Face-melting riffs. Savoury crunches. There’s nothing quite like metal. If you’re looking to dive into the dirty world of metal music, you’ll want some pedals under your belt to achieve your sound. To help in your quest, we’ll go over the best guitar effects pedals for metal.
Best Guitar Effects For Metal
There are several effects metalheads rely on to deliver dirty riffs. Some of the most popular guitar effects are as follow:
- Distortion
- Compressor
- Delay
- Harmonizer
Distortion
If there is any guitar effect metalheads need, it’s undeniably distortion. However, when it comes to the best metal distortion pedals, declaring a subjective winner is impossible. Distortion is a very personalized effect, and every guitarist wants different things from a distortion pedal. Whether you want face-melting distortion or a satisfying crunch depends entirely on you. That given, we can still go over some of the most popular distortion pedals amongst metal guitarists. Since distortion is such a broad genre, we’ll go in-depth over our picks.
Best Distortion Pedals
Pro Co Rat 2 Overdrive Pedal
The Pro Co Rat 2 is a unique pedal, described as 45% distortion and 55% fuzz. Many famous guitarists love this pedal, including James Hetfield and Kurt Cobain, thanks to its incredible versatility. No matter if you crave sweet and soft or crude and vulgar tones, this pedal has you covered.
Keeley Electronics Filaments Distortion Pedal
The Keeley Electronics Filaments distortion pedal delivers both aggressive high gains and gentle distortions for the best of both worlds. You also have access to incredible tone-crafting capabilities thanks to its 7 methods of EQ shaping.
BOSS MD-2 Mega Distortion Pedal
For modern metal guitarists, the BOSS MD-2 Mega Distortion pedal is the beast you need. This box delivers extreme, low-end distortion suitable for modern metal guitarists. If you’re a new-school metalhead, you’ve gotta head your hands on the BOSS MD-2.
Compressor
A simple compressor pedal can make a massive difference in your tone. This guitar effect tightens up otherwise mushy tones, leaving you with sharp, defined sounds. If you don’t have one of these in your arsenal, you may be shocked at the difference it can make in your playing.
Best Compressor Pedals
Delay
Delay is an awesome effect that can thicken up your lead tones and make you stand out. Without this effect, your lead tones can sound thin and watery, and adding a delay pedal is an easy fix. To help solidify your leads, let’s go over the best delay pedals for metal.
Best Delay Pedals
Wah-Wah
Wah-wah pedals are used by legendary guitarists worldwide. This effect alters the tone and frequencies of the guitar signal to achieve the onomatopoeic “wah-wah” sound. You manually step on this pedal for the higher-pitched “wah” noise and release for the “wu” sound. However, achieving your desired wah effect takes time and practice. Let’s go over the best wah-wah pedals for metal.
Best Wah-Wah Pedals
- Dunlop Cry Baby 535Q Multi-Wah Guitar Effects Pedal
- Vox V847A The Original VOX Chrome Plated Wah-Wah Pedal
Get Down ‘n’ Dirty
While metal generally keeps things simple in terms of effects, these essential guitar effects will take your playing to the next level. Want to browse more pedals for metal? Browse our extensive line of guitar effects pedals.