Guitar effects pedals are the sonic paintbrushes of musicians, allowing them to sculpt and color their sound in countless ways. While classic overdrives, delays, and reverbs form the foundation of many pedalboards, there’s a vibrant and exciting corner of the effects world dedicated to the bizarre, the unconventional, and the downright Weird Guitar Pedals. These are the devices that push boundaries, defy expectations, and unlock sounds you never thought possible.
To delve into this fascinating realm, we asked ten of our favorite boutique pedal builders a simple question: “What’s your favorite weird pedal and why?” Their answers offer a glimpse into the minds of sonic innovators and showcase some truly unique and inspiring effects.
Brady Smith — Old Blood Noise Endeavors
Boss SL-20 Slicer Audio Pattern Processor
Brady Smith of Old Blood Noise Endeavors champions the Boss SL-20 Slicer, a pedal that takes your input signal and chops it into rhythmic patterns. “The Slicer takes whatever note you’re putting into it and chops it up into a pattern of your choosing,” Brady explains. With 50 presets and the ability to create custom patterns, the SL-20 offers a vast playground for rhythmic experimentation. “20 of the presets have patterned harmonic jumps and dives, so it creates a lot of movement with the rhythm.” For Brady, the Slicer is a tool for breaking creative ruts: “I use it to break out of rhythmic slumps. By choosing a random preset and experimenting with different tempos, it gets me out of my normal box of writing.” This pedal is perfect for guitarists looking to add rhythmic complexity and glitchy textures to their playing.
Colt Westbrook — Walrus Audio
Earthquaker Devices Rainbow Machine
Colt Westbrook from Walrus Audio picks the Earthquaker Devices Rainbow Machine, a pedal known for its otherworldly and unpredictable sounds. “I’m going to have to go with Rainbow Machine from pedal heartthrobs at EQD,” Colt states. He playfully describes its capabilities as “pitch-shifting, exponential audio processing (I made this up) and dark arts.” The Rainbow Machine is shrouded in a bit of mystery, which Colt embraces: “I really don’t want to know what makes it so weird though — I prefer mystery.” He finds practical use for its unique character, adding “I use it when I need some spice at the end of a line and the drummer isn’t doing a fill.” If you’re seeking a pedal that delivers shimmering, modulated pitch-shifted sounds and a healthy dose of sonic weirdness, the Rainbow Machine is a prime candidate.
Matthew Farrow — Alexander Pedals
Akai Deep Impact
Matthew Farrow of Alexander Pedals expresses his long-standing admiration for the Akai Deep Impact. “My decades-long love affair with the Akai SB1 Deep Impact started in the late 1990s when I picked up one on blowout for $99,” Matthew recalls. He distinguishes it from typical “synth” pedals, emphasizing its sophisticated digital pitch tracking and waveform generation: “Compared to your typical fuzz+filter+octave “synth” units, the Deep Impact is in a different league. It tracks your instrument’s pitch digitally using a very sophisticated algorithm and then creates waveforms using internal digital oscillators to make fat and juicy synth bass tones.”
Matthew playfully describes its sonic output: “everything that comes out of the DI sounds like a robot eating a peanut butter sandwich.” He also notes its increased popularity due to its use by Chris Wolstenholme of Muse, and mentions a worthy successor: “the original designer now makes a suitable replacement — the Panda Audio Future Impact I. Both pedals have made quite an impact on me.” For bassists and guitarists wanting to explore powerful synth bass sounds, the Deep Impact (or Future Impact I) remains a benchmark in weird effects pedals.
Joel Corte — Chase Bliss Audio
Zvex Lo-Fi Loop Junky
Joel Corte from Chase Bliss Audio highlights the Zvex Lo-Fi Loop Junky as a personal favorite. “The LFLJ is one of my favorite pedals of all time,” Joel declares. His connection to the pedal runs deep, having worked at ZVEX and even been tasked with recreating its unique effect in real-time, leading to the “Instant Lo-Fi Junky.” Despite the real-time version, Joel maintains the original’s unique charm: “Regardless of the utility that is created by having that effect in real-time, I think there is magic in the original looper version that simply can’t be emulated. It just makes everything sound old and cool, pretty much no matter what.”
