The 7 Best Guitar Sustain Pedals, With Settings

If you want one answer, buy the Keeley Compressor Plus. It makes every note ring longer without changing your sound much, and Guitar World picks it as the best compressor pedal you can buy.

This page used to list 10 pedals. When I went back through it in October 2026, a few had been replaced or were hard to find, and the list mixed up pedals that do very different jobs. So I cut it down to the seven I’d actually buy and sorted them by the kind of sustain you’re after. Each one has a demo, and each one has a starting point for the knobs.

Three Kinds Of Sustain Pedal

• Notes that ring longer. A compressor, often sold as a sustainer, evens out your volume so a note stays loud for longer before it dies away. A fuzz like the Big Muff does it with lots of gain. That’s picks 1 to 4.
• Feedback. A feedback pedal makes a held note swell the way it would in front of a loud amp. That’s pick 5.
• A note or chord held forever. A freeze pedal grabs what you’re playing and holds it for as long as you want. That’s picks 6 and 7.

One more thing, because a lot of people search for it: a piano or keyboard sustain pedal does nothing plugged into a guitar amp. If that’s the effect you want, pick 7 is the closest guitar version.

The Quick Picks

Pedal	Best for	Type	Price
Keeley Compressor Plus	Most players	Compressor	About $150
Boss CS-3	A pedal that lasts forever	Compressor	About $110
Behringer CS400	A tight budget	Compressor	Under $30
Electro-Harmonix Nano Big Muff Pi	Fuzz solos	Fuzz	Under $90
DigiTech FreqOut	Feedback at low volume	Feedback	About $220
Electro-Harmonix Freeze	Holding a chord	Freeze	About $150
Electro-Harmonix Superego+	Piano style sustain	Freeze and effects	About $285

Prices are typical US music store prices in late 2026 and they move around, so click through for today’s price.

How I Picked These

I didn’t test these seven side by side in a studio. I went through reviews from Guitar World, MusicRadar, guitar.com, Premier Guitar and Sound On Sound, the makers’ manuals and a lot of owner reviews. Then I threw out anything discontinued, anything you can’t buy new in the US, and anything over $400.

1. Keeley Compressor Plus: Best Overall

The compressor most reviewers pick first. Notes ring longer, and a blend knob keeps your pick attack sounding natural.

Guitar World names the Compressor Plus its top compressor pedal and calls it insanely good value for money. The Blend knob is why I’d pick it over the Boss: it mixes your clean signal back in, so you keep the pick attack and still get the longer notes. guitar.com called the little pickup switch a revelation, because it sets the pedal up for single coils or humbuckers with one flick.

It’s a vintage style compressor, and Guitar World warns it can get a bit lo fi at some settings and noisy with drive pedals. guitar.com found that pushing the Sustain knob a long way gives an unnatural thump on hard picked notes. MusicRadar’s only complaint is that it may not have enough controls for compression obsessives, which won’t be most of us.

How to set it for sustain: Keeley’s card suggests all four knobs at noon with the switch on Humbucker. For longer notes, turn Sustain up toward 2 o’clock and set Level so the pedal is no louder than when it’s off. If it starts to thump, turn Blend down. Keeley also warns that high Sustain settings hiss between notes.

2. Boss CS-3 Compression Sustainer: Best Classic

The pedal most people mean when they say sustain pedal. Boss has made it since 1986, and it’s built like a tank.

MusicRadar found the CS-3 goes from mild compression all the way to a heavily squashed effect, and called it a good buy sitting between budget and boutique pedals. guitar.com says it’s famously squishy and colors your tone, gives near infinite sustain for solos, and joked that it will probably outlast several civilisations.

MusicRadar’s complaint is that it doesn’t sound as natural as boutique compressors. Boss’s own manual says turning Sustain up can bring noise or howling, so back the knob off when you hear it. If you’d rather have the other classic, the MXR Dyna Comp costs about $100 and does a similar job with two knobs.

How to set it for sustain: Boss’s manual starts with all four knobs at noon. For longer notes, turn Sustain clockwise until you hear hiss or howling, then back off a little. Turning Attack clockwise keeps more of your pick attack. Set Level so the pedal is no louder than when it’s off.

3. Behringer CS400: Best Under $30

A plastic copy of the Boss for under $30, and the cheapest way to hear what a sustain pedal does.

Behringer based the CS400 on the Boss CS-3 and kept the same four knobs, in a plastic box for a quarter of the price. No magazine has reviewed it, so I went by owner reviews and a hands on review at Killer Guitar Rigs. They found it even more natural sounding than the Boss, and reasonably sturdy for plastic.

The same review heard a fair bit of noise with Sustain turned all the way up, and found the battery door a pain to open. Stock is patchy too: Amazon itself was out when I checked, though other sellers on the same listing had it, and Musician’s Friend had it on backorder. If it’s gone, the Donner Ultimate Comp is another cheap compressor that was in stock.

How to set it for sustain: start with every knob at noon, raise Sustain until notes ring as long as you want, and stop short of full, where the noise comes in. Set Level so it matches the sound with the pedal off.

4. Electro-Harmonix Nano Big Muff Pi: Best Fuzz For Sustain

Electro-Harmonix sells the Big Muff as a distortion and sustainer, and the long, singing notes are the reason.

This is a different way to get sustain: lots of gain. Electro-Harmonix says the Nano sounds the same as its classic Big Muff Pi in a smaller box. MusicRadar agreed it sounds just as good, and said the size and price leave nobody an excuse not to own one. Guitar World’s 2026 review of the Big Muff found there’s really no bad setting, so it’s quick to dial in.

The scooped mids that make it sound huge on its own can make it disappear in a band, and Guitar World found it can sound a little unfocused and get lost in the mix. Electro-Harmonix’s Big Muff manual also warns that all that gain means hum if your pickups and cables aren’t well shielded and grounded.

