Best of British Pedal Builders Roundup - an A-Z Overview in 105 parts!

bispellaudio.com

Since : 2020

Where : Peacehaven, East Sussex

Key Personae : Thomas Woods

About : Distinctive Trade Dress,  stencilled black enclosures with Black, Red and White Knobs, extended features pedals with really smart component selection and refined fully granular controls. Often using cleverly combined Silicon Transistors to generate Germanium style tones.

Range Includes : Gleam Silicon Multi-Fuzz, Lioma Diode Compressor, Proxy Vox UL730 amplifier emulator, Saxon JTM45 + Plexi Overdrive, Tor Silicon Treble Booster.

Notable besides Gleam : Proxy Vox style Overdrive, Saxon JTM45 + Plexi Overdrive, Tor Silicon Treble Booster.

Pricing : £159.99 - £169.99

laney.co.uk/effects/guitar-effects/bcc-pedals

Since : 2017 (Pedals)

Where : Halesowen, West Midlands

Key Personae : N/A

About : Laney Amps' pedal division launched back in 2017 with the Signature Tony Iommi Range Master Boost - elegant and consistent Trade Dress utilising the same skirted, numbered knobs throughout!

Range Includes : The Difference Engine Delay, Monolith Distortion, Secret Path Reverb, Spiral Array Chorus, Steelpark Boost, Tony Iommi Range Master Boost.

Notable besides Spiral Array : The Difference Engine Delay, Monolith Distortion, and Tony Iommi Range Master Boost.

Pricing : £139 - £299

bleakdistrict.co.uk

Since : 2018

Where : Glossop, Peak District, Derbyshire

Key Personae : Phil Meredith

About : Phil's Bleak District started off being inspired by the varied landscapes of the Peak District - earthy organic tones and textures - often with some degree of lo-fi ambience. The palette has recently evolved into more arresting / primary colours also.

Range Includes : Antistatic Stutter Fuzz / Microlooper, RecHead Lo-Fi Dynamic Modulator, Sun? No Model T Type Preamp, Tapescape V2 Magnetic Ambience Generator / Delay.

Notable besides Tapescape Delay : Antistatic, RecHead, and Sun?No.

Pricing : £145 - £225

macaris.co.uk/colorsound

Since : 1965

Where : Haywards Heath, Sussex

Key Personae : Ant Macari

About : UK's original and legendary home of Fuzz - owner of both Colorsound and Sola Sounds Brands - covering all those vintage Tone Benders and Classic Fuzzes - still in authentic larger vintage style enclosures.

Range Includes : Tone Benders MKI, MKII and MKIV, Jumbo Tone Bender, The Octavider, Overdriver / Power Boost, Rush PepBox, Wah-Wah, Wow-Fuzz, Supa Organ Wah, Fuzz Straight.

Notable besides Fuzz Box : Tone Benders! and Overdrivers / Power Boosts.

Pricing : £239 - £959

stompboxes.co.uk/dam.html

Since : 2001

Where : South Yorkshire

Key Personae : David A. Main

About : One of 3 modern UK Fuzz Lords alongside Stu Castledine (semi-retired?) and Steve 'PigDog' Williams - the Fuzz Lords also occasionally include Ghost Effects' Ian Sherwen. D*A*M pedals are mostly in compact enclosures, while broader David Main and Emanating Fist Electronics pedals tend to be in somewhat larger enclosures - David is surely a superb engineer with just the right parts selection. 

Range Includes : Drag 'n' Fly Hybrid Fuzz Tones, Fuzz Sound FS-75(Jr), Graveyard Tramp Hybrid Fuzz Machine GT-73, Maggot Brain Fuzz, Meathead M-13 / M-25 Fuzz, Red Rooster Germanium Amplitude Booster, Sonic Titan Power Amp Distortion, Tone Distorter, Super Bee Germanium Fuzz Tones.

