In the world of electric guitarists, they are arguably the most important effect to have in the gear pool. While the selection of modern effects pedals is seemingly endless, a guitarist can always rely on their reverb pedals to add that final touch to his or her tone. In fact, a great many performers rely solely on the tone from their amp and a single reverb pedal to do the job. The tone of an electric guitar can be harsh or grating on its own and the addition of a little bit of reverb can make a world of difference.

Most electric guitarists consider the pursuit of the perfect guitar tone to be a lifelong endeavor.However, there are many factors in fine tuning a guitarist's tone and finding the right pedal can be just as important as finding the right amplifier. It's important for a performer to test out different reverb pedals with the same guitar and amp they use on stage. One reverb pedal may sound perfect with a certain type of guitar and amp, but could sound equally unsatisfying through another setup. Demoing a new pedal at the local guitar store is not always enough to know if it's the right one. This difficulty is easy to get around when a guitarist is willing to bring his or her own axe to the store and test the pedal through an amp similar to what they have at home.

For those who are new to the market of overdrive pedals, it's important to add that there is more than one type of reverb to choose from including: hall, room, plate and spring. Spring reverb is a type that is usually found built-in to amplifiers. This reverb is achieved through pushing sound into metal springs which causes reverberation. In most modern spring reverb pedals, instead of containing an actual spring inside the housing, the reverberated spring is emulated in the circuitry. Spring reverb has a very distinctive 'bouncy' sound and is very popular with Blues guitarists. Plate reverb simulates an old fashioned style, similar to spring reverb, which would inject the sound into a metal plate. Plate reverb pedals are known for increasing the sustain of the guitar without making it seem faraway; which is a problem found with other reverbs, as in the hall type.

Still there are other options when looking into reverb pedals, such as FX processors which contain many effects in one unit but are lower quality in general. There is just no substitution for a good quality stand-alone reverb pedal. The wide selection may seem daunting but, with a little bit of research and trial, the right pedal is out there and can be found.