Forget the partridges and the pear trees. For guitarists, the holiday season is the perfect excuse to explore the vast landscape of sound. Whether you’re playing a candlelight service or a rowdy holiday party, here are twelve iconic guitar tones to carry you through the twelve days of Christmas.
1. The “Silver Bells” Clean
This is the quintessential “pristine” tone. Think of a Fender Twin Reverb with the bright switch engaged. It’s glassy, transparent, and sparkles like fresh snow.
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The Secret: Use a single-coil neck pickup and a touch of compression to make those high notes ring out like actual bells.
Fender 65 Twin Reverb at Andertons, £2099
Fender 65 Twin Reverb at Sweetwater, $2199.99
Fender 65 Twin Reverb at Thomann, priced €2199
2. The “Chestnuts Roasting” Jazz Box
Warm, mellow, and sophisticated. This tone captures the spirit of Joe Pass or Wes Montgomery. It’s all about the midrange and the “woodiness” of a hollow-body guitar.
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The Secret: Roll your tone knob down to about 3 or 4 and use a heavy-gauge flatwound string for that thumpy, fireplace-warmth.
3. The “Jingle Bell Rock” Twang
This is the sound of 1950s rockabilly. It’s snappy, percussive, and full of attitude.
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The Secret: A Telecaster on the bridge pickup through a Vox-style amp. Add a quick “slapback” delay (around 80–120ms) to get that vintage rhythmic bounce.
Fender Standard Series Telecaster in Butterscotch Blonde at Andertons, priced £499
Fender Standard Series Telecaster in Butterscotch Blonde at Sweetwater, priced $599.99
Fender Standard Series Telecaster in Butterscotch Blonde at Thomann, priced €595
4. The “Trans-Siberian” High Gain
Christmas isn’t all quiet carols. This tone is for the “Wizards in Winter” moments. It’s a saturated, harmonically rich lead tone with enough sustain to last until New Year’s.
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The Secret: Use a humbucker-equipped guitar, a high-gain British stack, and a wah-pedal parked halfway for that “vocal” mid-frequency boost.
5. The “Silent Night” Ethereal Ambient
This tone feels like a midnight snowfall. It’s less about the guitar and more about the space between the notes.
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The Secret: A “Shimmer” reverb or a long crystalline delay. Use a volume pedal to swell the notes in, removing the pick attack for an organ-like effect.
Strymon Blue Sky Reverberator Pedal V2 at Andertons, priced £345
6. The “Nutcracker” Class-A Crunch
For those bouncy, neoclassical movements, you need a tone that breaks up just enough when you dig in. It’s articulate but “hairy.”
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The Secret: A small tube amp (like a Blues Junior or an AC15) pushed right to the edge of breakup. It should stay clean if you play softly, but growl when you play chords.
Fender Blues Junior in Lacquered Tweed Finish at Andertons, priced £769
Fender Blues Junior in Lacquered Tweed Finish at Sweetwater, priced $839
Fender Blues Junior in Lacquered Tweed Finish at Thomann, priced €779
7. The “Blue Christmas” Tremolo
Nothing says “lonely holiday” like the pulsing, watery sound of vintage opto-tremolo. It’s the sound of Elvis and 1950s heartache.
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The Secret: Set your tremolo speed to a medium-slow pulse and the depth to about 60%. It adds a “shivering” quality to your chords.
Boss TR-2 Tremolo Pedal at Andertons, priced £109
8. The “Father Christmas” P90 Growl
The Kinks-inspired garage rock tone. It’s unruly, mid-heavy, and perfect for the grittier side of the holidays.
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The Secret: A guitar with P90 pickups into a cranked small combo amp. It’s a “rude” tone that cuts through a thick mix of drums and sleigh bells.
9. The “Ghost of Christmas Past” Lo-Fi
Warm, warbly, and nostalgic—like listening to a dusty vinyl record by the tree.
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The Secret: Use a vibrato pedal or a chorus with the “mix” set high and the “speed” low to simulate a slightly out-of-tune tape machine. Roll off the treble and bass for a “radio” feel.
Universal Audio UAFX Brigade Chorus and Vibrato Pedal at Andertons, priced £179.99
Universal Audio UAFX Brigade Chorus and Vibrato Pedal at Sweetwater, priced $169
Universal Audio UAFX Brigade Chorus and Vibrato Pedal at Thomann, priced €99
10. The “Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh” Boutique Lead
This is the “D-Style” or “Klon” tone—transparent, expensive-sounding, and incredibly touch-sensitive. It represents the “gifts” of great gear.
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The Secret: A high-end overdrive pedal with the gain low and volume high, pushing a clean amp into “singing” territory.
Warm Audio Centavo Overdrive Pedal at Andertons, priced £155
Warm Audio Centavo Overdrive Pedal at Sweetwater, priced $169.99
Warm Audio Centavo Overdrive Pedal at Thomann, priced €169
11. The “Frozen” Acoustic 12-String
Nothing mimics the icy shimmer of winter like a 12-string acoustic. The natural chorus effect sounds like a choir of angels.
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The Secret: If you don’t have a 12-string, use a “Pitch Shifter” or “Octave” pedal set to one octave up, blended subtly with your dry signal.
12. The “New Year’s Eve” Fuzz
Ending the season with a bang. This is a thick, wall-of-sound fuzz that feels like a celebration.
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The Secret: A Big Muff-style fuzz. Keep the “Sustain” high and the “Tone” slightly dark to avoid ear fatigue during the countdown.
