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Pedals Week 2026: Guitarists are contrary beasts. We spend hours honing tones, then declare it’s all in the hands. Pine for a simpler time, while excitedly downloading firmware updates. Form unbreakable bonds with gear, while simultaneously looking over our shoulder at the next shiny object. It’s part of the fun.
Sometimes, then, I think the most telling way to judge gear is just to see what has actually made enough of a difference to stay with us as players and writers – to set up residence in a little bit of our musical brains.
With Pedals Week in full swing, I set about badgering the inboxes of Guitar World’s hard-working staffers, demanding responses to the somewhat tenuous brief of ‘the pedal that changed me’.
To their credit and my surprise, they did not immediately get together and demand my dismissal – instead, their responses have resulted in a bunch of tips, insights and a little window into the slightly unhinged consciousness of the GW team.
Damian Fanelli, Editor-in-Chief – Fender ’63 Reverb reissue
This big brown box entered my life in 2004, when my band, Mister Neutron, didn’t know if we were destined for They Might Be Giants-inspired indie rock or full-on, Dick Dale-inspired instrumental surf-rock. You know, the usual dilemma for New Jersey bands in 2004.
But, as soon as I plugged into the ’63 reissue, my TMBG aspirations packed their witty little bags and never returned. The seas parted before me, leaving a small walkway between two restless 90-foot waves. I walked forward about 15 steps when suddenly the walkway disappeared, the waves crashed down upon me, and I was awash in gloriously lush tube-driven spring reverb. Mister Neutron dived into the world of surf, released three albums, toured quite a bit and even scored an alt-radio hit in Ohio.
But is the ’63 Reverb even a pedal? Yes and no. It’s a big brown practice-amp-sized box that does the job of a pedal, but — because it was invented when pedals weren’t a thing — it looks more like a pipefitter’s lunchbox. Luckily, there are now plenty of normal-sized spring reverb pedals that’ll make you feel like you’re drowning. In a good way!
Michael Astley-Brown, Digital Editor-in-Chief – DigiTech Whammy
I was about to turn 14, and there was only one thing I wanted for my birthday: a DigiTech Whammy pedal. At last, I could perform songs from my favorite bands – Rage Against the Machine and Muse – with the same siren squeals.
But as I have grown as a player over the past 20 years, so too has the way I use the Whammy. It’s very rare you’ll find me dialing in the two-octave-up Killing in the Name death-screech anymore. The octave up/down blend has become my perennial sidekick – a cheat code whose glitchy warble transforms on-the-verge-of-cheese leads into something edgier, more alternative.
Just about every song I have recorded with my band Maebe features the Whammy in some capacity. It has become my voice on the instrument. I have had countless, painstakingly wired pedalboard setups in my lifetime, but the Whammy has been the sole constant. I could gig without it, but it just wouldn’t sound like me.
Jimmy Brown, Senior Music Editor – Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere (MK1)
If there’s one pedal that has inspired my guitar playing more than any other, it’s the original Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere (MK1).
The thing I love most about this pedal, other than the impressively authentic way it emulates the sound and texture of a real Leslie rotating speaker cabinet better than any other pedal I’ve ever tried or heard, is its breaker button, which gradually slows down the low and high rotors (which ramp up and down at different speeds, just like the spinning woofer drum and tweeter in a real Leslie cabinet).
The breaker button is a momentary switch, which means it slows the modulation speeds to a complete halt if you keep your foot pressing on it for more than a few seconds. As soon as you lift your foot off the button, the low and high rotors begin ramping up to full speed again, with the high rotor (emulating the spinning horn tweeter in a Leslie cabinet) accelerating more quickly than the low rotor, which emulates the massive drum with a hole cut in the side that spins around a stationary woofer speaker.
To me, there’s nothing as musically expressive as the sonic magic of the “ebb and flow” that happens during the acceleration and deceleration of the trippy, swirling, phase-y tremolo and Doppler effect of a two-way rotary speaker effect. I’ll often play an entire ballad, such as Thank You by Led Zeppelin, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds by the Beatles or my own capo-5 guitar arrangement of The Eagles’ Desperado with my foot on the breaker button the entire time, using it to create a quasi-rubato effect without actually slowing down or speeding up what I’m playing.
