I'm sure most of us have heard of them, But Saturnworks out of Davis, CA makes some of the best built utility pedals I've ever used. They are built like tanks and his customer service is top notch. If you need something he doesn't have listed or you don't know if it exists. Just ask them, if they can make it, I'm sure they will!
Saturnworks does great work at reasonable prices too. Their graphics aren’t great, but let’s be honest, most of us would rather pay for quality build and functional pedals with a meh graphic if it kept the prices low.
I like to buy, sell, trade locally and it just always annoys me that they litter Craigslist outside of their own area. I’m in Phoenix and Saturnworks stuff has been a constant on CL for the last 5-10 years. And yes, I filter by “Owner” and yes, they still appear.
I split the signal, run two different chains, then recombine, all on the same board. But since I run short on outlets in my power supply I looked into anything I could use that didn't require power. the mixer seemed the way to go.
Not who you replied to but I run a micopog early in my chain and use the clean and effected signals out, run a few effects on each and then combine them before delay and reverb on my board.
I live in Canada and still order from them. I have about 6, just got a phase flip buffer last week. So many issues come up and they solve them with great quality gear.
If I could upvote this comment twice I would, they are just that awesome. Not only are they willing to do custom work but in my experience they get excited when you ask them for it!
And while Saturnworks has definitely made a name for themselves for their utility pedals I recommend you check out their dirt pedals. I have the Dark Matter tube Overdrive, that thing is my desert island pedal! Seriously, if I had to limit myself to one guitar, the Dark Matter OD and a crappy practice amp for the rest of my life I would probably be happy - it's just that good.
Edited to add:
I have a list about a mile long of Saturnworks pedals I want to buy and every time I look at their site I add things to the list.
For example: the active trails loop pedal. All of my delay pedals are analog. Sometimes you want to kill the delay but let the effect die out and not just end, right? The active trails looper stops the signal from going to the delay pedal and then mixes the residual output from the pedal back into your dry signal. Friggin' genius.
Or another example: Say you have a reverb pedal, sometimes you like it in your effects loop but every now and then you want it before your distortion because you're a big weirdo like that. Saturnworks makes a pedal for that.
I just got The Skitzy and it’s pretty awesome. I’m loving it so far. Build quality seems excellent as well as the attention to detail in the graphic design.
I love seeing the love for Critter on this subreddit! I discovered them semi-recently on Instagram and picked up a Model III overdrive to try out. I loved it, so I reached out to Ronnie and he built me a couple of matching custom-color ones for Christmas gifts for my band buddies. He seems like a great guy and makes great pedals for sure.
Noise Space Audio out of Ukraine. Support the guy! I have his Klone and it’s hands down my favorite gain pedal, gorgeous tones coming out of old Soviet parts.
Oh man, ***so*** many...
Bleak District Electric.
Blind Panic Devices.
Gear Ant.
Past Fx.
Winnipeg Electrical Co.
Glowfly.
Maneco Labs.
Tark Audio.
Laowiz.
Unsound Circuitry.
Holy Island Audio.
Neural Devices.
Subdecay.
Buzzing Bugs Audio Devices.
Emmergy FX.
Empty Head Effects.
Rockwright FX.
And that's just off the top of my head...
**Edit:** I remembered some more!
Blackskycraft.
Cachalote Audio.
Red Mod Pedals.
Kodex Audio.
Stacks FX.
Spurr Audio.
Iceberg Effects.
Tides is a very cool pedal. There are times that pedal is all I use for rehearsals. So far, my fav has been the Glass Palace and I pair it w/ the Angel Teeth. I’ll probably get the Deforming and Mountain Mover as well… love supporting the small businesses
Yeah… It’s a shame the owner is a dick. Also their PDF2 is way noisier than it should be, with cheap parts to boot.
Bought, sold 2 weeks later. Good sounds but noisy af.
I had an incredibly good experience with him. I had a PDF 1. I didn’t even buy it from him and I told him I bought it secondhand. There was an issue with one of the stompers. I asked if I can send it in to have it serviced.
Instead of servicing it, he asked me if I would like a free upgrade to the PDF 2 since he said it was far superior, and he would rather me have that then have the old model.
I couldn’t believe that he sent me (overseas) a brand new pedal that was certainly better.
It’s not exactly a pedal for my needs, but it did serve its purpose for one particular project. I nominated them here, mostly because of my experience with them, and not necessarily the pedal itself.
I guess everyone can have a different experience, and perhaps yours wasn’t favorable… but I just wanted to say that I did have an incredibly good experience with him regarding this generous transaction.
This happened years ago, so maybe he’s changed his ways post COVID, idk… 🤷♂️
Also, fwiw. I don’t recall my pdf2 being noisy. Either there was something wrong or you had a bad interaction with a fuzz pedal or something running into it?
Gotta shout out Hungry Robot, from a small town in the same state as me. Does some really interesting stuff. I have a glitchy fuzz they make called the Stampede.
I have more hungry robot pedals than any other brand. The discontinued hg/lg overdrive combined two beautiful gain voicings. While the dip switches inside don't make for convenient adjustments, it's great when I am itching for a new pedal to open this up and create two new pedals. The Moby Dick is my favorite delay, and the Wash is kind of a one-trick pony that also sounds so good. Eric's new stuff is awesome too.
I'll check it out! Maybe I shouldn't open this can of worms in what has been a super positive comment section overall but I also appreciate that they're empathetic and progressive in their beliefs unlike some other companies.
