Guitar Pedal History: The Origins of Every Guitar Effect Pedal

No matter what kind of music you play, you probably use some effects. Maybe it’s just reverb and a little compression, or maybe you have a pedal board big enough to warrant its own flight case. Either way, nearly every guitarist uses at least one or two effects, and these effects have forever changed the sound of the guitar. 

But where did they all come from? How did we go from plugging guitars straight into amps to pedalboards that can cost more than your guitar? In this blog, we’re going to take a close look at the history of each of the big guitar effects—reverb, delay, compression, overdrive/distortion, fuzz, chorus, phaser, flanger, and wah. 

Reverb History

The first artificial reverb was created in 1947 by Bill Putnam at Universal Recording Studio in Chicago for The Harmonicats’ “Peg o’ My Heart.” The premise behind this early reverb was fairly simple. Putnam set up a speaker in the studio’s tile bathroom, played the song through the speaker, and then recorded the reflections from the room. This was then mixed back into the original, dry recording. 

After this, countless other studios began setting up their own echo chambers to recreate the effect. Reverb as an added effect started to become an essential part of recording, and it wouldn’t take long for people to keep improving the technology. 

The next big change for reverb was the plate reverb. Plate reverb was developed by the German company EMT in 1957, and it quickly caught on. Plate reverb works by sending the audio signal to the plate, causing it to vibrate, and using a pickup to capture the sound. They started to overtake echo chambers, mainly for their ease of use and easier control. 

Still, plate reverbs were quite large and susceptible to other noises. Though they sound great, they aren’t very convenient for playing live, and they aren’t cheap either. Because of this, people continued trying to improve upon reverb. 

Next came the spring reverb, which is still an incredibly popular sound to this day. It works like a plate reverb, but with a spring in a box instead. It was invented by hammon for use in their organs in the 40s. However, it was built-into the organs and unusable for other purposes. In 1960 though, a division of Hammond known as Accutronics released a standalone reverb unit known as the Type 4 Spring Reverb unit.

The standalone Type 4 was a huge success. It did so well that they licensed it to others, including Fender. Once Fender started putting spring reverbs in their amps, reverb was cemented as an essential and iconic effect. It quickly became a defining sound of the 60s, with artists like Dick Dale making it a key element of their music. 

In the 70s, digital reverbs began to emerge. EMT released a digital reverb in 1976, and it gave artists even more control over the reverb. They could control decay, treat high and low frequencies separately, and add other effects. However, these units were quite large and limited to the studio. 

The final big breakthrough was in 1987 when Boss released the RV-2. Guitarists could now recreate nearly every reverb effect, all with a small and compact pedal. Today, there are countless different reverb effects on the market, from reverse and modulated reverbs to immaculate hall and spring reverbs.

Delay Pedal History

Artificial delay was invented in the 1930s. In the radio era, engineers occasionally wanted to delay the sound of something for effect. To do this, they would send the signal over a telephone line to a town hundreds of miles away and then back again. The time it took for the signal to go and come back was the time of the delay. 

As you’d guess, this was extremely impractical. Delay times were fixed based upon where you could send the signals, and you need access to telephone line infrastructure to even do it. However, it wouldn’t take long for a better solution to arise. 

In the 1940s, magnetic tape machines came about and made delay much easier. A sound recorded on tape could be fed back into the machine and played back milliseconds later to create a delay sound. This opened up a whole new world of possibilities, and tape delay began featuring on recordings. Elvis’ “That’s All Right” is a great example of this early tape delay, used for a slapback effect. 

Again though, this method still wasn’t ideal. It required two tape machines, which weren’t cheap at the time. And it couldn’t really be used on-stage, which limited it to the studio. Even as portable tape machines became available, it still wasn’t a very practical effect other than in the studio. 

In 1953, Ray Butts patented a portable tape delay device, which he installed in his Echosonic guitar amps. This made tape delay more portable and practical, and the amps were used by Chet Atkins, Scotty Moore, and more. Soon, other portable tape delays like the Echoplex were released, finally making tape delay a somewhat affordable effect guitarists could use on-stage.

