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Gift Ideas for Guitar Players
Purchasing gifts for guitarists is not as easy as it seems. Some guitar players might be hoping for a no-nonsense effects stompbox, which looks fine enough until the pedal choices available in the market become so overwhelming, while the more cheeky guitarists might drop hints for more sophisticated gears with eye-watering prices. Fortunately, come Christmas, birthdays, or other special events, there is no shortage of truly useful equipment to gift guitarists and many of which can be bought without breaking the bank. Check out this list of some essential guitar pedals guitarists will surely love and need.
Treble Booster
Treble Boosters play a peculiar role within the electric guitar world. They are capable of boosting the sound sans distorting it like an overdrive stompbox would, yet when turned up drastically, it is hard to tell the difference between the two. Treble Boosters dish out a dynamic, sparkling sound by boosting treble frequencies, less a distortion pedal’s dark tone. In all of its simplicity, this type of pedal can serve as a secret weapon on a pedalboard. Several guitarists are popular for utilizing these units to nail their signature sounds, like Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and Queen’s Brian May.
More than merely a one-trick pony boost stompbox, the Spark Booster by TC Electronic is a versatile, feature-packed booster that is ready to rock. While most boost pedals sport a volume dial only, the Spark Booster provides powerful tone-shaping controls so users can craft their ideal sound. A three-position boost characteristic switch is capable of transforming the unit from a clean, transparent boost to a mid-boosted punch to slice through any mix. With 26db of gain, users can drive any amp into sonic bliss. The Spark Booster also boasts a dual-band EQ. These active controls function independently of each other like a graphic EQ, providing accurate control of every band so users can dial in the tone to their liking. When set to noon, the EQ knobs are transparent and will not affect the signal. Another amazing unit is the Screaming Bird Treble Booster from Electro-Harmonix. It features as much as 20dB of high-frequency boost, and users can set the center frequency from 1.6kHz to 2.4kHz. “Based on the classic design from the ’70s, the Screaming Bird treble booster is back to help your sound take new flight. Whether it’s overdriving an amp or just adding some serious bite to your sound, this Bird will scream nothing but highs and will make your guitar cut through any mix. Step on the Bird and fly away!” Electro-Harmonix detailed. The Screaming Bird Treble Booster is packaged within a die-cast enclosure for durability.
Overdrive
Leveraging a specialist overdrive stompbox is an excellent way for players to gain full control over the amount of overdrive they are utilizing and how it shapes their sound. Overdriving sounds is way subtler than distorting them and is a great way to make a guitar sound warmer and more enticing than it does in its factory state. When it comes to overdrive, the TS808 Tube Screamer from Ibanez is a classic pedalboard staple. The original unit propelled into fame after Stevie Ray Vaughan employed it to create his trademark tone. Now, vintage TS808 Tube Screamers go for eye-watering prices on the collector’s market. Fortunately, Ibanez made a reissue so players can capture those raved-about tones at a reasonable price tag.
Much of what makes the original units so sweet, full, and smooth is the JRC4558D IC chip that Ibanez spec’d it out with. The reissue version contains the same analog circuitry and chip, making it sound amazing. It carries Level, Overdrive, and Tone knobs for tweaking the sound. Rock to jazz to blues to anything else, users will obtain all that classic warmth with the TS808 Tube Screamer reissue. The EarthQuaker Devices Palisades V2 is spec’d from a famous green overdrive stompbox that sounds like screaming tubes, but with five bandwidth settings, dual gain channels, and six clipping modes for incredible sonic flexibility. This second-generation variant incorporates EarthQuaker’s flexi-switch silent-relay-based switching for silent switching. The Gain control interacts with the Bandwidth and Voice dials to cover an extensive range of overdrive tones: heavy and fat, light and thin, crunchy and tight, open and transparent, etc. The Palisades V2 also includes a foot-switchable volume boost for punching up solos. “The Palisades is something we said we would never do… an overdrive based on the legendary TS808! After loads of requests, we finally buckled. We ran tests with every popular clone on the market as well as several vintage originals, compared, contrasted and took loads of notes. It was exhausting but informative. In the end, we threw it all away, used our ears and came up with what we feel is the most versatile relative of the 808 available today,” EarthQuaker Devices revealed.
Acoustic Simulator
An acoustic simulator stompbox provides players with the best of both worlds. Instead of having only an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar, which players need to pick up and change mid-set, this pedal allows them to switch between acoustic and electric styles seamlessly. These pedals permit quick changes, even during a song, which can give a different layer of depth to the sound and is a sure-fire method to enchant the audience.
Delivering advanced electric-to-acoustic guitar modeling, the AC-3 Acoustic Simulator from Boss is a next-generation portable pedal that leverages COSM modeling technology to turn any electric guitar into various acoustic guitars. Per Boss, “COSM Acoustic-Modeling technology is beautifully showcased in this small but powerful pedal, which simulates an acoustic guitar much more precisely and realistically than previous technology allowed.” The AC-3 Acoustic Simulator emulates an acoustic guitar’s sound with exacting precision. It features four simulation modes: Enhanced, Jumbo, Standard, and Piezo-equipped. Body and Top controls allow for sculpting the characteristics of the four acoustic models. With simple knob twists, users can craft their ideal acoustic-guitar sound effortlessly. They may also add sweetness and depth to the sound, thanks to the inbuilt digital reverb. The Acoustikar acoustic guitar simulator from Mooer is capable of transforming an electric guitar into an amazingly simulated lifelike acoustic sound. It boasts a trio of modes: Standard, Jumbo, and Piezo. The Standard mode simulates a normal acoustic guitar, Piezo simulates an acoustic-electric guitar’s piezo pickup, while Jumbo provides more low end and resonance by simulating a large-bodied acoustic. The Acoustikar is a simple pedal with huge knobs for controlling the Body, Top, and Level. It also has one output and one input port. The Acoustikar comes in a full metal enclosure, making it roadworthy and durable, and like many exceptional effects pedals, it features true bypass.
