All You Ever Wanted to Know About Germany's Premier Guitar Pedal Emporium - Effekt Boutique
Andy Ebsen’s Effekt Boutique has been one of my own essential pedal reference and resource website for many years now. Andy is so smart with his curation and pedal selection - that there are several pedals there that just cannot easily be found elsewhere if at all. I regularly check in on Effekt-Boutique.de several times a week - just to see what smart pedal choices Andy has most recently unearthed!
Over the years I have acquired a fair few pedals from Effekt Boutique - obviously easier in the pre B-word days! Including a Black Arts Toneworks Son of Pharaoh, Demon Pedals Kondo-Shifuku (yes that’s where I got mine from!), Dwarfcraft Devices She Fuzz, Pushking Pedals Ironfinger Distortion and most recently - the Spaceman Effects Aurora Analog Flanger.
I have nothing but good words to say about Andy’s quick and efficient service - while we’ve shared some quirky pedal adventures too along the way. I’ve always found him to be eminently reasonable and forthright - and incredibly knowledgeable on his chosen specialist subject. There are other decent German pedal boutiques - while none that appeal to me anyway as much as Effekt Boutique does. It features one of the best selections of boutique pedals anywhere - as illustrated by the excellent selection of 12 ambassador pedals at the top of and throughout this feature.
ORIGINS
It all started for Andy back in the 1980's in his grandmothers garage, in a small suburb close to Stuttgart, where his first band 'Nowhere' used to practice - Andy on guitar and his schoolmate Ron on drums.
The equipment was obviously pretty basic back then - a Matsumoku Strat, trashy Regent Amp, and Andy's first pedal - the Arion Overdrive. Without the pedal the amp's output was simply horrible - with the pedal added it was slightly less so!
So Andy quickly decided right then and there - that pedals were the answer - and he needed more!
The very next one acquired was a FOXX Clean Machine (per above) - which despite its moniker was actually a 4-way Distortion / Fuzz. And from then on Andy was hooked and had his eyes open for more affordable pedals - as money was in short supply while Andy was still at school.
Several years and several chords later Andy had moved to Berlin and enjoyed playing guitar for a number of indie bands - some with label deals attached - while each one was always one step away from a big breakthrough.
THE EARLY YEARS
Andy playing live at an open-air charity gig in the 90's with his band 'Ras Al Gethi'!
In 2010 Andy was given the opportunity to take over a small distribution company that he was on friendly terms with - Tarnaki Guitars, and as a result he opened a fledgling sort of mail-order shop / business.
Since he was into more of the extraordinary devices - he thought it would be good to use this Internet thing everybody was talking about to get further ahead. Meaning that his mail-order business could be more easily found by musicians who had an appreciation for especially flavoursome pedals and guitars.
Effekt Boutique at 2016 Pedal Show
Among the first brands represented were Diamond Pedals, Empress Effects and Catalinbread. The Empress Superdelay and Catalinbread Semaphore Tremolo were both pretty hot back in those days.
Later - more and more brands came onboard. Some had to be discovered and pursued, while others approached Andy direct. Andy fondly recalls being among the first to get his hands on the Space City Echo by MG Music - which was another great pedal back in the day!
Andy at Guitar Summit trying out some Italian pedals
HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT PEDALS
All the way back in 2010 - the very first pedal Andy sold was Rothwell Audio's Hellbender Overdrive/Distortion - a natural full-frequency tube-amp-style distortion. Up until recently, I had always assumed it was something to do with a Tone Bender - where it's nothing like any of those fuzz varieties - but more of classic amp-like distortion.
Andy's had a strong connection to Hologram Electronics over the years - with the Dream Sequence and Infinite Jets the more recent releases. While the Hologram Infinite Jets - is the one pedal that has sold the most units over the course of Effekt Bouque's 11 year history.