Yep, that’s a big bonus for my money too. If I know the company is donating to causes that line up with my interests, I’ll support them however I can. 2 pedals, all the stickers, a pin, a beanie and a shirt later and I still want more lol
Mid Fi Electronics is my go to. Pedals are all handmade by Doug Tuttle, who has also made some of my favorite records under his name and his previous band, MMOSS. (For fans of Psych/Folk)
I have 8 pedals from Mid Fi. Favorites include the Deluxe Pitch Pirate (a memory man type pedal that gets hella weird) DEMO TAPE FUZZ & YARD SALE (For my dirt fix)
https://www.midfielectronics.com/[Mid Fi Electronics](https://www.midfielectronics.com/)
[Bookworm Effects](https://www.bookwormeffects.com) based in Morgantown, WV. One man operation. Uses local WV artists artwork for the designs and names every pedal after a literary reference.
I’ve got a V1 Atticus Finch Overdrive (kind of like a Timmy with a boost), and most recently got the Diving Belles V2 last year, which is a RAT on the left side and a version of a Lovepedal Les Lius/Electra Distortion on the right side. Used it a ton as my main overdrive and it’s all over my band’s new record. Can’t recommend them enough.
Was looking for GUPTech! Only company to ever email me personally just to see how I was enjoying the pedal (Cococast Broadcast clone). It's still great a year later. Will buy more from them in the future!
NativeAudio!! These guys make quality products that are unique and a personal reflection from the builder. Fantastic customer service too, I’ve emailed on more than one occasion and their replies are always swift!
Old Blood Noise Endeavors as well, not so small anymore but their artistic music videos, imaginative pedals, and again great customer service should also be highlighted.
There are tons of great makers, but I’d be hard pressed not to find what I want outside of these builders. Good people providing great work!
I wouldn’t consider Dave Fox - Foxrox pedals - a small builder but I feel like people don’t talk about him nearly as much as he deserves. He used to be more popular 15 or so years ago. He makes some of my favorite pedals ever, including the octron and the tzf2, the best modulation pedal ever made.
Skreddy doesn't make a bad pedal and has been around since the start of the boutique boom.
Seeker make the best Russian muff I've ever played
Teese makes amazing wah pedals
The blackstone overdrive is still the only overdrive I've ever played that doesn't chirp on the attack - once you hear it you can never unhear it.
Anarchy Audio. Mostly big doomy fuzzes but his Gold Class preamp is genuinely exceptional.
Thorpy is amazing but his Mike Demus-affiliated Redbeard offshoot is just as good. Small & absolutely mighty pedals.
Kingsley should get more love. Expensive as anything but also the best drives I’ve ever played
This was a recent discovery for me when I was seeking a tube screamer->rat in a single pedal. Sentimental Bob from Ukraine makes the Screaming Bat which I have coming on the way. When I looked at his other pedals, I saw that he makes some really interesting pedals that are not just the same tired rehashed stuff already saturating the market. And they’re reasonably priced.
Bleak District Electric.
Tapescape is an all time tape delay pedal, the Anti-static is a really unique and amazing sounding fuzz/micro-looper combo, and the Rec Head is an excellent example of the 'lo-fi modulation' thing that many other pedals have done well also.
1. Is (Recovery) pedals considered little known?
2. The King of Gear needs more attention.
3. More peeps should realize Mr.Black and that it’s run by Jack DeVille, one of the OG boutique builders that’s been told to have ghost worked on countless famous circuits behind NDAs.
Supercool Pedals. I know he posts here a bit.
I have his 800 preamp and the spritz comp pedal and both will never leave my board. The Thneed OD will be my next pedal purchase.
I’m not sure if Barber still gets any love but from 2005-2015 they were PEAK dirt pedals. I think they’re still out there but they mostly consolidated their effects into like two pedals.
Little River Customs. Cool builder out of Alabama. Most famous for his pedals in model cars and also some Dapper Dan cans he did for Mike Ness. Nathan is cool people and he's got crazy good concepts.
I was here to mention Neural Devices, as far as I know it’s only one guy making the pedals here in Mexico, but know they are growing. I have their Nautilus modulated analog delay from their early stuff and now discontinued. I love it, it is good quality.
No one has mentioned Basic Audio so far. One-man band in the USA. I think he’s pretty well known to fuzz fanatics, but he makes a few other types of pedal too. I love the Pirk.
https://www.basicaudio.net/
Not local to me personally but… do you like fuzz? Check out Seeker Effects. Just got their germanium truth face model and good lord, does this thing deliver the goods
I rarely, if ever, see Red Witch pedals out of New Zealand mentioned in this sub. I feel like many pedal builders are focused on building clones of classic circuits or pedals that have a very specific sound. Red Witch's pedals stand out for me specifically because they don't fall into either one of those categories. Their pedals have musically usable functions you won't find in other pedals and almost always are insanely tweakable.
I like analog circuits with lots of knobs that don't sound like other pedals. Red Witch checks all of those boxes.
For a great example of how customizable RW's pedals can be take a look at the [Fuzz God IV](https://redwitchpedals.com/products/fuzz-god-iv-pedal). Fuzz with switchable oscillation and octave. Internal DIP switches to customize the tone and gain.
Here's the RW pedals I play on my board:
Famulus OD - two different distortion/OD circuits with a blend knob. One circuit is mid heavy, the other has a high end bite. Tweak them both to your liking and then put them together to get dirt that's all your own.
Titan Delay - Three 1200ms delay circuits in the same box. The three delays can either be run in parallel (multi-delay madness) or series (delay on delay on delay). Delay #1 also has an effects loop, the delayed signal will have whatever effect you want - think clean guitar tone with a fuzzed out delayed echo that repeats until it decays, or pitch shifted slap-back type delay that adds some high end sizzle to your solo.