Notable : Meathead Fuzzes - various, Sonic Titan, Fuzz Sound/s.

Pricing : D*A*M stuff is mostly second-hand now  - upwards of £400, to as much as £3K, EFE / David Main pedals new are typically £359 or so and upwards. 

effectrode.com

Since : 1996

Where : Barlaston, Staffordshire

Key Personae : Phil Taylor

About : The UK's preeminent Tube Effector - been making superior sounding Tube-powered preamps and modulations since the mid 90's - usually in large format enclosures with twin protective bars surrounding a trio of 12AX7 size / category vacuum tubes.

Range Includes : Blackbird Vacuum Tube Preamp, Blue Bottle Inductorized Booster, Fire Bottle Tube Boost, Glass-A Triode Buffer, Mercury Tube Fuzz, PC-2A Tube Compressor, Phaseomatic Vacuum Tube Phaser, Tube Drive Overdrive, Tube Vibe, Delta-Trem Tube Tremolo.

Notable besides Mercury Fuzz : Blackbird Tube Preamp, Delta-Trem Tube Tremolo, Tube-Vibe.

Pricing : £239 - £749

flattleyguitarpedals.com

Since : 2016

Where : Heckington, Lincolnshire 

Key Personae : Paul Flattley, Phoebe Flattley

About : Super high production values family pedal business - utilising superior components and impeccable finishing - often making use of hydro-dipping, and suspended metal flakes in several layers of clear lacquer. Legends are engraved into knobs, and Flattley makes use of Halo LED's and Footswitch Buttons / Toppers - the latter of which carry the most visible branding. There is a consistent 'Skulls' graphics theme carried across most pedals - with the Platinum designs particularly refined compositions - including Chaos, Mexican and Paisley pattern Skull motifs.

Range Includes : PLATINUM } Centurion Overdrive, DG Fuzz, Revolution Overdrive, Solaris Pro Fuzz, Violet Tremolo, Wah Type I, Wah Type II, SILVER } Crazy Diamond Vibe, Nirvana Analogue Delay, Plexstar Plexi, Poison Ivy Octave Harmonic Fuzz, Silver Centurion Overdrive, Star Fazer, The Ace Tone Boost.

Notable besides DG Fuzz : Revolution Overdrive, Crazy Diamond Vibe, Poison Ivy Octave Harmonic Fuzz.

Pricing : £221 - £379

www.fredric.co.uk

Since : 2011

Where : North Finchley, London

Key Personae : Tim Webster

About : Handmade guitar pedals from London, in unique practical proprietary wedge-shaped enclosures. Fredric Effects are passionate about building pedals that look and sound great, with hard-wearing professional finishes and the best components. They're high quality boutique effects without the excessive boutique price-tags!

Range Includes : LARGE WEDGES } Dresden Synth Fuzz, Nouveau Super Unpleasant Companion Fuzz, Utility Perkolator, Verzerrer Distortion, SMALL / COMPACT WEDGES } Accomplished Badger Germanium Boost, Blue Monarch Overdrive (BB), Bug Crusher Analog Sample-Rate Reducer, Deeply Unpleasant Companion Fuzz, Demon Fuzz, Do the Weasel Stomp! Filter, DuoFace Vintage Fuzz, Foxrite Fuzz, Golden Eagle Klone Drive, Green Russian Muff Fuzz, Harmonic Percolator, ICBM '78 Muff Fuzz, KC Buffer, King of Klone Drive, Mutant Fuzz, Pocket Weasel Fuzz, Regent 150 Preamp, Scrambled Brainz Fuzz, Square Wave Fuzz, Standard Fuzz Machine, Unpleasant Companion Fuzz, Unpleasant Companion Mufftone Special, Warp Sound Filter Distortion, West Germany Tremolo, Zombie Klone. CLOAK AUDIO } Jackdaw Fuzz.

