I don’t even like ambient guitar but I like hanging out with this guy on KZfaq sometimes

I don't own a reverb pedal so I play inside a cave and get a similar effect... thanks for the video!

There are no "wrong notes" only a failure to resolve - Leonard Bernstein

I'm a very humble guitar player, originally a bass player, who has some grand sound dreams. I've just discovered your channel and am so thankful for your videos and your style of presentation. Just the approach of discussing discussing types of pedals, not hyping specific units, is so 1) trustworthy and 2) able to inform without intimidating one if they can't get the same unit. Thanks so much. I'm going to be watching and learning and killing off the 'players' block.'

this guy is like the bob ross of guitar playing..

I don't play ambient guitar. I'm just here because your videos are so good and fun to watch.

the perfect radio voice

1: analog delay 2: digital delay 3: dual delay 4: modulated delay 5: pitch shifting delay

I've watched enough of your videos to know the 5 staple ambient guitar effects. Next you should do "5 optional ambient guitar effects"

Will you be my uncle? This is my favorite channel, Bill. Thanks for doing what you do.

“You can hear how the compressor brings out the bottom end..” (demonstrates by playing guitar.. *stares uncomfortably into your soul*) 😂😂😂

I would recommend chorus before distortion if you want a more subtle effect. In my opinion the different layers of modulation overlapping each other works really well with delay and chorus. It adds a width which helps the one instrument sound like multiple instruments played over eachother.

Sir Davos?!!!

Thank you for great videos! You are a Bob Ross of Ambient Guitars! =)

One suggestion--some kind of signal splitting capability, right after the compressor; one signal goes through our overdrive/volume pedal while the other goes through a good chorus pedal and a SECOND volume pedal. We merge the signals back together before going into the delay/reverb. This enables us to "stack" (if I may borrow keyboard terminology) two sounds and control their volume envelopes with our feet. One would have to play sitting down, which many guitarists would prefer not to do, perhaps. Oh well just a thought...

You are such a good presenter, easy to understand, clear, and great info. But you also put a lot of your unique flavor in there. It's magical. thanks.

I like the Walrus Slö reverb a lot, of you haven’t checked it out! It has a detune effect, an octave down adjustment, a “freeze” feature, and a reverb tone filter. It’s righteous!

I can't imagine ambient guitar without my Strymon Big Sky. Great video. Always enjoy me some Chords of Orion.

Thank you brother, you are most helpful. I am a composing bass player with limited guitar skills and 25+ playing time. This helps me a lot for the demoing and writing. Cheers.

I really like stacking delay pedals. I often have three on at the same time.

After mindlessly looking at a bunch of pedal informative videos this is my favorite one 💗

The pedals you stated are bang on! And you are right about the modulated effects in how that extra pedal can be overkill for an effects board, especially when reverb and delay really combine nicely to create essentially the same effect. One pedal that I would think that many players may need to have (depending on the quality of amp and where a person plays) is a noise-gate. Thanks for the great video.

Love my Joemeek floorQ compressor pedal, such a magical pedal... makes my guitar breathe life into my tone. In effects chain order I use the Xotic Wah XW-1, Joemeek compressor, Rivera shaman distortion, MXR 10 band eq, Eventide modfactor, electro-harmonix cathedral stereo reverb, Pigtronix echolution2 stereo deluxe delay, electro-harmonix super pulsar stereo tremolo pedal, and a Boss RC-300 loop station for my ambient arsenal!😎

I agree, you’ve absolutely nailed the necessary basics right there. My only addition would be (and it’s not necessary) ...a second delay pedal is great for ambience! More is more!! Stacking delays is so much fun 😎

For me, I just add a bit of EQ, a noise gate (according to lack of good ground connection in Iranian power lines, I need that) and a compressor. EQ can easily fix dynamic mistakes and I have a lot of mistakes specially when I'm just improvising. But, for processing and sound design, I usually use a delay and a reverb, or just stack different delays and reverb fx to get my type of sound. BTW, I love that Pink Floyd T-Shirt :P

Compressors are some of the most widely misunderstood, most vastly underutilized effects in the guitar world. My cali76 is ALMOST an “always on” pedal. It makes playing easier on the fingers, helps solidify my dotted sound when it’s routed after the delay, controls what my drive pedals “hear” when it’s in front, emulates a nice, even studio guitar sound when it’s behind the drive pedals...and by itself it adds all of the nice, easy going dynamic of an overdrive without actually adding any dirt. They aren’t sexy effects like a good delay or a high end modulation....but they’re game changing processors once you get a grasp on everything they can do for you.

