A sobering look at the Guitar Pedal Industry

 

I've owned a fair amount of fx pedals over the years, but used many of them rarely.

What I miss are old school music stores. Why? Well, often times when I was younger, I'd head into town intent on buying some name brand product, but the very helpful staff in these stores (who were mostly players themselves) would usually clue you into brands and products that you'd never heard about that were creating a genuine "buzz" amongst players. Most times these products not only sounded better compared to the name brand, but were way cheaper too.

Not just fx pedals either. I remember going into a store once to buy a bunch of sm58's, and walking out the store with a bunch of Sennheiser mics. Had never heard of them at the time, but sonically they were way better and also cheaper.

Nowadays we live in a world of hype, influencers, collectors, online purchases, and to me anyway, way too much choice and not enough solid advice.

 

Why is this happening?
The invention of the World Wide Web is to blame for this mess.

Today's retailers no longer have physical stores; they save on sales staff and rent.
They usually own large central warehouses with high-bay racking and sometimes sell worldwide.

I'm in the same boat as you. I've used to go to several great shops with repair workshops, first-class advice, and even installment payments. We still have a few good shops in the city, but you can't compete with the prices from the Far East anymore.

They'll probably disappear, or they'll come up with a brilliant business idea, like sound systems, PA rentals, or repair workshops.

 

As I see it, if all you want is to sound like your favourite guitarist, and replicate their set-up, then have at it. Buy whatever you need to buy to achieve that.

If all you want to do is sound like yourself, with your own style, nuances, and your own taste, then to me at least, it's more about, what does this fx offer me that I can use, and not at all about, I want to sound like that fx.

They're just tools at the end of the day.

Also, there are other factors to consider, like build quality and reliability.

 

Last edited: May 5, 2026 at 5:54 PM

I started with a distortion pedal, then a chorus, then a phaser—the kind that runs on a battery. You just tweaked the knobs until you got a good result and then memorized the settings. Using these tools simply requires time and your ears, not pages of reviews or internet reports.

 

exactly, there are just so many considerations based on your own personal circumstances.

power can be an issue, as can noise, or even if it works with the rest of your setup.

how many returns does the vendor get? why is it being returned?

and getting back to my original point, in a bricks and mortar guitar store, you can just ask.

 

That's why many people buy Boss (Roland) pedals, because Boss always delivers high quality. Boss (Roland) has excellent quality management, which is why big artists and bands buy them – so they don't let you down during live performances!

With Fender, Marshall, and Laney amps, you certainly used to get quality too; the amps lasted almost forever.
Every now and then, you might have to get new jacks soldered in or the power supply replaced...!

 

as someone actually playing in gigs, stuff like Line 6 HX Stomp and Quad Cortex from Neural DSP is what I crave, fuck carring a load of shit, literally no one will ever tell the difference, your back will tho

 

I would buy more pedals if it weren’t for plugins and such, now any pedal I get will be some abstract effect like Ghost by Endorphin.es or something chase bliss, or a Microcosm for example… if there was a big pedal that was an all-in-one like the Line 6 ones it’d be tougher to find as there might be enough plugins to replace original hardware… still waiting for that Meris LVX plugin

 

AI slop video that probably contains a lot of misinformation. Not saying that a lot of expensive pedals aren't snake oil, though. Have never bought one.

 

Probably

 

I knew it was ai the moment I saw the thumbnail and channel

 

I have line 6 helix and its badass dont get me wrong but the prep work required to use it live is enormous. and at least for me im not as smooth with it switching effects live as i am with old fashioned stomp boxes. I mean its like anything else it requires practice.
also i like pedals because i can jst take one or two if i need. lastly the helix is expensive as hell. i am always nervous taking it out because of the million things that could happen.

 

it does take some prep, luckily it's quite easy to set the hx stomp up through the line 6 software. It's definitely cheaper than my pedal collection, I'll tell you that. But won't be really useful if you're just playing with 2 fx pedals, which is valid ofc (I've relied exclusively on handmade fuzz pedal in a bunch of gigs lol). It's suppose to replace a pedal board. And if you ever had to carry one along with the guitar case for a gig, you know what I'm talking about.

 

I remember an old ads on Guitar Magazine saying "Are you a guitarist or tap dancer?"
I sold all my stompboxes and moved to Multi FX and now only using Scuffham S Gear could not be happier…

 

Best price new, I can get a Strymon Big Sky for 410, the Empress Effects Reverb for 459 which is opposite of what the guy says.

Like Djord Emer, If I was gigging out I'd get an all in one solution though with the wha of my choice. It's sooo easy and the sound is now fantastic.

The last pedals I bought was an Empress Effects Echosystem which was about three years ago and a Strymon Iridium about 2019 and I literally never use the Iridium. Before that maybe the last was a Boss Chorus in 1987.

 

Lead guitarist spends 5,000 on his gear. The singer asks everyone to contribute 1,000 each towards a new PA - after all, they're all using it. Lead guitarist argues that after spending so much on his own equipment he can't afford to, and he insists that the old PA sounds good enough (it doesn't). Bass player laughs, pretending to understand the joke. Drummer stares blankly into space.