Electro Harmonix Big Muff PI at Andertons, priced £79.99
Electro Harmonix Big Muff PI at Sweetwater, priced $101.60
Electro Harmonix Big Muff PI at Thomann, priced €87
Check out our The Legendary Roar: A History of the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi and Top 5 Big Muff Clones/Alternatives: Big Muff Circuits With a Twist guides.
Building Tones
To help you capture that elusive “holiday magic” in your sound, let’s build a signal chain for Tone #5: The “Silent Night” Ethereal Ambient.
This is the most popular choice for modern holiday services and atmospheric recordings because it transforms the guitar into a lush, synth-like pad.
The “Midnight Snowfall” Signal Chain
To get this right, the order of your pedals is crucial. You want to “wash out” the guitar’s natural percussive sound into a smooth texture.
| Order | Pedal Type | Suggested Setting | Purpose |
| 1 | Volume Pedal | Post-Tuner | Used to “fade in” notes to hide the pick attack. |
| 2 | Compressor | High Sustain | Evens out the swells so the volume stays consistent. |
| 3 | Overdrive | Very Low Gain | Adds just enough “harmonic hair” to keep the tone from sounding thin. |
| 4 | Modulation | Slow Chorus | Adds a slight “warble” to mimic cold, moving air. |
| 5 | Delay | Tape or Analog | 500ms delay with high repeats (feedback) to create a bed of sound. |
| 6 | Shimmer Reverb | 100% Wet Mix | Adds an “octave-up” tail that sounds like a choir or bells. |
How to “Play” the Chain:
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The Swell: Keep the Volume Pedal at 0%. Strike a chord or a single note with your pick.
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The Fade: Slowly push the Volume Pedal forward. You’ll hear the note bloom out of silence without the “click” of the pick hitting the string.
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The Trail: Once the note is at full volume, pull the pedal back to 0% and let the Delay and Reverb carry the sound while you prepare your next chord.
Pro Tip for This Tone:
If you have a Neck Pickup (especially a humbucker), use it! It has fewer high-end transients than the bridge pickup, which makes the “frozen” ambient effect sound much smoother and more “fluffy.”
To achieve the “Silent Night” Ethereal Ambient tone, you can go one of two ways: a Budget route that gets you 90% of the way there for a fraction of the cost, or a Boutique route for professional-grade “cloud” textures.
Here are our 2025 recommendations for the essential slots in that signal chain:
1. The Volume Swell & Dynamics
This is the most critical part for removing the “guitar” sound and creating a violin-like pad.
| Level | Recommendation | Why it works |
| Budget | Ernie Ball VP Jr. | An industry standard for a reason. It’s rugged and has a smooth, predictable sweep for swells. |
| Boutique | Lehle Mono Volume S | Uses a magnetic sensor rather than a string/potentiometer, meaning it will never wear out or get “scratchy.” |
| Comp | Keeley Compressor Plus | Use this after the volume pedal to “catch” the swell and hold it steady as it fades. |
2. The Delay (The “Bed” of Sound)
You need a delay that repeats softly and melts into the background.
| Level | Recommendation | Why it works |
| Budget | TC Electronic Flashback 2 | Use the “Analog” or “Tape” settings. The MASH footswitch lets you lean on the pedal to swell the feedback in real-time. |
| Boutique | Strymon TimeLine | The “Ice” setting on this pedal adds crystalline pitch-shifted repeats that are perfect for Christmas carols. |
3. The Reverb (The “Frozen” Space)
This provides the massive, church-hall scale of the sound.
| Level | Recommendation | Why it works |
| Budget | EHX Oceans 11 | The “Shimmer” mode on this pedal is shockingly good for the price. It adds a halo of high-octave light to your chords. |
| Boutique | Strymon BigSky MXÂ | The new “Cloud” and “Chorale” algorithms are specifically designed to make a guitar sound like a choir of angels. |
| Wildcard | Walrus Audio Slöer | A dedicated ambient reverb with a “Dark” mode that adds a lower octave—great for a moody, “Silent Night” vibe. |
The “All-in-One” Christmas Miracle
If you don’t want a board full of pedals, look at the Zoom MS-70CDR+. It’s a “MultiStomp” that contains clones of almost all the boutique pedals mentioned above. You can chain up to 6 effects (Volume -> Comp -> Chorus -> Delay -> Shimmer Reverb) all inside one tiny blue box for around $150.
Quick Start Settings:
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Mix: 60% (You want more “effect” than “dry guitar”)
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Decay/Feedback: 75% (Let the notes hang in the air)
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Tone: Roll it back (Keep it warm so the “shimmer” doesn’t get piercing)
To help you master this tone, here is a visual guide to setting up your signal chain and a demonstration of the technique needed to make it sound “ethereal.”
1. The Signal Chain Flow
This diagram shows how to order your pedals. Placing the Volume Pedal before your Delay and Reverb is the “secret sauce”—it allows you to cut the initial “attack” of the pick while letting the beautiful, shimmering echoes ring out naturally.
2. The Technique: The “Ambient Swell”
The “Silent Night” tone relies heavily on your footwork (or your pinky finger on the guitar’s volume knob). You strike the string while the volume is at zero, then slowly roll it up.
Final Tip for the Holidays:
If you are playing in a church or a large hall, try setting your Delay to a “Dotted Eighth” note setting. It will sync with the room’s natural acoustics, making your Christmas carols sound twice as large!
Be sure to read our The Ultimate Gift Guide for Guitarists: Perfect Stocking Fillers and Presents.
More How-To Guides at Guitar Bomb
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