Brand loyalty!

[tegendemuur]

Some people's comments here gave me the idea of figuring out a bit about the who's who through the brand(s) they stick to. Brands that will never enter your board may mentioned too, as those are quite telling as well. Owning a wide range of a certain brand's clones counts as well, as that's the forum's focus. No discussion about why someone's choice doesn't appeal to you, please. It's no competiton.

My brand preferences seems to originate from the three brands that impressed me most in the early 2000s, which are Red Witch (conventional needs), Lastgasp Art Laboratries (crazy needs), and Fairfield Circuitry (unconventional, but not crazy, needs) . Over the last 15 years I slowly came to own most of their stuff (outside of limited editions, because, screw that). Other pedals I own are a lot more selective (like maybe one or two per brand).

 

[Guardians of the analog]

I started with boss in the early 90s. In the early 00s I got sucked into the boutique craze. Came back to my senses in the 2010s and got into diy where I learned how things really worked. Came back full circle. Boss is King.

 

[blackhatboojum]

I started with boss in the early 90s. In the early 00s I got sucked into the boutique craze. Came back to my senses in the 2010s and got into diy where I learned how things really worked. Came back full circle. Boss is King.

I’m in this camp as well. After all the crap I’ve bought, built, sold, and even done my own layouts of over the years… the boss BF-2 and DD-3 are all I need to make music.

 

[Zennmaster]

Boss pedals are definitely the standard against which everything else gets compared. Beyond that, I tend to look for weird/creative things. Lately I've been into EQD and Beetronics. After I build a few circuits from a manufacturer, I start to feel guilty and end up buying a pedal from them. lol.

So far, nobody has earned a permaban from me.

 

[drgonzo1969]

I'm in the boss camp as well. They are the only pedals that permanently live on my pedalboard(dc-2w, re-2 and recently acquired hm-3). However, Earthquaker Devices got me back into playing guitar back when they first came out. I was huge fanboy for a while there. still love their stuff... I just build it now hahaha.

 

[jwin615]

EHX and DigiTech/DOD. I don't think the guitar worls would be the same without those two. From all the weird stuff from both to them to all the barrier breaking digital stuff from DigiTech (and lately, some from EHX).
Not to mention the farm system from both companies. So many great engineers and designers started at those two companies. I just wish I had scaped up more money for vintage EHX 20-25 years ago.
Really hope some new and cool stuff rolls out of DigiTech under Kort.

 

[Harry Klippton]

Took me a long time to realize I'm sort of partial to DigiTech cuz it's not "cool"

 

[spi]

If going by what I currently own, I have more Boss than anything else (I have 4). But I just realized I've never made a copy of a Boss pedal.

This made me wonder if the 60 or so clones I've made have a concentration in any brand, and I looked over them and realized I don't have a lot from the same brand. There's a few greers and a few lovepedals, but I'm not seeing many other brands pop out.

 

[Paradox916]

I wouldn’t say I’m loyal to any specific brand, but that said the only commercial pedals I still own are a few Boss and a Ibanez TS-808

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

I keep trying but I can't get ehx off my pedalboard. Every rig I've ever used has involved at least one authentic ehx product.

 

[jimilee]

But aren’t we making boutique boss pedals?

 

[HamishR]

When I started out I was a Boss fan. I loved my (then brand new) DM2. Never got into their dirt boxes at all though. It was only delay and chorus. After the DM2 I got the mini-rack series delay and chorus. Then for whatever reason I went over to Ibanez with a larger rack delay and then the lovely little PDM-1. I always used to use whatever distortion was in the amp - it took me years before I bought a dirt pedal, and that was a Marshall Guv'nor.

For a while i was a Menatone fan. But I've never really had any affinity to one brand over another. I guess I'm a bit of a brand slut. Whatever works! Brands I like for dirt pedals would be Skreddy and Basic Audio, but I rarely actually have their stuff on my board. I have a gazillion versions of Timmy for that.

Right now I have two UA pedals on my little board, so maybe I'm a UA fanboy? I only ever have 4-5 pedals on my board at a time, and when gigging it's fewer than that.

 

[giovanni]

This is a good question! I think the brands I have bought from the most are EHX and Boss, which I really appreciate both. The SD1 was my first ever pedal and I still own it today. I also have a couple Keeley pedals. Maybe oddly I also own two moogerfooger and two moog pedals although I rarely use them tbh.

