There are few things better than cracking sitting on your porch, drinking a couple beers, and playing along with Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen’s greatest hits. Of course, if you really want to replicate the Boss’s Americana sound as you strum along, you’re going to need to use some of the same sound equipment he does. Namely, his guitar effect pedals.
Here are a few of Bruce’s favorites.
Distortion Pedals.
The Boss actually a couple different guitar distortion pedals — the BOSS SD-1 Super Overdrive, and the BOSS OD-3 Turbo Overdrive. Some artists like to have different guitar effect pedals for rhythm and for solos, which is likely what Bruce does, but then again, maybe he wants to make his tone as heavy as possible.
Delay Pedals.
Delays pedals are a ton of fun. These guitar effect pedals create an echo of the sound that’s just been played on the guitar, and are consequentially referred to as echo pedals sometimes. They come with a few different knobs to control the timing and the texture of the echos, so you can contour it as you see (or hear) fit. Bruce likes to use the BOSS DD-3 digital delay.
Chorus Pedals.
Chorus pedals emulate the sound of multiple guitars playing at once, like a chorus. Sometimes referred to as flangers, these guitar effect pedals repeat the instrument’s input signal over and over and over again, thusly making it sound like there’s several different guitars all playing in sync. The Boss likes to use a couple of these. Specifically, the Rockman Chorus, and the BOSS BF-3 flanger.
If you really want to sound like the Boss, these are the guitar effect pedals you need to have. Head to an online music store today to pick them up, and before you know it, you’ll guitar will sound like it was born in the U.S.A. too.
If you have any questions about guitar effect pedals, feel free to ask in the comments. References.
