Guitar Classics – The Joy of FX 2019

Regardless of your pedal preferences, it surely won’t have escaped your attention that in recent years, there’s been a revolution going on in guitar-effects to rival those in the disparate but parallel worlds of craft beer and modular synthesis.

The world’s boutique makers have been warming up their soldering irons and putting in the late nights to deliver us a truly unprecedented choice of innovative stompboxes. Nowadays, if you can imagine a guitar effect, you can bet someone, somewhere will be working hard to make it a stompable reality – read our Builder Profiles to find out what some of these pioneering pedalmakers have in store.

With such an overwhelming number of pedals on offer, which should you buy next? Our monster Top 50 Effects In The World Today feature ranges from spectacular single-function vintage-style units all the way through to the very latest ultra-creative guitar-synth hybrids.

Of course, a great many of the effects that make up this exciting new crop are standing on the shoulders of the giants of the past – and in our rundown of the all-time greats, we celebrate the timeless and much-imitated machines that altered the course of rock ’n’ roll history.

Elsewhere, our All About features explain the distinctions between distortion, fuzz and overdrive and help you sort your phasers from your flangers, while dispelling some myths along the way. And finally, we take a look at the pedalboards of some high-profile guitarists for an insight into how the professionals sculpt their sounds. Thanks for reading and enjoy your romp through the stompers…