Notable besides DuoFace Fuzz : Dresden Synth Fuzz, Nouveau Super Unpleasant Companion Fuzz, Utility Perkolator

Pricing : £125 - £190 typically, Buffer is £75

www.greateasternfx.com

Since : 2021

Where : Cambridge, Cambridgeshire

Key Personae : David Greeves

About : Sleek meticulously engineered monochrome pedals with uniform design details and typically clever circuit manipulation for easy dial-in-ability. Some killer gain machines here - Overdrives and Fuzzes thus far.

Range Includes : Design-a-Drive, Focus Fuzz Hybrid (retired), Focus Fuzz Silicon, Small Speaker Overdrive.

Notable besides Design-a-Drive : Focus Fuzz - Hybrid and Silicon varieties, Small Speaker Overdrive.

Pricing : £199 - £249

hamsteadsoundworks.com/pedal-navigation

Since : 2015 (Pedal Division)

Where : Wendy, Cambridgeshire

Key Personae : Peter Hamstead, Brian Love

About : Famed Circuit, Amp and and Pedal Designer with impeccably refined taste - making some of the most aesthetically pleasing high fidelity musical guitar devices - especially well regarded for Gain and Tremolo pedals.

Range Includes : Ascent Amplitude Controller Boost, Comet Interstellar Driver, Odyssey Intergalactic Driver, Signature Analogue Tremolo, Subspace Intergalactic Driver, Subspace Ge Intergalactic Driver (retired), Zenith Amplitude Controller - EQ + Boost + Compressor, 

Notable besides Subspace Ge : Odyssey Intergalactic Driver, Signature Analogue Tremolo, Zenith Amplitude Controller.

Pricing : £159 - £299

reverb.com/uk/shop/hello-sailor-effects

Since : 2007

Where : Formerly at Sea, currently Gosport, Hampshire

Key Personae : Joe Haliday

About : Wonderfully eclectic 'every pedal is unique' confection of vintage parts and unusual enclosure types in all manner of shapes and sizes - and utilising found, reclaimed, machined and fabricated parts. Influenced by Sailor Jerry, Navy, Maritime, and Pop Cultural Icons - these are instantly identifiable modern / retro classics!

Range Includes : Rangemaster, Dual Rangemaster, Abbey Road Fuzz, Xenomorph Fuzz, Anchor Drive, Kossoff Drive, and FreeRange Kossoff + Rangemaster.

Notable besides FreeRange : All Rangemasters, Abbey Road Fuzz, Anchor Drive.

Pricing : £265 - £395

www.horrothia.com

Since : 2006

Where : Falmouth, Cornwall

Key Personae : Tom Oakes

About : Beautifully refined mid-side boxes typified by unique arcade style zinc alloy footswitches - the personification of elegance with always smart choices in control topology and component selection.

Range Includes : Berkeley 60's Liquid Lesslie Vibe, Teeth MK2. Discrete Low-Gain Overdrive, Triage Discrete Transistor Preamp, Triage Germanium Edition Discrete Transistor Preamp, Type One Analogue Ensemble Chorus

Notable besides Berkeley : Teeth MK2 Discrete Low-Gain Overdrive, Triage Discrete Transistor Preamp, Type One Analogue Ensemble Chorus.

Pricing : £190 - £270

hudsonelectronicsuk.com

Since : 2008

Where : Beverley, East Yorkshire

Key Personae : Michael Hudson

About : Hand built vintage-styled guitar effect pedals - built using new old-stock European germanium and silicon transistors, along with high quality components on to vintage-style stripboards. Every aspect of the build is completed by hand and with a high attention to detail from the application of the graphics through to final assembly and testing.

Range Includes : Broadcast Discrete Germanium Preamp, 24V Broadcast, Dual Broadcast, Broadcast-AP Signature Ariel Posen Edition, Motorcycle Overdrive (Custom Sidecar), Sidecar Germanium Clipping Overdrive.