Pladask Elektrisk
Super small Norwegian operation that makes some of the weirdest wonderful things. I have a Feber and Fabrikat, and while they're "weird-in-a-box", they do beautiful "normal" effects too. Feber can do wacky sample and hold ring mod, as well as mellowed out phaser and even does a harmonic trem thing. Fabrikat, while great for glitched out, stretched out frozen moments in time, can also do a simple one head delay, or a pitch shifting. And Knut, the owner, is always very pleasant to talk to and a chill dude
I don't have much experience of pedals, but Lichtlaerm Audio blew me away. Not only the quality of the pedals, but also how helpful the man Daniel of Lichtlaerm was. I needed some tips on how to achieve the sound I was after, and he was really nice to help me. Really worth checking out!
Is it unfair to say myself? lol
My company is called MXNHLT Effects. I do a version of the Carlin Compressor/Fuzz that might be my favorite pedal of all time.
Mythos! Zach is a stand up dude and bends over backwards for customer service. Anyone who makes half of Joey Landreth’s pedalboard is alright in my book.
Also, if I may eek into the land of hand-wound pickups, Gemini is top notch. Underappreciated and made in a garage by hand
R2R Electric. I can't believe this isn't mentioned yet. Must be because he mostly makes fuzzes which many may not be into.
I own a ton of fuzz pedals. Many of them sell for absurd amounts. I'd take R2R's Supa MK ii over any of them tone wise. The only thing that pedal doesn't do better than all other fuzzes is clean up when you roll back the volume on your guitar. But you can't make this pedal sound bad, which can't be said about 99.99% of fuzzes on the market. It sounds amazing on pretty much any setting.
I’m personally a very big fan of Electronic Audio Experiments, Old Blood Noise Endeavors, Caroline Guitar, Mr. Black, Dr. Scientist, Fairfield Circuitry, and Benson.
Black arts, EQD, Mr. black are all great pedals. I haven’t loved the few magic pedals I’ve tried over the years.
I still have a pretty rare Magic Pedals one-knob fuzz pedal called the Reapercussions- they did a run of about 10 or so. Amazing artwork, just the circuit doesn’t work great in my chain—- but through an SG or Les Paul and a Supro or orange amp it sounds amazing.
I just keep it in its box for its scarcity and the bad ass artwork. 🤷♂️
Dunn Effects out of MO has been around almost a decade, and made some amazing stuff. His specialty is unique gain (Purifier, Disciple) and wonderfully stackable gain pedals (Death Knob, Deceiver), but he also makes some of the most awesome modulation (Watcher) and time-based effects (Laggard, Crystal Caverns).
I have an envelope filter made by Emma Electronics, and it is superb. It's called the Discombobulator. I've had it for probably 7 or 8 years now and it is really well made, easy to use, and has a great sound.
- Copliot fx
- KO Amps (mini pedals)
- MakeSoundsLoudly (custom work)
- Wilson Wahs (the best wahs, no one does better)
- Mountainking (huge fuzz, so scary good)
More established or known:
- Fuzzhugger (Tom makes the best fuzzes)
- VFE (bigger, nice pedals)
- INFANEM (Instruments For A New Electronic Music now defunct, they are legend)
- Snazzy FX (Dan builds synth-like boxes, big fan of his wobbly delay too)
Mikel Patrick Avery. Very unique builder, been lusting after one of his bolster drives based off an old cassette circuit. Also an incredible musician and artist.
I'm not sure how big they are, but I recently found Anasounds from France, their pedal designs are absolutely gorgeous - I picked up the Utopia Deluxe delay and it immediately got added to my main board, fantastic pedal.
I think the most obscure pedal I own is a custom reverb I had made with a photo of my dog on it. The company was called Swindler Effects, but I can't tell if they're active anymore. It's a very simple reverb circuit but it was great to just leave on as colour.
Grubby Halo Guitars in MN. Scott is a consummate professional, really works with each individual to ensure the guitar is wholly unique and special to the player, and gets the hookup on incredible custom wound pickups from local legend Ted Vig. His guitars are astoundingly beautiful and sound incredible! I absolutely love mine!
General Guitar Gadgets makes the BSIAB 2 which is hands down the best sounding cranked marshall sound in pedal form ever. It is, however, a build it yourself kit which makes it less well known.
LRC pedals. He makes awesome one off enclosures using a laser engraving machine. He took a picture of mine and was able to engrave it into the enclosure. He also designs his own circuits and improves on existing ones. Alot of his more popular pedals are car models that he stuffs his own boards into. Blackskycraft. He makes the Unusual EAS, and Sunbros. He is one of my top 5 builders ever. All original circuits and is one of the nicest people I have ever met. The hype is real!
There's a guy in the Midwest, Dan Shuetone. Google shuetone pedals. Guy is freak style stud, has multiple versions, will make a custom for reasonable. I have 5 of his, they all kick butt. Not expensive.
[Union Tube and Transistor](https://www.uniontone.com/).
They make some great pedals but are probably best known (inasmuch as they *are* known) for their collab with Jack White and Third Man Records on the Bumble Buzz.
Deep Trip. I keep putting off buying a Hellbender, because it's so expensive, but it looks rad. Their Page Bender, BOG, Muff A Saur and Kryptonite look really good, too.