Back in the day: ES335 -> EH soul preacher compressor -> Roland AF60 Fuzz -> Colorsound Wah/volume -> WEM copycat. Reverb was two SM57s in different parts of the room. All the above now either hiss or hum due to old age or have been stolen. Now: Tele -> Boss CS3 compressor -> Fender trapper dual fuzz -> Morley mini wah -> unbranded volume (I have changed the pot) -> Fender reflecting pool and smartphone for changing reflecting pool patches. (I am thinking of turning the tele control plate around for easier swells)

Bill, I know you're not trying to promote any of the gear you use, but since I started watching your channel, I have to say that you've have had a big (subconscious?) influence on some of my purchases. I didn't think of myself as an ambient player in the past and was mostly a singer-songwriter, but in the last few months I've bought a Morley wah/volume, a PRS Baritone 277, and an Ebow, and I've really enjoyed using all of them and learning how to create some more ambient tones. A baritone guitar was the only piece that I would have considered prior to watching your channel, and you really sold me on the PRS. Thanks for the very educational videos.

I’m honestly shocked that pedal #1 wasn’t a sweet, spacious reverb. I have much to learn, and I look forward to the journey.

One of my favorite ambient albums is Rainbow Dome Musick by Steve Hillage from the 1970s . . . Lush analog synths with sweet guitar soloing for 1 hour of bliss

Thank you Ser Davos! 🙏🏼 🐺

These are really good to have no matter the genre of music

i just. love. the knowledge you're helping to disseminate. i began visiting your channel for (you guessed it) pedal reviews- but I'm still here long after my tech purchases to gain insight on theory, execution, and signal sequence. Your content helps bedroom composers/producers like myself- and for that, i thank you, Good Sir. P/S: many years ago, i experienced full immersion during 15+ minutes of Robert Fripp's instrumental improv in the middle of a King Crimson theater concert- it cemented the concept of "this is what i want to do with my life". It's 25 years later now, and i can still picture the moment with clarity (and i can imagine that you can picture it as well). The music you're making continues that legacy.

Thanks for sharing your secrets and opinion. The most important ambient pedal for me is a shimmer.

It's amazing to me that more people don't use Morley pedals. I've got a volume and wah pedal and they've lasted forever, and no scratchy pots to ever worry about.

The “TC Electronic T2 Trinity Reverb” pedal has been a HUGE BLESSING! You can even connect to your PC and add custom sounds. If I had to choose one pedal and one amp to play a quick gig, I’d choose that and my VOX Mini 5 that has HUGE sound and TONS of effects/tones. I’d be able to play ambient and fade into heavy. I love that combo so much.

Came for the ambiance, stayed and subbed for the beard. You rock sir.

my other suggested essentials would be an octaver pedal, a synth pedal, and a looper at the very end.

I was bored playing the guitar. But now I found some new inspiration. Thanks! Keep up the good work!