EFFEKT BOUTIQUE - TODAY
Effekt Boutique is still a very small company. Just Andy really manning the beautiful wood-panelled space pictured here - which looks like some elegant turn of the century pharmacy - with all those myriad small wooden drawers.
Andy feels very privileged and fortunate to have had the opportunity to do what he likes - essentially where his main hobby is also his work! After more than a decade he still enormously enjoys working with all the different pedals, guitars, amps, customers, artists and suppliers every day. For Andy there is really no better job for him in this entire universe!
While of course he's not a big fan of the administrative duties and paperwork required - but with so many brands on the roster - there really is no avoiding it.
With all this bonhomie and positivity there are still some days of pain and heartbreak. And Andy is still grieving over the loss of his Guitar-Tech friend of 30 years - who had helped out with the store's guitar setups and repairs. The show must go on though!
FEATURED BRANDS AND PEDALS
As before with exercises of this kind Andy and I trawled through his 144 brands to decide which 12 best represented the depth and breadth of the roster. And from each of those 12 we selected a suitable Ambassador Pedal that best represented the brand - as detailed below with the varieties stocked from each of the featured brands :
ANIMAL FACTORY
I've been familiar with Indian brand Animal Factory for a while - yet to date have only managed to acquire one of theirs - the Baron Samedi Fuzz - loosely based on the Jordan Boss Tone. I also have the Chemical Burn Fuzz in my sights, and am still actively considering their most recent release - 2020's Heavyweight Godeater Distortion - which features as the brand ambassador here :
Ambassador Pedal - God Eater Low-End Distortion
4 varieties stocked :
- Baron Samedi Fuzz (Jordan Boss Tone) - €189
- Chemical Burn Fuzz (Super Fuzz) - €199
- God Eater Low-End Distortion - €249
- Pit Viper Solid State Overdrive - €189
BLACK ARTS TONEWORKS
I'm very familiar with Black Arts Toneworks - and personally own two of their best - the Compact Son of Pharaoh and full-size Pharaoh Supreme - two superb variations of the Ram's Head Big Muff type. The ambassador pedal is the regular Pharaoh Fuzz - which contains exactly the same functionality as the smaller 'Son of' variety - while the Supreme version has additional controls and clipping options.
Ambassador Pedal - Pharaoh Muff-style Fuzz (Ram's Head)
17 varieties stocked :
- Black Forest Overdrive (Power Booster) - €199
- Black Sheep Fuzz (Bee Baa) - €185
- Coven Dual Distortion (Pharaoh + Black Forest) - €385
- Crown of Horns Opamp Muff Fuzz - €199
- Destroyer V2 High Output Fuzz (Ritual + Oath) - €185
- Fnord Octaver/Fuzz - €165
- LSTR Full-on Muff Fuzz (BAT-LSTR : Battlestar!)(Violet Ram's Head) - €179
- Pharaoh Muff-style Fuzz (Ram's Head) : €189
- Pharaoh Supreme Extended-range Muff-syle Fuzz (Ram's Head) - €259
- Quantum Mystic Mike Scheidt Collaboration Opamp OD/Distortion - €185
- Rapid Mammal Boosted Fuzz (Witch Boost + Pharaoh Supreme) - €355
- Raw Heart Dual Overdrive/Distortion (Witch Burner + Quantum Mystic) €279
- Sarcophagus Dual Fuzz (Pharaoh + Lester) - €385
- Skyboost Booster - €159
- Son of Pharaoh Compact Muff Fuzz (Ram's Head) - €189
- Tres Diablos Ruidos Triple Cascaded Gain Stage Boost/Overdrive/Distortion - €189
- Witch Burner Creamy Overdrive - €169
BOREDBRAIN MUSIC
Boredbrain Music is a really smart utility brand - which is so far best knows fort its ingenious octagonal 8 Channel Patculator Patchbay. It does plenty of other ingenious routing and control pedals - including the recent Transmutron Dual FX Loop Crossover Filter, and INTRFX V2 Eurorack FX Interface.