The pedal is big, heavy and expensive, and it requires a special 12-volt AC power supply. But to me it’s worth keeping on my pedalboard, more than any other pedal. It’s the ultimate expression pedal and my secret weapon.
Rob Laing, Reviews Editor – Boss DM-101 Delay Machine
I’m not an analog snob – I’m a pragmatist. So modeling works for me, but I appreciate why a player would insist on a tube amp. But one area of delay I love… well that’s an exception. There are lots of great digital delay pedals but the Boss Delay Machine reminded me that nothing beats warm, slightly wild bucket brigade analog delay.
And I really think this is the final destination for it – this black and chrome beauty is packing eight BBD chips and it’s using ‘em. It sounds glorious and with 12 varied modes, each with variations, I’m still using it as a creative tool with endless possibilities. Oh, and if you have a stereo rig you really are in for a treat.
Paul Riario, Tech Editor – MXR Phase 90
When I was a young, budding guitarist with my very first electric guitar and amplifier, the next step in my journey was to color that sound with an effect. Was it going to be a chorus? Nah, too boring. Delay? That was still a mystery to me. Distortion? Overdrive? Pass. My amp already handles this.
Seeking to replicate the cool onboard phase shifter from my bandmate’s Peavey Deuce amp, I initially picked up a Boss Phaser. However, its piercing, square-wave phase left me uninspired.
It wasn’t until I eventually discovered the venerable MXR Phase 90 that all my swirly dreams came true. Yes, the day the Phase 90 landed on my pedalboard, all the mysteries of the Divine and supernatural made sense – “Oh, that’s how Eddie Van Halen did that!?!” was a consistent, resounding cry from me.
Using its solitary Speed knob, I’ve continuously adjusted it to shift from a gentle sweep to an increasingly dramatic swirl. Whether delivering a warm, chewy texture for solos, throbbing rhythmic stabs, or acting as subtle as an F-15 shattering the sound barrier, its lush, accelerated swoosh always satisfies. Word of advice: For a genuinely organic tone, the original “Script logo” version is the one to get.
Matt Parker, Deputy Editor – Danelectro Black Licorice
At some point around the age of 18, dipping a toe into stompboxes, I ordered up a set of fun-looking Danelectro pedals with weird names, like the PB&J Delay, the Milkshake Chorus and Bacon and Eggs pedal amp (which literally had a speaker in the pedal). They came in a fetching purple plastic carry case (complete with a pretty much useless tuner), had shells of bright moulded plastic, and sounded so much better than they had any right to.
The best of the bunch was the Black Licorice ‘Beyond Metal’, an utterly unhinged high-gain distortion and octave effect. As an indie rock-type, I was not dropping Dimebag riffs on the regs, so every time I hit the sponge-y footswitch it was a ride-the-tiger moment: I never knew what it would do next. The tiny controls made it pretty impossible to commit to a specific setting. Live, it would feed back with a glorious, anarchic bloom that made me whoop.
It got me playing and writing differently, too. I began leaning on more arpeggiated melodies that played well with its octave tracking. I wrote my favorite self-penned riff on it, and those intervals are still a big part of my playing, even now. For an all-black pedal, it had a truly colorful character.
Jackson Maxwell, Operations Editor – Boss DS-1
When I first started hacking away on the guitar, my heroes were alt-rock wizards like Jonny Greenwood and Kevin Shields. Because of them, I knew what a guitar pedal was, but I thought that they were the domain of six-string world-builders like them – not for plebes; you could only have one if you had 100.
But I also, of course, loved Nirvana. I wanted to sound like Kurt Cobain when I played Smells Like Teen Spirit, but I couldn’t turn the volume knobs on my little Strat and amp up to 10, lest my weary parents take their gifts to me away. ‘Isn’t that what he’s doing?’ I thought.
Then my friend said, “you know the Smells Like Teen Spirit sound is just a DS-1, right?”
“A what?”
“The Boss DS-1 pedal.”
“Isn’t that really complicated and expensive?”
“Nah dude. Try the one I have.”
The DS-1 was my first pedal – and with it came the first thrilling moment of “That’s how he got that exact sound!! I can do it too!” We all know how amazing that feels.