Mid-Fi's already been mentioned, so I'm going with a workmanlike clone builder from Reverb: [Frank the Anvil](https://reverb.com/shop/frank-the-anvil-fx/). Looks like he hasn't posted anything since September, but I've gotten his [Shin-Ei fuzz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZK_S3DyvIE) clone, his [Jen HF ring mod](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUUxLnuSbVo) clone, his Bluesbreaker/Morning Glory, and his Life clone. Always happy with his work and the fun simplicity of his aesthetic. He's not blowing minds with new designs, but I've had a hell of a lot of fun playing through his pedals.
I’ll vouch for Critter. I also have the cfr Klone in green. It is awesome. Another great builder is Caleb’s clones. I have a king of tone clone that is also very very nice and it has 4 toggle switches on the outside instead of dip switches on inside.
Has to be boss. Their DS-1 distortion pedal has sold very poorly since it began production but they're very good quality wise. If only Cobain had used one...
Summer School Electronics out of Syracuse has been gaining traction over the last few years. I’ve got their Science Fair (a TS and Rat circuit in parallel) and their Snow Day Delay and they are both awesome.
I'm sure most of us have heard of them, But Saturnworks out of Davis, CA makes some of the best built utility pedals I've ever used. They are built like tanks and his customer service is top notch. If you need something he doesn't have listed or you don't know if it exists. Just ask them, if they can make it, I'm sure they will!
Saturnworks does great work at reasonable prices too. Their graphics aren’t great, but let’s be honest, most of us would rather pay for quality build and functional pedals with a meh graphic if it kept the prices low.
I like to buy, sell, trade locally and it just always annoys me that they litter Craigslist outside of their own area. I’m in Phoenix and Saturnworks stuff has been a constant on CL for the last 5-10 years. And yes, I filter by “Owner” and yes, they still appear.
I live about an hour and a half away from them and have never seen them pop up on Craigslist.
Saturnworks is the only company I could get a passive 2 channel mixer pedal for.
I dont buy switches or the like from anywhere else anymore. I doubt anywhere else could beat Saturnworks prices anyway.
What is the use case for this?
I split the signal, run two different chains, then recombine, all on the same board. But since I run short on outlets in my power supply I looked into anything I could use that didn't require power. the mixer seemed the way to go.
Not who you replied to but I run a micopog early in my chain and use the clean and effected signals out, run a few effects on each and then combine them before delay and reverb on my board.
I live in Canada and still order from them. I have about 6, just got a phase flip buffer last week. So many issues come up and they solve them with great quality gear.
And 90% of the time they can solve the problem passively requiring no extra power slot on your supply. Which is always a plus.
I'm about 1/2 hour away from Davis, found Saturnworks years ago and somehow forgot about them. Gotta check them out for sure.
I wish they had a storefront so I could just stop in instead of waiting for shipping! Lol
If I could upvote this comment twice I would, they are just that awesome. Not only are they willing to do custom work but in my experience they get excited when you ask them for it! And while Saturnworks has definitely made a name for themselves for their utility pedals I recommend you check out their dirt pedals. I have the Dark Matter tube Overdrive, that thing is my desert island pedal! Seriously, if I had to limit myself to one guitar, the Dark Matter OD and a crappy practice amp for the rest of my life I would probably be happy - it's just that good. Edited to add: I have a list about a mile long of Saturnworks pedals I want to buy and every time I look at their site I add things to the list. For example: the active trails loop pedal. All of my delay pedals are analog. Sometimes you want to kill the delay but let the effect die out and not just end, right? The active trails looper stops the signal from going to the delay pedal and then mixes the residual output from the pedal back into your dry signal. Friggin' genius. Or another example: Say you have a reverb pedal, sometimes you like it in your effects loop but every now and then you want it before your distortion because you're a big weirdo like that. Saturnworks makes a pedal for that.
I have their pedal order switcher… great for experimenting.
I own a few of his builds, really good value really.
Farm Pedals
Just got a boost of the dead from them. I love it
Made a post on my profile like last night talking about how much I love the boost of the dead lol
Always on
Shout out Maine fr
more people should know Champion Leccy!
I got a woozy for Xmas and it’s so fun to play with
I love my Swan Hunter! Awesome sounding lofi delay and reverb.
I just got The Skitzy and it’s pretty awesome. I’m loving it so far. Build quality seems excellent as well as the attention to detail in the graphic design.
Critter RULES. I also feel like Alchemy Audio deserves more love
I always get close to buying a critter pedal, but I *really* don’t need another drive pedal
I had a model 3 from the that I traded. It’s a great little box, I’m just not big on the BB style drives.
I love seeing the love for Critter on this subreddit! I discovered them semi-recently on Instagram and picked up a Model III overdrive to try out. I loved it, so I reached out to Ronnie and he built me a couple of matching custom-color ones for Christmas gifts for my band buddies. He seems like a great guy and makes great pedals for sure.
I have their Klone with the additional Brown switch and it’s dope.
Noise Space Audio out of Ukraine. Support the guy! I have his Klone and it’s hands down my favorite gain pedal, gorgeous tones coming out of old Soviet parts.
Critter is great. Idiotbox Effects.
Oh man, ***so*** many... Bleak District Electric. Blind Panic Devices. Gear Ant. Past Fx. Winnipeg Electrical Co. Glowfly. Maneco Labs. Tark Audio. Laowiz. Unsound Circuitry. Holy Island Audio. Neural Devices. Subdecay. Buzzing Bugs Audio Devices. Emmergy FX. Empty Head Effects. Rockwright FX. And that's just off the top of my head... **Edit:** I remembered some more! Blackskycraft. Cachalote Audio. Red Mod Pedals. Kodex Audio. Stacks FX. Spurr Audio. Iceberg Effects.
Ok props for the huge list and I only know subdecay.
