I’ve done a few articles about recommended pedals to get started with on electric guitar in a contemporary worship band setting and in response a number of people have asked for something similar for acoustic guitar and bass, so here are some thoughts. Similar principles apply to both instruments so I’ll list the acoustic pedal ideas in this post and the bass ones in the next.

When you get this kind of “what pedals for acoustic or bass” question the immediate response from many pro musicians is – don’t! Both these instruments are designed to be used with a natural tone and a lot of the time putting an electric guitar pedal though them is somewhat akin to too much icing on a cake. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a worship service where the acoustic guitarist has used their favourite digital chorus pedal for the whole set, but it just gets fatiguing on the ears after a very short time! So in short everything that changes your natural tone needs to be used in short bursts at choice moments.

So if you want start with a couple of boxes it’s probably worth considering some pedals that enhance your natural tone rather than trying to change it. Firstly buy a great tuner, it’ll be the pedal you use the most and there’s nothing worse than a slightly out of tune guitar. Try getting one that mutes the output when you step on it. Also don’t be tempted to go for a cheapie. I’ve tried loads of cheap tuners over the years and the frustration that comes with it not be able to clearly pick up the right string sound is simply not worth the few quid you save on purchase price. There are loads available so do some research but here are some choices to get you going. Read More »