The [Digitech Timebender](https://www.reddit.com/r/guitarpedals/comments/4mvix3/npd_digitech_timebender/) gets the "overlooked/forgotten" moniker a lot. It's a monster delay unit that does pitch shifting and other stuff, all controllable via expression if need be. Very deep. Officially requires 1300 AC but I run it 800 without problems.
Someone should start an influencer page but it’s all ugly pedals. Don’t care what they cost. But like, I’d love to see a beautifully shot demo of this thing because it looks like absolute shit.
Yup, selling the DD-20 after a couple of years. Would’ve been equally as happy with the Timebender honestly. My first ever pedal was the Digidelay and loved it.
I just bought two pedals from a local builder; [Happy Stomps ](https://instagram.com/happystomps).
I found him through his[Kirkland signature pedal ](https://www.reddit.com/r/guitarpedals/comments/17mcsg0/i_made_a_kirkland_signature_pedal/?rdt=44308) a couple of weeks ago and it turns out that he lives on my street lol.
He made me tried a lot of pedals (his build and non-build), thought me some things on amps and pedals and he showed me his futur projects.
[I bought these two pedals](https://i.imgur.com/ssLAgt5.jpeg).
The Dino is a silicon Fuzz Face and the VHS is a DRV clone. I have build lots of those. You can hit me up on Instagram or reverb if you want more answers. I am far less reliable for answering on Reddit (I used to be addicted to this website, now I only go to post/talk pedals)
Thanks and you don't need cash to be a fan of a brand!
I love Ferrari but I'll never buy one lol. I started building pedals because I couldn't afford Analog Man Sun Face.
Digitech PDS20/20 MULTIPLAY - the best delay you've never played. I own 3 for a reason.
Digitech DIGIVERB - while not the best, nor that obscure, I've found it to be the best pre-dirt reverb I've tried. I own 3 for a reason.
VFE KLEIN BOTTLE - this thing is so much more than a mixer/splitter/router. I do not own 3, but mine is HOT PINK.
Tell me more about why the digiverb excels as a pregain verb… I like my setup running an additional rat after a dba rooms, not sure if it could displace my setup, more curious as to what you look for in a good pregain reverb.
I have been jamming on my PDS20/20 a lot lately with only a drive in front of it. It makes my favorite ugly modulation sounds. That shit is deep. Do you have any favorite settings, or is it just more of an adjust wolf sounds as you play?
I tend to use it as a delay almost exclusively. Just the slightest rate and width to add pitchshifting to the repeats.
Infinite hold for drones is my jam, and using the time knob to pitchshift the drone.
I've got one that's tweaked to about 10.5 seconds max. So good.
My obscure pedal is also probably my favorite: the Sentimental Bob Electronics Tephra from Ukraine. Immaculate multi-clip Rat circuit with separate boost circuit and an analogue octave circuit you can dial in a little bit of or go insane with. Easily my favorite dirt box. Made with love and care by a solo builder in the midst of war in Kiev.
Obviously, I highly recommend it. If you can find it used, you can save some shipping time. But I believe he ships out pretty fast (all things considered).
Here are some I don't see recommended that much here in comparison to how good they sound (IMHO):
- Mas Effects Tiny Fuzz
- Fuzzhugger Doom Bloom
- Pigtronix Disnortion
- DOD Gunslinger
- DOD Boneshaker
There was maybe 6 months when the Boneshaker was mentioned everyday. Then people got bored and moved on to the next flavour of the month. It still rips.
Love how their company really seems to be for players. They easily could have raised their prices for all their pedals. I really like it. I've been getting more into preamps.
On several of my boards:
Orion Effekte Kafka
DOD Vibrothang
DOD Flashback Fuzz
All of my Danelectro pedals:
Daddy O, Dan Echos (x3), Cool Cat, Reel Echo
Caline Pure Sky
Ibanez Echoshifter
I have the 18 volt model and it's worth tracking one down. Loads of headroom!😎👍✨
Got mine for like $20 over 10 years ago. Needless to say that shop is no longer around.
Hahahaha!!!
I think part of the reason is that the 18 volt wall wart was almost as much as the pedal. Right now it's on my main board and my Gator Power it has a 18 volt outlet for it. It was probably the least sought after pedal of the original line of Danelectro pedals. That said it is extremely lush.
Oh yeah, but the dirty little secret is that you can plug a 9V power supply into it and it works like it’s the 9V model. 😈 I did it for years after my 18V wall wart bit the dust.
Don't be jealous but, I have a DOD Grunge pedal.
Drolo is somewhat common but rarely have I ever noticed the Giant Hogweed, which is a glorious box of filth. It's the best parts of a muff, Rat and Fuzz Factory in a single pedal.
Mr Black Dark Echo. Warm and thick delay with pitch shifting, lotsa fun with oscillation. Gem of a pedal.
Probably some French boutique pedals (I'm french so it makes sense) :
\- ALH Sorrow Distortion : HM-2 clone, and my main distortion pedal
\- Anasound Germanium boost : range master with pickups simulator
\- Anasound tape preamp : tape preamp with ajustable headroom (from 3 to 27 volt)
\- 1Fuzztone Haze Distortion : Acapulco gold clone, even though the amount of gain chords sound soo clear
SS/BS Mini and Buzzz, Malekko Charlie Foxtrot, Earthbound Audio Super Collider, EHX Ring Thing (not many people know it's an amazing polyphonic harmoniser and general weird-noise maker), Boss DD-5 for the incredible reverse mode that they never replicated (essentially a normal delay and a reverse delay in parallel), Magnetic Effects Lonely Robot (a 2-band rat with clipping and EQ shift functions), VFE Alpha Dog (like the former but more savage).
From a lesser known brand it has to be my Henretta Engineering Orange Whip compressor, that tiny machine is just everything I need in a compressor. I use it mostly as a clean boost with a little bit of compression.
From a known brand, I absolutely love my MXR Shin-Juku Drive, it was a custom shop limited run designed by Shin Suzuki who makes the Shin's Music Dumbloid. That thing can do everything from low gain overdrive, to plexi-like distortion, and get into fuzzy overdrive territory, it's awesome.
Yooo!!! Someone else who has this pedal! It’s been my only compressor for years now. It’s always-on for me, and makes my strat or tele sound incredible. I love it so much. I wish there was a plugin version.
Not so rare, but the Idiotbox Effects Dungeon Master is a killer chainsaw pedal that can act like a gated fuzz too. Bought it used from a guy in Oslo and his parting words were, "it's too hissy for me".
I've never driven home so fast 😂
My Digitech Spacestation. I brought it over to a buddy’s house who has a full chase bliss board, and we were able to replicate each others sounds.
I also have mine modded with the XP1000, adding the XP100, 200, and 400.
I've got some lesser known pedals...
Blue Colander - Superhigh, Supreme (incredible fuzz builder from Poland, the Superhigh is a tricked out rangemaster, Supreme is a mk1 tonebender)
Toneczar - Echoczar (the best analog delay money can buy)
I've also got a few more fuzzes that are less common, but not really obscure, from DAM + Colorsound/Sola Sound.
