The guitar that Howe uses is called a Variaxe. It’s essentially a synthesizer. So instead of bringing one of his Coral Sitar Guitars (I’ve played one, a vintage), he just flips a switch on the Variaxe.
Most performers today use a modest array of pedals, mostly drive peoples.
Shoe Gaze is a music built AROUND PEDALS, hence gazing at your shoes where the pedals are.
Ambient music also makes heavy use of pedals.
Now types of guitars is a whole ’nother consideration. A Tele is way different from an SG, and among Teles there are easily a dozen major variations. Teles are used heavily in Country, Christian, Blues rock, Hard Rock. ES Guitars are used in Blues and Some Jazz. Among ES guitars, there are something like 8 or so types, an ES-175 is entirely different from an ES-339, they are so different that they would exist in different universes.
And then, the amplification is whole ’nother ball ’o wax. A Plexi is massively different from a Twin Reverb, and among those two types there are variations. Different tubes, different circuitry, different cabinets. I used to have a Fender Dual Showman (it was stolen from me) that was loud as hell but clean all the way to Ursa Minor. I needed the fuzz pedals because the amplifier didn’t have a driven tone.
And then, on top of that, are rack AND panel devices. Fripp uses rack effects so much that his design is called Frippertronics. And Panel with DI allows board operators to apply whatever sound they seek.
The beauty of it all is that there is this endless universe of options and sounds and feels. Listen to OK Computer sometime. 3 guitarists each doing crazy stuff but doing it flawlessly.