Ambassador Pedal - Patchulator V2 8 Channel Mini Patchbay
5 varieties stocked :
INTRFX V2 Eurorack FX Interface - €289
Patchulator V2 8 Channel Mini Patchbay - €159
SPLIX Inline Splitter Mixer 3.5mm - €16
Terminal V2 Half-Normal Patchbay - €125
Transmutron Dual FX Loop Crossover Filter - €399
DEMON PEDALS
I have a long established relationship with those fine gentlemen of Demon Pedals - Peter Knechtel and Matthias Bauer, and have 4 of their pedals to-date - the Ganapati Boost/Drive, Kijo Germanium Fuzz, Kondo-Shifuku Dumble-Style Drive, and Parvati Russian Muff Fuzz. Where Andy stocks 3 of those varieties along with the compact Ganesha Drive (which is half of the Ganapati with the Vahana Boost). Famously I acquired my much loved and perennial favourite Kondo Shifuku from Andy - just a little before I properly got to know Pete and Matt.
Ambassador Pedal - Kondo-Shifuku D-Style Drive
4 varieties stocked :
- Ganapati Boost + Drive (Vahana + Ganesha) - €249
- Ganesha Compact Drive - €199
- Kondo-Shifuku D-Style Drive - €285
- Parvati Russian Muff-style Fuzz - €209
EMPRESS EFFECTS
I've long referred to Empress Effects as the Strymon of Canada - where I'm a huge fan of Jason Fee & Steve Bragg's output - and where I currently own 4 of those - including the EchoSystem (favourite all-time delay), the Heavy, Multidrive and original Zoia. I've long intended to get the Empress Reverb too - but am kind of waiting / hoping for Empress to do a dual-channel EchoSystem take on that!
Ambassador Pedal - Zoia Modular Synth / Multi-FX Processor
19 varieties stocked :
- Bass Compressor V2 - €299
- Buffer (always on) - €129
- Buffer+ - €179
- Compressor V2 - €299
- Distortion - €119
- EchoSystem Delay - €519
- ECM-519 Studio Rack Compressor - €849
- Fuzz - €119
- Germ Drive - €119
- Heavy Dual Channel High Gain Distortion - €355
- Midibox 2 - €79
- Nebulus Chorus, Flanger and Vibrato - €355
- Phaser - €419
- Reverb - €519
- Tape Delay - €299
- Tremolo 10th Anniversary Edition - €299
- Zoia Modular Synth / Multi-FX Processor - €539
- Zoia Modular Synth / Multi-FX Processor Euroburo Eurorack Edition - €749
- Zoia Modular Synth / Multi-FX Processor Euroburo Eurorack Edition w/ Case and Power Supply - €849
GAMECHANGER AUDIO
Latvia's Gamechanger Audio are supreme pedal innovators - going above and beyond to make extraordinary devices which are unconstrained by conventional thinking. To date I have just one of theirs - an original Jack White Signature Yellow Plasma Coil - while I'm sure I will own a few more before long!
Ambassador Pedal - Plus Pedal Sustainer
7 varieties stocked :
- Light Pedal Optical Spring Reverb - €349
- Motor Synth Mechanical Synthesizer - €1,400 Estd.
- Plasma Pedal High Voltage Distortion - €299
- Plus Pedal Footswitch - €49
- Plus Pedal Sustainer - €329
- Plus Pedal Sustainer with Footswitch - €375
- Third Man Records / Jack White Plasma Coil - €349
GLOU GLOU
I'm well acquainted with Olivier Armbruster and even helped him write a press release once - for his STEAK Multi-Band Dual-Voice Distortion pedal. Olivier's Glou Glou brand is best known for its large extended-range analog workstation pedals which typically combine multiple filters and oscillators - like in this Rendezvous Multi-Modulator, and Pralines Quad Resonant Filter varieties. Pedal of choice here is the recent updated Moutarde Extra Forte PLL variety.
