The Six Essential Funk Guitar Effect Pedals

ByKevin Levesque

Finding the right tone for the music you want to create can be a frustrating journey. If you are looking to find the right tone for funk, look no further. I’ve rounded up the types of guitar effect pedals you need, along with some recommendations of which specific pedals you should consider. These picks are heavily influenced by modern funk guitar sounds like Vulfpeck, Fearless Flyers and Snarky Puppy, but will work for classic funk jams as well. In each of the effect pedal categories I’ve provided a top pick as well as some other alternatives, usually a little more affordable.

Table of Contents

Top Picks

Wong Compressor

Crybaby Wah

Sub’n’up Octave

Optimist Overdrive

BigSky Reverberator

GE-7 Equalizer

Funk Guitar Effects Pedals

Compression

Of all the possible guitar effect, compression is the key to that funky sound. The right compressor provide a consistency to your volume and dynamics without “squashing” or “thinning” out your sound. A good compressor can add a robustness to your strumming to fill out your mix.

  • Walrus Audio Wong – Designed in cahoots with modern funk legend Cory Wong, if ever there was a compressor specifically designed to get funky it’s this one.
  • Wampler Ego – Before working with Walrus Audio to develop the Wong Compressor the Ego was on Cory Wong’s board. He’s gone on record saying he’s tried every compression pedal he could get his hands on and this was the one he landed on.
  • PRS Mary Cries – A somewhat new entry into the world of guitar effect pedals, PRS delivered with this optical compressor. Unlike the Wong and Ego the attack, release and other compression parameters are set and you have the option of “more” or “less” and that’s it. If you want a great compression sound without the tinkering the Mary Cries is for you.

Wah or Envelope Filter

Wakka, Wakka, Wakka – sometimes we need a good Wah to get weird. I recommend the classic Cry Baby Wah a veritable institution in the guitar world. But that is not the only option. Vox makes a perfectly respectable Wah, but if adding an active foot pedal to your routine sounds daunting, you can try an envelope filter, which can be like an automatic wah, giving you the ups and downs without having to rock your foot back and forth.

Octave

Octave Pedals are a pitch shifting tool that can make your guitar sound as though you are playing an octave higher or lower. Our top pick is the TC Electronics Sub’n’up because you can add both a low and high octave along with you dry signal, creating a multi-layered guitar part with only one guitar.

Overdrive

Overdrive is the go-to pedal type for shaping your tone for all styles of guitar – but which overdrive is going to give you the right tone for funk? There are tons of options in this category but here are a few you will find on prominent funk guitar pedal boards. These are all “transparent” overdrives, that is they enhance your guitar sound, not change it too much.

  • Jackson Audio Optimist – Designed with the funk guitarist in mind, two overdrives and an Equalization gives you a delicious toolbox of options
  • J Rockett The Dude – Mark Lettieri and Cory Wong have both used this in the past. They Abide.
  • Electro Harmonix Soul Food – An affordable Klon Clone that can be used as a clean boost or give you some crunch depending on your mood

Reverb

Reverb is a tricky topic because you may have an amplifier with a built in reverb that you like and don’t need a pedal at all. Something like a Fender Deluxe Reverb may have all the reverb you need. If you’re just playing through a clean pedal platform amp then any of the following can help you fill out the space in your sound.

  • Strymon BigSky Multidimensional Reverb – The reverb for the tinkerer, if you can get the reverb sound you want out of this monster, you probably cant get it anywhere outside of a studio. Infinitely adjustable, you’ll get the sound you want, and probably a dozen more great sounds along the way.
  • TC Electronics Hall of Fame 2 Reverb – a flexible reverb with many options, but less overwhelming than the BigSky.
  • Electro Harmonix Holy Grail Neo – Plug in, turn the nob to amount of reverb you want and then forget about it. Spring, Plate or Hall – all sound good.

Equalization

Equalization on pedal boards is an underutilized tool across all genres of music, especially for the home office rocker. Any song you listen to on spotify or youtube is going to have been professionally produced and mixed – this means someone at the console tweaked the EQ to get it to sound just right. Well what if you want to sound just right but don’t have a digital audio workstation? Slap an EQ pedal on the floor and start tinkering until you get it just right.

  • Boss GE-7 – Boy is it an ugly beige but its the best at what it does
  • MXR M109S – Sleek in silver, but one less band – how important is that band? Minimally.
  • MXR M108S – When 6 or 7 bands doesn’t cut it – go for the 10 band!

Honorable Mention – Tuner

You’ve got to play in tune, end of story. This recommendation is not specific to funk guitar, its specific to all guitar. You can pick your pedal based on your tuning needs.

  • TC Electronics PolyTune 3 – Easy to use, big display, this is on boards all across the world.
  • Boss TU-3 – More options than the polytune, if you get weird with your tunings this one’s for you.

Time for funk

I’ve covered all guitar effect pedal types required to get funky, so get your effects, plug in, and crank up. Tighten up your sound with a compressor, make it Wah with your Wah-Wah and get some octave action rolling. Round out the board with some overdrive, reverb and EQ and go make some noise!