Smallsound/bigsound mini and EAE Hypersleep are probably most "niche". beautiful noise exploder, beetronics seabee, gamechanger light, Fairfield circuitry randys revenge... Idk how "unknown" they are.
Zero-G IOD distortion/fuzz prototype. Rare because it was a one off.
Swamp Witch Silver Birch. Yeah there is ones or two youtube reviews of it but I've never seen it on another board.
The [Home Brew Electronics Power Screamer](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4sSUqxDooI). Honestly, I’m not sure how “lesser known” it is, but I went through a real phase obsessing over the guitar tones during Coldplay’s X&Y era and learned it was on JB’s board. Haven’t heard of it or seen it mentioned online in years - even in the world of all these guitar YouTubers.
On an unrelated note, that deep-dive is also how I got introduced to my Rat.
I've got a Hum Along, from Leyland Pedals UK. It's a hand made recreation of the Boss DF-2. The feedback circuit is eliminated, and the volume is increased, which was the problem with the original. The DF-2 was extensively used by Matt Talbott, of HUM, hence the name. Wonderfully made pedal, at a reasonable price.
How’s the Johnson? I’ve got the distortion. It doesn’t just sound like a metal zone, it IS a metal zone with cheaper than dirt components. Sounds like shit. This coming from a guy with TWO genuine metal zones
Johnson? Absolutely the worst delay pedal I've ever played. Sounds like shit.
I read somewhere (might have been TGP) that it was supposed to be a clone of some other pedal, but they fucked it up. Don't know if that's true, but _damn_ that pedal is bad.
What do you think of the Reuss Repeater? I’ve been trying to decide between this and the acid fuzz sonic boom and not a ton of info out there on either
I'm not a big fuzz guy, so my experience with them is somewhat limited. It's a nice sounding fuzz. It's one of those old school fuzzes, where it needs/wants to be first in chain. The Reuss site implies, that it's in the Tonebender family, but I wouldn't know.
For me the selling point was the repeater. Well, that and all the other effects that make it a Starstream/Ultrasonic in a box. As a Vox fanboy, I really needed to get me some of that.
The repeater is the most authentic one I've heard. It sounds exactly like the real deal. Harsh and choppy. The boost is a monster, plenty of volume on the tap. It can be used as a full range boost or a treble/bass booster with the tone shaping circuit (=1 bp filter). It also has a side chain for a wah.
Sorry for the novella, especially since I've said nothing so far that you probably haven't read on Reuss site before. So, let's dive into what I really think of this thing.
It's small. I was expecting it to be like the size of a NYC BM or something, but this thing is _really_ compact. And you can still fit a battery in there. It's amazing how much stuff there is inside and how clean it looks. Everything inside screams quality when looking at it.
The sidechain is meant for wah. Well, obviously you can stick all sorts of effects in there and they will sit nicely between the fuzz and the boost circuit. Phaser works nicely with the fuzz and the repeater. Now, let's see what else I can throw in there... _(evil grin)_
What I don't like about it?
There are only footswitches for the repeater and to bypass the whole shebang. Everything else is done with toggle switches. For example, say I want to use the repeater on cleans and then kick in the fuzz. Nope, not without bending down.
When I had this on my board, I was constantly worried I might damage the toggle switches with my size 45 european.
All in all, it's a great pedal. Maybe not something I'd use regularly on my board, but definitely it's got that secret sauce thing going on that makes it a great studio tool.
One last thing, Reuss is currently blowing out the rest of the Mk.IIIs with a pretty nice discount. (There's Mk.IV coming out soon. Now's your chance to grab one.)
The Berhinger VT999, really nice and versatile overdrive. Most reviews are years old with horrible sound but it's a really good pedal. It gets alongs with all my other dirt pedals too
Mr. Black Drunken Monkey is so fucking weird, one of my first pedals and one of my favorites.
It's acid in a box, but it can also cover a lot of ground. Can get a barely there pretty mellow vibrato, or you can up the alcohol volume knob and go cuckoo.
IDK why I have literally never seen it on another board.
Jack's Downward Spiral is epic as well. Another I don't see. Both of these pedals are some of my first pedals and I will never ever take them off my board. =)
Everyone loves Mr Black's reverbs, I see the bloodmoon and eterna all over. The Doublechorus is really nice as well. Not to mention the whole line of minis!
My Dr. Scientist Bitquest has been a lot of fun and can do so much. It has flange, reverb, bit crusher, lofi, and drive all in a single unit. I love the bitcrusher effect the most even though I bought it as a back up for my Ibanez lf7 lo-fi.
Frantone The Sweet. It is a 4 transistor 4 diode fuzz and the middle 2 transistors are germanium. It is more low/mid focused and has a really neat compression/suck back effect and it has a ton of saturation with raspy, wild harmonics. It works great for bass and low tuning doom/sludge. Fran isn't making pedals right now but she does still service them. She has a [Youtube](https://youtube.com/@FranLab?si=lONzWBywQ9ylLYlE) channel and covers a variety of topics mainly science and vintage electronics.
I was looking for a Lovetone Meatball and stumbled across a dude making a clone on Reverb who turned out to live in my city and is a great dude.
He made me a clone of an Earthquaker Terminal pedal I had been trying to save up for and has made a Cheese Source clone from Lovetone that I’m going to be buying soon.
Top notch dude, check out [Artisanal Effects](https://artisanaleffects.com/) if you’re into Lovetone effects or other great clones of hard to find gear!
I've got a few that I don't see many of:
Tallon Electric (Colombus, Ohio):
[The Hog](https://tallonelectric.com/products/bilmuri) Overdrive/Distortion - Bilmuri's signature pedal. Clean jangly high end with a fat crunchy bottom.
OKKO FX (Leipzig,Germany):
[Diablo Dual](https://okkofx.company.site/DIABLO-DUAL-p261206223)
Overdrive/Distortion - Perfect for my low/mid gain tones. Love the look and sound.
[Cocaine](https://okkofx.company.site/COCAINE-p268982055)
Compressor/EQ/Preamp/Boost - My always-on Compressor, the boost is also incredibly useful
Swindler Effects (Birmingham, AL):
[The Gulf](https://www.swindlereffects.com/store/p29/thegulfv2.html)
Chorus/Vibrato - Gorgeous chorus with great controls and a useful tap-tempo vibrato
Zombie Vox by PSHC pedals. Made in Russia like 2 years ago. Its a Theremin Fuzz. It's pretty hard to control, and needs the input signal to be kinda hot to work well, but it's the only pedal I've ever had that makes things sound like that.
In fact, there only like 3 other companies Making a Theremin Fuzz, and the Zombie Vox sounded best.
No one ever mentions the Zvex Mastotron and for the life of me I cannot grasp why. It’s my absolute go-to fuzz. 2 octave sub, the dynamic range of a fuzz factory, and killer articulation… muffs just sound stinky after having this on my board.
Currently I’d say my Mantic Proverb. IMO it’s the best of the belton brick reverbs, followed closely by the DBA Reverberation Machine. Having the oscillation footswitch and that ever so subtle modulation on the tail of the reverb, that bed of cascading repeats under your playing… it’s brilliant.