There were other innovative delays that came out over the years, such as the Echorec drum delay used by Pink Floyd. However, delay largely remained the same from the advent of portable tape delays until the introduction of the bucket brigade delay in the 70s.

For delay, the bucket brigade changed everything. We covered the bucket brigade in depth previously, so check that out if you want to know more about the BBs history and importance. The long and short though is that the bucket brigade allowed effects companies to make cheap and incredibly functional delay pedals. This finally let anyone and everyone who wanted delay to use it, no longer having to spend hundreds of dollars on tape delay units. 

Compression Pedal History

In simple terms, compressors make loud parts more quiet and quiet parts more loud. For guitar, they do the same thing while also adding sustain. Compression as an effect has been around since the 1800s when it was used on telephone lines, but it took a while for it to make its way to the guitar. 

Compression first started being used on guitars when valve amps started becoming popular. They have natural compression due to how the amps function, and it’s part of that distinctive tube amp sound. However, you don’t have a whole lot of control over how things compress. 

In the 50s and 60s, artists started using studio compressors to get their desired sound. Roger McGuinn of the Byrds is a great example of this, as he used in-studio compression to get the classic guitar sound from “Mr. Tambourine Man.”

As with the other effects we talked about though, this version of compression wasn’t very practical. It was only usable in the studio, so artists couldn’t achieve those same sounds live without spending tons of money on hauling around studio equipment. 

In 1972, MXR released the Dynacomp, which brought compression to a pedal format and made it affordable. These pedals were simple, small, affordable, and easy to use. Immediately, compression pedals became a staple on pedal boards for artists of all types.

After that, countless pedals like the Ross Compressor and the Orange Squeezer hit the market. Now, there are hundreds upon hundreds of different compressors available, letting guitarists compress their signals to their heart’s content. 

Overdrive/Distortion Pedal History

Overdrive and distortion have a pretty long and storied history. The earliest examples of overdrive and distortion were from guitarists turning up their amps. If you turn a tube amp up loud enough, you’ll eventually get an overdriven and distorted sound. “Bob Wills’ Boogie” from 1947 is an example of this very early distortion. 

In the 50s, multiple artists accidentally or deliberately damaged their amps to get a distorted sound. “Rocket 88” is an example of this, with Willie Kozart’s amp being damaged somehow. They supposedly stuffed it with newspapers, and got the iconic distorted tone heard on the song. According to stories, Link Ray stabbed his speakers with pencils to get the tone for “Rumble.” And of course, the Kinks also did something similar to get their distorted tone. 

Soon, fuzz pedals started to pop up to help players get distorted sounds without needing to destroy their gear. However, we’ll talk about fuzz more in-depth later. Around the same time, Marshall also started boosting the treble on their amps, making it easier to overdrive them. 

Also, players started using boost pedals to push their amps even further, such as the Dallas Arbiter Rangemaster, which was used by Tony Iommi. This allowed them to get even more overdriven tones from their amps, resulting in even dirtier tones. 

The 70s is when overdrive and distortion pedals really hit the market. Companies like BOSS, MXR, Electro-Harmonix, and Ibanez all started making overdrive and distortion pedals, helping players get the distorted tones they loved at lower volumes. Many of these pedals are still popular to this day, such as the DS-1, OD-1, Distortion Plus, Tubescreamer, and more. 

As metal and heavier tones became even more popular in the 80s, pedal companies kept pushing to get even more distorted sounds. With a plethora of distortions and overdrives on the market ranging from light overdrive to hair raising distortion, guitarists had plenty of options. 

Now players have near infinite choice when it comes to overdrive and distortion. There are pedals for every tone imaginable, no matter how weird or obscure. And the realm of digital technology has advanced too, letting players simulate overdrive tube amps with amp modelers.  

Fuzz Pedal History

Like overdrive and distortion, the history of fuzz begins with accidents. The first proper fuzz sound ever used was on Marty Robbins’ “Don’t Worry” in 1960. A transformer blew in the recording console, and it ended up giving the bass a fuzzy, distorted sound. They decided to keep it, and listeners liked the sound. 