I'm building an “Ambient-friendly” board … first one I have ever built. At 68 I finally have a studio at home and can record once again. With your help here is what I have been considering. (These pedals will be on a board that fits on my desktop) 1. Fender Reflecting Pool Delay/Reverb 2. Electro-Harmonix Canyon Delay 3. Fender The Bends Compressor 4. Electro-Harmonix Soul Food Distortion/Overdrive 5. Electro-Harmonix Nano Looper 360 6. Morley 20/20 Volume Plus Volume Pedal (located on the floor) (And since I can't make my mind up on an amp I'm adding the...) 7. Boss IR-200 Amp and IR Cabinet Pedal into my Scarlett 8i6

I play mostly acoustic electronic guitar these days, so my perspective differs from most players here. A compressor helps with recording, but I don't need it for live performances just yet. Overdrive is optional for me, and I generally don't use it. I don't use a dedicated volume pedal. Instead, I have an expression pedal for my H9, and it defaults to a volume pedal if nothing else. I use it for swells, but I tend to use it more as a way to bring in effects as needed. That brings me to the next bit: a small mixer near me, as opposed to using the FOH mixer to blend guitar and effects. I like to play straight guitar over extended volume swells, or just long delay/reverb trails in general. I don't trust the sound engineer to get the right balance between straight guitar and effects, and giving FOH one channel for guitar is simpler for the FOH mixer anyway. I like having two delays in series. I usually use just one, but there are times when two delays in series are desirable. A single reverb is usually sufficient, but I stack reverbs as well, just not as often as stacking delays. Finally, I like a polyphonic octave generator in front of the H9. The H9 seems to like a buffer in front of it, and my Sub'N'Up provides that function as well.

ps - I'd think a reverb pedal with a good shimmer setting, such as the Styrmon Blue Sky, would be a good thing to have. I also love the Earthquaker Devices Afterneath (which is sort of delay-reverb oddity). However, these might be more in the realm of "shoegaze" effects that bands such as Alcest use. Perhaps I've stumbled outside the boundaries of ambient guitar?

Ser davos plays guitar since things went south at kings landing.

A dedicated feedbacker pedal by boss would be like having a E-Bow at your foot. I love it.

I really dig your videos! Thank you

Pink Floyd shirt a minute in - you have yourself a new subscriber!! Long live the Floyd!!

1. Fender Bends 2. Chase Bliss Brothers 3. Spaceman Nebula 4. POG nano 5. Meris Polymoon 6. Meris Mercury7 7. Pixies Doolittle t-shirt

so your question at the end, in my case I play a mix of ambient and heavy metal, I have a khdk ghoul screamer that has a toggle for how much compression there is. But I really only bring that in when I turn off the reverb and turn my digital delay on so I keep the same "area" of sound so to speak, but of a different quality. (Basics for my ambient sound are a diamond MLjr and the Matthews astronomer v2)

Well now, its total freakout again! Reckon Crumb will dig this.

I don’t even play guitar, im looking for guitar pedals for my synth lol

If this guy ever got angry I would run and hide. You don’t what he’s capable of! 😳😳😳

Very nice and clear video Bill, everything well explained. I do tend to agree with you on this one, you've really put down the essentials. It is possible to strip from that and still play ambient, but with these 5 pedals you have everything available that you might need: Tone shaping and sustain before the volume pedal, delay and reverb adding the true ambience after. Recently bought my first pedal (!!), a beautiful reverb and it adds so much ambience, environment and subtle phasing to the played music that it really complements the sound and is so inspiring to enhance what i'm feeling and doing new things. Thanks!

My ambient setup now is a Boss CS-3 compressor, an Ernie Ball volume pedal (modified by JHS), a Marshall Reflector reverb pedal, and an Electro Harmonix Canyon. Much fun with these. Especially the Canyon.

Wow. This channel has got me so inspired. I just sanna grab my guitar and buy some pedals. Awesome stuff 🥰 subbed

I just want to drown in that reverb/delay combo forever!

I think the Strymon Dig and big sky would make any of us sound half decent, those pedals are surely Heaven sent.

Hello, I love your way of speaking. So classy !

Best sounding PRS I've heard. Actually the only PRS out of hundreds I have liked one bit.

As for the mod pedals, most of good modern delay or reverb pedals have some modulation settings. I think that having modulation on the wet signal and keeping the dry signal clean is even better, it preserves the clarity of notes.

I should have found you and your music back when the pandemic started. Thanks for sharing your art.

