There is a lot of great manufactures out there, and the time for experimenting with pedals has never been better. With that said I think it’s safe to say we all have a soft spot for particular pedal companies. Some raised in the 90s might go with DOD who’ve put out a ton of classics, others might go with some more modern selections. I however am a fan of Electro Harmonix. A company thats been around forever and whose pedals have been on just about every guitarist pedal board. The thing I love about this company is that they always seem to be slightly experimenting with new ideas, while also providing those tried and true tones. They’re a major company, but at the same time still manufactures their stuff in house over in New York. It’s as much to Rock n’ Roll as apple pie is to the ideology of America. Their stuff may not sound the best, and there are certainly way crazier pedals out there, but EHX certainly has character. How about all of you people?
As stated elsewhere, I’ve been reading Kim Bjørn’s excellent Pedal Crush book lately (highly recommended) and that has given me a lot of ideas. I’ve even been thinking of starting my own pedal company as I got so excited about the whole business.
At the moment my favourites seem to be Boss and Meris. Boss has been my favourite forever, basically since my childhood. I remember that our local small town music shop had an orange porcelain mug on the counter that was shaped like the Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion and it was filled with pens and pencils. I went there and asked if they would sell the mug for me and they obliged. I gave it to my big brother as a christmas gift as he was kind of a heavy metal guitarist at the time. There’s just something about the bright colours and the same shape that makes me love Boss pedals. I used to collect Nintendo Game & Watches at one point and somehow the Boss pedals are similar. They’re collectible and there’s a limited, finite amount of them so you can complete your collection at some point.
At the moment I only have a couple of Bosses though, but I love them dearly. They’re like the bread and butter of guitar effects.
The metaphorical cheese & (vegetarian)baloney is provided by Meris. I love the innovation and the crazy ideas they have. I only have Hedra and Mercury 7 at the moment but they’re both top of the line, the absolute best in what they do. The same thing appeals in these too: The form factor. They’re all similarly shaped but differently coloured. They’ll make a beautiful row on my desk when I can afford to buy the rest of them. Appearances matter a great deal to me. Maybe because I’m an illustrator/graphic designer by profession.
I have to say that I also have a sweet spot for Electro Harmonix. I’d love to get a ModRex for my collection and things like the POG are just amazing. Reading the Pedal Crush book I also love their free running hippie-spirit. Mike Matthews is a true inspiration. If I won the lottery I’d be inclined to add Chase Bliss to the list too. But they’re really out of my league and they’re also mono which is always a bummer for me. (Recently I had a short love affair with Source Audio and their Collider, add that to my list of favourites.)
Source Audio Pedals are imho very musical and i like Nemesis and Ventris a lot.
Elektro Harmonix have the best track record, for sure.
I have a lot zvex and analogman pedals, they are a notch above, never bad.
Other makers are less consistent.
Red panda, meris
Chase Bliss is my favorite. Also love Moog, Analogman, EHX, Lovetone.
Eventide, Source Audio, Hungry Robot, EHX, Moog, GFI System.
I’m with Chase Bliss. Only.
Strymon
Retro Mechanical Labs for uncompromising sound, Source Audio for user customization, EHX for their history of innovation, ZVex for graphics.
Pladask elektrisk, fairfield, chase B, Montreal Assembly
Dr Scientist, SSBS, Chase Bliss, and Pladask.
Old Blood Noise Endeavors make some of my favorite “extreme options” pedals. Great in studio.
Chase Bliss sound amazing, and all the MIDI!
Eventide’s Factor and H9 pedals are on-stage workhorses! My live rig is down to two H9s with a MIDI pedal.
Honorable mention: Earthquaker Devices - they have some gems, but their catalog is a bit overkill, IMO.
Empress Effects
EarthQuaker Devices and Ibanez
I’m a big Strymon fan. Every pedal is well-focused, sounds great, mostly stereo, support instrument and line-level, and really cover all of the main effects I use. There are more innovative companies, but Strymon always sounds good and covers the bread and butter effects. The Iridium is my most recent favorite… not too complicated, has the exact amp models I’d want, and hard to not get a good guitar tone (it matches my 65 Reverb RI without the fuss of mic-ing).
When it comes to innovation, Empress completely blew me away with the Zoia. It is my go-to recommendation for most people, particularly for synths. I also think they have the best compressor on the market (MKII launching soon, will be a day-1 purchase).
Earthquaker Devices. but it’s less to do with their pedals and more that: 1) they’re local to me, 2) they employ lots of my friends/acquaintances, 3) two of the main dudes put out a record by a band I was in (20 years ago!), 4) lots of those people have been in bands I’ve loved and grew up watching and playing shows with. they do make some great pedals too, so that helps. I’d probably have way more of them if I played guitar…
otherwise… Strymon and Death By Audio make some really cool shit.
Boss DD7 is one of my oldest pedals and definitely the most used/my favorite. The looper mode helped me learn rhythm and improv on guitar and I’ve always been smitten for the reverse mode. After 10 years, the tap tempo and mode select knob do not work reliably but it’s still getting lots of use in my home jam space.
EHX, Big Muff forever!
Boss is well…Boss
But EQD is definitely a favourite too