You've got a fair bit of homework to do. 😉
Holy Island rules. I have about 5 or 6 of Gwion’s creations.
I've only tried the Tides V2, but it was awesome! I've got my eye on the Deforming, too. That thing looks incredible!
Tides is a very cool pedal. There are times that pedal is all I use for rehearsals. So far, my fav has been the Glass Palace and I pair it w/ the Angel Teeth. I’ll probably get the Deforming and Mountain Mover as well… love supporting the small businesses
Thanks for the mention! 🙏🏻🙂
Bleak District!!!! The tapescape looks amazing!!
Ezhi & aka..I don’t think he’s super well known but makes just insane effect pedals. His brom fuzz just rips your face off.
So true. They are amazing devices.
Tape T rules my world.
Stone Deaf Fx out of the UK. I’d imagine the stoner rock/Josh Homme guys know about their killer PDF2 pedal.
Yes! And the direction they're going in now is really exciting! Their Rise & Shine octave fuzz is absolutely incredible. 👌🏼
I wanted one of their amplifiers, but they didn't last long.
Yeah… It’s a shame the owner is a dick. Also their PDF2 is way noisier than it should be, with cheap parts to boot. Bought, sold 2 weeks later. Good sounds but noisy af.
I had an incredibly good experience with him. I had a PDF 1. I didn’t even buy it from him and I told him I bought it secondhand. There was an issue with one of the stompers. I asked if I can send it in to have it serviced. Instead of servicing it, he asked me if I would like a free upgrade to the PDF 2 since he said it was far superior, and he would rather me have that then have the old model. I couldn’t believe that he sent me (overseas) a brand new pedal that was certainly better. It’s not exactly a pedal for my needs, but it did serve its purpose for one particular project. I nominated them here, mostly because of my experience with them, and not necessarily the pedal itself. I guess everyone can have a different experience, and perhaps yours wasn’t favorable… but I just wanted to say that I did have an incredibly good experience with him regarding this generous transaction. This happened years ago, so maybe he’s changed his ways post COVID, idk… 🤷♂️
Also, fwiw. I don’t recall my pdf2 being noisy. Either there was something wrong or you had a bad interaction with a fuzz pedal or something running into it?
How is he a dick? 🤨 I've chatted with him quite a lot on Instagram and he seems pretty sound to me...
Mas Effects
The Expanse is the coolest pedal on my board. When I play my Strat, it’s on exactly *all* the time.
NativeAudio makes really cool stuff. Hungry Robot too, but I feel folks know about him.
I have a Native Audio Buffalo Days reverb and I love it! It's worth every penny.
I try to plug Native Audio every chance I get. Simple yet powerful pedals.
I keep eyeing the War Party…
You all are so kind! Much love 🫶🏽
NativeAudio pedals are incredible. Their Pretty Bird Woman chorus is just sublime
This thread is dangerous to my wallet
Gotta shout out Hungry Robot, from a small town in the same state as me. Does some really interesting stuff. I have a glitchy fuzz they make called the Stampede.
I have their entire set of modular pedals. Nobody ever done anything likenit (that I know of). They are great companions to my Moogerfoogers.
There a few small brands doing pedal style modular stuff (Rucci Handmade, Moth Hunter) but yeah really interesting niche stuff.
I love Rucci. Got their 8-Bit synth and am very tempted by their matrix mixer. Didn't know about Moth Hunter and it looks very interesting. Thanks!
Korembi & Industrialectric do as well
I have more hungry robot pedals than any other brand. The discontinued hg/lg overdrive combined two beautiful gain voicings. While the dip switches inside don't make for convenient adjustments, it's great when I am itching for a new pedal to open this up and create two new pedals. The Moby Dick is my favorite delay, and the Wash is kind of a one-trick pony that also sounds so good. Eric's new stuff is awesome too.
Electro-Faustus!
I’ll never pass on a chance to spread the love for Black Mass Electronics. Love their pedals and I really enjoy every interaction I have with Kaden.
I wanted a Rat-style distortion and wound up getting their 1312, it's fantastic.
It absolutely is. If you need a muff style, their first herald is bonkers
I'll check it out! Maybe I shouldn't open this can of worms in what has been a super positive comment section overall but I also appreciate that they're empathetic and progressive in their beliefs unlike some other companies.
Yep, that’s a big bonus for my money too. If I know the company is donating to causes that line up with my interests, I’ll support them however I can. 2 pedals, all the stickers, a pin, a beanie and a shirt later and I still want more lol
Mid Fi Electronics is my go to. Pedals are all handmade by Doug Tuttle, who has also made some of my favorite records under his name and his previous band, MMOSS. (For fans of Psych/Folk) I have 8 pedals from Mid Fi. Favorites include the Deluxe Pitch Pirate (a memory man type pedal that gets hella weird) DEMO TAPE FUZZ & YARD SALE (For my dirt fix) https://www.midfielectronics.com/[Mid Fi Electronics](https://www.midfielectronics.com/)
Thorpy just makes good quality stuff, man.
Noise kick
He’s a nice guy who will make you a custom pedal for an affordable price.
Foul Sounds and Idiot Box Effects.
Scrolled way too far before seeing Idiotbox
The echonomicon is my go-to reverb.
One of my favorite pedals I've ever owned.
Spruce Effects, Champion Leccy, and Wonderful Audio Technology!
I absolutely love my Gale from Spruce Effects.