He elaborates on the sonic ingredients that make the Lo-Fi Loop Junky special: “There is a brick-wall type of filter effect in there, as well as massive compression — and it stores the audio in a way that is similar to the way that analog delay pedals pass audio.” The pedal’s vibrato, a key element of its lo-fi character, is achieved through voltage manipulation, a technique discovered by Zack Vex: “Zack found that varying the voltage level to these devices changed the playback speed (similar to how dying toys lower pitch) and to this day, still makes the coolest vibrato sound I’ve ever heard.” For those seeking instant vintage vibes and warbly, compressed textures, the Lo-Fi Loop Junky is a weird guitar pedal that delivers a distinctive sonic signature.
Ryan Clarke — Dr. Scientist
Cooper FX Generation Loss
Ryan Clarke of Dr. Scientist champions the Cooper FX Generation Loss, a pedal designed to emulate the degradation of old tape-based playback devices. “The Generation Loss is a pedal that recreates the degradation that occurred in old tape-based playback devices and gives you control over all of those signal-destroying parameters,” Ryan explains. It offers a palette of sonic destruction, allowing users to dial in lo-fi sample rates, pitch warble, and extreme tone filtering. “You can reduce the sample rate of your signal to make it sound lo-fi, add in pitch warble and set the intensity and rate to give it the weird out of tune moments that old VCR tapes are famous for. You can also cut the bass and treble a ton to really thin and/or darken the tone, and you can mix all that with your clean signal.”
Ryan’s favorite feature is a testament to its embrace of imperfection: “But my favourite thing about the Generation Loss: it has a Noise knob! All of that signal destruction plus you can add in pure white noise. I’ve been collecting pedals for a couple decades and it’s the only pedal I have with a noise knob — I love it. Hiss is a great sound, the sound of something real!” For musicians drawn to lo-fi aesthetics and the charm of degraded audio, the Generation Loss is a weird pedal that provides comprehensive control over vintage sonic decay.
Mike Tolan — Earthquaker Devices
Montreal Assembly Count to 5
Mike Tolan of Earthquaker Devices selects the Montreal Assembly Count to 5 (CT5), a granular delay known for its expansive and experimental capabilities. “The CT5 is a granular delay that does all kinds of crazy and inspiring things from delay to looping to pitch shifting,” Mike describes. He emphasizes its unique blend of technological depth and musicality: “It is a rare pedal in that it is hugely capable and techy, but also incredibly personal and musical. It is more of a collaborator than an effect, especially when used with an expression pedal.”
Mike, a seasoned delay and looping enthusiast, finds the CT5 to be in a class of its own: “I am a longtime delay/looping player and I have never come across anything else like it. I love that, due to the random nature of granular delay, it is always at least partially unpredictable — but you can focus that randomness into beautiful arpeggios and cascades of sound.” He highlights its versatility in various musical contexts: “I use it for guitar drones, loops, synth and for main guitar parts… but mostly I just sit there and zone out with it for long periods of time.” The Count to 5 is a weird effects pedal that invites deep exploration and rewards adventurous sound designers with a universe of sonic textures.
Brian Marshall — Subdecay
Yamaha UD Stomp
Brian Marshall of Subdecay picks the Yamaha UD Stomp, a multi-delay unit with deep programming capabilities. Brian’s experience with the UD Stomp began serendipitously: “I bought a UD Stomp for a friend overseas in the early 2000s when US retailers were blowing them out. I was curious about it and my friend let me borrow it for a few days before shipping it off to Germany.” Even a short time with the pedal left a lasting impression, revealing the inner workings of effects: “It left an impression on me because it really made you understand how many of our effects work. It’s basically eight separate delay effects running at the same time in a single pedal, each paired with its own EQs, LFOs, feedback options, etc.”
Brian acknowledges its niche appeal but emphasizes its potential for sonic discovery: “Not everyone would find a pedal like this particularly useful, but I think most of us could spend several hours turning knobs and making crazy sounds. Multivoice chorus ensemble, flanger, runaway feedback oscillations. It had a modulated reverb patch before anyone ever really wanted one. It was a whole lot of fun, even if I’d waste six hours playing through it and get absolutely nothing done.” The Yamaha UD Stomp, while perhaps not conventionally “weird” in its sound, earns its place as a unique guitar pedal due to its powerful and flexible architecture, inviting users to create complex and unconventional delay-based effects.
