Brand Preference?

[Richard Martin]

13 pedals divided among 9 brands, no maker is represented more than twice (pop math quiz; how many brands do I have two of?).

4

 

[Liko]

Source Audio pedals are knocking just about everything off my board.
...
Frankly I'm probably going to get the EQ2 pedal and the Nemesis Delay, a hot hand.. maybe down the road the Ventris reverb and the board will also double as my effects chain with my Strat.

If you're looking at the Nemesis and the Ventris, I strongly recommend you take a look at the Collider. It will do about 90% of what you're likely to use on either of the other pedals, in one enclosure, for about half the cost of the Nemesis/Ventris combo ($50 less than one, $50 more than the other). Worth a serious look if your master plan involves getting both the delay and reverb anyway.

 

[dave64o]

Eleven devices on my board, including the power supply. Ten different manufacturers.

No reason why, it just worked out that way

 

[Nev375]

I look for classic standouts for any particular brand. Then I match them up with my needs.

If a brand is particularly well known for a certain effect (i.e. ADA flanger, MXR phaser, Ibanez Tube Screamer, EHX Big Muff, etc...) that's usually my starting point. If I can find something that works better than a classic for me then I know I'm on the right track.

So I like to mix and match and spread the love. No brand loyalty whatsoever.

 

[JimmyM]

I have friends who run what I call "endorsement boards," where almost everything is one brand. I can't do it, but if they're happy, I'm happy. I'll buy from major companies, boutique brands, homemade one-offs...generally whatever it takes to get the job done.

 

[REV]

There are a few brands that I am skeptical of. I generally won't consider them unless I hear a lot of good things and I can try the pedal out first. There is probably no brand that I would buy without hearing it first.

 

[Standalone]

Boss MXR EHX and I guess a Joyo chorus. Digitech for my SDrum/JamMan setup. So a mix but pretty middle of the road. About to go C4 tomorrow though so all bets are off

 

[N4860]

I used to just go with what I needed and what sounded good from whatever brands were available. I have since changed to a nearly all midi board in order to be able to load different presets from all of my pedals with a single switch so my board is mostly full of source audio pedals. I do still have an empress compressor at the start and a Darkglass VU at the end of the chain which are both always on.

As more other companies offer midi capable pedals I will consider them as well. I used to have some other darkglass pedals and if they were to offer some sort of dirt pedal that was midi capable, I would be all over that.

 

[equalizin]

I really like MXR. Been my go to for around two decades now for usual effects. I usually step up in price for things like a DI or preamp or noisegate. Chorus, flange, compressor, eq, delay? Yea no problem with mxr at all.

 

[Zbysek]

Short and sweet; do you find yourself gravitating to certain brands over others in your pedal selection? If so, to what degree, and for what reasons?

Yes, six (out of my 17 pedals) were manufactured by EBS (Microbass II, Multicomp, Octabass, BassIQ, Dynaverb, Unichorus). I like the fact that they were designed specifically for bass....and the form factor - they fit in the Boss BCB-30 pedal board. The first three (Microbass II, Multicomp and Octabass) get much more use than all of my other pedals (together with TC El Polytune and Broughton HPF DI).

Other than that, I have 3 pedals from TC El and 3 pedals from EHX.

I feel attracted by Broughton pedals. I have bought one so far...

Personally, I like to think I consider a broad range of possibilities, however when you look at my bass board, there is a lot of Electro-Harmonix on there relatively speaking, at 3 pedals of 8 (and the Hot Wax should count as two, and the Canyon more than that), with no other maker having more than one. Not intentional, EHX just make good-sounding pedals at affordable prices, and they pay attention to bass players.

Funny, that you mention EHX. I used to like them. I bought three (Bass Blogger, Bass Balls and Bass Microsynth). I have a bad experience with their quality/reliability though. Last time I tried to use them, none of them worked properly. And two of them actually didn't work at all...​

 

[Zbysek]

I'm not a big pedal user, but I have a simple board for my doubling rig. It is nuttin but an a/b line selector, a 7-band eq for the double bass and a tuner. They're all Boss, because they don't do anything special, and they fit neatly into a Boss 3-pedal case.