Notable besides Broadcast : Broadcast-AP, Motorcycle Overdrive, Sidecar Germanium Clipping Overdrive.

Pricing : £169 - £175

www.intensivecareaudio.com

Since : 2020

Where : Stoke Newington, London

Key Personae : Patrick Smith

About : Medical Devices inspired brand with a superior attention to detail and some really distinct branding elements. These are innovative and distinctly different effects which wholly occupy their own monochromatic space. Hand-made with the highest quality components and precision honed to medical devices standards of quality and precision.

Range Includes : Death Drive, Fideleater Lo-Fi Chorus / Vibrato / Delay, Recovery Phase Dual Modulation Phase-Shifter / Tremolo, Vena Cava Filter Distortion.

Notable besides Death Drive : Fideleater Lo-Fi Chorus / Vibrato / Delay, Recovery Phase Dual Modulation Phase-Shifter / Tremolo, Vena Cava Filter Distortion.

Pricing : £160 - £199

nrgeffects.com

Since : 2012

Where : Uckfield, East Sussex

Key Personae : Neil R Grimes

About : The most intricately and beautifully made pedals inside and out - with elegant point-to-point wiring even on the Mini editions. These pedals come in three series - Mini Monochrome, Maxi Monochrome, and Hand-Painted Full-Colour Custom - where the Mini range is wholly complete now at 7 distinct pedals, with the Maxis currently at 4, with variations, and the Custom Hand-Painted Series consists of the original expansive series - including the full-fat Super Purrer. 

Range Includes : MINIS } Gnawer Vintage Distortion, Humper Midrange Boost, Kicker JFET / Dirty Boost, Mauler 2-Transistor Fuzz, Poker Treble Booster, Pumper High-Headroom Boost, Purrer Transparent Overdrive, MAXIS } Gnawer Vintage Distortion, Mauler 2 Transistor Fuzz, Poker Treble Booster, Purrer Transparent Overdrive (Regular & Slimline), CUSTOM / HAND-PAINTED } Made to order.

Notable besides Purrer : Gnawer Distortion, Mauler Fuzz, Poker Treble Booster.

Pricing : £189 - £429

origineffects.com

Since : 2012

Where : Buckingham, Buckinghamshire

Key Personae : Simon Keats, John Dines, Jacob Holdsworth

About : The current champion UK pedal export brands with the most global sales. Very distinct super high quality milled proprietary aluminium enclosures and knobs - originally in a fairly monochrome design with copper and gold accents, while the new compact range is seeing more colours - all immaculately chosen of course. This is very much the UK's reassuringly expensive brand - where the incredibly attention to detail and smart engineering justify the premium price tags. Started off with Compressors, then gain pedals, and latterly gain with LFO modulation. The flagship is still the Cali76 Compact Deluxe Compressor, while the recent and very slightly more affordable compact series is moving up fast - from which I've selected the M-EQ Driver as the ambassador pedal for the brand.

Range Includes : COMPRESSORS } Cali76 Compact Deluxe, Cali76 Stacked Edition, SlideRIG Compact Deluxe MK2, GAIN } DCX Boost, Halcyon Gold Overdrive, Halcyon Green Overdrive, M-EQ Driver, DELUXE61 Amp Tremolo & Drive, MAGMA57 Amp Vibrato & Drive, RevivalDRIVE Compact, RD COMPACT Hot Rod, RevivalDRIVE, RevivalDRIVE Custom.

Notable besides Halcyon Gold : Cali76 Compact Deluxe, M-EQ Driver, RevivalDRIVE Custom.

