Guide to Acoustic Guitar Pedals and the best options that are available to enhance the sound of your acoustic guitar.
Several guitar players are content with the beautiful sound that their acoustic guitar produces. However, certain effects and processors can help you achieve bigger, fatter, and more pleasing tones (when played through an amp or PA).
Why Use Acoustic Effects Pedals?
Acoustic Effects Pedals can greatly enhance the tones of the acoustic guitar (especially audible in a performer’s setup). Pedals such as Loop Pedals and Delay Pedals are quite popular with solo acoustic guitarists as it allows you to create musical phrases while playing songs.
Most acoustic guitar players don’t like using effects that adds modulation or changes the sound drastically (as they feel it destroys the natural acoustic sound.)
Some guitar players are happy using their guitar amp as it comes with basic effects like chorus and reverb, which serves the purpose of most musicians.
What Guitar Pedals Do Pros Use?
Distortion is something that many don’t use, and it is also difficult to use with the acoustic guitar.
Reverb, echo and chorus are mostly used to create a thick and lush sound; some also use an octave doubler to get that fuller sound.
What Guitar Pedals to Use With Acoustic Guitar
If you also own an electric guitar and probably have some pedals for it, are you wondering if you can use the same for your acoustic or even bass?
You could, there is nothing that stops you, but you need to remember that instruments such as the acoustic guitar are designed to be used with their natural tone and the options that you use should ideally be enhancing that sound.
Here are some options (best acoustic guitar effects processors) when it comes to adding effects to acoustics:
- Fishman acoustic aura effects pedals: available in chorus, delay and reverb
- Yamaha acoustic magicstomp: includes chorus compression and even microphone modeling
- Volume Pedal: this is the most useful and you have options from Morley, Boss, Visualsound and even Ernie Ball
- Aphex Acoustic Exciter: this is more of a sonic maximiser than an effects pedal or preamp
In addition, you also have a range of guitar tuning pedals, and it is something that you may use the most.
Here’s a video demonstrating the Fishman pedal for acoustic guitar.
Preventing Fatigue while Using Pedals
There are many acoustic guitar players who use their favorite digital chorus pedal, without even realizing that it can really fatigue the ears of the listeners after a while.
There is a way to use it; and that is to change the natural tone in short bursts at selected moments.
And the best option is to use pedals that enhance the natural tone of the acoustic, rather than try to change its basic tone.
Acoustic Guitar with Electric Guitar Pedal?
So, can you use electric guitar pedals/effects with an Acoustic Guitar?
Yes, you can. Most of them will sound good, some maybe not.
- There are some basic electric guitar effects that work well with acoustic guitars – such as reverb loop pedals, and even delay.
- A harmonizer also seems to work well with the acoustic guitar.
- Does a wah pedal work with an acoustic guitar? Yes, it does, but then the guitar no longer sounds like an acoustic guitar; it sounds like an electric guitar (if you have an electric, use that instead).
- A fuzz / octavia pedal also works fine with an acoustic guitar, but again, it doesn’t sound like an acoustic (so use your electric guitar instead)
- A heavy distortion pedal works with an acoustic guitar, but it’s missing the punch (something missing in the higher frequencies).
- A weird delay works with an acoustic guitar (use it for ambiance stuff)
- A tremolo works nicely with an acoustic guitar (precisely as it would on an electric guitar)
So, yes, you can play acoustic guitars with electric guitar effects.
In case you are looking for some inspiration and want to make your acoustic guitar sound in a way you never have before, you should try running it through some electric guitar effects.
Closing Thoughts
As you can see there are options available to enhance the sound of your acoustic guitar. But as mentioned, always use them in moderation. You can checkout more Acoustic Guitar Pedals here.
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Paul says
Polytune, Trio+ looper, Strymon OB-1 compressor, MXR analog chorus, MXR Carbon Copy analog delay, Strymon BigSky reverb. The two TC-Helicon pedals (top middle) are for vocal EQ and reverb that feeds my PA via XLS cables. Shure SM58 for live vocals, Shure SM7B for recording.
I play through a Fishman Loudbox Artist acoustic amp but the effects are not switchable while playing and frankly, they don’t sound near as good as the pedals which are switchable on the fly. I aim for pedals that have a mix or wet/dry adjustment because I like to tame the effects for fingerstyle playing on my acoustics a little goes a long way,
The BigSky reverb is the best I’ve ever heard, better than anything I’ve ever heard onboard an amp, same with the chorus and delay. The Trio+ looper also creates a very adjustable bass/drums mix to play along with based on the loop, love that feature for practice and live play. The bass/drum accompaniments can be saved on the pedal and the computer and replayed whenever.
The Strymon OB-1 compressor articulates every string’s sound in addition to evening out the levels of all of the strings. Turn it on set on about 1/3 and it’s like my guitars come alive. Also has a 10 db boost which can be adjusted for flat, low, high boost. An amazing pedal to say the least.