Expand Your Creativity with Acoustic Effects Pedals

With just a few effects pedals optimized for acoustic guitar you can enhance your guitar tone, explore new creative potentials while songwriting, and greatly expand your recording capabilities. And while electric guitar effects pedals are prized for their ability to radically re-shape your core sound, the best pedals for acoustic guitar will allow you to blend in the effect while leaving the core character and nuance of your instrument intact. From subtle tone shaping and studio-quality reverb to creativity-enhancing loopers and signal splitters, let’s take a look at how pedals for acoustic guitar can widen your creative palette in your home studio.

Shape your tone and boost for solos with a Preamp/EQ pedal

While your acoustic-electric guitar may already be equipped with a built-in preamp and equalizer, there are big sonic benefits to be had with a preamp/EQ pedal in your signal chain. A high-quality preamp will help you capture the best sound from any acoustic guitar with passive or active electronics, and with a footswitchable preamp pedal, you can boost for solos or lower your volume for softer passages. And even if your guitar has basic EQ on it, an EQ pedal allows you to explore different tonal shades without altering your instrument’s settings, and you also gain the ability to switch the EQ on and off for different song sections. A preamp/EQ pedal like the Fishman AFX Pro EQ Mini combines a premium preamp with a studio-quality 5-band EQ, and is a great way to optimize your acoustic guitar tone while recording.

Capture a rhythm and improvise on the fly with a looper pedal

Even if you’re an expert with your DAW software, it’s easy to lose your creative spark as you scramble to start a new project and record a flash of inspiration. With a looper pedal for acoustic guitar, like the Fishman AFX Broken Record, all you need to do it hit the footswitch and start playing. Capture an inspired rhythm and explore lead lines as it loops for you. Or lay down a melody, then experiment with different backing chords as it plays. With a looper pedal in your signal chain, you’re always ready to record an inspired moment and experiment with it, without ever taking your hands off your guitar.

Enhance your tone with studio-quality reverb optimized for acoustic guitar

Whether you’re recording your acoustic-electric guitar in your home studio or plugging into a PA system for live performance, adding reverb to your dry guitar signal is one of the best ways to elevate your tone. Even adding just a touch of short room reverb can make the difference between a good guitar tone and a great one. And of course, expansive hall and plate reverbs can make a soulful melody truly soar in a sparse arrangement. It’s easy to add studio-quality reverb to your tone with a reverb pedal optimized for acoustic guitar, like the Fishman AFX AcoustiVerb pedal. You can explore the sounds of three distinctive reverb types, with a premium audio path designed to maintain the extended frequency range of your acoustic guitar.

Expand your tonal options by blending signals

Blending layers of guitar together is a classic technique for creating larger-than-life guitar tones, for example layering a microphone with the direct output for a rich, resonant sound that retains attack and presence. An ABY pedal with mixing capabilities like the Fishman AFX Pocket Blender is a simple and powerful solution for blending guitar signals in a convenient mini-pedal format. It’s perfect for dual-source acoustic pickup systems like the Fishman Matrix Infinity Mic Blend. Connect a single TRS cable from your dual-source electronics to the AFX Pocket Blender, and use its 2-channel mixer to blend the mic and pickup signals and achieve your ideal tone. Used with other AFX Mini effects pedals, the AFX Pocket Blender allows you to blend effects alongside your core guitar tone, and also switch between two “scenes” each with your desired mix levels. Whether you’re recording or playing live, the ability to blend signals with a pedal like the AFX Pocket Blender gives you greater tonal control and more creative options when using effects.

The best acoustic effects pedals will enhance your tone, not degrade it

Fishman knows that for acoustic guitarists, tonal integrity is everything. After all, who wants to add effects if it means you’ll compromise the character, nuance, and complexity of your acoustic guitar’s natural voice? That’s why choosing effects pedals that are optimized for the extended frequency response and dynamic range of your acoustic guitar is crucial. Fishman AFX Mini pedals layer their effect in parallel with your core guitar tone, instead of melding them together like an electric guitar effects pedal would. With a premium analog signal path and parallel effects layering, Fishman AFX Mini pedals offer sonic enhancement that doesn’t take the life out of your core acoustic tone. With some simple effects pedals optimized for acoustic guitar, you can explore new sonic territory and enhance your tone with the push of a footswitch. Fishman AFX Mini pedals put studio-quality effects and routing solutions at your feet, giving you powerful creative tools for songwriting, recording, and live performance. Put some AFX Mini pedals in your signal chain— you’ll love what they can do for your music production!