Using a reverb pedal with a microphone
We can’t connect a microphone directly into a reverb pedal just by using a cable adapter, unfortunately. If you try, you’ll end up with a very noisy output that’s way too soft and sounds bad.
Instead, we need to place an impedance matching transformer in-between the microphone cable output, and the guitar pedal’s input. This will transform our microphone’s regular low impedance output into a guitar’s high impedance instrument output, which is what that reverb pedal is expecting to see.
How to connect your reverb pedal to your microphone
Connecting a mic to your reverb pedal effects.
The steps
Connect a dynamic microphone to an XLR microphone cable. You could use any unpowered dynamic mic. I prefer something like a Sennheiser e835, but the Shure SM58 is a commonly used option.
Connect your impedance matching transformer to the output of the XLR cable. I like using the Audix T50K; I’ve found it durable enough for use on the road.
Connect your impedance matching transformer to your reverb pedal’s input. You can also use any other guitar pedals, or a chain of pedal effects.
Now, you can use your guitar reverb pedal effects on your vocals, or anything else you can pick up with that microphone!
More quick tips on home music production can be found inside of my Home Recording Basics series.