Ambassador Pedal - Moutarde Extra Forte PLL Synth
2 varieties stocked :
- Moutarde Extra Forte PLL Synth - €489
- Pralines Quad Parallel Fuzz-fed Resonant Filter - €359
HOLOGRAM ELECTRONICS
Hologram Electronics have had a blistering few years - and are likely the leading pioneers in Granular Synthesis - with some of the very best pedals in that genre. Starting with the Dream Sequence, then Infinite Jets, and most recently Microcosm - which is the one I'm most likely to acquire - if I can figure out how to accommodate in my pedal-chain. Chosen representative here is the very original Dream Sequence pedal. Note that Hologram Electronics pedals are in very short supply at the moment, and Andy's been waiting a very long time for a re-stock. Obviously there are parts and supply issues still ongoing within this industry.
NOTE : The Hologram re-stock is unlikely to happen for quite some time as Hologram themselves have indicated - could possibly take a year or two even for dealer stocks to be recovered / replenished, and for now customers will need to go directly to Hologram.
Ambassador Pedal - Dream Sequence Programmable Rhythm and Octav
2 varieties stocked :
- Dream Sequence Programmable Rhythm and Octave - €399
- Infinite Jets Resynthesizer - €399
LASTGASP ART LABORATORIES
I've long been aware of Hirofumi Uchino's innovative and experimental Lastgasp Art Laboratories brand. I believe Hirofumi started off in Japan before moving across to Australia. I've long intended to get a number of his pedals - including the Super Oscillo Fuzz - it's just not happened quite yet. The pedal of choice for this selection is the wildly quirky theremin-based Multi Noise Processor 2.
Ambassador Pedal - Multi Noise Processor 2
15 varieties stocked :
- 88 Super Oscillo fuzz - €255
- Deviltail Deathtortion - €219
- Flikrr Flickering Tremolo - €189
- Gomorrah Input Sensitive Subharmonic Fuzz - €175
- Lluna Oscillo Fuzz Drive with Voltage Dropper - €205
- Misty Cave Analog Resonance Echo - €239
- Multi Noise Processor 2 - €649
- Octavella Upper Octave Feedback Fuzz - €179
- Sandstrmr Envelope Noise Generator - €219
- Sick Pitch King Jr Oscillo Ring Modulator - €215
- Sooper Fuzz - €205
- Thunder Box Donsharizer Bass + Treble Booster - €219
- Tone Mosaique Envelope Pixelizer - €229
- Toxic Plant Disharmonic Distortion - €199
- Transroom Analog Modulation Reverb - €295
RED PANDA LAB
I have a lot of affinity for Curt Maloin's brand and should really own more of these by now - where I only have the Particle 2 to-date - which also happens to be the chosen pedal for this selection. All the other V2's are on my wishlist including in particular the new Bitmap Bitcrusher - surely more will be added to my collection soon enough :
Ambassador Pedal - Particle 2 Granular Delay / Pitch Shifter
8 varieties stocked :
- Bitmap 2 Bitcrusher - €369
- Buffer - €99
- Context 2 Reverb - €359
- Mixer 3>1 - €185
- Particle 2 Granular Delay / Pitch Shifter - €359
- Raster 2 Digital Delay / Pitch Shifter - €299
- Remote 4 Footswitch for Tensor - €129
- Tensor Time Stretch and Tape Stop Effect - €339
VEMURAM
Japanese brand Vemuram has increasingly become associated with just two giants of the industry - legendary journeyman guitarist and producer John Shanks, and Tone Master Josh Smith. I myself own two Vemurams to date - the Karen Plexi and original Josh Smith Compact Myriad Fuzz. I've also long intended to get the Galea Tweed Overdrive - but that's not quite happened yet. And quite wanted Vemuram's limited Ibanez collaboration Tube Screamer - but didn't react quick enough and those prices are now rather silly. Two of Vemuram's most famous pedals are evolutions / derivations of famous circuits - the Jan Ray take on Paul Cochrane's Timmy, and the Shanks ODS-1 take on Kay Tachibana's Nobels ODR-1. The pedal of choice here is that most celebrated of Vemuram representatives - the Jan Ray Overdrive.