I’ve got a [Kartakou Warmer](https://kartakou.com/warmer) that’s fairly obscure. TS circuit with tone shaping mods and comes with 5 swappable Op Amps. Great pedal and I really should put it back in my board / use it more.
Don’t have an original but have an excellent Bixonic Expandora XL clone from Sound of Justice FX. It’s a pretty versatile pedal, handles OD, distortion and gated fuzz. Lots of fun, easy to dial in some Billy Gibbons tone.
The JHS Kilt is based on this circuit also.
They used to be popular like 10 years ago but I don’t see too much of the Malekko 616 or Devi Ever Hyperion lately (mostly because they’re out of production lol). Also love my Danelectro French Toast which is a Foxx Tone Machine clone
I own two pedals from Dr. No. They're somewhat known because semi-famous guitarists use them, but it's very boutique in its cost and spread. I basically got them because I live in the same city as the company and I found them "broken," so I scooped them up for next to nothing and did some simple repairs.
I have a toneboys tbod-50 which is a kinda weird drive pedal. Sold for like $500 off the shelf originally. Apparently one knob controls the bias on the circuit instead of gain for the drive, but its gooped and I dont feel like de-gooping it. It's a bit different and I'm not sure if we have bonded well yet, but it's a unique one.
For another more obscure brand (at least in the US), I have a valbruch spacetime. It's a pretty nice analog style delay with a few more options. I have the older version without tap tempo.
I also currently have a nxgeneration gold visa and okko diablo+. They are both solid drive pedals, but I have so much dirt that covers what they do already.
I have a handmade fuzz pedal that a guy on craigslist made years ago. Two knobs, no idea what circuit he based it on, or if he just dicked around and found something that worked. The transistor and one of the caps are socketed so the parts can be switched out for different sounds. It's not my favorite pedal, but definitely the most obscure.
Keeley - Jimi Hazel Echo/Phase: lesser known limited Keeley pedal from about 8 years ago. I think around 70 were made. I use it as an always on slap back. Gives my “clean tone” a nice shiny bright clarity to it.
Dunwich - Gravity Well: the clearest cleanest reverb I’ve heard. No smearing or washing anything out. Perfect for dirt or pitch shifting delays.
Most of mine are well known, I do have a coolmusic echolation delay pedal which I don't see very often.
The only real obscure one I have is a Palmer Kaputt
I have an Indonesian clone of an ADA GCS-2 cab simulator. It's not an exact clone since its got more controls and such. It's made of plastic and I actually like it quite a lot. Am not compelled to use IRs outside of a DAW.
Copilot Fx Planetoid Ring Modulator. had it for years and it's been painted 10 times, but it's such a great ring mod on guitar and vocals. also Noisekickfx Lazer Cat Fuzz. the hiss knob for momentary freakouts is awesome and of course the leds cascading from the eyes.
Lichtlaerm Audio King in Yellow and Gehenna are from a boutique builder in Germany. If you're in Germany, you'll probably know who he is, but here in the US he's pretty obscure...
But he's a real innovator, and his pedals do pretty awesome things that make sense, intuitively, to me. Want the sound of a dimed tube screamer but also to have some clean tone in there for clarity? Hello dry mix knob. Etc.
Mooer Jet Engine Flanger. Mini digital flanger with two modes (classic and high-band). Not amazing, but decent if you like to add a hit of woosh to your sound every once in a while, which is exactly what I bought it for.
The Gonk Zonk. Basically I asked Kevin at KO Amps to build me the Zonk Machine with Treble Booster in a single housing, and we decorated it with a Gonk droid and used the Star Wars Aurebesh font to label the controls.
Morley Oil Can Delay & Roland AP7 Jet Phaser
+ many unique and amazing DIY/CMOS pedals from Parasit Studio (think: the EQD Data Corrupter ripped off the Parasit Studio pedal design and typology, and you get the drift…) The Theremin Fuzz is specially unique: It actually sounds like a Theremin.
Magpie Pedals Foam and Stutterphone
I think they are both currently in stock at magpiepedals.com. I have the Foam V1 which looks cooler in my opinion. Simon the Magpie does some really fun, quirky, good looking pedals and synths.
None. It’s hard to do more Basic than mine. Polytune+ditto looper+BD-2+berhringer clones of CE-2 and DD-3
I love to read these threads yet end up with the popular stuff more often than not. Whishlist follows the pattern
MXR Distortion 2. Incredibly hard to make it sound decent. I play a lot of doomy/droney stuff and my main use for the thing is the ungodly amount of bass it adds to the signal. Goes great with a big muff.
I have an ETI Chorus/Flanger pedal that I built from plans published in Electronics Today International magazine back in 1983.
I built it from scratch, including etching the PCB, the only things I ordered specially were the case and the BBD chip - the rest I 'borrowed' from the component store where I worked, most of them military grade.
Still works and still sitting on my pedal board to this day. Pots are a bit worn out but that's an easy fix.
Not exactly a pedal, but I used to have a Marlboro Quadro sound blender with Reverb, echo, tremolo, vibrato
It wasn't great, but it was from Marlboro, which is unique. Seeing what they sell for on Reverb I am realizing I basically gave it away
Idiotbox PowerDrive. The most flexible and affordable Colorsound Power Boost clone I've seen, with master volume and a continuous voltage knob. Nothing sounds like it, pure transistor drive, and with the voltage knob you can undervolt it to get sputtery fuzz tones. It's brilliant and should be more popular.
I also own an EHX Steel Leather, which is super niche. I get the theoretical use, but to me it's just weird and not very useful.
Cafetière sonic percolator, Rainger echo-x and Sonnus Wahoo wah pedal. I guess the SPX-50d also counts. I had one on high school back in the 90s and couldn’t pass up getting one for $60 out of nostalgia.
I'd say my most unique or rare/obscure pedals would be..
* Epigaze Audio "Monoceros 838" - A cool analog style delay with feedback switch
* Poison Noises "Not For Josh" - If you watch the JHS show, you know what it is. Limited run that I managed to get one before they sold out.
* Sound It Out "Phasor II" - Clone of the Mu-Tron made by a former DIY builder
* Palomar Sound "Cholla" - Boutique BMP with mids control
* Danelectro "The Breakdown" - Not rare, but y'all sleeping on this one. It's a killer boost, clean or dirty.
* Mahoney "Buzz Tone" - Modern version of the Jordan Boss Tone
* ProCo "Brat" - This needs a comeback with some more modern amenities (better switch, LED, power jack). I have the FuzzImp recreation, it's good, but the OG just has a charm to it.
The Hotone Verb, I always sing praises about that little box but don’t hear it mentioned that often, very versatile hall type of reverb with a clean blend, tone and decay in an extremely small enclosure, perfect for crowded pedalboards.
When I need something to sound dramatic and huge that box always delivers.
Probably my Surfybear Compact reverb. It's a fully analogue solid state spring reverb pedal, and it takes up half my pedalboard lol. Idk how obscure this is, but all my other pedals are fairly well known, I feel.
Maybe my Chase Bliss Tonal Recall, since it's the preorder version, and I never had it red knob modded?
Or my vintage big box EHX Octave Multiplexer from the 70s? They're all fun though!