The engineer involved, Glen Snoddy, wanted to recreate this sound consistently and started messing around with solid state circuits and germanium transistors. In 1962, he sold the circuit design to Gibson, who then used it to produce the Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz Tone—the very first commercially available guitar pedal. And after Keith Richards used it on “I Can’t Get No (Satisfaction),” it became a sound everyone wanted. 

Next came the Tone Bender, the British counterpart to the Maestro. It was designed by former VOX employee Gary Hurst, who partnered with the British music shop Macaris, run by brothers Larry and Joe Macari. It was similar to the Maestor, but it had three germanium transistors, letting players get even fuzzier sounds. 

In 1966, the Fuzz Face was introduced. This is the classic fuzz used by Jimi Hendrix, Duane Allman, and countless others, and it’s the fuzz for many players. They had germanium transistors at first, but they eventually transitioned to silicon since they were more predictable. Fuzz faces are very sensitive to player dynamics, and their tone can vary depending on the battery’s charge. 

The last big development for fuzz was the now classic Big Muff Pi. This is likely the most popular and common fuzz in the modern era, and for good reason. Fuzz typically uses a series of cascading circuits, creating a sort of fuzz feedback loop. However, it gets harsh and raspy. The Big Muff eliminated this with capacitors. 

Since the release of the original Big Muff, there have been countless other models—such as the Op-Amp Big Muff, the Russian Big Muff, and more. Players tend to prefer certain models over others, but you can find Big Muffs of all types on the pedals boards of countless greats like David Gilmour, J. Mascis, and more. 

Chorus Pedal History

Just like reverb and delay, chorus is an effect that exists naturally. When a group of singers sing together, some will be slightly out of tune and time—resulting in a chorus effect. 

However, artificial chorus effects didn’t come around until the 1930s. Hammon introduced the chorus by mixing a vibrato effect with a dry signal, giving that classic chorus warble. And when combined with a rotating Leslie speaker, you get the iconic Hammon sound. At the time though, it was largely limited to organs, and guitarists didn’t really have a way to use the effect. 

In the 60s, studio advancements allowed for a new way to create a chorus effect—double tracking.  Artists could record their parts again slightly off pitch and delayed, resulting in a chorus effect. The Beatles were the first to request this effect, supposedly. And as automatic double tracking (ADT) was invented, it became even easier to use chorus. 

Again though, it was still highly impractical. Things would stay that way until 1975 when Roland introduced the Jazz Chorus. With the JC-120’s introduction, guitarists could take chorus with them on the go and use it on-stage. It quickly became a favorite with guitarists, Jeff Baxter and Andy Summers being two notable fans. 

Four years later, Boss released a pedal version of the JC-120’s chorus, the CE-1. With the CE-1’s introduction, chorus was finally in a pedal format and easily accessible. Players didn’t need to buy a whole new amp just for the chorus, and they could easily use chorus with their favorite gear. 

After that, chorus just kept getting more popular throughout the 80s. Tons of manufacturers came out with their own unique choruses, and it could be heard everywhere. It became less popular in the 90s, but still saw use by bands like Nirvana and Metallica. In the modern era, chorus has become even more popular, seeing a resurgence like the 80s. 

Phaser Pedal History

Phase, unlike many of the other effects here, is entirely artificial. Phase is created by running your signal through a series of all-pass filters, and then mixing that with your dry signal. This creates the sweeping swooshy sound we all know and love. 

The earliest use of phase as an effect comes from tape manipulation in the 60s. Psychedelic bands in the 60s like the small faces and Pink Floyd were utilizing the effect in the studio. But as with all tape tricks, they aren’t very practical outside of the studio.

Phasers really started to take off in 1968 when Shin-ei’s Uni-Vibe pedal—designed by Fumio Mieda—was released. This pedal almost immediately became a classic, becoming a staple for players like Jimi Hendrix and Robin Trower. It very quickly went from a studio only effect to something anyone could experiment with. 

