stop modes, and adjustable BPMs.
Mooer Micro Drummer
Rock, pop, jazz, R&B, funk, latin, metal, blues, reggae—whatever style of music you play, the Micro Drummer can serve up a pretty authentic drum track emulation for it. This digital drum machine guitar effects pedal from budget stompbox masters Mooer is packed with 121 different drumbeat patterns spread across 11 genres. Just pick a genre with the rotary selector, dial in your preferred volume, speed, and tone, and then use the tap tempo to get the beat you want.
Digitech Jam Man
DigiTech’s JamMan Stereo Looper boasts the ability to save 35 minutes of CD-quality loops within 99 internal memories and an SD memory card expansion slot that allows you to store more than 16 hours of material in an added 99 slots. It also includes reverse playback, true stereo looping, and a mic input making it suitable for DJ applications and backing tracks. The JamMan Stereo has USB connectivity and will sync to the JamManager XT software which organizes and records your JamMan Stereo loops to your Mac or PC.
Other Pedals
Ibanez Weeping Demon
The Ibanez Weeping Demon will have your crowd screaming for more with its wails, cries, shrieks, and seductive siren songs. It is equipped with fine-tuning controls, adjustable wah range, as well as spring and normal footboard action. The Range switch allows you to move between low and high-frequency response. Built using a bomb-proof cast metal chassis, the Weeping Demon is special in that it loads some of the hottest wah features available into one unit.
Rowin Auto Wah
Boutique level auto wah sound at a price that won’t flatten your wallet. The LEF=3804 Auto Wah from budget guitar effects pedal maker Rowin can serve up a wide range of classic wah tones, from a soft, slow wah to a faster, more watery Cry Baby-esque attack. You can dial these in using the dedicated Cutoff, Shape, Reso, and Speed control knobs. The LEF-3804’s Auto Wah’s footswitch also has a secondary function: hold it down to store a parameter to create some interesting layered tones.
Mooer Envelope
Protip: if you want to get all fancy, call a pick attack-sensitive auto-wah an envelope filter. The Envelope guitar effects pedal is budget stomp maker Mooer’s first analog version of this effect. Thanks to its analog circuits, the Envelope serves up a smooth, warm wah tone. It can handle both guitar and bass signals and features sensitivity and tone controls for your sound-shaping needs. You can even coax out a cocked wah effect by rolling the sensitivity setting to0 and turning the Envelope into a static frequency filter.
Morley Mini Maverick Switchless Wah
The Mini Maverick Switchless Wah pedal, now updated with Morley’s iconic trapezoid treadle! The Mini Maverick is all about bringing you big sound and expansive features in a tough, compact chassis ideal for crowded pedalboards. It packs a hybrid punch of vintage and modern wah tones powered by a custom MQ2 inductor. The Mini Maverick features Morley’s whole slate of modern wah innovations: it’s electro-optical, it has True-Tone Bypass Buffer circuitry, and it has a switchless operation.
Dunlop Cry Baby Multi-Wah
Boasting unprecedented versatility, the Dunlop 535Q Cry Baby Multi-Wah pedal gives you control over the most essential parameters, helping you dial in your ultimate wah tone. You can conveniently select the effect’s frequency center, then decide the frequency range the pedal will sweep. It is like having a Cry Baby wah tailored to your tastes. You also get 16dB of boost, six new guitar wah ranges, a durable hardwired on/off switch, and Q dial that lets you shape your wah.
Dunlop Slash Cry Baby Classic
The Cry Baby has been a significant part of Slash’s career, helping him produce his signature epic solos which he weaves into his revolutionary gritty, blues-inspired rock. Dunlop worked closely with him to build the Slash Cry Baby Classic, custom-voiced for the organic, expressive sound which inspired a generation of guitarists. Boasting a custom-wound resonance inductor and tuned to a lower frequency, this wah-wah features a wide sweep and extensive dynamic range. It has two side-mounted blue LEDs displaying the On/Off status, visible from any angle onstage.
Tech 21 Acoustic Fly Rig
The Acoustic Fly Rig from multi effects wizards Tech 21 is a complete set of acoustic performance-focused tools that you can carry around in your backpack. It comes with an effects section that packs built in delay, chorus, and reverb effects and a dedicated analog compressor section for more precise tonal control. Sandwiched between these two is Tech 21’s renowned SansAmp amp emulator, which serves up the warm, natural tones of some of the most legendary amplifiers ever built.