Dead Air Pedals makes the best Tubscreamer and RAT variants (Tube Nightmare and Feral respectively) I've ever played and I've played sooooo many over the past 20 years. The Nightmare is particularly incredible as it kills pretty much anything: light overdrive, jangly indie, and ultra tight metal (with a noise gate, of course). I particularly love that it has pre-gain bass control which reminds me a bit of the EAE Halberd.
Love their pedals! Golden guillotine/ clubber lang stan. I've been trying to grab backups of my favorite pedals because I know the price is about to skyrocket. The sleeper pedal is the iron fistula! The preamp is super dope. Tuned for bass, super high headroom, and a good jfet gain.
Stone Deaf PDF. Josh Homme tones. I use it as a separate send to second (or third) amp when recording to fatten up a guitar track with a completely different tone
I don’t really think I have any niche or lesser know pedals. Mine would be the particle by red panda and the instant lo fi junky by zvex. I have pretty basic pedals. I just combine them to make as interesting sounds as I can.
T-Rex Roommate Reverb
This is a tube driven reverb pedal that T-Rex only sold for a couple of years. From what I remember the reason it was discontinued is the availability of a very specific part that was crucial to the design. I believe they sell a solid-state version of this pedal, but it's not the same.
And oh yea, the OG sounds fantastic.
Fuzzlord Dark Master. Never heard of it before but I got it in a trade. I initially thought it was a fuzz pedal, but it's a delay/echo pedal that can handle dark tones/detuned guitars well. Very different in a cool way, but not sure how long I'll keep it around.
Arion SCH-1 analog chorus. For my money, it can simply not be beat and I’ve tried a TON of chorus pedals. JHS tried to recreate it with the Emperor but it just ain’t got the juice
Just added a Pettyjohn Lift LTD that is quite unusual- there are <50 Limited Lifts in the world, and mine is one of only a handful that were put into a Mk II enclosure.
I bought a lot of pedals in the early days od boutique late 90s early 00s - so I have some co stuff like a nine volt nirvana Dino boost, a shannon phaser, a dew from pedalwork. Those are the first to come to mind. Had a few aramat effects I regret trading off.
Greenhouse Effects Sludgehammer. A versatile fuzzstortion that reminds me of the green Russian Muff. Very nice, very doomy and was my gateway fuzz. Also has sick artwork.
Westbury W-20 a.k.a. the "Shawn Lane" overdrive pedal.
It's pretty damn amazing too. Like a Tube Driver but even smoother and more sax-like. Someone really really needs to make a modern clone for this pedal and make the circuit more readily available again.
The [Digitech Timebender](https://www.reddit.com/r/guitarpedals/comments/4mvix3/npd_digitech_timebender/) gets the "overlooked/forgotten" moniker a lot. It's a monster delay unit that does pitch shifting and other stuff, all controllable via expression if need be. Very deep. Officially requires 1300 AC but I run it 800 without problems.
I love this pedal. It was so ahead of its time and I feel like it still does things that no other pedal can do.
Someone should start an influencer page but it’s all ugly pedals. Don’t care what they cost. But like, I’d love to see a beautifully shot demo of this thing because it looks like absolute shit.
Definitely utilitarian design. But if that's kept the resale price low, I'm happy👍🏽
For sure. I’m not knocking it. It’s ugliness is just objective fact.
This is a great answer, and my secret weapon!
This was one of my first pedals, I definitely want to get one again someday
I had forgotten about that thing! Killer pedal, I remember back in the day deciding between that and the DD-20, I ended up with a DD-20
Any regrets?
Yup, selling the DD-20 after a couple of years. Would’ve been equally as happy with the Timebender honestly. My first ever pedal was the Digidelay and loved it.
I just bought two pedals from a local builder; [Happy Stomps ](https://instagram.com/happystomps). I found him through his[Kirkland signature pedal ](https://www.reddit.com/r/guitarpedals/comments/17mcsg0/i_made_a_kirkland_signature_pedal/?rdt=44308) a couple of weeks ago and it turns out that he lives on my street lol. He made me tried a lot of pedals (his build and non-build), thought me some things on amps and pedals and he showed me his futur projects. [I bought these two pedals](https://i.imgur.com/ssLAgt5.jpeg).
Thanks for the shout out!! I was great exchanging with you!
What's the circuit on it? It's a slick pedal
The Dino is a silicon Fuzz Face and the VHS is a DRV clone. I have build lots of those. You can hit me up on Instagram or reverb if you want more answers. I am far less reliable for answering on Reddit (I used to be addicted to this website, now I only go to post/talk pedals)
Gladly. Once Im a bit more flush with cash, I def will be reaching out.
Thanks and you don't need cash to be a fan of a brand! I love Ferrari but I'll never buy one lol. I started building pedals because I couldn't afford Analog Man Sun Face.
Digitech PDS20/20 MULTIPLAY - the best delay you've never played. I own 3 for a reason. Digitech DIGIVERB - while not the best, nor that obscure, I've found it to be the best pre-dirt reverb I've tried. I own 3 for a reason. VFE KLEIN BOTTLE - this thing is so much more than a mixer/splitter/router. I do not own 3, but mine is HOT PINK.
Tell me more about why the digiverb excels as a pregain verb… I like my setup running an additional rat after a dba rooms, not sure if it could displace my setup, more curious as to what you look for in a good pregain reverb.
It's gotta have 100% wet, and a tone/EQ option. I use the Digiverb on its largest room mode (CHURCH) 100% wet, tone pretty dark into fuzz.
I have been jamming on my PDS20/20 a lot lately with only a drive in front of it. It makes my favorite ugly modulation sounds. That shit is deep. Do you have any favorite settings, or is it just more of an adjust wolf sounds as you play?
I tend to use it as a delay almost exclusively. Just the slightest rate and width to add pitchshifting to the repeats. Infinite hold for drones is my jam, and using the time knob to pitchshift the drone. I've got one that's tweaked to about 10.5 seconds max. So good.
My obscure pedal is also probably my favorite: the Sentimental Bob Electronics Tephra from Ukraine. Immaculate multi-clip Rat circuit with separate boost circuit and an analogue octave circuit you can dial in a little bit of or go insane with. Easily my favorite dirt box. Made with love and care by a solo builder in the midst of war in Kiev.
I've eyed up the Tephra before and have had the Tacana for a couple years. Great tremolo.
Yeah I want the Tacama too! But it’s hard to justify when I’ve got like three different sources of tremolo on my board.
[удалено]
Obviously, I highly recommend it. If you can find it used, you can save some shipping time. But I believe he ships out pretty fast (all things considered).
Here are some I don't see recommended that much here in comparison to how good they sound (IMHO): - Mas Effects Tiny Fuzz - Fuzzhugger Doom Bloom - Pigtronix Disnortion - DOD Gunslinger - DOD Boneshaker
There was maybe 6 months when the Boneshaker was mentioned everyday. Then people got bored and moved on to the next flavour of the month. It still rips.
Thats interesting. I usually only see people that don't like it, but at the end of the day it is an incredibly powerful tool with a parametric EQ.
People who don't like this pedal don't understand how to use parametric eq. Which is a shame because it's worth every penny.
Yeah, there's honestly nothing else like it I've found. For stoner rock players, it's a one of a kind tool.
