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by Jim Button August 27, 2021 4 min read
If you're looking for a list of boutique guitar pedal brands in the UK, you've come to the right place! Although Boost Guitar Pedals is a retailer of some of these UK pedal builders, this is a completely un-biased list.
I've made a concerted effort to list as many UK pedal builders as I can to make this a truly useful resource for everyone. Have I missed any? Probably! Let me know...
From super-high end build quality to forward-looking circuit topologies and eye-popping artwork, we’ve never had it so good. The British boutique pedal scene is currently enjoying a golden age, with seemingly endless releases of exciting and sought after pedals from established as well as new guitar pedal companies.
The UK has been at the forefront of guitar effects pedal design since the 1960s, when pioneers including Roger Mayer created some of the first guitar pedals. Many of the earliest pedals were fuzz pedals, a primitive form of distortion. It was not long until fuzz was all over the airwaves, changing the course of musical history forever.
Mayer made his name as Jimi Hendrix's effects wizard, modding existing pedals and creating new designs such as the Octavia which went on to define Jimi's legendary sound.
Of course, the UK's influence didn't finish at the end of the 1960s, and other builders have built rock-solid reputations, perhaps none more so than Pete Cornish, who took on Mayer's mantle as pedal guru to the stars in the 1970s.
Fast-forward several decades and many boutique pedal builders today are still captivated by heritage circuits from the early days of the effects pedal, sourcing rare NOS components to replicate the originals as closely as possible. Others, meanwhile, prefer to focus on modern designs and new sounds.
Below you'll find a map of guitar pedal brands in the UK. The plan is to make it as comprehensive as possible, so I'll update it as often as I can.
Whether you're into vintage-correct Tone Benders or multi-clipping modern distortion, it's fair to say that the burgeoning guitar effects pedal scene in the UK has you covered!
Here's a small selection of UK-made guitar pedals worth checking out...
[product=fredric-effects-verzerrer]
The Fredric Effects Verzerrer may be made in London, but it's based on the only cold war-era East German distortion pedal, originally produced in the 1960s and '70s. It veers from distortion into spitty fuzz and full on velcro mode and sounds remarkably unique.
"It’s just pure nastiness. This pedal nails the splutter-fuzz effect as well as any we’ve tried" - Guitarist Magazine December 2019
[/product]
[product=stompnorth-clipshear-getter-drive]
Made in Scotland, Stompnorth's flagship Clipshear Getter Drive combines valve and MOSFET circuits with optional silicon and germanium clipping diodes to achieve a multitude of low to mid-gain tones. Stompnorth founder Duncan MacKinnon designed the Clipshear Getter Drive to be an integral part of your rig, an "always on" pedal that enhances your core tone. It provides up to 17dB of clean boost that can easily push the input of your valve amp.
[/product]
[product=raygun-fx-dual-soda-drive]
From Southend-on-Sea, the Raygun FX Dual Soda Drive+ is a super-flexible drive pedal which ranges from boost to dense distortion. It combines two Soda Drive+ circuits in a single pedal, with the option to run each channel independently or stack them for more tonal variation. Both channels have a 3-way toggle switch, allowing you to select from Dirty, Boost (less gain, more volume) or Fuzz (a germanium diode) modes.
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[product=bleak-district-electric-antistatic]
Bleak District Electric is based in Derbyshire. Phil has cleverly designed the Antistatic as a combined CMOS fuzz and micro-looper. It's a phenomenal little package that's great for experimental synth layers or expansive soundscapes: pair it with a good delay and/or reverb and you're good to go!
[/product]
[product=tate-fx-raise-the-dead]
Located just up the road from Boost Guitar Pedals HQ, the Tate FX Raise The Dead is a single-knob design based on a 1960s Colorsound fuzz. Founder Stuart is a stickler for attention to detail, and he has gone all out with the components for this pedal. After feedback from early versions, he has also included a small input transformer to simulate the inductance and resistance from a guitar pickup to allow it to work perfectly anywhere in a signal chain - particularly after buffered pedals.
[/product]
4114 Custom Effects
Audio Kitchen
BG Harding
Bigfoot Engineering
Bluewhale Pedals
Boo Instruments
British Pedal Company
Butterfly Effect Pedals
Buzz Electronics
Castledine Electronics
Cog Effects
Colorsound
Cooltone Pedals
Cornell Amps
D*A*M
Demiurge
Design Retro Works
Dickinson Amplification
Effectrode
Emmergy FX
Expresso FX
Flattley Guitar Pedals
Forest Effects
Ghost Effects
Gojira FX
Green Carrot Pedal Company
Hamstead Soundworks
Heaby Pedals
Holy Island Audio
Homegrown Devices
Horrothia FX
Hubcap John
Hudson Electronics
JFET Life
JSA Effects
Krachwerke
Life Is Unfair Audio
Lottie Canto
Made By Mike
Magnetic Effects
MWFX
MR-FX
NE Electronix
Nine of Swords Effects
North Effects
NRG Effectts
Origin Effects
Owen Electronics
Pete Cornish
Pickletech
Pigdog Pedals
Pigeon FX
Rainger FX
Reactor Pedals
Redbeard Effects
Reeves Electro
Ritual Devices
Roger Mayer
Rothwell Audio
Sine-Effect
Sleeping Dog FX
Snake Oil Fine Instruments
Sola Sound
SoundLad Liverpool
Stompkins Pedals
Stone Deaf FX
Thorpy FX
Time Travel Audio
Vein Tap
Wee Lush FX
Williams Audio
Wraa Labs
If you're a guitar pedal builder, or you know a guitar pedal brand in the UK that isn't on the list already, get in touch and I'll add them on!