JOYO Analog Chorus
The JF-37 Analog Chorus guitar effects pedal from Joyo comes packed with a classic bucket brigade device chip to give you that warm, analog chorus sound that digital chorus pedals can’t match. It’s quite similar to the iconic Boss CE-2, from the two-knob layout to the rich, lush chorus effects it can produce. The JF-37 Analog Chorus is a sturdy, budget-friendly alternative that can stand toe to toe against the tone of far more expensive chorus pedals.
TC Helicon Play Acoustic
The Play Acoustic by TC Helicon combines everything you need to make a live acoustic performance standout: best-selling guitar effects, pristine backing harmonies, lavish vocal sounds, and innovative processing that makes your six-string sing harmoniously with your voice. It treats your guitar with well-deserved respect. Tailor-made guitar FX gives a delightful touch of magic, and the BodyRez provides you with a fuller, acoustic tone while playing via a PA. The Play Acoustic has been designed and engineered in Canada.
Caline Golden Halo
If you’re looking for a reliable acoustic simulator pedal at a reasonable price point, the Caline CP-35 Golden Halo Acoustic Simulator guitar effects pedal is exactly what you need. You can get superb, incredibly authentic acoustic tones out of your electric guitar via its dedicated Top and Body knobs; the former controls the high end while the latter simulates the resonance of an acoustic guitar’s body. A three-way toggle also lets you choose between Piezo, Jumbo, and Standard simulator modes.
Rowin Ocean Verb
The LEF-3800 Ocean Verb earns its name thanks to the watery reverberations it conjures up. This compact and extremely affordable stompbox from budget guitar effects pedal manufacturer Rowin is a versatile workhorse. It features a full complement of Mix, Tone, and Decay pots for shaping the reverb effect, of which there are three selectable via a three-way toggle switch: Room, Spring, and Shimmer. If you want to add depth and dimension to your tone, you won;t go wrong with the LEF-3800 Ocean Verb.
Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator
Want to dive into a soft and sweet acoustic ballad in the middle of a set but don’t have the slightest inclination to bring along a big and bulky acoustic guitar? The Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator lets you travel light. With its powerful Composite Object Sound Modeling (COSM) technology and four different acoustic simulation modes, you can turn any electric guitar into a variety of warm and bright acoustics using the Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator.
Darkglass Alpha Omega Ultra
The Alpha·Omega Ultra from Darkglass is arguably among the most versatile bass preamps available. It boasts two separate distortion circuits, which let you explore fantastic tonal frontiers while indulging in an immense dynamic range, and a six-band active graphic EQ for creating new sonic textures. The Distortion and Bypass footswitches permit individual use of the EQ and distortion. The Alpha·Omega Ultra also features a switchable ground lift for removing unwanted hum, headphone output for silent practice sessions, and Micro-USB B port for loading new virtual cabinets from your PC or Mac.
Way Huge Pork & Pickle Bass
The Pork & Pickle Bass Overdrive & Fuzz by Way Huge delivers a well-balanced diet of gnarly tones for bassists who want to get down and dirty. This tasty dish serves up a combination of the rich, fatty tones of the Russian Pickle Fuzz and the warm, soft-clipping tones of the Pork Loin Overdrive within one package. Flip the OD/Fuzz toggle switch to change between the two. The Drive, Volume, and Tone knobs do their usual functions, applying to the selected dirt circuit.
Vertex Dynamic Distortion
The Dynamic Distortion by Vertex is a sonic mix of rock ’n’ roll’s two most legendary distortion pedals: the 80s TS Overdrive and 60s Germanium Fuzz. This iconic combination gives you unrivaled touch sensitivity and clean-up with your guitar volume control from sparkly clean to fuzz to overdrive while delivering the full-bodied woolliness of an old-school fuzz and the midrange cut of a vintage TS pedal. The Dynamic Distortion boasts all the benefits of mixing the tonal DNA of these iconic pedals without the drawbacks.
Tom’sline Bass Limiter
When you need to keep your bass sound full and steady, you need a limiter to rein in those wayward spikes in volume. The aptly named Bass Limiter from budget guitar effects maker Tomsline does just that. Designed specifically for handling bottom heavy bass signals, the Bass Limiter comes packed with a wide range limiting ratio. It’s low noise, has low power consumption, and has three dedicated pots for keeping any spiking frequencies in line.