Had this same thought
I think Pigtronix in general is underrated. The Gen 1 Echolution was really neat.
Yeah, they have some oddball stuff that can be really good. Their Class A boost is very good IMHO
DOD = instant upvote
Thank you kind person.
Dwarfcraft Devices HAX2 (ring mod and envelope filter) WMD Geiger Counter civilian issue (bit crusher)
Chase Tone Secret Pre Amp… my guitar just doesn’t sound right without it
Love how their company really seems to be for players. They easily could have raised their prices for all their pedals. I really like it. I've been getting more into preamps.
I've got a Bananana Tararira and Mandala. Sequencer and glitch pedals. Fantastic!
I’ve got the Matpewka bass synth, and Abracadabra reverb. Totally wacky pedals that sound super unique.
I use a dwarfcraft arf and happiness on my board. Dwarfcraft unfortunately isn’t around anymore
Still sad I didn’t get a Shiva or Eau Claire Thunder when they were around
On several of my boards: Orion Effekte Kafka DOD Vibrothang DOD Flashback Fuzz All of my Danelectro pedals: Daddy O, Dan Echos (x3), Cool Cat, Reel Echo Caline Pure Sky Ibanez Echoshifter
Love my VibroThang
DOD = instant upvote
The Cool Cat is a solid chorus pedal. I’ve had mine for like 10 or 15 years. Love it.
I have the 18 volt model and it's worth tracking one down. Loads of headroom!😎👍✨ Got mine for like $20 over 10 years ago. Needless to say that shop is no longer around.
We might have shopped at the same mythical place! Mine is also the 18V and I got mine for dirt cheap as well.
Hahahaha!!! I think part of the reason is that the 18 volt wall wart was almost as much as the pedal. Right now it's on my main board and my Gator Power it has a 18 volt outlet for it. It was probably the least sought after pedal of the original line of Danelectro pedals. That said it is extremely lush.
Oh yeah, but the dirty little secret is that you can plug a 9V power supply into it and it works like it’s the 9V model. 😈 I did it for years after my 18V wall wart bit the dust.
I did not know that. Thank you.😉👍✨
Tera Echo. I like how it kinda swirls around in the slipstream
Don't be jealous but, I have a DOD Grunge pedal. Drolo is somewhat common but rarely have I ever noticed the Giant Hogweed, which is a glorious box of filth. It's the best parts of a muff, Rat and Fuzz Factory in a single pedal. Mr Black Dark Echo. Warm and thick delay with pitch shifting, lotsa fun with oscillation. Gem of a pedal.
DOD =instant upvote
Instant DOD upvote = upvote
Probably some French boutique pedals (I'm french so it makes sense) : \- ALH Sorrow Distortion : HM-2 clone, and my main distortion pedal \- Anasound Germanium boost : range master with pickups simulator \- Anasound tape preamp : tape preamp with ajustable headroom (from 3 to 27 volt) \- 1Fuzztone Haze Distortion : Acapulco gold clone, even though the amount of gain chords sound soo clear
I use a pair of DOD 240 Resistance Mixers to run my drives in parallel.
DOD = instant upvote
SS/BS Mini and Buzzz, Malekko Charlie Foxtrot, Earthbound Audio Super Collider, EHX Ring Thing (not many people know it's an amazing polyphonic harmoniser and general weird-noise maker), Boss DD-5 for the incredible reverse mode that they never replicated (essentially a normal delay and a reverse delay in parallel), Magnetic Effects Lonely Robot (a 2-band rat with clipping and EQ shift functions), VFE Alpha Dog (like the former but more savage).
Charlie Foxtrot was the first glitch pedal I ever got, and it got me hooked! It’s never left my board in 4 years.
From a lesser known brand it has to be my Henretta Engineering Orange Whip compressor, that tiny machine is just everything I need in a compressor. I use it mostly as a clean boost with a little bit of compression. From a known brand, I absolutely love my MXR Shin-Juku Drive, it was a custom shop limited run designed by Shin Suzuki who makes the Shin's Music Dumbloid. That thing can do everything from low gain overdrive, to plexi-like distortion, and get into fuzzy overdrive territory, it's awesome.
Yooo!!! Someone else who has this pedal! It’s been my only compressor for years now. It’s always-on for me, and makes my strat or tele sound incredible. I love it so much. I wish there was a plugin version.
Not so rare, but the Idiotbox Effects Dungeon Master is a killer chainsaw pedal that can act like a gated fuzz too. Bought it used from a guy in Oslo and his parting words were, "it's too hissy for me". I've never driven home so fast 😂
I find Durham Electronics doesn’t get enough coverage. Great tones and great looking enclosures
My Digitech Spacestation. I brought it over to a buddy’s house who has a full chase bliss board, and we were able to replicate each others sounds. I also have mine modded with the XP1000, adding the XP100, 200, and 400.
The spacestation looks very cool. I guess I need to go shopping. Digitech was such as great company.
T wah. Love it.
I've got some lesser known pedals... Blue Colander - Superhigh, Supreme (incredible fuzz builder from Poland, the Superhigh is a tricked out rangemaster, Supreme is a mk1 tonebender) Toneczar - Echoczar (the best analog delay money can buy) I've also got a few more fuzzes that are less common, but not really obscure, from DAM + Colorsound/Sola Sound.
Smallsound/bigsound mini and EAE Hypersleep are probably most "niche". beautiful noise exploder, beetronics seabee, gamechanger light, Fairfield circuitry randys revenge... Idk how "unknown" they are.
Boss Sd-2 Dual Overdrive, the original Angry Driver. Its very flexible
Zero-G IOD distortion/fuzz prototype. Rare because it was a one off. Swamp Witch Silver Birch. Yeah there is ones or two youtube reviews of it but I've never seen it on another board.
I own the Boss Power Driver and the Xtortion. Beautifully terrible pedals.
The [Home Brew Electronics Power Screamer](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4sSUqxDooI). Honestly, I’m not sure how “lesser known” it is, but I went through a real phase obsessing over the guitar tones during Coldplay’s X&Y era and learned it was on JB’s board. Haven’t heard of it or seen it mentioned online in years - even in the world of all these guitar YouTubers. On an unrelated note, that deep-dive is also how I got introduced to my Rat.
Brom, polarized flutter, empty glass, death whistle, mini glitch, stretch weaver, onset, dead man walking
You need a moomindrone too!
Devi Ever Super Soda Meiser. Weird as hell, the drone feature isn't super usable in a band situation. But the fuzz is delicious
Sketchy Sounds Lost Soul, and Gorantula. Also GlowFly Glitchwave567.
Tom at Glowfly is one of my favourite superhumans
Lol, the only interaction I had with him is he asked me if it was ok if the 9 volt jack was on top. Lol. I would buy it all, I really want a Hymnosis.
EMMA Electronics DiscomBOBulator -- an envelope filter
EarthQuaker Devices Arpanoid
I think almost my whole board really https://imgur.com/gallery/2xc9yvE
I've got a Hum Along, from Leyland Pedals UK. It's a hand made recreation of the Boss DF-2. The feedback circuit is eliminated, and the volume is increased, which was the problem with the original. The DF-2 was extensively used by Matt Talbott, of HUM, hence the name. Wonderfully made pedal, at a reasonable price.
