A glossary to end all glossaries!
Glossary
Want to know which pedal does what? We asked the man, John Tron Davidson of ‘Heavy Repping’, to write some glorious words to help you figure out your next necessity.
Bitcrusher
Not just for drum machines – let these sample-mangling units lead you to other worlds with glitchy ease!
Boost
Push your leads, blast your front end or slam into that beasting chorus through this abundance of boosters.
Chorus
Channel the glorious slush of the 80’s or add a delicate extra depth to your chords. Chorus isn’t just a sound, it’s a lifestyle.
Compressor
Deepen your clean dynamics and widen the heft of your drives. Essential for any genre, possessing a character all their own.
Delay
From subtle slapback to hurtling oscillation, delay matters. Behold this diverse crop of later-makers.
Distortion
Saturate your signal and rend the Earth in twain with overdrive’s thuggish cousin. Pedals to fuel your riffs for all eternity!
EQ
Tune your rig to a new room, beef up your bottom end or tame unruly treble immediately with the finest in equalisation. A must!
Flanger
Jet-like rasps, throbbing howls and genteel undulation can be yours if you submit to flange. This could change your life!
Freeze
Hold up! Grab a snapshot of your sound and hold it in stasis. Drone forever!
Fuzz
Rasping, rampant and relentlessly cool – find your path through the genesis of effects. There’s always room for more fuzz!
Glitch
Demolish your carefully crafted sonics into an unrecognizable, pixellated clatter. Maths is fun!
Harmony
Unsatisfied with your lead lines? Clone yourself in a different pitch and become all of Thin Lizzy.
Looper
Back yourself, record that great idea or weave towering dimensions of sound. Every drone should have one!
Multi-Effects
One pedal, one job? Pah! Stride across the soundscape with these many-faceted units. Maximise your precious real estate and get creative.
Noise Gate
Neaten those peaks and gain inter-note serenity from these cracking noise gates. It’s the little things that make the biggest difference.
Overdrive
Whether it’s a light lift or deep sag, everyone needs an overdrive. Check out this panoply of push!
Phaser
Not just for running with the devil, phase gives you a classy whoosh or a psychedelic sheen. A reggae necessity!
Pitch Shifters
Drop your pitch and look at your piece in a new light, or hurl your E down an octave for giant riff excursions.
Reverb
The quintessential atmosphere-setter, reverb is everything from a tiny room to the infinite depths of space. Equip yourself immediate!
Synth
Leave the sound of your guitar behind altogether with these noble examples of synthesis. Live your (Tangerine) dream!
Tremolo
Pulsing surf, down-home country and chattering square cuts live inside the world of tremolo. Subtle or shattering – your choice is the right one.
Vibe
Add the magical swirl of lush, organ-like texture to your sound with some vibes, or push it right out for an unhinged shake.
Vibrato
Wobble those notes or bend them out of existence with a healthy dose of vibrato. Like tape, without the pencil.
Wah
Wah-k this way to the sounds of Curtis Mayfield, Frusciante and more. Perfect for solos and so much more!