Distortion
Adored by numerous musicians worldwide, a distortion stompbox is an invaluable tool in players’ sonic inventory. Unlike fuzz or overdrive pedals, distortion stompboxes are the hardest edged and most aggressive among the dirt and drive pedal class.
Engineered by Brian Wampler to dish out a stunning distorted tone, the Sovereign Distortion by Wampler is intended to be the ultimate distortion. While players know that is a tall order, the stompbox’s controls for boost, bright, gain, and mid behavior can take them there by allowing them to dial in an extensive range of sounds, from fluid and thick to aggressive and cutting. Plus, it does it all while keeping a significant amount of touch responsiveness and clarity. Unlike several other highly regarded overdrive pedals, the Sovereign Distortion was not designed to imitate other distortion circuits. Instead, it was created to surpass them. “We took apart what is required for a great distortion and when we put all the parts back together, we discovered that not only was Brian the King of Dirt, but his new circuit was the King. The Sovereign. The distortion available from the Sovereign is so versatile you will wonder how so much can be available from one small box,” Wampler detailed, adding: “With the pedigree this pedal has, we wanted to make sure it stands tall among the other heroes of dirt. We think the Sovereign is the finest in its class, and with a versatility, you won’t find on another pedal that sounds as organic as the Sovereign, you’ll agree that this truly is the Sovereign of distortion.” Fender built the Pugilist Distortion for those who love stacking distortion and overdrive pedals to create their electric guitar tones. Boasting dual gain stages, each with separate tone control, users can explore everything from mild grit to biting and aggressive distortion. They may run both gain stages in series to stack them for dimensional and dynamic tone or in parallel, with a blend dial to fine-tune the sonic balance. The Pugilist Distortion couples the flexibility of two drive stompboxes with the gigging convenience of one. Beyond its broad-ranging distortion and overdrive, all the aspects of the Pugilist Distortion are designed for live performers. It features LED-backlit knobs that display the settings and an innovative battery compartment design for quick and easy battery changes. All those are loaded into a sturdy, anodized aluminum chassis that can stand up to frequent use and abuse.
Reverb
The reverb effect was among the first guitar effects to exist as it was formerly built into legendary amps such as Fender. A reverb pedal is a must-have in any guitarist’s inventory since it has the main purpose of giving depth to the sound.
The Ventris Dual Reverb by Source Audio serves as a ticket to virtually any reverb style, allowing users to craft rich, spacious reverberations. It boasts 14 thoroughly created reverb engines built on two entirely independent 56-bit signal processors, packing a matching pair of high-powered, stereo reverb stompboxes into one enclosure. The Ventris’ dual DSP architecture gives adjustable preset spillover time, tremendous processing muscle, and sophisticated dual reverb effects. Source Audio’s two-man engineering team of Jesse Remignanti and Bob Chidlaw provided meticulous attention in creating the Ventris Dual Reverb’s incredibly spacious tones, covering every base from natural reverberations to unusual tones. The Ventris Dual Reverb incorporates a dozen of onboard reverb engines plus a continuously growing collection of reverb effects available via the Neuro Desktop Editor or Neuro Mobile App. Housing seven inspirational Lexicon reverbs, the Polara by DigiTech will function as the new architect of users’ soundscape, defining space and giving dimension to their playing. The pedal’s versatile reverbs cover an entire spectrum, from Room’s intimate warmth to Hall’s vast expansiveness, through time with Reverse’s cosmic power, and anchored by Lexicon’s acclaimed Modulated, Spring, and Plate reverbs. Besides those classics, the Polara introduces the “‘Halo’ reverb with cascading octaves interspersed in the reverb decays will cast a heavenly glow over your tone.” Sporting a soft-touch vacuum-esque footswitch and compact size, the Polara embodies the new evolution in DigiTech stompbox design. “We’ve put years of experience into every detail of its mechanical and sonic blueprint. The Polara offers independent Level, Liveliness, Decay and Type controls; Stereo Inputs and Outputs; a Soft Click Footswitch; and a Reverb Tails On/Off Toggle Switch. It is true bypass, and uses a 9V DC power supply to easily integrate into your existing pedalboard,” DigiTech detailed.
**Volume **
A volume pedal is possibly the most basic stompbox out there, and as its name implies, it enables the user to manage the volume remotely. The features may be simple, but players get a complete range of sound-sculpting possibilities. That mainly depends on where they place the pedal with the rest of their stompboxes and whereabouts in their rig, so a bit of experimenting is necessary. The Ernie Ball MVP volume pedal is a powerful addition to a guitar’s signal chain. This sturdy volume pedal boasts flexible setting options as well as a separate tuner output for quiet tuning anytime. Whether it is placed in front of an amp or in the effects loop, the MVP delivers smooth volume control without high-frequency loss at any volume. Moreover, the minimum volume control allows the user to adjust the heel position from 0% to 50% volume, and they can even set the toe position to boost as much as 20dB to hit the pedals or amp harder.