Aguilar Grape Phaser
If you are in the market for a bass phaser that will not zap your low end and is easy to use, check out the Aguilar Grape Phaser. This simple two-knobber produces fat, funky filter effects and liquid-y movement on the fly. The Grape Phaser contains a RATE control that manages your modulation speed and COLOR control that sends a portion of your signal back through the phase-shifting circuit to produce super funky and unique bass sounds. Needless to worry about root notes popping through as its four-stage circuitry maintains your low end.
Tom’sline Bass EQ Mini
Budget guitar effects pedal manufacturer Tomsline’s Bass EQ stomp does exactly what it says on the tin: let you shape the overall EQ and tone of your bass signal. The five EQ bands—62.5Hz, 125Hz, 500Hz, 1KHz, and 4KHz—can each be cut or boosted by up to 18dB. You also get a single Level pot for controlling the overall volume output. Use the Bass EQ to brighten up your sound, build a heftier bottom end, or tame any unwanted frequencies in your signal.
Death By Audio Soundwave Breakdown
Now boasting an external volume control, the Soundwave Breakdown from Death by Audio turns the idea of a screaming fuzz pedal inside out. It leverages reversed matched transistors to achieve its bombastic sound. The very positions of the controls produce entirely different sounds ranging from grind, fuzz, and buzz to bleeps, synth sounds, and more. The Soundwave Breakdown grants you a massive universe of gnarliness and creates the alien to your amp. Be warned though as it is always only grizzled psycho fuzz.
Vox V860
The Vox V860 signifies a new benchmark in guitar volume pedals, giving ultimate tonal purity. This expertly designed unit is a reimagining of the vintage Vox pedal design illustrated by its famed wah pedals. The stylish aluminum enclosure boasts an anodized and blasted finish that is both classy and tough. The pedal mechanism leverages gears with a high tooth count, guaranteeing seamless operation and durability. Each component is entirely hand-wired, reducing any alteration in the tonal character.
Morley PDW-II
The Morley Pro Series 2 Distortion Wah Volume gives you not two but three essential effects in one tank-tough pedal. You get the versatility fo Morley’s well-loved wah and volume combo pedals—a high Q wah and volume control with silky smooth audio taper—plus an independent overdrive circuit for when you need to really push your amp over the edge. Plug it into an overdriven amp or another distortion pedal to give your wah tones an aggressive growl.
Caline Hot Spice
As two pedals in one, the Caline CP-31 Hot Spice Wah/VOL guitar effect pedal is even more budget-friendly compared to Caline’s other, very reasonably priced stompbox offerings. On the wah side, you get a funky, full-sounding wah effect based on the classic Jim Dunlop Cry Baby Wah’s sound. Flick a switch from Wah to Volume mode and you get a smooth action volume pedal that takes up way less space on your pedalboard compared to other expression pedals.
Ernie Ball MVP
The Ernie Ball MVP definitely deserves its “Most Valuable Pedal” name. This volume pedal gives you a silky smooth, super-precise volume sweep that doesn’t lose any high frequencies at any volume level. It’s very versatile, as well, working extremely well with both active and passive electronics. The MVP also features a minimum volume knob that lets you set the open position to have anywhere from 0% to 50% volume, plus a gain boost control lets you set the closed rocker position either to 100% volume or a pretty significant signal boost of up to +20dB.
DOD Mini Volume
The passive DOD Mini Volume pedal provides you with a complete range of volume control, without taking up a lot of pedalboard real estate. Despite its extremely compact package, its rugged steel construction, non-slip rubber base, and gear drive mean there are no strings to break. The Mini Volume boasts the same footprint as most pedals that are double its size and price. It also has a high-quality 500k potentiometer that makes it suitable for all volume pedal applications.
Mission Engineering Chris Broderick Signature SP-1
Sporting Chris’ trademark white finish, the Chris Broderick Signature SP-1 from Mission Engineering is the same SP-1 utilized and loved by numerous guitarists across the globe. The SP-1 consists of two 1/4″ output jacks—one for the switch and another for the expression pedal. You can operate the switch by shoving down on the front with your foot, just like in a standard wah pedal. That is utilized to turn a pedal-driven effect (vibrato or wah) on/off at the pedal itself.