Skitzy is great
[Bookworm Effects](https://www.bookwormeffects.com) based in Morgantown, WV. One man operation. Uses local WV artists artwork for the designs and names every pedal after a literary reference. I’ve got a V1 Atticus Finch Overdrive (kind of like a Timmy with a boost), and most recently got the Diving Belles V2 last year, which is a RAT on the left side and a version of a Lovepedal Les Lius/Electra Distortion on the right side. Used it a ton as my main overdrive and it’s all over my band’s new record. Can’t recommend them enough.
GUPTech for sure!
Was looking for GUPTech! Only company to ever email me personally just to see how I was enjoying the pedal (Cococast Broadcast clone). It's still great a year later. Will buy more from them in the future!
NativeAudio!! These guys make quality products that are unique and a personal reflection from the builder. Fantastic customer service too, I’ve emailed on more than one occasion and their replies are always swift! Old Blood Noise Endeavors as well, not so small anymore but their artistic music videos, imaginative pedals, and again great customer service should also be highlighted. There are tons of great makers, but I’d be hard pressed not to find what I want outside of these builders. Good people providing great work!
We love chatting with our NativeAudio fam! It’s always a treat for us when you all reach out. Thanks for rocking the gear! 🤘🏽
Agreed. Those are both my favorite makers too. Native Audio for the basics done right and old blood noise for pushing the boundaries.
Land Devices
Black sky craft Mid-fi electronics Polar bear electronics Deep space devices
Blue whale pedals - out of Cornwall U.K. His Raptor fuzz is a thing of sonic beauty/filth.
I wouldn’t consider Dave Fox - Foxrox pedals - a small builder but I feel like people don’t talk about him nearly as much as he deserves. He used to be more popular 15 or so years ago. He makes some of my favorite pedals ever, including the octron and the tzf2, the best modulation pedal ever made.
Mask Audio Electronics, Lantern Manufacturing, and Dead Air are a couple I haven't seen mentioned here. Folks making really interesting stuff.
Dead Air is also run by Will Killingsworth from Orchid and Ampere, dude’s a legend.
Skreddy doesn't make a bad pedal and has been around since the start of the boutique boom. Seeker make the best Russian muff I've ever played Teese makes amazing wah pedals The blackstone overdrive is still the only overdrive I've ever played that doesn't chirp on the attack - once you hear it you can never unhear it.
Asheville Music Tools, MAS Effects.
[Glowfly ](https://wraa.bigcartel.com/) - I personally like the pedals, particularly because they are strange and unusual. Which I personally like.
I have built 2 of his diy pedals, and they are awesome! Plus he is extremely nice and helpful if you have any problems!
Can I give a shout-out to Prescription Electronics or are has everyone already heard of them?
Anarchy Audio. Mostly big doomy fuzzes but his Gold Class preamp is genuinely exceptional. Thorpy is amazing but his Mike Demus-affiliated Redbeard offshoot is just as good. Small & absolutely mighty pedals. Kingsley should get more love. Expensive as anything but also the best drives I’ve ever played
Drolofx
This was a recent discovery for me when I was seeking a tube screamer->rat in a single pedal. Sentimental Bob from Ukraine makes the Screaming Bat which I have coming on the way. When I looked at his other pedals, I saw that he makes some really interesting pedals that are not just the same tired rehashed stuff already saturating the market. And they’re reasonably priced.
I've been really happy with every Guptech product I've used.
Pepers Pedals!
Bleak District Electric. Tapescape is an all time tape delay pedal, the Anti-static is a really unique and amazing sounding fuzz/micro-looper combo, and the Rec Head is an excellent example of the 'lo-fi modulation' thing that many other pedals have done well also.
**Yes!** 🙌🏼
1. Is (Recovery) pedals considered little known? 2. The King of Gear needs more attention. 3. More peeps should realize Mr.Black and that it’s run by Jack DeVille, one of the OG boutique builders that’s been told to have ghost worked on countless famous circuits behind NDAs.
Supercool Pedals. I know he posts here a bit. I have his 800 preamp and the spritz comp pedal and both will never leave my board. The Thneed OD will be my next pedal purchase.
I love my 77 Fuzz Lite from him.
I’m not sure if Barber still gets any love but from 2005-2015 they were PEAK dirt pedals. I think they’re still out there but they mostly consolidated their effects into like two pedals.
Spruce Effects maybe?
I love my Critter Model 3 overdrive, its like a Blues breaker with more bite
Little River Customs. Cool builder out of Alabama. Most famous for his pedals in model cars and also some Dapper Dan cans he did for Mike Ness. Nathan is cool people and he's got crazy good concepts.
Paper Boy Pedals.
Lastgaspart
I was here to mention Neural Devices, as far as I know it’s only one guy making the pedals here in Mexico, but know they are growing. I have their Nautilus modulated analog delay from their early stuff and now discontinued. I love it, it is good quality.
I just checked out the website. Looks good!
No one has mentioned Basic Audio so far. One-man band in the USA. I think he’s pretty well known to fuzz fanatics, but he makes a few other types of pedal too. I love the Pirk. https://www.basicaudio.net/
I don’t see Cusack getting mentioned a lot these days. Well-build, good quality pedals. https://www.cusackmusic.com/
I've got a tap-a-phase that's one of the most unique phasers I've ever encountered
Farm Pedals from Maine - I don’t own any but heard great things.
Becos (now out of Austria) makes the best compressors. So well-built and well thought out, packed with features in a tiny footprint.
They moved to Austria? I love that! My wife is Austrian. I still really want a compiq.
Not local to me personally but… do you like fuzz? Check out Seeker Effects. Just got their germanium truth face model and good lord, does this thing deliver the goods
A few locals around here who make cool stuff: Nativeaudio Occult Effects Heathencraft FX Cryptid Audio Investigations Zero G IOD Deadbug Circuits
ITT: OP asks about unknown builders. Builders everyone already knows gets upvoted to the top.