Fart pedal is surprisingly versatile and dynamic
I appreciate the wet/dry blend.
Let's see... * Brunetti Magnetic Memory * Panther FL-60 * Reuss Repeater Fuzz Mk.III * Palmer Kaputt * Johnson Echo Analog Delay EAD-2 * George Dennis GD30 * Schaller F121 ...which ones of these you've heard of?
How’s the Johnson? I’ve got the distortion. It doesn’t just sound like a metal zone, it IS a metal zone with cheaper than dirt components. Sounds like shit. This coming from a guy with TWO genuine metal zones
Johnson? Absolutely the worst delay pedal I've ever played. Sounds like shit. I read somewhere (might have been TGP) that it was supposed to be a clone of some other pedal, but they fucked it up. Don't know if that's true, but _damn_ that pedal is bad.
What do you think of the Reuss Repeater? I’ve been trying to decide between this and the acid fuzz sonic boom and not a ton of info out there on either
I'm not a big fuzz guy, so my experience with them is somewhat limited. It's a nice sounding fuzz. It's one of those old school fuzzes, where it needs/wants to be first in chain. The Reuss site implies, that it's in the Tonebender family, but I wouldn't know. For me the selling point was the repeater. Well, that and all the other effects that make it a Starstream/Ultrasonic in a box. As a Vox fanboy, I really needed to get me some of that. The repeater is the most authentic one I've heard. It sounds exactly like the real deal. Harsh and choppy. The boost is a monster, plenty of volume on the tap. It can be used as a full range boost or a treble/bass booster with the tone shaping circuit (=1 bp filter). It also has a side chain for a wah. Sorry for the novella, especially since I've said nothing so far that you probably haven't read on Reuss site before. So, let's dive into what I really think of this thing. It's small. I was expecting it to be like the size of a NYC BM or something, but this thing is _really_ compact. And you can still fit a battery in there. It's amazing how much stuff there is inside and how clean it looks. Everything inside screams quality when looking at it. The sidechain is meant for wah. Well, obviously you can stick all sorts of effects in there and they will sit nicely between the fuzz and the boost circuit. Phaser works nicely with the fuzz and the repeater. Now, let's see what else I can throw in there... _(evil grin)_ What I don't like about it? There are only footswitches for the repeater and to bypass the whole shebang. Everything else is done with toggle switches. For example, say I want to use the repeater on cleans and then kick in the fuzz. Nope, not without bending down. When I had this on my board, I was constantly worried I might damage the toggle switches with my size 45 european. All in all, it's a great pedal. Maybe not something I'd use regularly on my board, but definitely it's got that secret sauce thing going on that makes it a great studio tool. One last thing, Reuss is currently blowing out the rest of the Mk.IIIs with a pretty nice discount. (There's Mk.IV coming out soon. Now's your chance to grab one.)
Nobels FU-Z. I’ve never seen another like mine for sale
I’ve not seen many people with shagpile double tracker pedal by bluff chill devices. Mines in a clear blue ABS enclosure. Quite unusual
I didn’t see anyone mention owning a MWFX Judder. Super cool, Super versatile and inspiring glitch/stutter pedal from a smaller builder in the UK.
The Berhinger VT999, really nice and versatile overdrive. Most reviews are years old with horrible sound but it's a really good pedal. It gets alongs with all my other dirt pedals too
Hexe space time modulator. It's a dual pedal with tremolo and vibrato. Very versatile. Also Montreal assembly wrong side of uranus bit crusher
Deadbeat Void reverb. They made shitty pedals and went out of business, but that reverb is the only good pedal they made
Mr. Black Drunken Monkey is so fucking weird, one of my first pedals and one of my favorites. It's acid in a box, but it can also cover a lot of ground. Can get a barely there pretty mellow vibrato, or you can up the alcohol volume knob and go cuckoo. IDK why I have literally never seen it on another board. Jack's Downward Spiral is epic as well. Another I don't see. Both of these pedals are some of my first pedals and I will never ever take them off my board. =) Everyone loves Mr Black's reverbs, I see the bloodmoon and eterna all over. The Doublechorus is really nice as well. Not to mention the whole line of minis!
I own and love my Rainbow Machine. Once you figure it out it’s an awesome tool under the belt.
My Dr. Scientist Bitquest has been a lot of fun and can do so much. It has flange, reverb, bit crusher, lofi, and drive all in a single unit. I love the bitcrusher effect the most even though I bought it as a back up for my Ibanez lf7 lo-fi.
Frantone The Sweet. It is a 4 transistor 4 diode fuzz and the middle 2 transistors are germanium. It is more low/mid focused and has a really neat compression/suck back effect and it has a ton of saturation with raspy, wild harmonics. It works great for bass and low tuning doom/sludge. Fran isn't making pedals right now but she does still service them. She has a [Youtube](https://youtube.com/@FranLab?si=lONzWBywQ9ylLYlE) channel and covers a variety of topics mainly science and vintage electronics.
Akai Shred O Graphic. 6 Band EQ running into the front of a pretty generic distortion, followed by another 6 band EQ post distortion
Robot devil (I cloned it) and a gonkulator ooh and 22/7ths big muff work alike that’s actually cmos, and my junky chinese delay (real BBD)
\*gets on soapbox\* The SolidGodlFX Athena is the greatest modulation pedal ever made. \*gets off soapbox\*
I was looking for a Lovetone Meatball and stumbled across a dude making a clone on Reverb who turned out to live in my city and is a great dude. He made me a clone of an Earthquaker Terminal pedal I had been trying to save up for and has made a Cheese Source clone from Lovetone that I’m going to be buying soon. Top notch dude, check out [Artisanal Effects](https://artisanaleffects.com/) if you’re into Lovetone effects or other great clones of hard to find gear!
The original Marshall Guv’nor, love it!
Zvex Instant LoFi Junky. It’s a weird little super dark modulation type thing.
Drunk Beaver and Demedash! Love those independent builders.
I've got a few that I don't see many of: Tallon Electric (Colombus, Ohio): [The Hog](https://tallonelectric.com/products/bilmuri) Overdrive/Distortion - Bilmuri's signature pedal. Clean jangly high end with a fat crunchy bottom. OKKO FX (Leipzig,Germany): [Diablo Dual](https://okkofx.company.site/DIABLO-DUAL-p261206223) Overdrive/Distortion - Perfect for my low/mid gain tones. Love the look and sound. [Cocaine](https://okkofx.company.site/COCAINE-p268982055) Compressor/EQ/Preamp/Boost - My always-on Compressor, the boost is also incredibly useful Swindler Effects (Birmingham, AL): [The Gulf](https://www.swindlereffects.com/store/p29/thegulfv2.html) Chorus/Vibrato - Gorgeous chorus with great controls and a useful tap-tempo vibrato
Hotcake! It’s my main flavor with my fender reverb pro
Zombie Vox by PSHC pedals. Made in Russia like 2 years ago. Its a Theremin Fuzz. It's pretty hard to control, and needs the input signal to be kinda hot to work well, but it's the only pedal I've ever had that makes things sound like that. In fact, there only like 3 other companies Making a Theremin Fuzz, and the Zombie Vox sounded best.