Mission Engineering EP-25K (Black)
Housed in a sleek black chassis, the EP-25K by Mission Engineering is a professional quality, dual-channel pedal intended for utilization with equipment that favors a 25K expression pedal such as Moog, Strymon, TC Electronic, and Eventide. It features a 25K Ohm potentiometer instead of the 10K potentiometer found in the Mission EP-1. It incorporates two outputs that you may utilize to control two expression pedal devices at the same time. The EP-25K is also compatible as an input for the Expressionator.
Moog EP-3
The Moog EP-3 is your trustworthy and robust universal expression pedal built to work with any synthesizer, pedal, or keyboard with an expression or CV input. It boasts an advanced cam system with incredibly seamless performance and durability, a scalable output control for defining the musical range, and a polarity switch ensuring compatibility with non-Moog units. The EP-3 is designed to endure the severity of daily torturing and abuse while delivering the feel and action you need for dead-on musical expression. Pair it with Minitower or Moogerfooger analog effects to discover different dimensions of sonic possibilities.
Dunlop DVP4
Manage your FX parameters and volume without congesting your pedalboard with the Dunlop DVP4. Thanks to its ability to do everything the bigger DVP3 does at half the size, you no longer have to skimp on functionality or durability to conserve space. The DVP4 is just as sturdy and solidly constructed with an aggressive non-slip tread, lightweight aluminum enclosure, and Dunlop’s patented Low Friction Band-Drive for consistent performance and seamless range of motion. For supreme precision and comfort, its rocker tension is adjustable.
Tapestry Audio Bloomery Active Volume Pedal (White)
Save precious pedalboard real estate with the Tapestry Audio Bloomery, an efficient, compact, and user-friendly active volume pedal. It boasts several differences from a standard volume control pedal. It is machined out of steel, getting that tough solid feel. A slide potentiometer is paired with a direct shaft drive, eradicating the need for pesky strings. The active model lets you avoid tone loss at high-end frequencies and preserve a clean instrument tone. With a smooth volume curve, you get a more nuanced pedal sweep.
Fender EXP-1 Expression Pedal
The Fender EXP-1 Expression Pedal manages the volume or amp/effect parameters on the Mustang Floor multi-effects unit as well as Mustang III, IV, and V amps. By stepping on the pedal’s toe end, you can move between Expression and Volume modes. Green and red LEDs show you the mode in use. The EXP-1 allows you exceptional tonal control and delivers a revolutionary way to make your Mustang multi-effects unit or amplifier more expressive, versatile, and exciting.
JOYO Clean Glass Mini
The JF-307 Clean Glass guitar effects pedal from Joyo brings the classic tone of blackface-era Fender amps straight to your feet. As its name suggests, this tiny stompbox does justice to Fender’s classic twangy and clear clean channel sound. There’s also a dedicated Drive knob for when you want to add saturated, sustain-friendly dirt. The JF-306 Night Train is an Ironman pedal, so it’s small enough to fit in your front pocket and features a flip cover to keep your control dial settings safe from stray stomps.
NUX Roctary
The term “Roctory” is combined with polyphonic Octave effects and Rotary speaker simulator. Lots of exceptional guitarists are recognized for their sound and playing skills. Many of them have added the rotary speaker to their rigs. The NUX Roctary is a homage to these icons and their sounds. It gives you adjustable horn and bass, brake, speed, overdrive and all the features regarding rotary effects with polyphonic octave effects. You can utilize the Roctary to capture distinctive organ sounds.
Rowin Shaper
Only a few musicians can afford a home recording studio with 11 different amps in it. It’s not just the price, either; you’d have to find room for all of those amps, too. What most musicians can afford, though, is the tiny little LEF-3802 Shaper from budget guitar effects pedal maker Rowin. This very compact and extremely affordable cab sim stomp comes packed with 11 distinct high quality cab models, making it a perfect tool for the musician on a budget.
Keeley Monterey
A must-have for anyone on a quest to emulate Jimi Hendrix’s legendary tones. Keeley’s Monterey multi-effects pedal combines a number of Hendrix’s favorite effects into one roadworthy bag of tricks. You get a rotary speaker, a vibe effect, and an auto-wah, plus a heaping helping of thick, highly responsive fuzz and variable octave up and down functions. Got an external expression pedal? Plug it in for manual control over the wah or the modulation speed.
