One of the most popular type of guitar pedal effect effect is overdrive / distortion. These pedals manipulate your guitars electrical signal by passing it through transistors, resistors, capacitors and diodes to create different sounds. They can range from light overdrive to hair raising distortion which can be quite heavy and bassy.

Other pedals in this group are compressors and noise gates which also alter the volume of your signal without changing the tone too much. Generally these pedals help maintain your tone when using multiple effects in your pedal chain, as they convert the electrical signal into a lower impedance signal before sending it on.

Unleashing Musical Creativity: A Guide to Different Guitar Pedal Effects

Modulation / phasing pedals are another very popular type of pedal which modify the pitch, volume and other aspects of your guitar signal to give you unique tones. These include chorus and tremolo pedals which have been used by guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and Robin Trower. Phaser pedals, such as the iconic Shin-ei Uni-Vibe, have also been used by artists like David Gilmour and Alex Lifeson.

More advanced pedals in this category are envelope filter pedals which change your tone by creating a series of peaks within the signal. These are often designed to emulate other instruments such as a synth, sitar or a range of bass sounds. They are particularly useful in reggae and funk styles of music.

Other popular pedals in this category are delay and loop pedals which allow you to record and then playback phrases of your guitar sound. These pedals are great for adding a little bit of magic to your guitar performance.