Ambassador Pedal - Jan Ray Overdrive
6 varieties stocked :
- Daryl Jones' Signature DJ1 Overdrive + Boost - €599
- Jan Ray Overdrive (Timmy) - €389
- Josh Smith Signature Compact Myriad Fuzz - €433
- Josh Smith Signature Expanded Myriad Fuzz + FX Loop and Dry Mix - €599
- Shanks II Fuzz (Silicon Fuzz Face) - €499
- Shanks ODS-1 Overdrive (Nobels ODR-1) - €429
WMD DEVICES
William Mathewson Devices is another brand I really should have in the collection already as I've had the Geiger Counter and Utility Parametric EQ on my wishlist for an eternity. Interestingly Effekt Boutique also stocks the long discontinued Goldilocks Planet Overdrive - which is very tempting. Pedal of choice on this occasion is of course the mid-sized Geiger Counter Bitcrusher / Distortion unit.
Ambassador Pedal - Geiger Counter Bitcrusher / Distortion
7 varieties stocked :
- Arcane Preamp 2 Channel Boost / Fuzz - €219
- Geiger Counter Bitcrusher / Distortion - €279
- Geiger Counter Bitcrusher / Distortion Compact Civilian Issue - €189
- Geiger Counter Bitcrusher / Distortion Pro Expanded Edition - €449
- Goldilocks Planet Perfectly Calibrated Distortion - €159
- Protostar Envelope Filter - €359
- Utility 3-Band Parametric EQ - €189
FINAL THOUGHTS
The effekt-boutique.de website is a great browsing resource as I mentioned in the intro - and I often trawl through the site when looking for some of those lesser-known secret weapon types. Amongst the roster of around 144 brands are some pretty unique ones not easily found elsewhere - of course including my dear friends from Demon Pedals, and several other more unusual ones like Del Rey Custom Shop, Effektmeister, Fuzzhugger FX, Haller, Moody Sounds, Pushking Pedals, Randale Pedals, Rosenberg Amplification, Servus Pedale!, Thorndal, TSVG Pedals, and Vermona...
Besides the obvious plethora of pedals, Effekt Boutique also stocks a number of leading accessory brands - including my own favourite Patch Cable Supplier - EBS Sweden - whose Premium Gold Flat Editions connect all my pedals together. I'm waiting for Andy to get in the latest even more compact HP High Performance EBS editions! Update - those have now arrived - Andy just needs to make them live on his Webstore!
Effekt Boutique also stocks Barefoot Buttons, Cioks Power Supplies, Couch Guitar Straps, GHS Strings, Matchbag GigBags, and Palmer Power Supplies amongst others.
Finally, Effekt Boutique also stocks a small range of guitars - including Reverend, Magneto, Benzville, and Supro brands.
Effekt Boutique Stand at 2017 Guitar Summit
Andy Ebsen is fairly well insulated in his impressive looking shop - where he tends to handle really modern and leading edge pedals - plenty here for experimental musicians for example. That doesn't though entirely shield him from the occasional old folk popping into the store with a box of pedals they stashed away in the 70's. Mostly that sort of stuff is junk really - and in poor condition, while very occasionally you will unearth something a little more special - like a vintage Vox Tone Bender and Vox Wah in perfect working condition. It's not something Andy does much - but he's occasionally been know to help a fellow musician out!
The above Effekt Boutique 2017 Guitar Summit Stand is a great representation of the many interesting brands Andy carries. Andy is a fantastic pedal curator - and is almost always bang on the money with his selections. I for sure will be using the effekt-boutique.de website as a key resource for many years to come!
