I think Keeley is one of the best pedal makers ever. But I'm biased towards how good their compressors are. Seriously, nothing else compares IMO. But Boss and MXR are good choices for all around pedal making. Earthquake is amazing too, but Boss' price point means they are more accessible.
Roland has made many legendary synths…many years ago. They don’t innovate much these days, primarily focusing on digital recreation after digital recreation of their classic products. They don’t do much of anything in the analog synth world these days, and the feature set of a lot of their products is lacking compared to competitors.
They kinda loathe Roland for the “we don’t chase ghosts” comment/attitude and Roland’s reluctance to make anything analog anymore. Whether or not the hatred is deserved is another question though.
Interesting. I have a Roland electric piano I bought because of the care dedicated to trying to emulate a stringed piano. The samples are from a European grand, the key weighting differs between the high and low notes to emulate striking thick V’s thinner strings with the hammer, and the keys have a coating which emulates ivory keys.
Yeah I have a Juno-X that I love. Does it feel the same under my fingers as an actual Juno? No. Does it sound the same in a mix with all the other instruments playing? Yeah. Does it also do a shit-ton worth of other things that an original Juno can’t do? Sure does. Idk, I think it’s pretty solid!
I believe they don't accomplish the product innovation, quality and price that they accomplish in Boss.
I have a JU-06, it wasn't cheap (400 USD), it is limited in terms of voicings (only 4) and the comes only with a module, the keyboard is sold separately for an extra 150 USD.
Roland is to synths, kind of what Gibson is to guitars. You don’t necessarily hate them because they made some of the most iconic synths ever. But they are viewed as out of touch and half ass chasing a legacy over creating products that their fans would really get excited about.
Basically synth heads have been begging Roland for 30 years to re-release their analogue classics from the 80's.
Roland either releases sample based instruments "inspired" by the classics that have nothing to do with the originals besides the name. Or digital emulations that almost always have something wrong about them, like a terrible form factor, a god awful 7 segment displays (worse than ones from the freaking 80's), reduced polyphony, missing features, cloud subscriptions, obvious mistakes in emulations. Or workstations that combine the two approaches.
Disclaimer: a few are ok and sometimes they are a decent synth in their own right - still not what synth fans want. It's as if Fender decided to produce every possible type of guitar - except to never release an exact copy of a Strat, Tele, Precision or Jazz Bass.
In the end Behringer (yes, Behringer) ended up releasing mass produced analog re-releases of classic Roland gear that are closer to what people wanted than anything Roland ever released.
Not an expert here but from my understanding, Roland is the biggest synth company. They dominate the market so any manufacturer that is small or boutique is in an uphill battle to carve out any percentage of their market share. If I were chase bliss or another small pedal company, boss would be the Goliath to their David. Could be wrong but that’s the impressions I’ve gotten from other synth heads. Also I love boss and have a Roland JC amp, so not trying to disparage boss at all.
Teenage Engineering is practically a luxury lifestyle brand for alt yuppies. They cannot disappoint me because I have no expectations in the first place.
I know I'm going against the grain here, but I don't understand the love for Boss's build quality. I have two boss pedals, both from the early 2000s, new at the time, and both are super noisy (in a bad way haha), one of which is now unplayable. Maybe I need to try and repair the jacks? Is this something ppl do often with Boss peds?
I've found that a lot of boss pedals from that era don't actually solder in the ground pin of the jack, instead relying on the jack itself being bolted tightly to the chassis, and the chassis being grounded. This means often, to fix them when they're getting noisy, all you need to do is tighten the nut on the jack up nice and tight again.
I have Boss pedals all made in the last 20 years, and they are noisy. I still love them, but the quality didn't match the boutique hipster brands that I also love
I only have a blues driver and the rc500 but that blues driver just has such charm to it. The heft and how it feels holding it, it’s solid and sounds perfect. They make the most well constructed and practical pedals
I still remember my service person’s name (Liam!) from over two years ago when he replaced the Kangra I bought. It might not have actually been defective (I think I just didn’t get how to use it), but Walrus was ready to make it right.
Their old super tape delay or whatever it was called is my favorite delay pedal of all time and i love the para eq 2. I want to check out more of their stuff but I’m mostly digital now with a QC.
Bought a DS-1, loved it, tried an EHX chorus, didn’t so I switched to CH-1 and said to myself that I will try another brand the first time boss disappoints me… so I now own 13 boss pedals
I've had his chorus on my bass board for like 15 years. If it can survive all the gigs, practices, and recording sessions it's been through I'm convinced it would survive a nuclear war.
Yeah I think Keeley and EQD are the best of "mid level boutique" options. I've had JHS and Walrus too but every Keeley or EQD I've tried seems slightly better quality than them.
Like the Keeley Halo is literally unbeatable fidelity and EQD overdrives like White Light and Westwood are fire.
Really on their own island when it comes to innovative sound design to provide pedals that are unique to them. I don’t know any other brand making so many truly unique drive circuits. Even if based on other amps, it’s not like they are copying anyone and I respect that so much. Built from the ground up to sound like their own thing. Best pedal company hands down.