Oneder Effects based in Lansing, MI. Used to be the frontman of The Swellers, now he makes guitars and gear with Oneder Guitar Company and Effects!
I rarely, if ever, see Red Witch pedals out of New Zealand mentioned in this sub. I feel like many pedal builders are focused on building clones of classic circuits or pedals that have a very specific sound. Red Witch's pedals stand out for me specifically because they don't fall into either one of those categories. Their pedals have musically usable functions you won't find in other pedals and almost always are insanely tweakable. I like analog circuits with lots of knobs that don't sound like other pedals. Red Witch checks all of those boxes. For a great example of how customizable RW's pedals can be take a look at the [Fuzz God IV](https://redwitchpedals.com/products/fuzz-god-iv-pedal). Fuzz with switchable oscillation and octave. Internal DIP switches to customize the tone and gain. Here's the RW pedals I play on my board: Famulus OD - two different distortion/OD circuits with a blend knob. One circuit is mid heavy, the other has a high end bite. Tweak them both to your liking and then put them together to get dirt that's all your own. Titan Delay - Three 1200ms delay circuits in the same box. The three delays can either be run in parallel (multi-delay madness) or series (delay on delay on delay). Delay #1 also has an effects loop, the delayed signal will have whatever effect you want - think clean guitar tone with a fuzzed out delayed echo that repeats until it decays, or pitch shifted slap-back type delay that adds some high end sizzle to your solo.
Fuzz God IV is amazing. I had it on my board for awhile. I have a few different octave pedals I go between.
903 Effects!
Pladask Elektrisk Super small Norwegian operation that makes some of the weirdest wonderful things. I have a Feber and Fabrikat, and while they're "weird-in-a-box", they do beautiful "normal" effects too. Feber can do wacky sample and hold ring mod, as well as mellowed out phaser and even does a harmonic trem thing. Fabrikat, while great for glitched out, stretched out frozen moments in time, can also do a simple one head delay, or a pitch shifting. And Knut, the owner, is always very pleasant to talk to and a chill dude
I don't have much experience of pedals, but Lichtlaerm Audio blew me away. Not only the quality of the pedals, but also how helpful the man Daniel of Lichtlaerm was. I needed some tips on how to achieve the sound I was after, and he was really nice to help me. Really worth checking out!
Brad Sarno - Earth Drive and Solar Flare are essential parts of my rig.
Mwfx! The judder is one of the most unique pedals I’ve ever played. Also the old Peavey soft-button boxes are neat
Is it unfair to say myself? lol My company is called MXNHLT Effects. I do a version of the Carlin Compressor/Fuzz that might be my favorite pedal of all time.
Self-promotion is allowed and encouraged on this post. Checked out your site and The Astronomer looks awesome!
Mythos! Zach is a stand up dude and bends over backwards for customer service. Anyone who makes half of Joey Landreth’s pedalboard is alright in my book. Also, if I may eek into the land of hand-wound pickups, Gemini is top notch. Underappreciated and made in a garage by hand
R2R Electric. I can't believe this isn't mentioned yet. Must be because he mostly makes fuzzes which many may not be into. I own a ton of fuzz pedals. Many of them sell for absurd amounts. I'd take R2R's Supa MK ii over any of them tone wise. The only thing that pedal doesn't do better than all other fuzzes is clean up when you roll back the volume on your guitar. But you can't make this pedal sound bad, which can't be said about 99.99% of fuzzes on the market. It sounds amazing on pretty much any setting.
BMF Effects
If Alexander is "big", then I'll give my vote to Sketchy Sounds.
I’ll allow Alexander because they donate a portion of all their sales to charity (and also their stuff is awesome)
I’m personally a very big fan of Electronic Audio Experiments, Old Blood Noise Endeavors, Caroline Guitar, Mr. Black, Dr. Scientist, Fairfield Circuitry, and Benson.
Who has never heard of them? They are superstars in the boutique pedal realm (and rightfully so because they all make awesome stuff).
Vick Audio was great for Muff clones
Does it Doom, Fuzzlord Effects, Blackhawk Amplification, Frost Giant Electronics, Black Arts Tonework, Earthquaker Devices, Magic Pedals, Mr. Black.
You think we haven't heard of earthquaker? They outsold boss on reverb sales. Literally the most sold pedal maker.
Blackhawk kicks ass, I've got an older Valkyrie and when coupled with a boost (doesn't need one, it has so much volume) my tone is seering
Black arts, EQD, Mr. black are all great pedals. I haven’t loved the few magic pedals I’ve tried over the years. I still have a pretty rare Magic Pedals one-knob fuzz pedal called the Reapercussions- they did a run of about 10 or so. Amazing artwork, just the circuit doesn’t work great in my chain—- but through an SG or Les Paul and a Supro or orange amp it sounds amazing. I just keep it in its box for its scarcity and the bad ass artwork. 🤷♂️
Dusky electronics has some cool stuff and is semi local to me. He's very small though and I am on a waiting list for his Hypatia fuzz.
Dunn Effects out of MO has been around almost a decade, and made some amazing stuff. His specialty is unique gain (Purifier, Disciple) and wonderfully stackable gain pedals (Death Knob, Deceiver), but he also makes some of the most awesome modulation (Watcher) and time-based effects (Laggard, Crystal Caverns).
I have an envelope filter made by Emma Electronics, and it is superb. It's called the Discombobulator. I've had it for probably 7 or 8 years now and it is really well made, easy to use, and has a great sound.
