The Edge from U2 achieves his distinctive echo tone by using two digital delay pedals on the same board. Each pedal is routed to a separate Vox AC30 amplifier via a splitter box. This approach enables the guitarist to create a true stereo delay effect. By using a pair of delay pedals, you can incorporate two delay sounds into your guitar tone at the same time.
There are multiple types of modulation effect, including phaser, chorus, flanger and combinations thereof in one pedal. Populating your board with a range of modulation pedals equips with you a wide range of sonic possibilities. By setting the parameters of each pedal to their extremes, you can achieve some very “spacey” and unusual sounds. Incorporating delay and reverb into the pedal board lets you add echoes to the already sweeping modulated tones.
Compression is a dynamic effect that tempers the volume peaks in your guitar signal. By putting a compressor pedal last in the signal chain, you can influence the sound of all preceding pedals. This works especially well when you use distortion or fuzz-type effects, which typically create the biggest spikes in volume. Compression is also a useful addition if you have any pedals that create a volume dip, as it will boost the volume of those to the same level as the fuzz pedals.
Although you can achieve specific sounds by using a certain pedal combination, it’s useful to have a selection of pedals that give you the widest possible soundscape. If you have a distortion, modulation, delay and compression pedal you can achieve an extremely broad range of tones and sounds. While you may not be able to create any distinctive “signature” sounds like split delay, you’ll be able to approximate many of the tones of your favorite record.