Pedal Tricks: The Shimmer Effect

“Shimmer” is a word that has become somewhat trendy in the stompbox realm, with many new stompboxes claiming to be able to reproduce the “shimmering effect.”

This effect, made famous by U2’s The Edge, creates an ethereal string-like reverb under your guitar’s regular signal and it’s actually something that can be done using creative pedal routing.

I set this effect up by taking a “dry out” from my pedalboard, running that through a volume pedal (in this case a Ernie Ball VP Junior) and then into patch 117 of a Digitech IPS 33 Intelligent Pitch Shifter – a harmonized delay.

The output of the pitch shifter will then go either into a separate amp or direct into the PA.

If you don’t have a dry out in your board you can use a standard A/B switch engaging both the A and B outputs. You can also use the “Octo” setting on a Line 6 Verbzilla pedal in place of the Digitech but I don’t think it sounds nearly as cool.

Play single notes or any arpeggiated pattern and slowly bring in the “Shimmer” with the volume pedal for a spacey celestial effect.

Of course the configuration of “The Shimmer” can be used for any other dramatic swelling effect, and it works particularly well with delays and reverbs. – Vinnie DeMasi