Another aspect of the volume pedal to consider is if you want it before or after your OD. Before would act a lot like your guitar volume Pot where lowering it cleans up the sound, whereas after OD keeps all the tones fully overdriven, just quieter. I could totally see some people using 3 volume pedals.

Hi Chords of Orion. I just found your channel today, and this is the 3rd or 4th video I've let play through on auto-play cause you have great content. And then I look at the screen. Then I look down at my shirt. You have my shirt! Sincerely, Thanks for returning my shirt. P.S. You're great.

For me, 2 delay pedals are required. Delays are awesome, but 1 delay swelled into a 2nd delay with a different repeat interval is so intrinsic to my playing that I must have 2. I also think that reverb pedals may be the most under rated pedal in most guitarists board. Many players think "I'll just use the reverb in my amp" But as you pointed out, a great reverb pedal is incredibly powerful.

I would've had a looper in there, but I guess that comes down to whether or not you consider it an 'effect' per se.

Good stuff Bill! Compressor is very helpful to get sustain but I would replace it in your list with a filter pedal post volume. Volume swell into an auto wah filter for legit MOOG realm sounds. If filter is not your thing, swap the compressor for a polyphonic harmony pedal. Also a germanium fuzz pedals make excellent OD/trebleboost sounds when you roll back the guitar volume. So you could replace your OD pedal and get many more drive sounds with a germanium fuzz. Note germanium fuzz must come first in the chain and no active pick ups. Passive guitar> germanium fuzz> active volume pedal >auto filter>trem/verb>canyon echo...DI rig = Joyo American sound into moorer radar.

It’s a personal thing for sure….but I’d be darn if I don’t mention this from many years of experience…. A Parametric Equalizer pedal at the end of the chain… gave fun!

I think you picked 5 really great effects and it is kind of fun to think what I might have picked differently and what I might have picked differently for different types of music other than ambient. I think distortion, reverb, and delay are three effects that are really necessary in one form or another for a lot of different types of music. I have a bunch of different delay and reverb pedals, many of which I bought after seeing your reviews on them, it is just amazing how many different types there are and how the sound can very between analog and digital versions, and tape delay and spring reverb and pedals that emulate worn tape on a tape, etc. The only thing I might add is a second delay pedal, although some delay pedals do offer the ability to run two or three different delays at once.

Totally got the essentials covered!

I have the neunaber immerse Reverberator mk2, and it’s one of the best pedals I’ve ever purchased. It was very expensive, but if your are looking for ambience I promise it’s worth it.

I used the Wampler for years, nice pedal but dare I say!! I fell in love with the Boss CP-1X and use that now! Always on

I find chorus pedals very essential for bass in post rock/ambient Music

All good picks. and yes you can never overlook the power of a volume pedal.

Abient guitarist for 20 years...I was surprised to not see a looper in this chain...but then again, I guess this was meant to be bare bones basic, so perhaps that makes sense. It is the next logical step, though, in my opinion...and I'd place it (like I do in my rig) between the delay and the reverb.

This is wonderful, thank you. Ambient guitar has rekindled my love of the instrument.

Only five pedals? What kind of guitar player could possibly stop at five pedals? You buy one then you buy them all. There is no middle ground. It's the curse that will bankrupt us all in the end! Great video and no, i can't think of a better starter kit for this style of music.

I would push the depth a little, use and Octave Pedal or a Harmonizer. Your pedal choices are good.

Try adding the MXR M300,in the 'PAD" setting. "Knowledge is precious, in any form". Thanks for sharing yours.

Strymon pedals are expensive but I think the designed and made in the USA quality I think are ar the top of the heap of all pedals just like PRS, Fender and Gibson are the worlds best guitars.

