Top 3 Guitar Effects Pedals for all Guitarists (Review)

Top 3 Guitar Effects Pedal

What to know about these guitar effects pedals:

You will learn what the top 3 guitar effects pedals are. What makes them great for all guitar players, and why they are the top 3 effects pedals. Then how each one works to create the sound you want to hear when you plug in your guitar.

Do you want to sound like your favorite band or guitar player? Maybe you have been playing for a while, and need some tools to bring out the Guitarist in you. Then this is the article for you. You will see why these three pedals are a must have for your arsenal of bag of tricks. So hang on to your boot straps while we review the Top 3 guitar effect pedals.

Capture all the Sounds from the 80’s Forward with the M5, one of Line 6 Guitar Effects Pedals 

Top 3 Guitar Effects Pedals for all Guitarists. Click here for current price on Amazon. 

Line 6 M5The Line 6 M5 Stompbox guitar effects pedal is a compact box with over 100 stompbox models. Which allows you to easily tap into distortion, delay, reverb, filters and  modulation effects.

Maybe you have never heard of line 6, but not only do they make the Line 6 M5 guitar effects pedal, but this is a company that is a manufacturer of digital modeling guitars, amplifiers, and related electronics. Line 6 a company that has been around since 1996. There products stand the test of time.

What makes the Line 6 M5 one of the top guitar effects pedals around is, it has so many effects all rolled up into one nice size package.

Why the Line 6 M5 Modeling stompbox is one of the top 3 Guitar Effects Pedals

  • The Line 6 M5 has over 100 built in affects, including 19 different delay models.
  • 29 different distortion, EQ,  and compression models.
  • 23 different modulation modules.
  • 26 different filter models .
  • 12 reverb models.
  • There is a built in tuner
  • A customizable tap tempo button.

See what other guitarists are saying about the Line 6 M5. Click the link to get the review on Amazon.


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Line 6 M5 basic operation 

Line 6 simplicity, makes the M5 a top guitar effect pedal. Plus capture sounds like Eddy Van Halen, Slash and many other guitar gods.

  •  First off you get a nice display screen that will show off all the settings for selected effects. When an effect is selected the display illuminates a color. This makes looking at the display at a glance, and knowing what you have preset.
  • The colors of the effect is displayed as such:
  1. Distortion – Yellow
  2. Delay – Green
  3. Modulation – Blue
  4. Filter – Purple
  5. Reverb – Orange

Then you have two knobs one to select the effect and the other to edit current effect settings. Lets take a look at the control knobs.

Model Select 

Again Simple as 1, 2, 3, that’s why this is a great guitar effects pedal. (also the Effects).

Just as you may have guest the “model select” does just that. You can press in the knob to select an effect type. There are 5 effect types to choose from. Which are Distortion Delay Modulation Filter and Reverb.

After selecting an effect then you can turn the knob, and scroll to find the available effect models.

Link to Reverb and Get the Latest Gear

Parameter Knob

The parameter knob allows you to tweak the the effect settings that are shown in the display. You can move the effect in the display panel. Even more than that Fine tune the effect by holding down the Tap and turning the parameter knob at the same time. It doesn’t get any easier than that! Click the link to buy the Line 6 M5 guitar effect pedal from Amazon. 

Tap Knob 

A great part of the guitar effects pedal is the Tap knob. This allows you to adjust the tempo for all the Delay effects, most of the Modulation effects and some of the filter effects. Lets look at how this adjustment is made.

  • Tap Tempo for Delay and Modulation – Turn the middle top row of Parameter knob.
  • Filter Tap Tempo – is adjusted by turning the left bottom row of the Parameter knob. Once you’re in tap tempo control mode, turn the knob to select one of the  available note values. Note that when this knob is maxed out it switches to control mode.
  • Tap the tap control two times and all the effects will change their time,speed and tempo. To match the tempo you tapped.
  • To stop the Tap Tempo operation for the effect you selected simply turn the knob to Max.

Note:  Parameters set to tap tempo are not affected by expression pedal operation.

Click to buy the Line 6 M5 Stompbox at Amazon.

Tuning Too!

When you press the Tap control and hold it you enter the tuner mode. All the effects will be bypassed. You can set the reference frequency by using the lower left parameter knob.

Use the lower right parameter knob to select either audio bypass or mute audio. Then to exit the “tuner” mode press the on/off or Tap to exit.

The On/Off turns the effects on or off. When the unit is turned on the footswitch will be lit up.

Presets 

There are plenty of settings. To enter the preset mode simply press the Tap and the on/off at the same time. There are 24 presets from the factory already loaded onto the M5. The display shows three presets at a time with the already selected one in the middle. For example:

  • 01 Slap Back Delay
  • 02 Analog Chorus
  • 03 Particle Verb

By pressing Tap you will advance to the next setting or to go back press the on/off. Turning the Model Select knob will allow you to scroll through the presets. Press down on the Model select knob and commit the highlighted preset to performance mode.

