Distortion is a guitar effect that alters the signal’s waveform, creating a gritty, aggressive sound characterized by a high level of harmonic content and sustain. It’s achieved by amplifying the input signal to the point where the amplifier or pedal’s circuitry begins to clip, causing the waveform to become squared off and jagged. This clipping produces harmonics that weren’t present in the original signal, resulting in the characteristic “gritty” or “dirty” tone associated with distortion. Distortion pedals typically feature controls for adjusting the amount of gain or distortion applied, as well as tone-shaping knobs to tailor the sound’s frequency response. Distortion is widely used in rock, metal, and punk music to add power, aggression, and sustain to guitar solos, riffs, and rhythm parts, creating a bold and intense sonic impact in the mix. Popular distortion pedals include the Boss DS-1, Pro Co Rat, and Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi.
Guitar pedals are essential tools for shaping your sound, offering everything from subtle tone enhancements to wild, expressive sonic textures. Whether you’re after the grit of overdrive, the shimmer of chorus, the depth of reverb, or the psychedelic swirl of delay and modulation, pedals allow players to personalise their tone and push creative boundaries. Each stomp box adds its own flavour, and when combined, they become a powerful extension of the player’s voice. From vintage classics to cutting-edge innovations, guitar pedals are where the magic happens—turning a great tone into something unforgettable.
Guitar FX (effects) refer to the wide range of pedals and processors that shape and manipulate a guitar’s signal to create different sounds. From classic distortion and overdrive to reverb, delay, modulation, and pitch-shifting, effects are at the heart of a guitarist’s creative toolkit. Whether analogue or digital, stompbox or multi-effects unit, Guitar FX allow players to express mood, texture, and dynamics in unique ways. Used thoughtfully, they can transform a simple riff into something atmospheric, aggressive, or entirely otherworldly.
A pedal is a compact device that guitarists use to alter their instrument’s sound by shaping effects such as distortion, delay, reverb, and modulation. Typically housed in a rugged enclosure and controlled by footswitches, pedals are designed to be placed on the floor for hands-free operation during playing. They can be analogue or digital, true bypass or buffered, and come in countless varieties to suit different styles and preferences. Pedals are essential tools for creating signature tones and adding colour and texture to a guitarist’s sound.
We have new and used TC Electronic musical equipment available on our website for fast direct delivery from sellers across the UK & Europe.
TC Electronic is a Danish company renowned for its high-quality guitar effects pedals, bass amplifiers, and audio processing equipment. Established in 1976, the brand quickly became popular for its reliable and innovative products, especially the Stereo Chorus/Flanger pedal. One of their standout features is TonePrint technology, which allows musicians to customise and load unique effect presets into compatible pedals via a smartphone app. This innovation offers great flexibility and creative control for guitarists and bassists alike. TC Electronic’s gear is widely respected for its durability, excellent sound quality, and user-friendly design, making it a favourite among both amateur and professional musicians around the world.
£29.99 £25.49
JOYO High Gain Distortion guitar pedal, get the kind of hard distortion used by the bands you love-from the crunch of AC/DC to the heavy metal of Metallica. With a full range of EQ adjustment and tone control, from a little blues rock crunch to an all out snarling distortion this is one versatile pedal. When used with single coils at lower gain set…
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£74.12 £77.54
Created by guitarists, for guitarists, the DITTO LOOPER provides essential looping features in a compact, user-friendly design With a simple one-knob interface, DITTO LOOPER makes looping easy-record, undo/redo, stop, and erase with intuitive foot commands Enjoy uncompressed, high-quality 24-bit audio loops that preserve your tone with exceptional …
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£135.00 £104.99
Ultra-heavy distortion with sharp-edged attack for crushing metal riffs LOW control for heavy, low frequency sound a la 7-string guitar or dropped tuning HIGH control for screaming, metallic tone Road-tough BOSS metal construction BOSS five-year warranty
£25.99
Distortion guitar effect pedal gives a British stack sound effect; a recreation of 70-80’s classical sound. 3 Controls by Volume, Tone and Gain 2 modes of Bright and Normal, switch to Bright position to distortion your sound for a bright tone or to Normal position to distortion the device for one-of-a-kind pedal sound. True bypass hardware switchin…
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