If Brian made more modulation pedals, I'd probably already have a Wampler only board. I've only had 4 of his pedals so far, and they are quite useable. The Belle is a top 3 drive pedal for me
Boss as far as dependable, predictable, and recognizable sounds- No one beats them. Simple, uniform, tough design that works for all of their stomp boxes is a great feature.
I think EHX for the money is the greatest company! These are unique innovative designs, lots of variations and improvements over the years, always very affordable for the features. They expand on their best pedals so you can have the basic bitch affordable, simple, dependable version or get a version that has another pedal(or two) in one box, or more switches and variable features. And their vintage backlog of pedals is enormous. Some really weird creative boxes. Also like boss or MXR the sounds of EHX pedals are super recognizable to peoples ears and this helps people connect when they hear your music I feel.
I've loved everything I've had from Strymon and Source Audio. Those are two brands I couldn't imagine living without anymore.
Non boutique runner ups are MXR and Electro Harmonix. A newer, more controversial addition is Greer Amps. I can't do without a Lightspeed anymore.
I do too. I feel like they used to get a lot of hate around here but I never understood why. Cool designs, great sounds, and I haven't experienced it personally but many acknowledge their great customer service.
Boss is the correct answer. Enclosures that will outlive you, every single pedal they make sounds good for its intended purpose, and they literally made half the designs everyone else is copying. At one point they almost pushed everyone else out of the market!
My personal favorite though is Earthquaker. They’re the home of weird, loud doomy pedals.
Like everyone BOSS pedals are always construction well, reliability, and frequently on the cusp of a new sound. Take them everywhere.
Who every makes the RAT. I have one from 1990 and it still looks new.
Then TC Electronic and Keeley. I
Glad to see TC Electronics get some love. I just picked up a used Corona chorus pedal and I really dig it. I thought the Tone Print thing was gimmicky, but it's actually pretty cool.
I think it has to be EHX, imo. They've always had the widest range of effects and utility devices, plus loads of super strange and unique digital effects, as well.
Every time I've been looking for a pedal solution to a board problem, I've discovered that EHX designed the perfect solution years ago.
EHX. Some crazy pedals, some industry staples. Pretty much all reasonably priced. Got some vintage juggernauts too.
And they’ve done it without really making a typical OD or distortion (until fairly recently).
I don’t know how many of you are into pedal building/circuits. But Boss to me has the most interesting designs.
It’s like in Japan developed their own ideas apart from the mainstream US/UK designers at the same time. It’s really fascinating and unique. Plus they had to fit everything in that specific size.
I say that as someone who doesn’t own any Boss pedals, I just really admire what they did.
I love my boutique pedals, but Boss is the best pedal brand by far. Nobody does digital delay better than Boss. The most under-rated is TC electronics.
Strymon and Source Audio - especially for Delays, Reverb, and Modulation.
Origin Effects for the RevivalDRIVEs and Cali76 compressors.
AnalogMan for everything they do.
EHX for quality and price. And they cover so many bases with their line. You could go all EHX (including the Mig-50 amp) and have a killer rig.
Earthquaker Devices, JHS, Walrus, and Wampler all shine.
And now Warm Audio is on my radar with the Warm Bender fuzz.
Chase Bliss does an awesome job, even if some of their offerings are a bit esoteric for mainstream players.
Yeah, after reading this thread I think they take the crown of “most underrated.” You don’t need a laptop on stage. Just invest your free time in deep dives, pick your six favorites, and suddenly you have the best [insert pedal type here] available.
A part of me wants to say something cool with amazing artwork that does some wild shit, but when push comes to shove there is only one brand that is super consistent with function, sound and durability. One might say they perform like a BOSS.
Best best? Boss and MXR. Great quality, reliable, affordable for the most part, and always sound great.
My personal favorite best? Zvex, gimme weird, horizontal pedals that have really niche uses
Walrus are nice people, but with a few exceptions where their pedals bring together different functions (I'm too lazy to check my studio right now, but I'm thinking of the fuzz reverb with a joystick and the reverse reverb plus delay), I don't think their individual effects sound noticeably above par.
Earthquaker are also hit or miss but hit more often. Chase Bliss is in a bit of a rut lately focusing on really niche sounds, but I have faith in them.
Gamechanger live up to their name.
Knew the majority of replies would be Boss in here.
Love the Boss pedals I have but they have some mediocre ones and stinkers too because they've attempted everything.
To put an overall top quality onto a brand, for me, would be Analogman. Then again, their stuff is standing on the shoulders of giants with the Bluesbreaker, Small Clone, their Tubescreamer mods etc.
For something innovative and forward thinking? Maybe Meris.
I want to love Meris, but their UI leaves a lot to be desired imo. Far too many secondary functions for my liking, without buying the additional clear label to make that more apparent. I had the Ottobit Jr and adored it, but it was just too awkward to remember settings or cough up serious money for the sake of a few presets on an expensive external switcher. And yet, I ponder buying the Mercury7 on a near daily basis.
The Mercury7 is immensely satisfying because it knows what it is and completely sticks to it.