Pricing : £239 - £599

petecornish.co.uk/index2.html

Since : 1972

Where : Heathfield, East Sussex

Key Personae : Pete Cornish

About : The go-to guy for pro pedals and pedalboards thoughout the 70's to 90's serving the who's who of Rock 'n Roll throughout those years - most famously including Peter Banks of Yes (customer #1), David Gilmour, Brian May, Robert Fripp, Alan Holdsworth, Andy Summers, Dave Murray, Mark Knopfler and Tony Iommi - just to name a few. Original series of pedals was the Larger Grey Series, then came the Deluxe Series, and finally my favourite and the most pedalboard friendly of Pete's pedals - the Battery-Free Series (which come with top-mounted jacks too). There's a great deal of overlap between series - while the Grey Series has the most variants, I will focus on my preferred Battery-Free Series though!

Range Includes : 3Q-1 Active EQ, Acoustic Preamp, A/B/Y Box, BD-1 Bass Driver, CC-1 Cornish Crunch Overdrive, G01 Distortion, GC-1 High Gain Crunch, LD-1 Line Driver, LD-3 Line Driver, Dual LD-3 Line Driver, NB-2 Linear Boost, NBN-2 Linear Boost, NG-2 High Gain Fuzz, NG-3 High Gain Fuzz, OC-1 Optical Compressor, P-1 Ram style Fuzz, P-2 Civil War style Fuzz, Passive Play / Mute Switch, SS-1 Soft Sustain Overdrive, SS-2 Soft Sustain Overdrive, ST-2 Variable Tone Boost, TB-83 / Extra Vintage Treble Boost

Notable besides GC-1 : CC-1 Cornish Crunch, NG-3 High Gain Fuzz, SS-3 Soft Sustain Overdrive.

Pricing : £110 - £679

pigdogpedals.com

Since : 2007

Where : Surrey

Key Personae : Steve Williams

About : Largely inspired by David A. Main to get properly into making pedals - builds the most gorgeous modern looking vintage style circuits - mostly Tone Benders and Treble Boosters. I think pretty unique in including a packing list of all the component 'ingredients' used in each pedal. Another reassuringly expensive brand - with eye-watering second-hand prices.

Range Includes : Destruction Department MKIV Fuzz, Dirty Mac Treble Booster, Electric Eye MK-1 Fuzz, Fuzzbound Fuzz, Fuzz Gear Fuzz, Fuzz Zone FZ-1, Headley Grange MKIII Fuzz, Heavy Load Fuzz, Honey Dripper MKIII Fuzz, JuJu MKIII Fuzz, KxON Klone, Loony II Fuzz, Peace Fuzzbender Fuzz, Space Face Fuzz, Low Pro MKII Fuzz, Monkey Finger MKII Fuzz, Omolon Buzzaround Fuzz, P73 Fuzz, Party Favour Buzzaround Fuzz, Professional MKII, Prosecutor MKII.V Fuzz, White Type-Z Fuzz, Williams SupaFuzz.

Notable besides JuJu : Destruction Department MKIV Fuzz, Dirty Mac Treble Booster, Electric Eye MK-1 Fuzz

Pricing : £469 - £999

raingerfx.com

Since : 2009

Where : Willesden Junction, London

Key Personae : David Rainger, Martin Simpson, Baptiste Mondowski, Prav, and Lucas

About : Probably the UK's most creative pedal genius - apart from the Minis, near enough every pedal is its own odd shape and nothing like the one before - with the Drone Rainger a great case in point - probably the most distinctive of the current roster - albeit the Break Box and Snare Trap offer stiff competition with their built-in Igor expression pads. These don't look, work or sound like any other - they're utterly brilliantly unique - while you sometimes need to see how David uses the pedal before it clicks! Just really fantastic and distinctly creative pedals which surely inspire new forms of playing!

Range Includes : Bleep Fuzz Mini, Break Box Scratch 'n Sustain Distortion, Deep Space Pulsar Mini, DFST-1 Stealth Fuzz Mini (retired), Dr Freakenstein Chop Fuzz (retired), Drone Rainger Dub Delay, Echo-X Mini, Flanger-X Mini, Minibar Liquid-Shaping Overdrive, Reverb-X Mini, Snare Trap Beat Box, 

Notable besides Drone Rainger Delay : Bleep Fuzz Mini, Break Box Scratch 'n Sustain Distortion, Snare Trap Beat Box.