I think this is a great starter board, but I would throw a shimmer pedal on after the reverb. I like the idea of a compression unit at the start. Personally though, I use a Ceriatone Centura to start my board. It really brings out the dynamics of the tone without any high frequency loss as compared to a compression pedal. I need the tone to be as open as possible so those high frequencies really ring and trigger the shimmer. My other board starts with a compression, so yeah, you are on the money with that. I also use a chorus, or a phaser before the delay and I set the modulation very low. Just a subtle wah wah fluctuation. After that, I use a Fender Reflecting Pool for the delay, reverb and shimmer. The Reflecting Pool costs a bit much, but if you consider that it's three pedals in one, the price balances out if you were to purchase each pedal individually. Of course, if you just bought the Strymon Big Sky, then you wouldn't need all the other pedals...haha...Some worship guys split their signal at the delay into two separate amps, one delay at 1/8 dotted, and the other at 1/4. This stereo effect really opens up the dynamic space and also creates that subtle wah effect that ambient wants. Great video.

Looper pedal is critical too, I guess. Can't refuse decent drone, when you jam) Great channel btw, love it.

You look like Ser Davos from Game of Thrones

The first time for me on this channel. I love the way you give advices. And i love your sound too. Thank you

Huh…that was really helpful. I’ve been kinda stuck on😮a mod pedal. I’m trying a new setup tomorrow!

Hi Bill. Thank you for another wonderful video. If its okay with you I would love to see a small tutorial on techniques using the volume pedal. Your use is so smooth and while I have one on my board, there is always a big jump between "no signal" and "signal" which kinda ruins the swell effect. Once again thank you. Always a joy to see a new video from you on my feed.

No, you do have what you need, and it sounds bbbbeaitiful, lush, and ambient ✨😘

I love your use of the volume pedal. It really does give you envelope control......... I might have to get one....... I feel like an additional two gain stages would add to that setup...... There is nothing like the noise swell that you can get from a very overdriven tube amp...... It's very meditative in it's own way........ Multiple gain/fuzz pedals give a wide range of sounds to play in..... Thanks for the video

Thank you. I got a lot out of this video. I do not have a compressor or volume pedal in my setup. At least not yet. Keep up your great work.

I'd suggest people check out the Elektron Analog Drive for overdrive/distortion. Lots of options, including low gain and even fuzz, and it's been selling cheap at the moment online. This video pretty much convinced me I need to add a compressor...

a looper, an octaver are a must; also some wild cards such as a synth emulator...

Currently rebuilding a new pedalboard geared around ambient/post-rock/shoegaze style. I've currently got just three pedals, my trusty old Zoom G2, which is where my overdrive/distortion is coming from currently; and a couple of patches are used for effect layering. My next two, in order, are an Electro-Harmonix Memory Boy deluxe delay, and Electro-Harmonix Oceans 12 reverb. Just three double-pedals; epic tone.

Well Bill as you certainly imagine one can make ambient guitar music in oh so many ways rendering oh so many results, so I agree with you that these pedals can be crucial for ambient guitar music. Although, looking back at what my kind of style was and is, There are a couple of pedals different than those you suggest that have to be present in my pedalboard: - Compressor - A good looper with advanced functions - a granular/micro sampling glitch oriented pedal - A delay with minimum 2 lines - A good good reverb Cheers Keep up the good work

over time I would like to build a board like this. Subscribing YES!! Love the guitar as well.

You are the Bob Ross of guitar love it.

If your amp has good reverb you could get away with not having a reverb pedal. But the delay and volume pedal are pretty much the starting point. Great video and as usual well considered, respectful and chill.

Sorry if that has nothing to do with ambient guitar. But everytime I see one of your videos I am amazed at how well you look. Would you mind me asking about your diet & exercise routine, etc.?

Great video thanks, for me I couldn't do without pitch shifter and a harmoniser - mainly because with my style of playing it's the only way to change pitch

no arguments here, you're the teacher. Here is a question: If a person can only afford 1 pedal at a time, what is the FIRST pedal they should get? then 2nd, and so on.....?

I was surprised to not see a looper in the list

I have a multiple effects pedal but on my "ambient" patch, i have a delay and then a reverb effect also set to delay which to me sounds cool with volume pedal swells...

Knowledge and skills aside, I just want to say you are fun to watch!