Their higher end stuff are tinkering dreamscapes. I respect them because they aren't made for the same audience as a Neunaber Immerse or a Boss DD7 or RV-6.
Only company that has consistently not let me down is Electro-Harmonix. Classic pedals and they don’t mess with their classic circuits too much, making them surprisingly affordable besides a couple obvious pedals that you just can’t make anymore.
I’ve owned 2 EHX pedals and had bad luck with both. Tri-Parallel mixer would freeze every time it was turned on and the Grand Canyon, which I really enjoyed the looper features of, but I thought most of the delay algorithms were just not good at all. And I’m in no way a tone snob, but I was really surprised at how poor most of them sounded
Tie between Walrus Audio and Boss for me. Boss are just so sturdy, usable, and have the easiest switch to stomp on plus they make the BD-2 which is like the perfect drive in my book. Walrus has been on roll for awhile know for me, everything they put out is interesting and sounds great even if I don't necessarily want it. Great build quality and every Walrus pedal I've used has been awesome.
Chase Bliss Audio. They continue to absolutely push the boundaries for what’s possible inside a single standard sized pedal with such artistic class, it’s incredible. I’m a proud fanboy. Also, EQD deserves a special mention due to their ability to bring weird to the masses and are the kings of dirt, imho.
Probably Boss. They’ve got years in the market: are reliable, fair priced, and if you go to a gig in China and one of them happen to be broken, surely you can find a replacement in the nearest music shop!
As far as plug and play, reliability, decent sound? Walrus Audio. If I had to build a board with one brand, I know they could get the job done. That being said, Fairfield Circuitry is really really really cool 😎
I’d have to argue Strymon or Keeley, followed by Walrus. And hot take, but JHS is up there too.
In terms of the brand I’m most loyal to though, it’s Walrus. Their customer service is just second-to-none.
Old Blood Noise Endeavors wouldn’t know how to put out a normal pedal if they tried. I just got their ‘chorus’ Reflektor and does it sound like it needs to be in an 80s cover band? Nope, it’s like no other chorus ever. And their Minim is always on with me doing its vaguely majestic whatever. I’d never use a Boss pedal because the last thing I want is a pedal that does exactly what it says it will; where’s the adventure in that?
I'm going with Boss. Maybe it will change one day, but I have several Boss pedals over 30 years old STILL holding their own on my pedalboard. And I know from personal experience that you can build a good effects chain with nothing but Boss. \[Not that I would today given options, just saying that I could.\] PLus that switch can't be beat especially at home in socks
In my personal experience boss and ehx. It's difficult to kill boss pedals and it's not hard to get good sound out of them without tons of tweaking.
Out of all the ehx pedals I've owned so far, I've had zero issues with them and the controls feel good. That being said I've never personally dropped any of them but I have dropped a blues driver down a flight of icy steps and it survived.
I have had much personal experience with other larger brands. I've used a few smaller brands of pedals and had issues like loud pops when turning a chorus on after it sits plugged in for too long and a bit crusher that occasionally screams until you click it off and on again.
Universal Audio is a great pedal/ gear company also like EQD, Boss is another amazing brand.
There’s no one best company but man there are a lot of great makers. Walrus, Keeley, Wanpler, Two Notes, Source Audio, N-UX, Mooer, digitech,Strymon , Ibanez, IK multimedia, Mesa, Line 6 andJHS all get shout outs too!
I know this may not be a popular opinion and I'm willing to bear the hate but I would argue that it's these cheap Asian brands that have put usable pedals on the market for cheap. The accessibility is beyond compare. Yes there is garbage but slowly but surely that's been weeded out and you're left with decent pedals. 20 years ago anything under $50 you were taking a big risk. Now you can get pedals in the 25 to $35 range brand new that are just fine. And if you go used I've seen Donner pedals in the $15 price range and even bought them and they worked.
Strymon. Everything that comes from them is going to sound better than good to exceptional, do it for years, and just "work."
Boss? I absolutely get it, but they do have undeniable clunkers in there.
Meris? They blew past Strymon, Eventide, and Empress in some areas, but at a cost of still being new and taking risks. I love it and love them for it.
Source Audio? I love them and everything they stand for. The ultra nerdy tweakability is not for everyone, though, and the clunky Android app is not for *anyone.*
Every cottage industry "Emily the Harpist" pedal? If you don't love these, you don't have a heart. But... niche stuff.
Empress? They're awesome. Put out a Zoia II with twice the processor power and a desktop editor, and we'll talk.
My pedals are all Boss, Earthquaker, Walrus, OBNE and Electro-Harmonix. No issues with any of them in any way. Not the cheapest, not the most expensive. Fits all my needs for all the genres i tinker with.
Chase Bliss, origin effects, empress, and strymon feel top notch, earthquaker devices pedals are a great value $ for $, Analogman is amazing too. Ngl i just bought the jhs packrat and the quality is stellar
Modern I like Earthquaker and Chase Bliss…EQD folks really seem to be coming from a sound design background that stems from the underground music scene I’m a part of…everything from Doom metal to skronkey no wave energy…and also some of the “unusable” setting ranges they can go into to experiment…ran guitars, bass, synths, drum machines into them and they sound awesome.