Edit: almost forgot MXR: I have 3 of their pedals and I really like them.

 

[p_wats]

DIY pedals were my refuge from temptation (or at least a place to redirect that temptation to circuits I could build), so I don't really buy/have many official products, just a Zoom MS70-CDR and Templo Pocket Comp for my synth rig and a Polytune Mini on my guitar board. I do still get tempted by fun pedals, but so far have managed to resist.

In the past I would say I've probably owned Boss the most, but that might also just be about what was available when I was getting into it

 

[jessenator]

I think I was a DOD/DigiTech fanboy because I work less than a mile from the original HQ, but anymore I just use what's available and not Behringer. Love your synth clones, Uli, but your design on the pedals is just …rubs me the wrong way, they do.

 

[Alan W]

Besides my trusty Peterson tuner, the pedals I haven’t replaced with DIY are Effectrode (LA-1A, Tubevibe, and Firebottle), Free the Tone (AmbI-space anf Future Factory), and Fairfield (Meet Maude, plus DIY of several). Oh, and Zeppelin Labs volume pedal kit. The volume pedal and tuner seem pretty permanent, and I’d be surprised if I build anything that can truly replace those others.

 

[Feral Feline]

DR SCIENTIST for me.

Ryan's a good bloke, and he's kept his operation small and consistently put out pedals I like that also sound great on guitar AND bass. I have several


I also quite like Fairfield Circuitry — Guillaume's another bon homme (joke intended). Have the Barbershop wish I had more of his pedals (ie ALL).


Empress has impressive pedals, too, of which I have a few but still need the Delay and Reverb and compressor and...



I would have loved to have an ALL Dr Scientist board and if I could I'd have ALL of Fairfield's offerings and most of the Empress pedals... oh, and I almost forgot — should mention Diamond as well, I've got a few of those...

As well as Montreal Assembly (have 1), Southampton (3), Radial (1) ...
and I still need a few select pedals from the following: Sonic Crayon, Kilpatrick, 6 Degrees, SolidGold, Kingsly, Union Tube & Transistor, Industrialectric, and Wounded Paw, Retro-Sonic, Ox Fuzz, MJM...
Well it's just not financially feasible to have all of those brands' pedals.



So I got into DIY and that killed a lot of planned purchases — however, I would've been better off financially had I stuck to just buying all the Dr Scientist and Fairfield and Empress and Diamond.

 

[giovanni]

Besides my trusty Peterson tuner, the pedals I haven’t replaced with DIY are Effectrode (LA-1A, Tubevibe, and Firebottle), Free the Tone (AmbI-space anf Future Factory), and Fairfield (Meet Maude, plus DIY of several). Oh, and Zeppelin Labs volume pedal kit. The volume pedal and tuner seem pretty permanent, and I’d be surprised if I build anything that can truly replace those others.

How do you like the future factory? I have been eyeing that for a long time. A TPS favorite too.

 

[Diynot]

I am a sound whore so I don’t really care who makes it so long as it makes a noise that pleases me. I have a soft spot for EQD since I was born in Akron, but again am not locked into just their stuff. EHX would be my second since they have always been known for being a bit out of the box and I like the weird.

 

[Alan W]

How do you like the future factory? I have been eyeing that for a long time. A TPS favorite too.

I really like it, a lot! Before this, I had whatever the bigger Source Audio Delay (nemesis?, I get them confused; I had the 'verb also...) is, and while I did like it, most of the choices weren't appealing to me (although the ability to really fine tune everything on them is great). The Future Factory really sounds more like a rack unit to me — PLENTY of headroom, can be very clean if desired, and the modulations are both flexible and very natural sounding to me. No—it doesn't do "oil can" et al... But I'm very happy with the sound I get, and once you figure out the interface (which is not nearly as confusing as it looks) it's much more of a "look at the pedal and see what the settings are" kinda thing, as opposed to the Source Audio stuff. I liked it enough to buy the Ambi-sound without trying it out, and feel pretty much the same way about that unit.

A great pairing with a more specialized delay, like Meet Maude. My board currently has 3 delays on it—I have (and love to use) the Seabed as a pre-modulation delay. If I had to go with a very small board, I'd be fine with the Seabed on it.