Roger Smith — Source Audio
Electro Harmonix Ravish Sitar
Roger Smith of Source Audio chooses the Electro Harmonix Ravish Sitar, a pedal that brings the sounds of the traditional Indian instrument to the guitar. “The Ravish Sitar allows a guitar to create all of these strange, exotic and mystical sitar sounds related to classical Indian music,” Roger describes. He highlights its effectiveness in demonstrating Source Audio’s Hot Hand expression controller, showcasing the pedal’s expressive potential. “We use it to demonstrate the Hot Hand expression controller. It makes Hot Hand come alive in ways that are unique and exciting!”
Roger expresses admiration for EHX’s boldness in creating such a specialized and technically challenging pedal: “Doing weird pedals at all takes lots of nerve. Doing a product that is weird and also complicated takes an insane amount of nerve! Effect pedals that involve pitch detection, pitch shifting and sound synthesis are very complicated to develop and the list of companies who can do it at all is very short. I give EHX enormous credit for not only taking big risk on a complicated technical project, but also for their research on the nature of the sitar instrument and ultimately creating a pedal that sounds authentic, unique and beautiful all at the same time.” The Ravish Sitar is a testament to weird and wonderful effects pedals, offering a unique sonic palette inspired by a rich musical tradition.
Josh Scott — JHS Pedals
Lovetone Flange With No Name
Josh Scott of JHS Pedals selects the Lovetone Flange With No Name, a vintage and highly sought-after flanger known for its extreme modulation capabilities. Josh is immediately captivated by its visual and tactile presence: “First of all, it is a huge purple metal enclosure from the “pre internet pedal market days” that flips open like a swinging door and has seven jacks mounted to the top/face of the pedal — that’s a solid first impression!” He describes its sonic range as going beyond typical flanging: “The effect is a flanger/modulator but it has the ability to go into another world of drone/ring mod/percussive/synth/chaos in a way that I have never heard anything else do.”
For Josh, the Flange With No Name is a catalyst for creativity: “For me it is the ultimate “get out of the box” box. I can plug into this thing and instantly find myself challenged, inspired and adventurous.” This weird guitar effect pedal, with its imposing design and ability to generate chaotic and unconventional sounds, is a true source of inspiration for sonic explorers.
David Rainger — Rainger FX
Tone in Progress Third Hand
David Rainger of Rainger FX presents the Tone in Progress Third Hand, a truly unique and mechanically intriguing device. “This is a pedal that truly takes a whole new approach to manipulating sound!” David exclaims. It’s a mechanical expression pedal unlike any other: “It’s a mechanical device that looks like a wah wah, in that it has a rocker treadle, but inside is just a pulley and drive belt. A stiff but bendy cable sticks out the top this clamps onto any control pot of the pedal next door (which you’ve removed the knob from).” Remarkably, it functions entirely without electronics: “It’s an expression pedal really, but has no input or output sockets — in fact no electronics whatsoever!”
David highlights its practical utility and visual appeal: “I use it for two reasons really; to simply but very effectively control any parameter in any pedal, but also to impress people with its otherworldly-ness, a strange antenna-like cable curving up and over to its neighbour.” Despite initial skepticism, David recognizes its simple yet effective design: “I laughed at it at first, but it’s simple — and it works!” The Third Hand stands out as a truly weird pedal, not for its sound, but for its innovative mechanical approach to effect control.
Conclusion
The world of weird guitar pedals is a testament to the boundless creativity and ingenuity within the effects pedal community. These devices, championed by innovative builders, offer musicians tools to transcend sonic boundaries and discover uncharted territories of sound. From rhythmic slicers to pitch-shifting mysteries, lo-fi degraders to mechanical manipulators, these pedals are not just effects; they are instruments of inspiration, inviting players to embrace the unconventional and unlock their sonic potential. So, dare to explore the weird and wonderful world of guitar effects – you might just find your new favorite sound hiding in the most unexpected pedal.
Note: This article was originally featured on Reverb.com