How to set it for sustain: a common starting point on Electro-Harmonix’s own forum is Sustain around three quarters and Tone between 10:30 and noon. Set Volume to match the pedal off. In a band, Guitar World suggests an overdrive in front of it to tighten the lows and bring the mids forward.

5. DigiTech FreqOut: Best For Feedback

Makes a held note bloom into feedback as if you were standing in front of a loud amp, even at bedroom volume.

Real feedback needs volume, and most of us can’t play that loud at home. The FreqOut fakes it: hold a note and it swells into feedback by itself. MusicRadar said it’s the only pedal that really nails the effect and called it a must buy, and Sound On Sound found the feedback sounds and feels very natural even at very low volumes.

Sound On Sound also found chords less predictable than single notes, and you sometimes have to mute the strings you’re not playing to stop stray notes ringing. It doesn’t take a battery and doesn’t come with a power supply, so the Amazon link below is a bundle that includes one. The big US music stores had it on backorder when I checked.

How to set it for sustain: DigiTech’s manual says to start with Gain, Onset and Type at noon. For notes that just keep ringing, use the 1st (unison) or Nat Low type. Nat Low also avoids the high harmonics that can sound wrong over minor chords. Onset sets how quickly the feedback swells in, and Momentary brings it in only while you hold the switch.

6. Electro-Harmonix Freeze: Best For Holding A Chord

Step on it and whatever you’re playing hangs in the air until you let go. One knob, no menus.

This is infinite sustain. Press the switch and the Freeze grabs the note or chord you’re playing and holds it while you play over the top. Premier Guitar compared it to an EBow, a piano’s sustain pedal and a looper without being quite like any of them, and said it inspires creative playing without being a gimmick. MusicRadar found the Slow mode, which fades the held sound in and out, much smoother for changing chords than Fast.

There’s no battery option and no expression pedal input, and Sound On Sound wished you could turn off the dry sound. It also called the Freeze a bit of a one trick box, which is fair. It does one thing, and it does it well.

How to set it for sustain: use Slow for chord changes and Latch to hold a chord hands free (tap again for a new chord, tap twice to stop). Wait a second after you strum before you press the switch, which Sound On Sound found gives the smoothest result. Set Effect Level so the held chord sits under what you play next.

7. Electro-Harmonix Superego+: Best Piano Style Sustain

A freeze pedal with a mode that works like a piano’s sustain pedal, plus 11 effects to shape the held sound.

If you came here looking for a piano style sustain pedal for guitar, this is the closest thing on Amazon right now. Electro-Harmonix’s manual says that in Sustain mode it works much like a piano’s sustain pedal: hold the switch and what you play keeps ringing and layering. MusicRadar said nothing else does its gliding, layered pad sounds as well, and Sound On Sound called the freeze section pure gold for experimental players.

It’s big, and MusicRadar calls it a niche effect you need to really want. Sound On Sound found you can spend a lot of time on the footswitches unless you stick to Auto mode, and suggested playing sitting down. The built in effects won’t beat separate pedals, but they save room. The Gamechanger Audio Plus Pedal from the old list is the other piano style option. Its second version came out in July 2026 for about $400, but it isn’t on Amazon in the US yet.

How to set it for sustain: pick Sustain mode, turn Attack all the way down so the freeze starts right away, and turn Decay all the way up so it holds until you play something new. Layer sets how much of the old sound stays under the new one. Then balance Dry and Effect to taste.

Where To Put A Sustain Pedal

Compressors usually go first, before your overdrive and distortion. Guitar World’s pedal order guide explains why: a compressor after a drive pedal boosts the drive’s noise along with your guitar. Some players put it after the drive anyway for extra sustain, so it’s worth trying both. A fuzz like the Big Muff goes early too, and DigiTech says the FreqOut works best at the very front.

Freeze pedals usually go after your drive pedals and before modulation, delay and reverb, so the held chord picks up those effects as well. Put one last if you want it to grab the sound of everything in front of it.

Not A Pedal, But…

The EBow Plus is a hand held electronic bow, about $100, that keeps a single string ringing for as long as you hold it over the string. Sustainer pickups like the Sustainiac go inside the guitar and need a tech to fit them, so they end up costing more than most pedals here. They only make sense if you want endless sustain on every song.

What Happened To The Rest Of The List?

The old version of this page had 10 pedals. Here’s what happened to the ones that aren’t above:

• Gamechanger Audio Plus Pedal: replaced by the Plus Pedal II in July 2026, about $400, and not on Amazon in the US yet.
• Pigtronix Philosopher’s Tone: replaced by the Philosopher’s Tone 2, about $200.
• Fender The Bends: a second version came out in 2026, about $230.
• DeadBeat Sound distortion and sustain pedal: I could only find it used.
• JOYO JF-10: still on Amazon, but only a couple were left and the big US stores don’t carry it.
• Wampler Ego and MXR Dyna Comp: still made and still good. They lost out to the Keeley and the Boss, and the Dyna Comp is the easy swap if you prefer it.

How To Choose A Sustain Pedal

• Know which kind you want. Longer notes, feedback or a held chord. The three kinds at the top of the page cover it.
• Expect some hiss. Every pedal here gets noisier as you turn the sustain up. Back it off until the noise goes away.
• Match the volume. Set the Level or Volume knob so the pedal isn’t louder than when it’s off, or you’ll think it sounds better just because it’s louder.
• Check the power. The FreqOut, Freeze and Superego+ don’t take batteries. The Freeze and Superego+ come with an adapter, and the FreqOut doesn’t.
• Want it all in one box? Most multi effects units include a compressor, and my page on multi effects pedals covers them.

Good luck and keep on rockin’!