Saving, Naming, and Arranging Presets on the Line 6 M5 is easy. Another reason it’s one 0f the Top 3 Guitar Effects Pedals

Saving presets on the Line 6 M5 guitar effects Pedal is easier than ever. First off you can customize, save and rename your presets. Just as easy rename the factory presets, making it easier for you to remember which ones are your favorites.

The Steps to save a preset: 

  1.  Press and hold the Model select knob for about 2 seconds. Then turn the top right Parameter knob to select the preset location. (1-24). This way you can save them in order of popularity for your use.
  2. To rename your new preset use the Center parameter knob.  Press model select to choose through four character sets (all caps, lower-case, numerical, and symbols). Then use the knob to scroll through the set. Once you have renamed the preset hold the model select for about 2 min. to save the preset. Then it returns to performance mode.

Link to Reverb and Get the Latest Gear

This Special offer at Amazon is for the Line 6 M5 Guitar effects pedal comes with the Multi effects pedal, and 4 cables. Click the link to Amazon for the price.


 The Line 6 M5 One of the Top 3 Guitar Effects Pedals has a Back Panel

See what else the back panel of the M5 guitar effects pedal has to offer.

Rear Connections

  1. Power – Connect the power supply here. Which is included a 9VDC 500mA Power Supply.
  2. Expression Pedal – Standard 1/4 line in cable connection. Compatible with standard expression pedals. The Line 6 Pedal expression
    pedal is a passive 10K ohm mono linear taper pot.
  3. Stereo input– Use when connecting your guitar or other mono source. L mono input.
  4. Mono output– Use L mono output for output.
  5. Midi in/out– Allows you to remote control the preset changes, Expression pedals and Tap Tempo. Also receive preset data via  Midi System.

Watch a Video Demo of the Line 6 M5 in action.

Tough as nails, easy to use and ready to go, toss M5 Stompbox Modeler into your gig bag to take advantage of the single pedal stompbox solution. Save the world one effect at a time.


Link to Reverb and Get the Latest Gear

Play the Rhythm and Lead with this Guitar Effects Pedal a Great Practice Tool for the Avid Guitarist 

Ditto Looper guitar effects Pedals

Ditto By TC Electronic

It is easy to make great Layered performances when you have the Ditto Looper Pedal in your bag of tricks. If you are a no nonsense sort of guitarist you will want the Ditto. With just a single loop dial control makes it easy. With TC Electronic analog dry signal you will notice the great sound quality of the Ditto Dry Patch leaving your tone unprocessed.

Which means what your guitar signal puts in is what you get out of the ditto. The Ditto looper pedal is ready to perform when you are.

As a result of TC Electronic making a pedal with the Guitarist in mind. They made the Ditto looper Pedal. It is intuitive and takes up vary little space on your pedal board.

Ditto Looper a half a minute View

Looking for easy way to loop? Then look here at the Ditto looper Pedal

Power up Ditto Looper  – Connect a power supply.
Record – Tap footswitch once.
Switch to playback – Tap footswitch again.
Undo/Redo last recording – Press and hold footswitch.
Stop – Double-tap footswitch.
Stop and delete the loop–  Double-tap and hold footswitch.
Resume playback – Tap footswitch again.
Delete the loop – Press and hold footswitch
(when Ditto Looper is disengaged).


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Ditto Guitar effects pedals Input and Output Controls

  1. Standard power Supply – Ditto Looper requires a 9 V power supply providing
    100 mA.
  2. Audio input- standard 1/4 inch jack mono cable. Connect your guitar here.
  3. Audio output– Standard 1/4 output jack. Connect this jack to your amplifier.
  4. Footswitch – Control all functions of looping. (record, playback, undo/redo, delete)
  5. Loop Level Knob – Controls the (volume) level of your loops.
  6. USB Connect- allows you to transfer software to update the Ditto when connected to your computer.

Working With Loops is Easy with the Ditto Looper Pedal

Ditto guitar effects pedal makes it so easy to loop. Lets look how easy it is to record your own loop.

Recording Your first loop 

  • Pressing the foot switch one time starts the recording. When the LED illuminates in red this indicates the Ditto is in record mode.
  • Press the footswitch again at the end of the loop, the LED will Illuminate Green. The Ditto will loop continuously. The LED will blink when the Ditto gets to the start of the loop/ The loop can be as long as 5 minutes.

Overdubbing

  • After Looping if you want to overdub or record another loop then press the footswitch again when the origional loop is playing. The LED turns red to indicate Ditto is in record mode. After you have finished recording press the footswitch again to stop the recording.