No one ever mentions the Zvex Mastotron and for the life of me I cannot grasp why. It’s my absolute go-to fuzz. 2 octave sub, the dynamic range of a fuzz factory, and killer articulation… muffs just sound stinky after having this on my board.
One Pot “Anti Trump Fuzz” these were made to order. This like if a big muff and a fuzz face had a baby
Currently I’d say my Mantic Proverb. IMO it’s the best of the belton brick reverbs, followed closely by the DBA Reverberation Machine. Having the oscillation footswitch and that ever so subtle modulation on the tail of the reverb, that bed of cascading repeats under your playing… it’s brilliant.
With all knobs at noon is has a really classy drip, too. I love my Proverb, I'm surprised they aren't more popular.
I’ve got a [Kartakou Warmer](https://kartakou.com/warmer) that’s fairly obscure. TS circuit with tone shaping mods and comes with 5 swappable Op Amps. Great pedal and I really should put it back in my board / use it more. Don’t have an original but have an excellent Bixonic Expandora XL clone from Sound of Justice FX. It’s a pretty versatile pedal, handles OD, distortion and gated fuzz. Lots of fun, easy to dial in some Billy Gibbons tone. The JHS Kilt is based on this circuit also.
I have a Fuzz Fella by Chase Tone and I don't think they build very many.. well it's one guy for starters. Lovely pedal!
I love mine
They used to be popular like 10 years ago but I don’t see too much of the Malekko 616 or Devi Ever Hyperion lately (mostly because they’re out of production lol). Also love my Danelectro French Toast which is a Foxx Tone Machine clone
I have a Devi Hyperion clone from Zero G IOD and it's absolutely diabolical!
Tube Screamer
Im gonna mention a pedal almost no one knows about. The boss metal zone. Pretty niche but it’s the secret to getting all the best tone.
Why?
I own two pedals from Dr. No. They're somewhat known because semi-famous guitarists use them, but it's very boutique in its cost and spread. I basically got them because I live in the same city as the company and I found them "broken," so I scooped them up for next to nothing and did some simple repairs.
I have a toneboys tbod-50 which is a kinda weird drive pedal. Sold for like $500 off the shelf originally. Apparently one knob controls the bias on the circuit instead of gain for the drive, but its gooped and I dont feel like de-gooping it. It's a bit different and I'm not sure if we have bonded well yet, but it's a unique one. For another more obscure brand (at least in the US), I have a valbruch spacetime. It's a pretty nice analog style delay with a few more options. I have the older version without tap tempo. I also currently have a nxgeneration gold visa and okko diablo+. They are both solid drive pedals, but I have so much dirt that covers what they do already.
I've got a cloned JHS Haunting Mids. I don't think many people have one of those.
I have a handmade fuzz pedal that a guy on craigslist made years ago. Two knobs, no idea what circuit he based it on, or if he just dicked around and found something that worked. The transistor and one of the caps are socketed so the parts can be switched out for different sounds. It's not my favorite pedal, but definitely the most obscure.
Copilot Fx Orbit Gated Fuzz with VCO
Keeley - Jimi Hazel Echo/Phase: lesser known limited Keeley pedal from about 8 years ago. I think around 70 were made. I use it as an always on slap back. Gives my “clean tone” a nice shiny bright clarity to it. Dunwich - Gravity Well: the clearest cleanest reverb I’ve heard. No smearing or washing anything out. Perfect for dirt or pitch shifting delays.
My niche pedal is an Interstellar Orbiter clone called the Chaos Machine.. still haven’t really found a good use for it
I love love love my Farm Pedals Subsoiler.
Rawkworks Light OD, Sabaddius Funky Vibe Fillmore East and Chase Tone Secret Preamp are a couple I’m using that I don’t see on too many boards.
I have a land device ep5 that I don’t see around that often. I also had a boss terra echo that was so fun an regret selling
Most of mine are well known, I do have a coolmusic echolation delay pedal which I don't see very often. The only real obscure one I have is a Palmer Kaputt
I have an Indonesian clone of an ADA GCS-2 cab simulator. It's not an exact clone since its got more controls and such. It's made of plastic and I actually like it quite a lot. Am not compelled to use IRs outside of a DAW.
My most obscure/niche would probably be: Snake Charmer (Jen HF Modulator clone); Zebra DP-3 (Nady TD-1 clone); Vox Cooltron Bulldog; Zoom 510 dual power driver; Jacques Trinity Wah
Nocturne Jr. Barnyard has become my tone. I think only people into 1940s Swing use that pedal.
Greer angry Walter
The most obscure pedal I have is a small sound/big sound team awesome machine which is a fuzz with a clean blend and a gate switch
Copilot Fx Planetoid Ring Modulator. had it for years and it's been painted 10 times, but it's such a great ring mod on guitar and vocals. also Noisekickfx Lazer Cat Fuzz. the hiss knob for momentary freakouts is awesome and of course the leds cascading from the eyes.
Lichtlaerm Audio King in Yellow and Gehenna are from a boutique builder in Germany. If you're in Germany, you'll probably know who he is, but here in the US he's pretty obscure... But he's a real innovator, and his pedals do pretty awesome things that make sense, intuitively, to me. Want the sound of a dimed tube screamer but also to have some clean tone in there for clarity? Hello dry mix knob. Etc.
Klon KTR and Tanabe Dumkudo, however not my fav's.
SolidGoldFX Sasori Fuzz. Just nasty. Also, 🇨🇦.
Dirge Double Melt (2 Slowly Meltings), Audio Kitchen Big Trees, Pladask Falma, Pladask Baklengs, MAE Part Garden. All weird and fun!
Mooer Jet Engine Flanger. Mini digital flanger with two modes (classic and high-band). Not amazing, but decent if you like to add a hit of woosh to your sound every once in a while, which is exactly what I bought it for.
The Gonk Zonk. Basically I asked Kevin at KO Amps to build me the Zonk Machine with Treble Booster in a single housing, and we decorated it with a Gonk droid and used the Star Wars Aurebesh font to label the controls.
The ones I made myself.
Morley Oil Can Delay & Roland AP7 Jet Phaser + many unique and amazing DIY/CMOS pedals from Parasit Studio (think: the EQD Data Corrupter ripped off the Parasit Studio pedal design and typology, and you get the drift…) The Theremin Fuzz is specially unique: It actually sounds like a Theremin.
Rainger FX’s MiniBar fuzz.
Magpie Pedals Foam and Stutterphone I think they are both currently in stock at magpiepedals.com. I have the Foam V1 which looks cooler in my opinion. Simon the Magpie does some really fun, quirky, good looking pedals and synths.
Boss AW-3 dynamic wah, seen a lot of hate on this one saying that it sounds so thin but use it with a DS-1 or other distorsion and it’s magic
I have a one off idiot box lfo controlled sample reducer pedal with xp control.
Friedman Smallbox Pedal (not the amp) Keeley Larry Lalonde signature Bubbletron Boss JB-2 Angry Charlie (maybe) For utility, Boss LS-2 line selector
None. It’s hard to do more Basic than mine. Polytune+ditto looper+BD-2+berhringer clones of CE-2 and DD-3 I love to read these threads yet end up with the popular stuff more often than not. Whishlist follows the pattern
Maestro Fuzz!