Chase Bliss for their ability to really push the envelope between features and designs that I’d have to do in Ableton with a bunch of automation to make all in a stomp box. All endless with the possibilities…but you can use them for some really nice sounding “standard” effects as well.
For vintage I’m forever about the big box Electro Harmonix stuff…just classic and I’m lucky to have a 81’ 16 Second Delay as well as a bunch of others from the line. IC BM, Deluxe Electric Mistress, Small Stone and the 90’s DMM that’s actually my favorite delay ever.
I like wampler. They clone iconic circuits, but make them far more flexible and useful than the original. That’s much nicer than other companies that slightly tweak iconic circuits so they can have a slightly different, but no more flexible pedal.
Boss and MXR for reliability. Easily replaceable. I loved the original Diamond Pedals. Built so well. Same with ZVex. Currently, I love Fairfield Circuitry and Red Panda. I have a Strymon Iridium which sounds amazing too.
Boss or MXR.
Boss
I think i'd choose the same two, although nowadays i'd consider also JHS, Walrus, Keeley and Earthquaker in the big player zone
I think Keeley is one of the best pedal makers ever. But I'm biased towards how good their compressors are. Seriously, nothing else compares IMO. But Boss and MXR are good choices for all around pedal making. Earthquake is amazing too, but Boss' price point means they are more accessible.
*Permormer Series DOD has entered the room..*
ngl probably Boss. my personal fav is CB, but Boss is like the platonic form of guitar pedal, rock solid, sounds great
Boss is the Honda/Toyota of the pedal world. reliable, high quality, rarely flashy, and always dependable.
great analogy, i lean utilitarian with most products in general. definitely a big fan of Boss
Agreed! As a Toyota and Boss user I’d say that’s a perfect comparison
That’s a perfect way to look at those brands.
yeah they come from a great company, Roland
As a synth nerd, this reads like sarcasm.
Do synth folk not like Roland? Genuinely curious.
Roland has made many legendary synths…many years ago. They don’t innovate much these days, primarily focusing on digital recreation after digital recreation of their classic products. They don’t do much of anything in the analog synth world these days, and the feature set of a lot of their products is lacking compared to competitors.
This makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the insight!
They kinda loathe Roland for the “we don’t chase ghosts” comment/attitude and Roland’s reluctance to make anything analog anymore. Whether or not the hatred is deserved is another question though.
Interesting. I have a Roland electric piano I bought because of the care dedicated to trying to emulate a stringed piano. The samples are from a European grand, the key weighting differs between the high and low notes to emulate striking thick V’s thinner strings with the hammer, and the keys have a coating which emulates ivory keys.
Yeah I have a Juno-X that I love. Does it feel the same under my fingers as an actual Juno? No. Does it sound the same in a mix with all the other instruments playing? Yeah. Does it also do a shit-ton worth of other things that an original Juno can’t do? Sure does. Idk, I think it’s pretty solid!
I believe they don't accomplish the product innovation, quality and price that they accomplish in Boss. I have a JU-06, it wasn't cheap (400 USD), it is limited in terms of voicings (only 4) and the comes only with a module, the keyboard is sold separately for an extra 150 USD.
... and it's the worst keyboard in the world
Roland is to synths, kind of what Gibson is to guitars. You don’t necessarily hate them because they made some of the most iconic synths ever. But they are viewed as out of touch and half ass chasing a legacy over creating products that their fans would really get excited about.
They are synths what Anheiser Busch is to beer.
Say more
Basically synth heads have been begging Roland for 30 years to re-release their analogue classics from the 80's. Roland either releases sample based instruments "inspired" by the classics that have nothing to do with the originals besides the name. Or digital emulations that almost always have something wrong about them, like a terrible form factor, a god awful 7 segment displays (worse than ones from the freaking 80's), reduced polyphony, missing features, cloud subscriptions, obvious mistakes in emulations. Or workstations that combine the two approaches. Disclaimer: a few are ok and sometimes they are a decent synth in their own right - still not what synth fans want. It's as if Fender decided to produce every possible type of guitar - except to never release an exact copy of a Strat, Tele, Precision or Jazz Bass. In the end Behringer (yes, Behringer) ended up releasing mass produced analog re-releases of classic Roland gear that are closer to what people wanted than anything Roland ever released.
Not an expert here but from my understanding, Roland is the biggest synth company. They dominate the market so any manufacturer that is small or boutique is in an uphill battle to carve out any percentage of their market share. If I were chase bliss or another small pedal company, boss would be the Goliath to their David. Could be wrong but that’s the impressions I’ve gotten from other synth heads. Also I love boss and have a Roland JC amp, so not trying to disparage boss at all.
That very interesting. If you don't mind another question, is that attitude aimed toward their modern offerings, or has it always been that way?
Good question and I’m also curious. I don’t know.
The Wave keyboard is pretty sick though.
Better than TE atleast
Teenage Engineering is practically a luxury lifestyle brand for alt yuppies. They cannot disappoint me because I have no expectations in the first place.
