I had been playing for close to 10 years with no effects. When I finally got one, it was a Boss Chorus. I loved it. Shortly thereafter, I got a distortion pedal, which gave me a lot of options for "coloring" my sound. Since then, I've owned a Digitech RP-300, an inexpensive multi-effects unit (uner $200) which allowed me to experiment with all of the typical effects in factory & customizable presets. This really helped me learn what works best for my preferences. My current pedal board, the Line 6 PodXT Live, has a USB computer interface which lets me modify presets visually, turning effects on & off, making adjustments, etc. really helpful. Now, some of the smaller amps with built-in effects have a nice "logic" to their setup which goes from chorus to phaser to flange and still blend combinations of reverb to delay. This is another approach before ultimately deciding on your ideal effect set up.