Pricing : £124-£249

redbeardeffects.com

Since : 2019

Where : Farthinghoe, West Northamptonshire

Key Personae : Mikey Demus, Adrian Thorpe

About : Lead guitarist from Skindred teams up with his friend Thorpy for a pro working artist inspired collection of killer tour-grade tools. So far covering a variety of different supremely versatile gain pedals - Orange RockerVerb inspired Distortion, Sub Octave Fuzz, Parametric Overdrive, and Muff-inspired Multi-Fuzz. All with Thorpy's supreme attention to detail and ultimate quality and prevision - for a really distinctive and eye catching brand - with equally creative pedal names as Thorpy's own series,

Range Includes : Angry Rhubarb Paradynamic Overdrive MKII, Hairy Squid Colossal Fuzz, Honey Badger Sub Octave Fuzz, Red Mist MKIV High Gain Distortion.

Notable besides Angry Rhubarb : Hairy Squid Colossal Fuzz, Honey Badger Sub Octave Fuzz, Red Mist MKIV High Gain Distortion.

Pricing : £199 - £219

reeveselectro.co.uk

Since : 2013

Where : Kettering, Northamptonshire

Key Personae : Markus Reeves, Izzy Reeves

About : Beautifully point-to-point hand-wired pedals with extraordinary attention to detail and intricate hand-crafted processes inside and out - including acid-etching and ageing of pedal graphics. Three series in effect here - original Point-to-Point hand-wired, tougher Tour Grade series, and the new DaugtherBoard series made by Izzy. Very small batch manufacture with only circa 10 made at a time and sold in seconds!

Range Includes : 2n2FACE High Volume Silicon FuzzFace, 108Master High Gain Rangemaster, 183Sound Tour Grade Fuzz, BHS-D BlackHatSound Deluxe Wedge, BlackHatSound MKI Fuzz, The Darlington Flyer Fuzz, Leo Tweed Voiced Overdrive, LuxMaster Dual Seating Rangemaster, RedDotSound Jr MKII Fuzz, SUPA-J Dual 3 Transistor Fuzz, Zo MK2 Silicon Zonk Machine.

Notable besides BlackHatSound : Leo Tweed Voiced Overdrive, RedDotSound MKII Fuzz, Zo MK2 Zonk Machine

Pricing : £299 - £500

ritualdevices.co.uk

Since : 2019

Where : Pontypridd, South Wales

Key Personae : Wub Wainwright

About : Beautifully made unique circuits with intricate acid etched and sort of enamel style painted Victorian trinket box inspired geometric patterns at the top end. Actually 3 different series here - the intricate Wainright Signature sort of Deluxe Series, the more hard-wearing and everyday tour-grade Studio Series, and the rawer and more affordable Grey Series.

Range Includes : WAINWRIGHT EDITIONS } EVOL Fuzz / Distortion, Fay Phase Filter Saturation Modulation, Grimalkin Fuzz, Rainmaker Analog Vibrato / Tremolo, Treble Boost, STUDIO SERIES } EVOL Fuzz / Distortion, Fay Phase Filter Saturation Modulation, Grimalkin Fuzz, Rainmaker Analog Vibrato / Tremolo, Treble Boost, GREY SERIES } Grey Fuzz, Grey Overdrive.

Notable besides Fay : EVOL Fuzz, Grimalkin Fuzz, Rainmaker Analog Vibrato / Tremolo.

Pricing : £109 - £299

stonedeaffx.com

Since : 2010

Where : Manchester

Key Personae : Luke Hilton

About : Pedal Brand that specializes in creating digitally controlled analog and digital effects pedals for musicians - featuring a distinctive immediately identifiable Trade Dress look with striking graphics. Several of the pedals deploy smart Parametric / Paracentric EQs / Filters - all the better for shaping the output to cut through in a band-mix.