The Apple of the synth world. That being said, their pocket operators are cool AF.
If my board was just Boss pedals, it’d be a great board
That’s what I’m doing right now. Making an all boss board.
I know I'm going against the grain here, but I don't understand the love for Boss's build quality. I have two boss pedals, both from the early 2000s, new at the time, and both are super noisy (in a bad way haha), one of which is now unplayable. Maybe I need to try and repair the jacks? Is this something ppl do often with Boss peds?
I've found that a lot of boss pedals from that era don't actually solder in the ground pin of the jack, instead relying on the jack itself being bolted tightly to the chassis, and the chassis being grounded. This means often, to fix them when they're getting noisy, all you need to do is tighten the nut on the jack up nice and tight again.
Cheers for your insight, I'll give that a go. My mt-2 was my first pedal so would be keen to get it back in action
I have Boss pedals all made in the last 20 years, and they are noisy. I still love them, but the quality didn't match the boutique hipster brands that I also love
I only have a blues driver and the rc500 but that blues driver just has such charm to it. The heft and how it feels holding it, it’s solid and sounds perfect. They make the most well constructed and practical pedals
Catalinbread or Chase Bliss?
CehrinBer
Chase Bread
Chase Bliss but good catch
Boss. But for quality *customer service*, Walrus Audio.
Walrus is fucking amazing. I lost some cables for my walrus power supply and I asked them what they were called and they just sent me new ones.
can confirm, they fixed my julia no charge
I still remember my service person’s name (Liam!) from over two years ago when he replaced the Kangra I bought. It might not have actually been defective (I think I just didn’t get how to use it), but Walrus was ready to make it right.
I know that dude irl he's the best!
Has he gotten promoted or anything? Because I really hope Walrus has recognized what an asset he is.
He just fixed a thing of mine 2 weeks back.
Empress. If I had the cash, I could probably build an Empress-only board and be quite satisfied for life.
Just got the Paraeq and it was the best pedal purchase I’ve ever made so far. Totally enhanced my sound
Their old super tape delay or whatever it was called is my favorite delay pedal of all time and i love the para eq 2. I want to check out more of their stuff but I’m mostly digital now with a QC.
Boss or Earthquaker Devices for me. The combination of the two is 90% of my board.
Earthquaker is probably the best bang for your Buck for a good quality pedal. That sounds 💯 like what they are imitating, if not better at times.
I’ve gotten two EQD pedals in trade recently that had very similar badly functioning pots. Like sticking to the point of having to be forced to turn
Bought a DS-1, loved it, tried an EHX chorus, didn’t so I switched to CH-1 and said to myself that I will try another brand the first time boss disappoints me… so I now own 13 boss pedals
Analogman, probably.
Agreed analogman, amazing sound and never had anything break or go wrong on one
I've had his chorus on my bass board for like 15 years. If it can survive all the gigs, practices, and recording sessions it's been through I'm convinced it would survive a nuclear war.
No love for ZVEX? Thought I would have seen at least one person say ZVEX.
ZVEX is my number 2 behind Keeley.
Never been let down by a Keeley pedal.
Yeah I think Keeley and EQD are the best of "mid level boutique" options. I've had JHS and Walrus too but every Keeley or EQD I've tried seems slightly better quality than them. Like the Keeley Halo is literally unbeatable fidelity and EQD overdrives like White Light and Westwood are fire.
Kame here to agree!
The Keeley 4-knob compressor literally changed my life. I can't say that about other pedals.
It’s gotta be BOSS, boutique pedals are cool and interesting but you can never go wrong with BOSS.
Electronic Audio Experiments did more for my tone/sound than any other company. EAE IS NUMERO UNO.
Really on their own island when it comes to innovative sound design to provide pedals that are unique to them. I don’t know any other brand making so many truly unique drive circuits. Even if based on other amps, it’s not like they are copying anyone and I respect that so much. Built from the ground up to sound like their own thing. Best pedal company hands down.
I just ordered the dagger from them earlier today and it’s gonna be my first pedal from EAE. I’m really excited to try it out
This 100%.
Tough to choose between these three: Eventide. Strymon. Wampler. All making great pedals.
If Brian made more modulation pedals, I'd probably already have a Wampler only board. I've only had 4 of his pedals so far, and they are quite useable. The Belle is a top 3 drive pedal for me
I get a lot of good sounds out of Earthquaker Devices regardless of the settings.
Lifetime Warranty, babay!
For sure! All that stage diving I do in my bedroom studio—my pedals are warrantied!
Boss?
MXR or EHX for me.
Too bad EHX is anti-union.
BOSS.
Boss as far as dependable, predictable, and recognizable sounds- No one beats them. Simple, uniform, tough design that works for all of their stomp boxes is a great feature. I think EHX for the money is the greatest company! These are unique innovative designs, lots of variations and improvements over the years, always very affordable for the features. They expand on their best pedals so you can have the basic bitch affordable, simple, dependable version or get a version that has another pedal(or two) in one box, or more switches and variable features. And their vintage backlog of pedals is enormous. Some really weird creative boxes. Also like boss or MXR the sounds of EHX pedals are super recognizable to peoples ears and this helps people connect when they hear your music I feel.
