Hi mbw1,

Guitar effects pedals are one of the coolest things about playing electric.

Why use pedals? Pedals are great if you want to experiment with a new type of tone or sound. Sure, the classics like BB King and others you've mentioned didn't use a lot of effects because they didn't need it for the type of music they played. If you are happy with the tone of your guitar plugged straight into your amp, then that's great.

But if you want to find a new sound, or try and recreate certain tones from other guitarists, more often than not, they used effects pedals. For example, Eric Clapton, mostly known for his blues and rock guitar work, used a bit of pedals like overdrive, fuzz and a wah.

Personally, I like to drive my guitar real hard, more than the amp can do, so I'm a big fan of fuzz and overdrive pedals, they add a ton of dirt to the signal. Also, delay pedals that make your guitar echo are also great.

You can check out some commonly used effects pedals for playing the blues right here: https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=972

I think it's important to understand and be aware of pedals, even if you don't plan to use them. They're extremely important in discovering new sounds and really, are another part of learning the electric guitar. It would be a real shame for any guitarist to not at lease familiarize themselves with the basics of pedals.

I hope this helps!

Best,

Billy