Last Updated on August 12, 2022 by Play Guitar Notes
When it comes to guitar effects, there may be none more important than reverb. This is the sort of effect you might want to have on at almost all times to some degree. It naturally gives a lot of depth to your playing, helping you sound fuller when you’re alone and stand out within the mix if you’re playing with others. It can help your leads and melodies sound more emotive, and make the most profound riffs sound even bigger and decidedly more epic in scope. There’s just no way you can underestimate the usefulness of a good, versatile reverb sound at your disposal.
Of course, a lot of amplifiers have some degree of reverb built in, but that’s hardly practical. You’re almost always limited to one style of reverb, with only the ability to turn it up or down. It’s difficult to switch between different settings as well, meaning you have to stop playing to mess with the dial. That sort of thing just isn’t conducive to truly performing and is more of a hindrance than anything. The best possible solution for reverb if you don’t have the benefit of a team working behind the scenes to punch in your effects is to have a foot pedal on hand.
As one of the essentials of guitar effects, there are naturally a lot of choices out there when it comes to reverb. This is both a good thing and bad thing. The downside, of course, is that it makes it pretty hard to narrow down which ones are actually worth your time. In order to help you whittle your choices down a bit, the following paragraphs will include a basic overview of the 5 Best reverb pedals for guitar!
1 – Boss RV5 Digital Reverb Pedal
No list of effects pedals is complete with Boss! The RV5 digital reverb from Boss is designed exactly the same as all of their other pedals, with a compact chassis that won’t take up a lot of room on your board. Despite the small size, there’s just enough area for you to engage the switch, and the overall construction is immensely sturdy.
Most importantly, you have several great options with this pedal. You can adjust the level of the reverb as well as the tone, timing, and even style. For instance, you can dial in a hall, spring, plate, gated, or room reverb. The dials are very responsive as well, meaning you can get your sound just right. This pedal is undoubtedly worth every single cent of its price tag.
2 – TC Electronic’s Hall Of Fame Reverb
Available in a bundle with instrument patch cables and a 9-volt power adapter, the Hall of Fame from TC Electronic is another modestly sized option that gives you plenty of options for your money. You have even more reverb style choices here, and the true bypass switch allows you to turn it all off without losing any of the tones you’d dialed in. This is an amazing piece of equipment from one of the biggest names in town, so you should definitely give it a look.
3 – Behringer RV600 Reverb Machine
Now here’s a significantly lower priced option that still sounds amazing. Behringer’s RV600 reverb machine is something of a reverb “best of,” encompassing old school spring tones to the latest digital studio reverb sounds. You can even emulate realistic acoustics, a standout feature to be sure. With some truly unique sounds, beautiful aesthetics, and a price to die for, Behringer has a real winner here!
4 – Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano Pedal
Electro-Harmonix is another big name in the effects pedal game, and their Holy Grail Nano pedal has some of the best sounding tones around. Though a bit simpler than the options above since you can only switch between flanging reverb, hall, and spring settings, the sounds you’re going to pull off with this unit truly hold up to its name. Best of all, the Electro Harmonix designers made sure to design each sound profile with guitar in mind. You may think is price a bit high given the limited options, but you’re going to sound amazing as soon as plug into this thing.
5 – Electro Harmonix Cathedral Pedal
Here’s another beauty from Electro Harmonix to round us out. Although pushing the budget, the Cathedral stereo reverb pedal has options galore. You can combine a variety of settings such as your reverb time, how damp the reverb is, how much feedback it’s putting out, pre-delay, and a wealth of modes including echo, reverse, plate, hall, room, spring, and so on. This is the sort of pedal you’re going to plug into and not want to put down because there’s so much to try out, and best of all, it all sounds amazing!