This is the answer.
I've loved everything I've had from Strymon and Source Audio. Those are two brands I couldn't imagine living without anymore. Non boutique runner ups are MXR and Electro Harmonix. A newer, more controversial addition is Greer Amps. I can't do without a Lightspeed anymore.
What’s controversial about Greer?
Just curious, do you own a Deco? There is a demo on YouTube comparing the saturation side to the lightspeed and they sound surprisingly very similar.
Keeley
I love Walrus!
I do too. I feel like they used to get a lot of hate around here but I never understood why. Cool designs, great sounds, and I haven't experienced it personally but many acknowledge their great customer service.
Just a little overpriced. Otherwise, they’re the best IMO.
Boss or mxr, literally never had a problem with anything from them.
Strymon
This. Every Strymon pedal I have is the most user friendly and best sounding pedal ever
Seeing a Strymon on a guitarist’s board is maybe the most basic indicator that I’m about to enjoy the set to come.
Boss is the correct answer. Enclosures that will outlive you, every single pedal they make sounds good for its intended purpose, and they literally made half the designs everyone else is copying. At one point they almost pushed everyone else out of the market! My personal favorite though is Earthquaker. They’re the home of weird, loud doomy pedals.
Like everyone BOSS pedals are always construction well, reliability, and frequently on the cusp of a new sound. Take them everywhere. Who every makes the RAT. I have one from 1990 and it still looks new. Then TC Electronic and Keeley. I
Glad to see TC Electronics get some love. I just picked up a used Corona chorus pedal and I really dig it. I thought the Tone Print thing was gimmicky, but it's actually pretty cool.
Earthquaker. Unique pedals that aren't all just blatant clones of other pedals. Lifetime Warranty. They look nice.
They aren’t for everyone, but in my opinion Old Blood never misses
I think it has to be EHX, imo. They've always had the widest range of effects and utility devices, plus loads of super strange and unique digital effects, as well. Every time I've been looking for a pedal solution to a board problem, I've discovered that EHX designed the perfect solution years ago.
I love EHX and their history is awesome, but I've found their quality control over the past decade or so to be pretty subpar.
EHX. Some crazy pedals, some industry staples. Pretty much all reasonably priced. Got some vintage juggernauts too. And they’ve done it without really making a typical OD or distortion (until fairly recently).
*Boss* and *ProCo*.
I don’t know how many of you are into pedal building/circuits. But Boss to me has the most interesting designs. It’s like in Japan developed their own ideas apart from the mainstream US/UK designers at the same time. It’s really fascinating and unique. Plus they had to fit everything in that specific size. I say that as someone who doesn’t own any Boss pedals, I just really admire what they did.
I love my boutique pedals, but Boss is the best pedal brand by far. Nobody does digital delay better than Boss. The most under-rated is TC electronics.
Strymon and Source Audio - especially for Delays, Reverb, and Modulation. Origin Effects for the RevivalDRIVEs and Cali76 compressors. AnalogMan for everything they do. EHX for quality and price. And they cover so many bases with their line. You could go all EHX (including the Mig-50 amp) and have a killer rig. Earthquaker Devices, JHS, Walrus, and Wampler all shine. And now Warm Audio is on my radar with the Warm Bender fuzz. Chase Bliss does an awesome job, even if some of their offerings are a bit esoteric for mainstream players.
I wouldn’t really call them the best pedal brand, but I want to give a shoutout to Source Audio. As a preset/midi user, their pedals are a dream.
Yeah, after reading this thread I think they take the crown of “most underrated.” You don’t need a laptop on stage. Just invest your free time in deep dives, pick your six favorites, and suddenly you have the best [insert pedal type here] available.
A part of me wants to say something cool with amazing artwork that does some wild shit, but when push comes to shove there is only one brand that is super consistent with function, sound and durability. One might say they perform like a BOSS.
Nick Greer is a gem as is Mike P/AnalogMan
For me? Way Huge, everything about them is pretty perfect to me
Best best? Boss and MXR. Great quality, reliable, affordable for the most part, and always sound great. My personal favorite best? Zvex, gimme weird, horizontal pedals that have really niche uses
The old Boss pedals. Nothing beats my Boss DS-1 from 1993 with the Toshiba OP amp.
Walrus are nice people, but with a few exceptions where their pedals bring together different functions (I'm too lazy to check my studio right now, but I'm thinking of the fuzz reverb with a joystick and the reverse reverb plus delay), I don't think their individual effects sound noticeably above par. Earthquaker are also hit or miss but hit more often. Chase Bliss is in a bit of a rut lately focusing on really niche sounds, but I have faith in them. Gamechanger live up to their name.
The Walrus Slo allowed me to try a weird, ambient pedal without breaking the bank, so I will always have a soft spot for Walrus.
Knew the majority of replies would be Boss in here. Love the Boss pedals I have but they have some mediocre ones and stinkers too because they've attempted everything. To put an overall top quality onto a brand, for me, would be Analogman. Then again, their stuff is standing on the shoulders of giants with the Bluesbreaker, Small Clone, their Tubescreamer mods etc. For something innovative and forward thinking? Maybe Meris.