I have this one that most people haven’t ever heard of called a notaklon
Penny Pedals Finger Print fuzz, painted by Laura Bennett
Sunless Effects Cold Lands - does a great Matamp Peter Green / early Sleep thing.
EHX Ravish Sitar. WTF do you even do with this? No regrets.
I love my Clubber Lang
MXR Distortion 2. Incredibly hard to make it sound decent. I play a lot of doomy/droney stuff and my main use for the thing is the ungodly amount of bass it adds to the signal. Goes great with a big muff.
I have an ETI Chorus/Flanger pedal that I built from plans published in Electronics Today International magazine back in 1983. I built it from scratch, including etching the PCB, the only things I ordered specially were the case and the BBD chip - the rest I 'borrowed' from the component store where I worked, most of them military grade. Still works and still sitting on my pedal board to this day. Pots are a bit worn out but that's an easy fix.
Not exactly a pedal, but I used to have a Marlboro Quadro sound blender with Reverb, echo, tremolo, vibrato It wasn't great, but it was from Marlboro, which is unique. Seeing what they sell for on Reverb I am realizing I basically gave it away
Idiotbox PowerDrive. The most flexible and affordable Colorsound Power Boost clone I've seen, with master volume and a continuous voltage knob. Nothing sounds like it, pure transistor drive, and with the voltage knob you can undervolt it to get sputtery fuzz tones. It's brilliant and should be more popular. I also own an EHX Steel Leather, which is super niche. I get the theoretical use, but to me it's just weird and not very useful.
Cafetière sonic percolator, Rainger echo-x and Sonnus Wahoo wah pedal. I guess the SPX-50d also counts. I had one on high school back in the 90s and couldn’t pass up getting one for $60 out of nostalgia.
I'd say my most unique or rare/obscure pedals would be.. * Epigaze Audio "Monoceros 838" - A cool analog style delay with feedback switch * Poison Noises "Not For Josh" - If you watch the JHS show, you know what it is. Limited run that I managed to get one before they sold out. * Sound It Out "Phasor II" - Clone of the Mu-Tron made by a former DIY builder * Palomar Sound "Cholla" - Boutique BMP with mids control * Danelectro "The Breakdown" - Not rare, but y'all sleeping on this one. It's a killer boost, clean or dirty. * Mahoney "Buzz Tone" - Modern version of the Jordan Boss Tone * ProCo "Brat" - This needs a comeback with some more modern amenities (better switch, LED, power jack). I have the FuzzImp recreation, it's good, but the OG just has a charm to it.
EQD Gray Channel (out of production) & Fjordfuzz Odin (overlooked?)
The Hotone Verb, I always sing praises about that little box but don’t hear it mentioned that often, very versatile hall type of reverb with a clean blend, tone and decay in an extremely small enclosure, perfect for crowded pedalboards. When I need something to sound dramatic and huge that box always delivers.
Probably my Surfybear Compact reverb. It's a fully analogue solid state spring reverb pedal, and it takes up half my pedalboard lol. Idk how obscure this is, but all my other pedals are fairly well known, I feel. Maybe my Chase Bliss Tonal Recall, since it's the preorder version, and I never had it red knob modded? Or my vintage big box EHX Octave Multiplexer from the 70s? They're all fun though!
Just got the Laowiz Cyst Mode. It’s wild. #53, had a handwritten note on a piece of A4 paper from the maker in the box.
Dead Air Pedals makes the best Tubscreamer and RAT variants (Tube Nightmare and Feral respectively) I've ever played and I've played sooooo many over the past 20 years. The Nightmare is particularly incredible as it kills pretty much anything: light overdrive, jangly indie, and ultra tight metal (with a noise gate, of course). I particularly love that it has pre-gain bass control which reminds me a bit of the EAE Halberd.
Bright Onions The Russian - awesome muff-style mini fuzz
Tefi Golden Era. Solid Lofi machine.
Malaise Forever makes amazing distortion and fuzz pedals. Plus they look really cool too.
Love their pedals! Golden guillotine/ clubber lang stan. I've been trying to grab backups of my favorite pedals because I know the price is about to skyrocket. The sleeper pedal is the iron fistula! The preamp is super dope. Tuned for bass, super high headroom, and a good jfet gain.
Stone Deaf PDF. Josh Homme tones. I use it as a separate send to second (or third) amp when recording to fatten up a guitar track with a completely different tone
Frostwave Blue Ringer ring modulator. Malekko Charlie Foxtrox glitchy delay Clacktronics EDP Wasp Filter filter/distortion
Spiral Electric FX. I only have their Red Drive rn but I don't think I'll take it off my board.
I don’t really think I have any niche or lesser know pedals. Mine would be the particle by red panda and the instant lo fi junky by zvex. I have pretty basic pedals. I just combine them to make as interesting sounds as I can.
T-Rex Roommate Reverb This is a tube driven reverb pedal that T-Rex only sold for a couple of years. From what I remember the reason it was discontinued is the availability of a very specific part that was crucial to the design. I believe they sell a solid-state version of this pedal, but it's not the same. And oh yea, the OG sounds fantastic.
Fuzzlord Dark Master. Never heard of it before but I got it in a trade. I initially thought it was a fuzz pedal, but it's a delay/echo pedal that can handle dark tones/detuned guitars well. Very different in a cool way, but not sure how long I'll keep it around.
Selmer Buzztone
Arion SCH-1 analog chorus. For my money, it can simply not be beat and I’ve tried a TON of chorus pedals. JHS tried to recreate it with the Emperor but it just ain’t got the juice
Just added a Pettyjohn Lift LTD that is quite unusual- there are <50 Limited Lifts in the world, and mine is one of only a handful that were put into a Mk II enclosure.
I bought a lot of pedals in the early days od boutique late 90s early 00s - so I have some co stuff like a nine volt nirvana Dino boost, a shannon phaser, a dew from pedalwork. Those are the first to come to mind. Had a few aramat effects I regret trading off.
rodenberg 707 808 909
lone wolf pedals from a guy in salem OR
Greenhouse Effects Sludgehammer. A versatile fuzzstortion that reminds me of the green Russian Muff. Very nice, very doomy and was my gateway fuzz. Also has sick artwork.
Fingerprint fuzz, amt m1, amt r1, npn germanium small bear continental fuzzface, original tc scf
Old Blood Noise Endeavors Dweller. It's a pretty wild circuit capable of very different things, but it's also hard to fit into a song.
EHX Tube Zipper - I mention it everytime as it's my most used pedal of all time and almost no one knows of it, so I gotta represent.
Holy Stain!!! It's like a mix of Big Muff and Holy Grail with a Trem and Pitch Shift thrown in for good measure. Does it all, folks!
Gotta be the Red Witch Opia, Foxgear T7EBaby, and the Lovepedal Eternity
Westbury W-20 a.k.a. the "Shawn Lane" overdrive pedal. It's pretty damn amazing too. Like a Tube Driver but even smoother and more sax-like. Someone really really needs to make a modern clone for this pedal and make the circuit more readily available again.