Joyo Boogie Master
The JF-309 Boogie Master guitar effects pedal from Joyo is a Mesa Boogie amp sim that gives you that trademark “roided-out Marshall” sound without having to spend over a thousand bucks on an actual Mesa Boogie amp. Crank the Drive knob up for a high-gain Mesa sound or stay clean to hew closer to a Boogie. The JF-309 Boogie Master is an Ironman pedal, so it’s small enough to fit in your front pocket and features a flip cover to keep your control dial settings safe from stray stomps.
Mooer TresCab
The TresCab lets you plug directly into a soundboard without sucking the life out of your tone. This speaker sim from budget guitar effects pedal maker Mooer even helps make your tone sound full by way of five different cab type sounds: small 1×8″ and 1×10″ combo amps, open 1×12″ and 2×12″ cabs, and a closed-back 4×12″ stack. You also get two additional modes for fine-tuning: EQ mode for sculpting high and low frequencies and Mic mode for adjusting the mic placement.
Emma Electronic OKTO-NOJS
The Okto-Nøjs from Emma Electronic gives you two pedals in one! It combines dead-on, fast-tracking Octave down (the Okto) with a dynamically sensitive, synth-like Octave-Fuzz (the Nøjs). Both circuit sides are all-analog and boast true bypass switching and high-quality buffers to give you the best sound quality possible. The Okto Nøjs transforms your signal into pure subsonic fire. It allows you to enter a world of never-heard-before tones. You may use the Octaver and Fuzz together or individually.
Dwarfcraft Devices HAX2
Dwafcraft Devices has mastered the art of crafting guitar effect pedals that do many things extremely well, and the HAX2 ring modulator is no different. Lightyears ahead of the original HAX circuit it’s based on, the HAX2 combines ring modulation, an envelope follower, and a filter in one sturdy stompbox that can serve up everything from deep tremolo-style effects and psychedelic modulation to a pleasant, sparkly chorus. Four dials and four toggle switches give you all the control you could ever need.
Keeley Synth 1
The Synth 1 guitar effects pedal from Keeley is a monophonic synth pedal that reads your signal’s pitch and doubles it using simple synth waveforms. Dial in anything from an instant synth effect to volume swell-style layering using the Filter and Attack knobs, then use the Blend dial, the three-position wave shape selector, and the fuzzed-out Chaos switch to create cool and unique sounds you can use to great effect. Connect an expression pedal for even more control.
Electro Harmonix Superego Synth Engine
Part synth, part sustain pedal, and part sampler—the Electro-Harmonix Superego Synth Engine is a truly versatile and unique guitar effects pedal. Make your guitar sound like a synthesizer. Give your tone insane levels of sustain. Sustain a chord then freeze it so you can solo over it. If you’re looking to break through to new and unexplored soundscapes, this stompbox is your ticket. The Superego Synth Engine features all-analog circuitry and comes with a built-in effects loop.
T-Rex Quint Machine
While standard octave doubling is nice, throwing in a fifth up and providing all three modulated sounds with a separate volume control unlocks a different world. The Quint Machine by T-Rex Engineering lets you emulate an organ, 12-string, or synth sound. Eliminate your dry signal and sound like a synth merely possessing that lonely heart. Designed to give you more, the Quint Machine will keep you discovering new sounds for years. It consists of +1 Fifth, +1 Octave, -1 Octave, and Mix knobs.
Earthquaker Devices Data Corrupter
EarthQuaker Devices’ Data Corrupter puts your guitar signal through a meat grinder, mangling it beyond all recognition—and in this context, that’s a good thing! A modulated monophonic PLL circuit turns your tone into a three-voice synth with a heaping helping of thick fuzz, and with six dials, two rotary selectors, and two toggle switches you get all the tone sculpting tools you’ll ever need. If you really want your guitar to stop sounding like an actual guitar, plug it into the Data Corrupter and watch the sonic sparks fly.



















































































































































































