Matt Owen, News Editor – Xotic SP Compressor
I could use this time to talk about some of the pedals that revolutionized my rig, but fundamentally there really is one stompbox that actually changed the way I play. So I would like to give the Xotic SP Compressor its flowers. Ever since I bought one back in 2018, it is the only pedal that has never left my rig.
The HX Stomp has come and gone in waves. Even my Nano Cortex has been demoted. But I simply will not consider my pedalboard complete without the SP. I set Volume at 11 o’ click, Blend just after noon, the toggle locked in the middle.
It just makes everything sound and, even more importantly, feel better. Tonally, it is magic; a tonic to thicken and sweeten both my single-coil and humbucker guitars. More importantly, it gives any guitar a lovely expressive touch that feels spongy and reactive.
As such, it has injected my six-strings with a load more dynamic response that has me feeling more in touch with the instrument as a whole, more expressive in lead playing, and more confident when digging in for rhythms. When I turn it off, I’m a completely different player.
Daryl Robertson, Senior Deals Writer – Electro-Harmonix Big Muff
When I think of pedals that changed my life, I instantly think of the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff. I bought my first Big Muff at a pawn shop, bundled with a few other pedals for dirt cheap when I was about 14, and it’s the only one I kept.
Despite its massive size and impracticality for my tiny homemade pedalboard, I was hooked. I just love its thick, fat sound. It’s not fizzy or brittle like a Fuzz Face, it’s smoother and fuller. Over the years, I’ve owned several versions, from the green Russian one to the more pedalboard-friendly Nano.
When I was playing bass live in a band, I, of course, got the bass version, which featured a handy clean-through to preserve the low-end. I actually ended up using it on guitar too, because it sounded so good.
Back when I had a ridiculously complicated rig and ran two amps, I used the bass Big Muff’s dry out through an overdrive, then into a Fender Blues Jr, while the fuzz signal went through a Vox AC30.
I must admit, my signal chain is a lot simpler now, but I always keep a Big Muff handy for when I want to get fuzzy.
Janelle Borg, Staff Writer – Line 6 M9
The pedal that changed my life has to be the Line 6 M9, for many reasons. From sweaty punk shows back in my native Malta to my first tentative gigs abroad, and eventually a full move to another country, it’s been a core part of my setup (even though it’s currently very much on its last legs) and my love affair with reverbs and delays.
This is (I believe!) the second Line 6 M9 I’ve owned, as the first one got stolen. Thanks to a crowdfunding effort, I managed to buy the one I currently have. Safe to say this pedal has been through a lot, and even though I probably need an upgrade – and soon – I can’t imagine selling it, if only for the memories and the lore.
Pete Emery, Reviews Writer – Mooer Pure Boost
Like most guitarists, I enjoy the process of chopping and changing things and seeing what the newest addition to the board can do. Thinking back on all the pedals I’ve owned, there is one that sticks out as instigating an important penny-drop moment – the Mooer Pure Boost.
It’s a cheap, transparent boost pedal that I bought early on in my playing days, with the intention of using it to make my solo tones louder. Naively, I put it in the front of a distorting Peavey practice amp, and stamped on it, ready for the room to shake with the extra earth-shattering volume.
This did not happen. Instead, all I got was more distortion. Confused, I looked into why and discovered what is probably the most important part of building a guitar tone: gain staging.
This opened the door to understanding how signal chains work, and what to do to get the intended results. Important knowledge that I’m still using 15 years later.
Matt McCracken, Junior Deals Writer – Line 6 POD XT Live
Back in 2009, when modeling was something attractive people did, and metalcore was all the rage, I purchased a Jackson seven-string. I absolutely hated it. When a guitarist in another band asked to trade, I couldn’t wait to get rid of it. He offered me a Line 6 POD XT Live; it had lots of buttons and lights, so I figured, why not?
Little did I know I was exchanging a guitar I hated for every amp and effect I could ever want. It let me craft dream signal chains as a broke student and gig nationwide without a car, packed right into my backpack. I recorded multiple albums with its USB output.
I eventually gifted it to a friend who still uses it today, but it remains the most transformative piece of gear I’ve ever owned, and its influence continues with the legacy models found in Line 6’s modern amp and effects modelers.
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