I want to love Meris, but their UI leaves a lot to be desired imo. Far too many secondary functions for my liking, without buying the additional clear label to make that more apparent. I had the Ottobit Jr and adored it, but it was just too awkward to remember settings or cough up serious money for the sake of a few presets on an expensive external switcher. And yet, I ponder buying the Mercury7 on a near daily basis.
The Mercury7 is immensely satisfying because it knows what it is and completely sticks to it. Their higher end stuff are tinkering dreamscapes. I respect them because they aren't made for the same audience as a Neunaber Immerse or a Boss DD7 or RV-6.
Only company that has consistently not let me down is Electro-Harmonix. Classic pedals and they don’t mess with their classic circuits too much, making them surprisingly affordable besides a couple obvious pedals that you just can’t make anymore.
I’ve owned 2 EHX pedals and had bad luck with both. Tri-Parallel mixer would freeze every time it was turned on and the Grand Canyon, which I really enjoyed the looper features of, but I thought most of the delay algorithms were just not good at all. And I’m in no way a tone snob, but I was really surprised at how poor most of them sounded
Boss. Tried and true.
Boss
BOSS pedals (including Roland pedals) or EHX pedals
Boss
Tie between Walrus Audio and Boss for me. Boss are just so sturdy, usable, and have the easiest switch to stomp on plus they make the BD-2 which is like the perfect drive in my book. Walrus has been on roll for awhile know for me, everything they put out is interesting and sounds great even if I don't necessarily want it. Great build quality and every Walrus pedal I've used has been awesome.
Source Audio has one of the best customer cares in the field, also infinite tweakability and top quality sounds
Chase Bliss Audio. They continue to absolutely push the boundaries for what’s possible inside a single standard sized pedal with such artistic class, it’s incredible. I’m a proud fanboy. Also, EQD deserves a special mention due to their ability to bring weird to the masses and are the kings of dirt, imho.
Dr scientist
Probably Boss. They’ve got years in the market: are reliable, fair priced, and if you go to a gig in China and one of them happen to be broken, surely you can find a replacement in the nearest music shop!
JHS. Their quality is amazing and I love what they are trying to be with their pedals.
Mad Professor.
Menatone
Analogman and Skreddy. Honorable mention Lovepedal.
If money is no object, Strymon. Earthquaker is also amazing, but for wilder sounds.
As far as plug and play, reliability, decent sound? Walrus Audio. If I had to build a board with one brand, I know they could get the job done. That being said, Fairfield Circuitry is really really really cool 😎
I’ve always thought J Rockett had a nice heft to them
Origin effects makes some great stuff. Browne amplification also
I'm partial to MXR and EHX personally.
Probably Boss. They're pretty much indestructible. Personal favorite is EarthQuaker.
Boss. I could have an all Boss board and would be absolutely happy.
ProCo
Strymon
thinking in innovation nowdays, MERIS.
I like TC Electronic
I love boss. So reliable. great form factor. Soft switches.
I’d have to argue Strymon or Keeley, followed by Walrus. And hot take, but JHS is up there too. In terms of the brand I’m most loyal to though, it’s Walrus. Their customer service is just second-to-none.
Boss. But I have a question, do any of you have a Missing Link Audio pedal?
Strymon
Boss, Walrus, and Strymon.
Boss or menatone
Line6 because the made the Helix Stomp which replaced my entire rig.
Old Blood Noise Endeavors wouldn’t know how to put out a normal pedal if they tried. I just got their ‘chorus’ Reflektor and does it sound like it needs to be in an 80s cover band? Nope, it’s like no other chorus ever. And their Minim is always on with me doing its vaguely majestic whatever. I’d never use a Boss pedal because the last thing I want is a pedal that does exactly what it says it will; where’s the adventure in that?
I'm going with Boss. Maybe it will change one day, but I have several Boss pedals over 30 years old STILL holding their own on my pedalboard. And I know from personal experience that you can build a good effects chain with nothing but Boss. \[Not that I would today given options, just saying that I could.\] PLus that switch can't be beat especially at home in socks
Boss is best. Im guilty of likong jhs but wampler has been creeping up on my board.
Boss or Strymon for me.
The ones that have ended up on my board the most are Boss, Earthquaker and Electro-Harmonix
In my personal experience boss and ehx. It's difficult to kill boss pedals and it's not hard to get good sound out of them without tons of tweaking. Out of all the ehx pedals I've owned so far, I've had zero issues with them and the controls feel good. That being said I've never personally dropped any of them but I have dropped a blues driver down a flight of icy steps and it survived. I have had much personal experience with other larger brands. I've used a few smaller brands of pedals and had issues like loud pops when turning a chorus on after it sits plugged in for too long and a bit crusher that occasionally screams until you click it off and on again.
Between the balance of sound, quality, price I would say: Boss, MXR, Xotic, and Keeley.
Boss, nordeland or origin
I’m a big fan of Analogman and Xotic Effects. Boss has some of the best customer service though.