In the coming years, others would begin making their own phasers, such as the Maestro Phase Shifter PS-1. The PS-1 was used by artists like John Paul Jones, Alex Lifeson, and Ernie Isley. The MXR Phase 90 is another example of a popular phaser at the time, which was used by David Gilmour, Eddie Van Halen, and more. 

As technology has advanced, so have phasers. There are countless weird and wonderful phasers on the market, creating all sorts of crazy sounds. Phasers may not be quite as popular as they used to be, but they’re still an essential guitar effect today.

Flanger Pedal History

Like phase, flange is an artificial effect that was first created with tape manipulation. Les Paul first discovered the effect in the 40s/50s when variable speed record players (though whether or not he was actually first is still debated). Supposedly, the term flanger was chosen by John Lennon. The first big song that utilized flanging prominently was Toni Fisher’s “The Big Hurt.” 

From there, flanging was further refined by Ken Townsend of Abbey Road Studios. He devised artificial double tracking, which made adding flange effects much more efficient. The first stereo flange effect was used by Eddie Kramer on the classic Hendrix album, Bold as Love. 

In the 70s, technological advances in solid state electronics and integrated circuit technology made artificial flanging possible. The bucket brigade chip played a role here as well, again showing its importance in the world of guitar effects. 

From here, companies started releasing flange pedals. The Eventide Instant Flanger from 1975 is an example of an early flange pedal that was utilized to create classic flanger sounds. MXR and Electro Harmonix also had flanger pedals around this time, both of which are now iconic. 

And as with most of these pedals, things have only gotten better since. With countless manufacturers making all sorts of flangers, guitarists don’t have to look very hard to find incredible and unique sounding flangers. 

Wah Pedal History

Last but not least, the wah. Unlike many of the other effects on this list, the origins of the wah can be very precisely pinpointed. It all starts in the early 60s. Vox had grown from a small company to a staple in the guitar world, largely thanks to the Beatles. Vox decided to capitalize on their Beatles fame with an amp called the Super Beatle, which came with a mid control. 

One day, a Vox engineer named Brad Plunkett was messing around with a Super Beatle he was working on. He was turning the mid knob, creating a wah sort of sound. Del Casher, a well-known guitarist  and Vox employee at the time, happened to be nearby and heard the sound. He had always wanted that sound on a guitar, but he didn’t know how to get it. 

So Del goes to Stanley Cutler, Vox’s head of engineering, and asks for the mid-control to be put in a volume enclosure. That happened in 1966, making it the very first wah pedal. However, the Vox company didn’t quite understand it at the time. 

They thought it was for horns and saw it as a great opportunity to sell pedals since orchestras and big bands have multiple trumpets and saxophones. Del explained it was for guitar, but they didn’t understand. He jokingly said they should call it the Clyde McCoy, referencing a famous trumpet player. Vox took the suggestion seriously, and the first models of the wah were known as the “Clyde McCoy wah wah,” despite the fact that McCoy never used any pedals—let alone the wah. 

Despite this huge innovation, the wah simply didn’t catch on. In 1967, Del recorded a demo for the wah to showcase its potential. Whether or not the demo actually worked, it’s hard to say. However, it is undeniable that the wah would become one of the most iconic and well-known guitar effects in a short time. 

By the end of 1967, the wah had already been used on records by Jimi Hendrix on “Burning of the Midnight Lamp” and Eric Clapton on “Tales of Brave Ulysses,” as well as others. Frank Zappa was already using a wah around this time as well, and he is supposedly the one who showed it to Jimi. With some of the most popular players in the world using a wah, it was only a matter of time before it was everywhere. 

By the 70s, wah was unavoidable. From David Gilmour and Tony Iommi to Jimmy Page and Terry Kath, the wah was being used all over the place. By then it had earned its place as a staple on pedalboards, and it only continued to gain popularity over the years. To this day, the wah is a classic and iconic effect that is used by artists of all different genres. 

The History of Effects

The history of various guitar effects are fascinating, filled with weird and interesting stories that led to the iconic effects we use today. So next time you plug in your pedal board and start dialing in your favorite sounds, take a moment to think about all of the history that led to the reverbs, delays, distortions, phasers, flangers, fuzzes, and wahs on your board.