I Design Guitar Pedals For A Living — These Are The Brands I Recommend

Making my living designing pedals and building pedalboards for the last 17 years has taught me a lot about what makes a really great product. In this video, I'll be unpacking the specific pedal brands I trust, use, and recommend to all my clients. From industry legends to boutique innovators, find out which pedals and brands meet my professional standards for reliability, serviceability, and superior tone. ⬇ MY APPROVED PEDALS ⬇ Boss SD-1 - https://amzn.to/3NYqgNk Boss BD-2 - https://amzn.to/4dTf7rw Boss TR-2 - https://amzn.to/3PH5e6o Boss VB-2 - https://amzn.to/3PH5e6o MXR Dyna Comp - https://amzn.to/4sKs0sH MXR Phase 90 - https://amzn.to/485Gefi MXR Flanger - https://amzn.to/3PXE6A5 MXR Super Badass Fuzz - https://a.co/d/0gZmvSA9 Dunlop Echoplex - https://amzn.to/41KI2qp TC Electronic 2290 - https://amzn.to/4bXq0WV TC Stereo Chorus - https://amzn.to/4bXa5HT Universal Audio Golden Reverb - https://amzn.to/3PzMc1T Eventide H90 - https://amzn.to/4dVx7l9 Xotic RC Booster - https://amzn.to/4bKXPvx Xotic Wah - https://amzn.to/4tqCjlH Fulltone Clyde Deluxe Wah - https://amzn.to/4v3QlLu Empress ParaEQ - https://amzn.to/4sbh06H Rockett Archer - https://amzn.to/4toOHTi Providence Chrono Delay - https://reverb.com/p/providence-chron... Greer Lightspeed - https://amzn.to/4dmrtse Vertex Boost MKII - https://www.sweetwater.com/store/deta... Vertex Buffer Interface - https://amzn.to/4dnbgTC Vertex Ultraphonix MKII - https://www.sweetwater.com/store/deta... Crotronics Peasants OD - https://reverb.com/shop/crotronics Analog Noir - https://www.analognoirelectric.com/pe... Red Seven Lil Wave Chorus - https://redseven-amplification.com/ Chase Tone Secret Preamp - https://chasetone.com/secret-preamp/ Sabbadius '68 Funky Vibe - https://www.sabbadius.com/?product=fu... DryBell Vibe Machine v3 - https://drybell.com/product/vibe-mach... KingTone Duelist v3 - https://www.kingtoneguitar.com/produc... ⬇ BOOK A Tone Consultation ⬇ https://therigdr.com/toneconsultation ⬇ BUY My Merch ⬇ https://vertexeffects-shop.fourthwall... ⬇ BUY my Pedals ⬇ Sweetwater - https://bit.ly/vertex-sweetwater Amazon - https://amzn.to/40HcRg6 Reverb - https://bit.ly/vertex-reverb ⬇ BUY my Masterclass ⬇ https://vertex-effects.teachable.com/... ⬇ LISTEN To My Podcast ⬇    / @chairmenoftheboards   CREDITS Host/Producer/Engineer: Mason Marangella (  / oaktownmason  ) Videographer/Editing/Co-Production/Design: Nico Sotomayor (  / nico_photomayor  ) Dialogue & Sound Mixing: Kendrick Fielder (  / kendrickfielder  ) LOCATION Oakland, California TABLE OF CONTENTS 00:00 - Introduction 00:43 - What a pro rig builder looks for in a quality pedal 01:19 - The Big Three (Mass Production Leaders) 01:41 - Boss: The industry standard-setter 02:40 - MXR & Dunlop: Bulletproof designs and engineering 04:18 - TC Electronic: Tones vs. reliability and the legacy era 07:21 - High-End & Large Volume Manufacturers 07:28 - Universal Audio: Studio-quality DSP in pedal form 09:17 - Eventide: Sophisticated algorithms and robust builds 10:31 - Honorable Mention: Strymon 11:46 - Large Boutique Brands 12:04 - Xotic: Precise build quality and reliability 13:26 - Fulltone: Indestructible legacy products (The Clyde Wah) 15:13 - Providence: Musicality and the Dumble-approved SOV-1 16:47 - Empress Effects: Canadian innovation and ruggedness 18:26 - J. Rockett: Recreating classic tones with pro engineering 19:43 - Greer Amps: The Lightspeed and organic overdrive 21:56 - Vertex Effects: Mason’s own design philosophy and flagship products 23:32 - Defunct Legacy Brands 23:42 - Budda: The legendary Bud-Wah and tube overdrives 25:02 - ADA & Hartman Electronics: Faithful redesigns 26:22 - Prescription Electronics: The OGs of boutique fuzz 27:26 - Small Boutique (One-Person Operations) 27:42 - Crotronics: Great Nobels ODR-1 replica and Fuzz/Octave 28:49 - Analog Noir: Hand-built point-to-point works of art 29:37 - Red Seven: Recreating '80s and '90s studio tones 31:05 - Chase Tone: Faithful Echoplex preamps and vintage fuzz 32:30 - Sabaddius: The best-sounding vintage-inspired Univibes 33:45 - DryBell: The ultimate compact Univibe (Vibe Machine) 35:30 - Honorable Mention: King Tone 37:24 - How to Identify a Quality Pedal 38:13 - Step 1: Sonic inspiration 38:22 - Step 2: Sorting for noise 39:12 - Step 3: Headroom and stacking 40:05 - Step 4: Buffer design and bypass artifacts 40:46 - Step 5: Serviceability and internal access 43:14 - How To Support The Channel #guitarpedals #pedalboard #guitartone