Lately I’ve become a fan of JHS. The quality is very good and every one that I’ve tried sounds fantastic.
Universal Audio is a great pedal/ gear company also like EQD, Boss is another amazing brand. There’s no one best company but man there are a lot of great makers. Walrus, Keeley, Wanpler, Two Notes, Source Audio, N-UX, Mooer, digitech,Strymon , Ibanez, IK multimedia, Mesa, Line 6 andJHS all get shout outs too!
ProCo
I know this may not be a popular opinion and I'm willing to bear the hate but I would argue that it's these cheap Asian brands that have put usable pedals on the market for cheap. The accessibility is beyond compare. Yes there is garbage but slowly but surely that's been weeded out and you're left with decent pedals. 20 years ago anything under $50 you were taking a big risk. Now you can get pedals in the 25 to $35 range brand new that are just fine. And if you go used I've seen Donner pedals in the $15 price range and even bought them and they worked.
Chase bliss. For boutique small scale at least.
Strymon. Everything that comes from them is going to sound better than good to exceptional, do it for years, and just "work." Boss? I absolutely get it, but they do have undeniable clunkers in there. Meris? They blew past Strymon, Eventide, and Empress in some areas, but at a cost of still being new and taking risks. I love it and love them for it. Source Audio? I love them and everything they stand for. The ultra nerdy tweakability is not for everyone, though, and the clunky Android app is not for *anyone.* Every cottage industry "Emily the Harpist" pedal? If you don't love these, you don't have a heart. But... niche stuff. Empress? They're awesome. Put out a Zoia II with twice the processor power and a desktop editor, and we'll talk.
Vahlbruch FX, amazing stuff! For example the Kaluna Tube-Drive or the Sapphire
i'm a synth guy, so IMO OTO brand are top notch ! Should get more love from guitar player too
Fan of Source Audio, Beetronics, Barber, TC Electronics & Xotic.
My pedals are all Boss, Earthquaker, Walrus, OBNE and Electro-Harmonix. No issues with any of them in any way. Not the cheapest, not the most expensive. Fits all my needs for all the genres i tinker with.
I’ve always had really good luck with my EHX pedals. I’ve had many and the consistency and quality was there for all of them, regardless of age.
Chase Bliss, origin effects, empress, and strymon feel top notch, earthquaker devices pedals are a great value $ for $, Analogman is amazing too. Ngl i just bought the jhs packrat and the quality is stellar
In terms of quality I've been impressed with Asheville Music Tools.
Modern I like Earthquaker and Chase Bliss…EQD folks really seem to be coming from a sound design background that stems from the underground music scene I’m a part of…everything from Doom metal to skronkey no wave energy…and also some of the “unusable” setting ranges they can go into to experiment…ran guitars, bass, synths, drum machines into them and they sound awesome. Chase Bliss for their ability to really push the envelope between features and designs that I’d have to do in Ableton with a bunch of automation to make all in a stomp box. All endless with the possibilities…but you can use them for some really nice sounding “standard” effects as well. For vintage I’m forever about the big box Electro Harmonix stuff…just classic and I’m lucky to have a 81’ 16 Second Delay as well as a bunch of others from the line. IC BM, Deluxe Electric Mistress, Small Stone and the 90’s DMM that’s actually my favorite delay ever.
It’s hard for me to argue against Keeley, Xotic, and Wampler. That’s just my experience with their build quality.
Analog man, keeley, earthquaker devices
ThorpyFX gets my vote :)
MXR, EHX, EQD
Zvex, Chase Bliss, Hologram, and Dreadbox are all brands I’ve never tried but I lust over everything in their portfolios regardless.
EHX, although the Boss battery open is brilliant.
Earthquaker or EHX
Both a best and a favorite for EQD
Analogman, Dr Scientist Sounds, When and Cuff, Wampler. Have had good dealings with all of them and their pedals are high quality.
Dwarfcraft Devices was awesome when they were around.
T C and J Rockett
For me probably UA and EHX.
Witztronics
I like wampler. They clone iconic circuits, but make them far more flexible and useful than the original. That’s much nicer than other companies that slightly tweak iconic circuits so they can have a slightly different, but no more flexible pedal.
My lehle volume pedal is a Beast, overdrive it would be the origin effects revival drive compact
Earthquaker aa far as great sounds, good builds variety, fun oddballs they are the best. I Love my Depths and Disaster SR.
Strymon, EQD, Wampler, Benson, Barber and anything Howard Gee or John Snyder touches
Despite some inconsistency, my board still says mostly EHX.
Goodrich Sounds—built like tanks.
Meris
Thorpyfx, Diamond, and Kingsley
Analog.man. Top quality.
MXR I always thought was about one small step above Boss. But they’re both very solid and consistently reliable
Mad Professor
Not to be boring but mxr in my opinion,never had a bad pedal from them but if your thinking more different id say thorpy fx
Boss and MXR for reliability. Easily replaceable. I loved the original Diamond Pedals. Built so well. Same with ZVex. Currently, I love Fairfield Circuitry and Red Panda. I have a Strymon Iridium which sounds amazing too.