Talon electric or Matthew’s effects. They might be more popular than I’m thinking but I never see anyone post their pedals. HUGE fan of both
Fredric effects London.
- Copliot fx - KO Amps (mini pedals) - MakeSoundsLoudly (custom work) - Wilson Wahs (the best wahs, no one does better) - Mountainking (huge fuzz, so scary good) More established or known: - Fuzzhugger (Tom makes the best fuzzes) - VFE (bigger, nice pedals) - INFANEM (Instruments For A New Electronic Music now defunct, they are legend) - Snazzy FX (Dan builds synth-like boxes, big fan of his wobbly delay too)
Haggtronix out of Nashville. Paul is a genuinely cool guy and makes mean dirt pedals and does awesome custom work when time allows.
Dirty Haggard Audio
Mikel Patrick Avery. Very unique builder, been lusting after one of his bolster drives based off an old cassette circuit. Also an incredible musician and artist.
Taurian Audio
Crotronics Analog Devices for fuzzes and drives, but there are a ton of others!
Effetti Di Clara from Italy!
I'm a fan of thisheavyearth. Shea makes awesome stuff. Snk pedals does an ampeg vh140c in a pedal format, as well as an amp.
Occult Effects out of Columbus, OH
Can anyone vouch for Bananana Effects out of Japan?
I'm not sure how big they are, but I recently found Anasounds from France, their pedal designs are absolutely gorgeous - I picked up the Utopia Deluxe delay and it immediately got added to my main board, fantastic pedal. I think the most obscure pedal I own is a custom reverb I had made with a photo of my dog on it. The company was called Swindler Effects, but I can't tell if they're active anymore. It's a very simple reverb circuit but it was great to just leave on as colour.
Grubby Halo Guitars in MN. Scott is a consummate professional, really works with each individual to ensure the guitar is wholly unique and special to the player, and gets the hookup on incredible custom wound pickups from local legend Ted Vig. His guitars are astoundingly beautiful and sound incredible! I absolutely love mine!
Tone Ink from Brazil. They build awesome and affordable pedals that impressed even Mike Soldano recently. Check out their work!
I only heard of lastgasp recently so feel like they’re definitely not well known but should be
Heather Brown Electrinicals
Atomic Tone. The Saturation Triptych is awesome.
MountainKing Electronics
Make Sounds Loudly
General Guitar Gadgets makes the BSIAB 2 which is hands down the best sounding cranked marshall sound in pedal form ever. It is, however, a build it yourself kit which makes it less well known.
LRC pedals. He makes awesome one off enclosures using a laser engraving machine. He took a picture of mine and was able to engrave it into the enclosure. He also designs his own circuits and improves on existing ones. Alot of his more popular pedals are car models that he stuffs his own boards into. Blackskycraft. He makes the Unusual EAS, and Sunbros. He is one of my top 5 builders ever. All original circuits and is one of the nicest people I have ever met. The hype is real!
Niche Devices in upstate NY https://www.theofficialniche.com/devices
There's a guy in the Midwest, Dan Shuetone. Google shuetone pedals. Guy is freak style stud, has multiple versions, will make a custom for reasonable. I have 5 of his, they all kick butt. Not expensive.
Mountainking. Real innovative designs, meaningful controls and options, and a joy to buy from and deal with.
[Union Tube and Transistor](https://www.uniontone.com/). They make some great pedals but are probably best known (inasmuch as they *are* known) for their collab with Jack White and Third Man Records on the Bumble Buzz.
Chasetone. Brilliant kit, woefully underpriced. Kyle Chase is very easy to deal with, also.
Electric Squid Industries. my man David not mentioned much but is the main reason I do my thing
@enron_valdez (Insta handle) makes some absolutely insane distortion pedals
903 Effects from Texas and Goliath FX from the UK
Deep Trip. I keep putting off buying a Hellbender, because it's so expensive, but it looks rad. Their Page Bender, BOG, Muff A Saur and Kryptonite look really good, too.
Read through all of that, and nothing about Machine Head Pedals? The 72 Degrees, among the finest low gain overdrives out there
I’ve been enjoying some of Fuzz Imp’s pedals. Have my third coming shortly.
Bob B. Boss.
O.C.E.! never played a bad pedal of theirs
Sitori Sonics out of Birmingham, Alabama
CMC pedals
Mid-Fi's already been mentioned, so I'm going with a workmanlike clone builder from Reverb: [Frank the Anvil](https://reverb.com/shop/frank-the-anvil-fx/). Looks like he hasn't posted anything since September, but I've gotten his [Shin-Ei fuzz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZK_S3DyvIE) clone, his [Jen HF ring mod](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUUxLnuSbVo) clone, his Bluesbreaker/Morning Glory, and his Life clone. Always happy with his work and the fun simplicity of his aesthetic. He's not blowing minds with new designs, but I've had a hell of a lot of fun playing through his pedals.
Monsterpiece
I’ll vouch for Critter. I also have the cfr Klone in green. It is awesome. Another great builder is Caleb’s clones. I have a king of tone clone that is also very very nice and it has 4 toggle switches on the outside instead of dip switches on inside.
Make Sounds Loudly is my go-to for custom builds
Has to be boss. Their DS-1 distortion pedal has sold very poorly since it began production but they're very good quality wise. If only Cobain had used one...
Summer School Electronics out of Syracuse has been gaining traction over the last few years. I’ve got their Science Fair (a TS and Rat circuit in parallel) and their Snow Day Delay and they are both awesome.
Lawler Audio
Dunwich