The Best Pedals You'll Ever Play

What are some of your all time favorite guitar pedals? Tell us in the comments below! Table of Contents 00:00 Intro 01:09 The Rig Dr's Criteria 03:23 Signal Path Overview 04:10 Fuzz Pedals 07:16 Wah Pedals 10:39 Tuners 14:24 Buffers 16:19 Low-Gain Overdrive Pedals 19:55 Mid-Gain Overdrive Pedals 22:01 Vintage Distortion Pedals 25:19 Modern Distortion Pedals 27:57 Filter Pedals 30:19 Compressor Pedals 33:55 EQ Pedals 36:12 Boost Pedals 38:05 Volume Pedals 40:59 Phaser Pedals 41:53 Flanger Pedals 43:00 Chorus Pedals 44:19 Tremolo Pedals 45:30 Univibe Pedals 46:16 Pitch Pedals 47:26 Delay Pedals 48:41 Reverb Pedals 49:43 Noise Gates 51:00 Line-Out Boxes 51:38 Parallel Mixers 52:28 Cab Simulators 53:19 Amp Simulators 55:01 Outro

We need one of these episodes for bass players, we use pedals too. I know many of these will transfer well to bass, but it would be nice to see your picks. Awesome content!!

Man...yeah. I agree with this entire picture, Mason. I remember a trying lot of these in guitar stores in the early 2000's and it's cool to see my reaction was mutual. They've stood the test of time.

I’ve been watching a few of your videos, and I came across the volume pedal video and it changed my whole sound. I can’t thank you enough I just audition for band and I have 40 songs ahead of me to learn I’ve already got 10 of them down and only 30 days to learn the rest. I just want to tell you how valuable the information you gave me was thank you.

Great video presentation. You put some products on my radar that I am now really interested in, including some Vertex ones. I appreciate the time you took to put this together.

Great points about pedals working well with others. In the studio you can work around a finicky pedal that has to have everything around it just right, but those things are a nightmare when you try to use them live. 👏

Really surprised you didn't have any Strymon pedals on here, especially when it comes to delay and Reverb. The sound is absolutely 3D and immense.

So many Choices & Options to choose-from. Almost impossible to pick. Really enjoyed this-one. This was great.

Wow, you’ve got quite the talent for a long detailed narrative. Appreciate the content too.

Love my: OCD, Clyde Deluxe, DD-500, DC-2W & Polytune 3. I also have some lesser-known pedals, that are equally Fantastic. Always interesting-stuff Mason. Really-enjoyed this one. Happy Holidays my brother. oNe LovE from NYC

Very informative, thank you! I cannot imagine life without my Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer. My fave pedal of all time. Helps me get Holy Grail clean tone on my Player Plus Strat plugged into a Fender Superchamp x2 head and Mesa cab with Jensen Blackbird 1 x 12 speaker, and it does beautiful full bodied crunch, as well.

WOW! Thanks for such an in depth analysis and some great choices to look at. Pedals are so exciting sometimes . My favorite pedal is usually my Behringer Super Fuzz!

Just starting to delve into pedals instead of using a modeling amp. Very helpful video, much obliged.

Mason! Thanks you SO much for your video on pedals. That was pure bliss! I took copious notes. You cleared up my understanding of how these pedals are organized on the market. We’re so lucky to have have knowledgeable folks like you willing to share the how these lil’ beasts f*’#@ing howl and move!!!! You got a ton of X-TRA CREDIT for your awesomenessbest pedal report!!! Pretty much a permanent recess for the rest of your life!!! Your high school music teacher. :-)

Great episode. I’ll add a few: Xotic BB for low distortion/OD, it’s my fave for this type at the front of chain. One of the Strymon delays! I like the El Capistan on the board with my Deluxe Memory Man and TC Nova. Also MXR Carbon Copy for smaller, lower priced bucket brigade delay.

I dig these videos a lot, Mason. Some of us mere mortals haven’t had the opportunity to test this much gear, so it’s awesome to get some feedback on pros’ experience.

I have many of the pedals you recommend. I'd have put the MXR Carbon Copy in there, because it's a must have on my board. Lee Anderton made a terrific point about it in his video with Rob Chapman years ago when they built small boards together, that it takes the place of reverb if you don't have it. He's absolutely right on.

My first pedal has for the last 18 years been my most used. My dads old DS-1... Always ended up with it, because it always works.

Well, one of mine made the list! Arion SCH-1. Bought it new in the early '80s. I put it away for years when chorus became a bit dated. Then my only pedal was a Barber LTD for lo-gain. I've collected a few Keeley pedals, especially the dual effects to save space. Aria (comp / drive), Hydra (trem/reverb), Monterey (fuzz/wah/univibe) and a MesMer Astral Delay. Added a Digitech Freqout too. Still playing with the order. Great channel, I've subscribed.

This was great thanks Mason! Another sleeper pedal I've been using for distortion pedals that give you some amp and cab adjustments is the old 90's Tech 21 GT2. Works great on many amps if you're playing casinos or clubs where you have to use whatever amp is there and only bring a pedal board.