NAMM highlights boutique pedal market growth

Demand for customised, unique sound is driving fretted products and effects sales to a seven-year high, while fuelling a new wave of boutique pedal builders, according to NAMM. 

Over the last decade, the retail value of the effects pedal category has increased more than 45 per cent, with a 13.7 per cent rise in 2014.

The event’s organiser says pedal builders will have a noticeably larger presence at the NAMM Show in January as boutique brands including Strymon, Walrus Audio, Chase Bliss Audio and Dwarfcraft Devices join established brands Boss, Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc., Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, EarthQuaker Devices, Electro-Harmonix, Pigtronix, Seymour Duncan, TC Electronic and Wampler Pedals to debut new effects gear.

Robert Keeley, founder of Keeley Electronics, has seen his Edmond, OK business double since 2012 and it is now producing more than 2,000 units per month. “Our products are almost completely hand-built and we cater to a group of people who are in the market for specialty-purpose pedals,” said Keeley. 

Joel Korte, founder of Minnesota-based Chase Bliss Audio has seen sales double in the last year and added: “Musicians like to experiment with sound using pedals because the experience is very visceral and pedals are hands-on and offer the artist control right away.”

Affordability has also emerged as a major factor in the surge as artists add distortion, phasers and vibrato to their signature sound. The cottage industry of boutique pedal makers offers ways to tweak and discover sounds for an average price of $100-$400 dollars.

Many of these emerging builders, including Ohio’s family-owned EarthQuaker Devices, have also focused on demonstrating their products for non-traditional pedal players, such as sax, synth and violin players. The firm’s Julie Robbins, said: “We answer the call of experimental musicians who love to create sounds that inspire them to go in new directions. Some just want to recreate classic tones, while others use their pedals as a way to actually define their newest album, and we cater to both.”   

Demand is also up for pedals that couple long-lasting new technology with “old school” parts to create coveted “vintage” analogue sounds. Pete Celi, co-founder of growing Southern California builder Strymon, says interest in vintage pedals has skyrocketed, including tape delays, vintage amp tremolos, pedals from the 70s, but he notes these originals can be unreliable on tour and prices make those purchases beyond the reach of most musicians. “This creates an opportunity for pedals that can capture those sought-after sounds and yet be conveniently and reliably used at gigs,” said Celi.