by Jim Button April 18, 2023 12 min read
by Guest Author August 26, 2022 3 min read
by Jim Button June 24, 2022 5 min read
I’ve just taken delivery of this beautiful pedal.
To get a first impression I’ve put it through a Simplifier DLX and straight into a FRFR speaker. Delightful.
I’m a guitarist in a Christian Church worship band, so I’m always looking for O/D that is both subtle and musical - that makes a statement without the darkness. The Forest Song, with its rich range of driven tones delivers.
Indeed, high gain plus low volume is an interesting musical mix in this pedal. It works. My complements to the DB development team, and to Boost for supporting them.
This Pedal is easy to use and has many sweet spots! Perfectly tuned combination of two legendary circuits! Highly recommended!
super fun trem, decent sound, huge volume. havent spent a lot of time messing about with it, but did have a play with the slide and drift feature which are a nice bonus. cant wait to have more time to play around with it.
Boost Guitar Pedals are great as always, fast delivery
been playing it a few days now, and have it set up so it works with with whatever i thow at it. its in my chain after OD but Before Distortion. feedback dial is great and can have it very far clockwise before it sends you in an infinity loop, mix is a bonus, i haven't messed about with the shapes much yet because i found a dreamy setting i dont want to change. would highly recommend isolated power suppy, it did not like daisy chain or cheap single wall one, but works smooth with isloated brick
Boost Guitar is great again to got it within 24 hours of shipping
Perfect for that traynor amp growl on bass. There’s a lot of scope with gain and EQ controls (which sound ace wherever you dial them in). Had the Tronographic Rusty Box before this which I regrettably had to sell; this is a perfect (and smaller, less power hungry) substitute.
I spent months searching for an affordable vibe pedal that actually sounded authentic.
Not only does this have the very sound that I was after, without a ton of tweaking, but it is priced reasonably too. It is not at the cheap end of the market, but for a hand-built pedal with dual speeds this is unbeatable.
The sound is spot on. Warm and rich with the throb missing from many of the lower-priced pedals. The second speed makes it easy to switch between chord and solo settings.
The delivery was amazing too - ordered in Friday afternoon and delivered on Sunday morning!
I can’t recommend this highly enough to anyone looking for the best univibe around.
add another 5 stars, im no pro but i know what sounds i like and the Bloom is the sound i like. ive had Boss BD2, donner dumble drive, Tumnus and Tumnus deluxe but to me The Bloom tops them all. its a well built easy to dial in. having full gain is so clear and not nosiy. only tried with my strat single coils atm. the distortion isint the best but im comparing it to the Drunk Beaver Batv2 and have a feeling that its a layer distortion for another distortion pedal. fuzz is lush. the chip and fat switch really bring it to live and gives you more options for sound. i cant believe this is made by 1 guy. To me Drunk Beaver are up there with the best pedal makers. could send hours going on about the great things. and im only useing a boss katana mk2 no tube amp but you can get some faux tube headroom with the right switch. if you like the demos, well i got good news, it sound way better in person
Boost Guitat Pedals are great too, fast delivery, great communication. couldnt ask for a better store
Bone white Davies 1611
The Bleak District Tapescape is one of the best delay and ambience style pedals ever invented. The controls are all intuitive but highly flexible, the sounds are rich and detailed, the modulation can go from dreamy to nightmarish very quickly, and all of that inside a small footprint with a low power requirement. It's difficult to get a bad sound out of it, honestly.
Add in that Boost shipped it out quickly and it arrived with a nice note written on the invoice, is there anything else you could ask for? Definitely will be buying more from both Boost and Bleak District in future.
Part came as described. Website was easy use.
very cool pedal
Awesome service and communication all along!
Will gladly order again
I ordered a set of strings from Boost, that did not initially turn up. After contacting Boost via the website they immediately sent out another set (no questions asked). Both sets arrived a few days later (Thanks Royal Mail!). Boost were prompt in dealing with the issue (gave) me a set of strings and got things sorted out. Highly recommend you use these guys.
My favourite strings, at a great price! Very reasonable postage rates and speedy service. My first purchase from Boost, but will definitely not be my last. Hassle free, excellent...
Jazzmaster happy🙏
I didn’t know that particular manufacturer from Italy, but I definitely recommend their "Vintage Vibe”. It’s simple, intuitive, it looks awesome, the build quality seems impeccable, and most importantly, it sounds fantastic.