Some of our favourite effects pedal users

Effect pedals look great, we like to collect them, and spend hours researching, building, and eventually playing. But some people stand out when it comes to getting the most out of them. We all know someone with a knack for getting incredible sounds from the cheapest tiny pedal, but here is a list of a few of our favourite guitar players known for using guitar effects pedals.

David Gilmour

The Pink Floyd guitarist is held in high regard by music lovers around the world, and he's known for the use of effects pedals reaching right back to the early fuzz drenched days when they were setting the controls for the heart of the sun. His choice of effect has changed as the band has matured too, and he's known for silky sustain and distortion - often fuzz, big muff, and rat distortion among a huge amount of rack mounted effects.

Kevin Shields

It would be hard to talk about effects pedals without mentioning Kevin Shields. His use of effects has spawned endless debates about reverse reverb, gated reverb, HM-2 pedals, fuzz, and a whole array of pedal boards (rumours are he has a board per long when playing live). It's been reported that the sounds he achieved on the shoegaze classic Loveless were more to do with layered distortion and EQ, but photos of his live rig tell a different story. If you like the sound of a vacuum cleaner reversing down the autobahn at 100pmh, then you should check out the album Loveless by his band My Bloody Valentine.

Christian Savill

Another name from the world of Shoegaze, but not one heard as often as Mr Shields. Christian Savill is the left handed Jazzmaster genius behind much of the sound of the band Slowdive. Having made a triumphant return in 2014 after a 19 year break with the album Slowdive, these Thames Valley shoegazers are known for heavily reverbed guitar, with huge metallic distortion creating harmonic waves, and melodic pitch shifting tides of sound.

Who's your favourite?

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