I am using this pedal case too. I find it handy.

After some adjustments, pedals from EBS and TC Electronic fit in as well...

 

[cnltb]

Do most people not have certain favourites?

 

[_One//Man//Mutiny_]

I have no loyalty to one brand but Earthquaker Devices make some amazing pedals, 4 on the board and one incoming soon, with the possibility of 3 more in my future. Also, I'm sure they won't stop making great pedals.

 

[Tour Dad]

I am a believer of "you only have to pay for it once" so I would prefer to delay until I can have what I want instead of buying something to "get by" and being somewhat disappointed and replacing it later.
Next thing on my radar is Microcosm by Hologram.

I totally agree with this.
I know there are a lot of allrounders like tc electronic and boss and I understand people who have a "go to" brand for their gear but I can't do it.
I think some brands do an excellent job at designing and building pedals, but I also believe they're really good in one or little few effect types.
When I want to try a new type of effect, I always take the time to do a lot of research until I find exactly the pedal I'm looking for, then I wait until I can buy one of those - and sometimes, I go for something really cheap because it just sounds right.

I'm still strugling to find some pieces of gear, but I'm gonna find them for sure.

 

[Matty Koff]

If you're looking at the Nemesis and the Ventris, I strongly recommend you take a look at the Collider. It will do about 90% of what you're likely to use on either of the other pedals, in one enclosure, for about half the cost of the Nemesis/Ventris combo ($50 less than one, $50 more than the other). Worth a serious look if your master plan involves getting both the delay and reverb anyway.

Yeah, I was pondering the Collider, but ultimately, I think I'd rather delay and reverb each have their own pedal. The pair has a bit more versatility than the Collider as well. Don't get me wrong, the Collider seems like a great pedal and would definitely save some money in the long run. But I think by the end of next year be buying the Ventris as the last pedal for my setup. Probably going to add the EQ2 and Nemesis towards the end of this year after I've paid some previous purchases off. Probably buy the hothand next time I have $100 to spare.

I totally didn't mean to become a Source Audio fanboy. Their pedals just cover so much ground.

 

[ThinCrappyTone]

View attachment 3847675
I never really noticed how all over the place my pedal collection was until the op posed this question:

6 TC Electronics
4 EHX
2 One Control
2 JHS
2 Fulltone
2 Markbass
2 DOD
2 Boss
1 Donner
1 Fender
1 Ibanez
1 lehle
1 Mooer
1 Moog
1 MXR
1 ProCo
1 TC Helicon
1 Wampler
1 Walrus

aand probably a few others kicking around that I forgot about

 

[crguti]

I don't have brand preferences but I try to avoid anything from Behringer and EHX. Their quality control sucks.

 

[Frank77]

I didn't plan it that way, but my board is mostly MXR / Dunlop. For me, they're just in that quality/affordability/ease of use/availability sweet spot.

1. TC Polytune 2
2. MXR Bass Octave Deluxe
3. MXR Bass Envelope Filter
4. Way Huge Pork Loin
5. MXR Phase 95
6. Tech 21 Bass Boost Chorus (rarely used and off my board most of the time)
7. FEA Opti-FET compressor

Right now I'm thinking of trying the MXR bass distortion for heavier dirt.

 

[40Hz]

I start with a very specific sound in mind. If I can’t get it with what I already own only then will I go out and look for a new pedal that can.

As far as brands go I let the chips (and my dollars) fall where they will. I’m function and tone driven. And while I do like some brands more than others, I have zero brand loyalty.

Since I have all my main and secondary requirements covered, I now find myself casting my nets farther afield towards the smaller manufacturers, most of whom are not in the US or Japan. It wasn’t a conscious decision. It’s just I already know most of the US and Japanese product catalogs inside out. So I’m now looking at gear from less familiar places like: Greece, Croatia, Russia, France, and Italy.

 

[RickyRocknRoll]

I'm not big on effects, so the only pedals I really use on stage are a tuner and my EBS MultiComp, that's about it. If I need/want a bit of overdrive I push the gain knob on my amp.

When recording, I will use the plugins I have to add some effects when needed. I always use them very lightly as I'm not trying to copy a particular tone.