You can record as many overdubs as you like. Ditto gives you an  unlimited amount of overdubs.

Undo Delete

undo/delete the last recording.

  • Simply press the footswitch for about 1.5 seconds to Delete the last take. The LED will blink in 2 rapid successions, and the last take will be deleted.

Redo Restoring a Previous Deleted Take

  • If you delete the last take, but you want it back. No problem simply press and hold the footswitch for 1.5 seconds. The LED will blink 2 times, and the take will be restored.

How to set the Loop Playback

Adjust the loop level knob to the right or left adjusts the loop playback level. This knob only controls the loop playback level and has no influence over your instrument.

Ditto FAQ

  • Q Where to place the Ditto guitar effects pedal in my effect chain?
  • A Place the Ditto Looper pedal at the end of the signal chain to get the best results.
  • Q Where can I purchase the Ditto Looper Pedal?
  • A  Click the link to buy the Ditto Looper through the manufacturer on Amazon.
  • Q Whats the Max number of over dubs I can have?
  • Ditto Looper allows an unlimited amount of overdubs.
  • Q How much loop time can I get out of Ditto Looper?
  • A Ditto Looper provides five minutes of looping time.
  • I changed my mind! How do I restore the part I just
    removed using the undo feature?
  • A Press and hold the footswitch on Ditto Looper while it is
    playing back your recorded loop. The part you previously
    undid will be restored.

What are people saying about the Ditto?

  • Nice Little Pedal, As most I did some Google searches for looper peddles to see what was available and what other musicians found useful. It soon became evident that the Ditto Looper was a favorite for a reliable practice looper.
  • Great Little looper, Finally a looper that simply loops, without all the bells and whistles. Extremely easy to use and excellent results.
  • Awesome! – Incredibly simple looper. I do not use it in live applications. I only use it for practice and writing. Great quality.

Just a few of many reviews from Musicians and guitarists like you, who find that the Ditto is worth every penny.

Click the link to See the reviews on Amazon for the Ditto Looper Pedal .


Obsessive Compulsive Drive  OCD Fulltone Guitar Effects Pedal

Obsessive Compulsive Drive guitar effects Pedals by Fulltone

Boost your sound with this great distortion pedal

If your looking for a true bypass quality guitar effects pedal you will want to have an obsessive compulsive drive pedal

OCD is a Mamath sounding overdrive pedal. This pedal is really touch sensitive which makes it great for all settings. The setup is simple:

At the bottom is an on/off switch that is true bypass. Then center knob is the tone control that gives a lot of flexibility to brighten up a dark sounding amp or by contrast tame a really bright amp. The tone control has excellent voicing.

There is a lot of head room on the volume control knob, plenty of gain control. Of course the drive knob that sounds great in several settings, or cranked all the way up. Then there is an Hp, Lp switch that stands for low peak and high peak. Low peak gives you your tone that you have. High peak gives you a boosted high and mid boosted volume and a little more gain. Fulltone describes the HP as a British sound.

The OCD Pedal differs from other Guitar effects pedals due the fact that the Dynamic range is more. Meaning depending if you pick hard or soft will give a more natural wider range of distortion with less compression.

Features of the Fulltone OCD Guitar Effects Pedal 

  • Internally selectable True-Bypass or Enhanced BypassTM
  • Fulltone 3PDT footswitch
  • Drive Knob: Turn clockwise for more distortion. Below 10 o’clock more cleaner sounds, and boosting your amps inputs.
  • Volume knob– Controls the amount of signal that leaves the pedal.
  • HP/LP Switch– High peak increased the distortion throughout the drive knob range. Like a British sound like Vox and Marshall. Lp-  low peak you get your sound of your guitar and amp.
  • Tone Knob: This knob affects the high frequencies. Turn the knob counter clockwise and get smoother high gain lead sounds. Turning this knob clockwise you get a more cut and less compressed feel.
  • DC Power Option– The pedal can be ran on 9v battery or any voltage between 9 and 18 volts DC power. With a standard 2.1mm x 5.5mm  barrel plug with “Negative to Center Pin” configuration.

Click for current price on OCD by Fulltone Guitar Effects Pedal on Amazon today.


Frequently  bought together

DC Power Supply 

Guitar Effects Pedals power supply
Guitar effects pedals instrument cable Buy the Planet Waves instrument Cable Right Angle Plug, 0.5 feet long a 3 pack


If your looking for a great sounding overdrive pedal OCD is the way to go. Click the link to get the price from Amazon on the Obsessive Compulsive Drive Pedal OCD, by Fulltone.


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Source

Line 6.com

Sweatwater.com

Sweatwater.com

Ditto 

TcElectronic.com/Support

Fulltone

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