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  1. Guitars
  2. Guitar Pedals

The best guitar effects pedals of all time

News
By The MusicRadar Team last updated 3 February 2020

You'll never get bored with these on your board

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The best guitar effects pedals of all time

The best guitar effects pedals of all time

What is the best effects pedal of all time? Issue 336 of Guitarist magazine was a bumper celebration of all things stompbox, with the team compiling a list of the best guitar effects pedals ever produced.

Whether for innovation, influence, sound, sheer popularity, or all of the above, each and every unit that made the cut is a tone-shaping tool worthy of a place on a pro pedalboard.

Click onwards to read about - and in many cases hear - the greatest guitar effects known to man or woman, split neatly into three categories: drive pedals, delay/echo units and modulation and filters.

Page 1 of 4
Page 1 of 4
The 42 best overdrive, distortion and fuzz pedals of all time

The 42 best overdrive, distortion and fuzz pedals of all time

Dirtbox lovers and FX addicts of the world unite!

See the 42 best overdrive, distortion and fuzz pedals of all time here.

Page 2 of 4
Page 2 of 4
The 17 best delay pedals and echo units of all time

The 17 best delay pedals and echo units of all time

From analogue and digital stompboxes to tape echoes.

See the 17 best delay pedals and echo units of all time here.

Page 3 of 4
Page 3 of 4
The 33 best modulation and filter pedals of all time

The 33 best modulation and filter pedals of all time

Flangers, chorus stompboxes, tremolos, wah-wahs and more!

See the 33 best modulation and filter pedals of all time here.

Page 4 of 4
Page 4 of 4
The MusicRadar Team
The MusicRadar Team
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Read more
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MXR EVH Modern High Gain: this classy, red high-end stompbox was co-designed with the late Eddie Van Halen in 2015.
MXR's high-gain Eddie Van Halen collab headlines Jim Dunlop's fresh pedal drop – and there's an Iron Maiden Killers Cry Baby too
 
 
Wampler Golden Jubilee: the sparkly-green stompbox has gold anodized dials and two channels of drive to play with, placing classic Plexi and Mesa-style sounds into a compact housing.
Love hotrodded Plexi crunch and Mesa high-gain drive? Wampler’s Golden Jubilee serves up both in one sparkly green stompbox
 
 
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“Evocative organ sounds and slower, gentler revolutions with a distinctive flavour”: Crumar Burn rotary speaker simulation pedal review
 
 
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Love hotrodded Plexi crunch and Mesa high-gain drive? Wampler’s Golden Jubilee serves up both in one sparkly green stompbox
 
 
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Could the Line 6 Helix Stadium Floor be a serious rival to the Quad Cortex?
 
 
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Behringer clones the Lovetone Ring Stinger, a cult classic ring mod/fuzz pedal heard on Radiohead's Kid A
 
 
Line 6 Helix Stadium XL
"The tones may not quite be best of the lot, but it's comfortably the easiest and most enjoyable modeller to use": Line 6 Helix Stadium XL review
 
 
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