DISTORTION



 
Pretty much self explanatory, distortion pedals make your guitar sound, well, distorted. Jimi Hendrix loved running several pedals in sequence, like a fuzz, a wah and a "Uni-Vibe" (which we'll discuss in a bit). 



 


WAH PEDALS
 

 
Vox has reissued its classic wah pedal, while newer models are available from Tech 21 (the "Killer Wail") and Dunlop.


 


 DELAY
 
 
Early rock music used tape-based delays to produce everything from fast "slapback" echoes to the wild, multiple delays produced by units such as Roland's Space Echo. 





 CHORUS
 
 
The original effect was produced by the Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, though later effects would add multiple detunings and delays to produce a rich, glossy animation. 


 

FLANGER

 
 


Eventually, the effect was duplicated using advanced digital delays set to extremely short delay times and inverting the signal's phase. 


 
 PHASER



The groovy swirling effect is all over the first two Van Halen albums. Early Phasers were supposed to recreate the complex sound of a B-3 Leslie cabinet, which had a rotating horn and a spinning drum under a 15-inch woofer. 


 
UNI-VIBE
Jimi Hendrix loved the original Uni-Vibe, which was sort of a rudimentary chorus effect with some detuning effect similar to vibrato. 


COMPRESSOR



This is a classic studio effect that found its way into various stomp boxes in an effort to increase sustain. The earliest units were fairly noisy, but modern compressors have added noise gates that cut off the signal once it reaches a particular level. 





AUTO-WAH
Best known in its earliest incarnation in the Mu-Tron III Envelope Follower, which was actually part auto-wah and part triggered filter. 


MULTI-EFFECTS

 
The king of effects boxes is the multi-effect pedal, which can include everything above and a bunch of stuff that hasn't even been categorized yet. These are available in all flavors from basic to complex. And by complex, we mean chaining so many effects that it doesn't even sound like a guitar any more. 



Check these guitar pedals at Guitar Emporium Online