Range Includes : EP-1 Expression Pedal, Fig Fumb Paracentric Fuzz Filter (Muff), Kliptonite Dual OD / Fuzz, Noise Reaper Noise Gate, PDF-1X Parametric Distortion Filter, PDF-1X Parametric Distortion Filter Ltd Ghost Edition, PDF-2 Parametric Distortion Filter, Q-Boost, Tremotron Tremolo (retired), Warp Drive Parametric Drive

Notable besides Tremotron : Fig Fumb Paracentric Fuzz Filter (Muff), Kliptonite Dual OD / Fuzz, Warp Drive Parametric Drive.

Pricing : £119 - £179

tatefx.co.uk

Since : 2014

Where : Burnham, Buckinghamshire

Key Personae : Stuart Tate

About : Really smartly engineered boutique pedals with some killer graphics. Obviously flagship pedals Raise The Dead Fuzz and the Antares Overdrive are consistently front and centre of that selection - while Stuart generally makes some very fine 2-Transistor Fuzzes, Rat-style Distortions and Rangemasters.

Range Includes : Antares Overdrive, Booster Skull, Buffer, Germanium Fuzz, Hot Coals Germanium Rangemaster, Raise the Dead Fuzz, Raise the Dead Germanium Fuzz, Rodent 308 Distortion, Sirens Scream Distortion (Rat).

Notable besides Raise the Dead : Antares Overdrive, Hot Coals Germanium Rangemaster, Sirens Scream Distortion (Rat).

Pricing : £75 - £199

thegigrig.com

Since : 2006

Where : Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire

Key Personae : Daniel Steinhardt

About : TPS Dan's superior Looper-Switching brand covering all manner of fundamental pedalboard utilities including the legendary G3 Switching System and Generator Power Supplies.

Range Includes : ABY Baby, Cinco Cinco Patch Bay, G2/G3 Bank Manager, G3 Switching System, G3 ATOM Switching System, G3 Extension Kit, Gen-X-14 DC Power Supply, Generator Power Supply, Generator Adapters - Various, Grumpybot Buffer, Humdinger Signal Splitter, MIDI Cinco Patch Bay, MIDI Driver, QuarterMaster QMX-2, QuarterMaster QMX-4, QuarterMaster QMX-6, QuarterMaster QMX-8, QuarterMaster QMX-10, TGR-1 Expression Bundle, Three2One Guitars to Amp Switcher, UnderLiner Amp Tamer, Wetter Box Parallel Blender, 

Notable besides Wetter Box : G3 Switching System / Atom, Three2One Guitars Switcher, QuarterMaster Switchers - Various.

Pricing : £35 - £1,195

thorpyfx.com

Since : 2014

Where : Farthinghoe, Northamptonshire

Key Personae : Adrian Thorpe, Georgia Thorpe, Dan Coggins.

About : Some of the most iconic pedals in the world - immediately recognisable by their unique folded metal enclosures with perforated side protectors. Adrian's attention to detail is legendary where every tiny part of the whole is thoroughly considered - the name, look, design of the pedal, as well as the intricate circuit work - all still hand-made and all very much on-point and on-theme.

Range Includes : The Bunker Intermodulation Drive / Distortion, The Camoflange Analog Flanger, The Dane Overdrive + Boost, The Deep Oggin Analog Chorus / Vibrato, ER-2 Uni-Vibe, The Fallout Cloud Fuzz, The Fat General Parallel Compressor, The Field Marshall Fuzz, FLIR Mini Buffer, The Gunshot Overdrive, Heavy Water Dual Boost, The Peacekeeper Low Gain Overdrive, Pulse Doppler Analog Phaser + Vibrato + Trem, Scarlet Tunic Analog Amp Emulator, The Warthog Distortion.

Notable besides The Dane : The Fallout Cloud Fuzz, The Peacekeeper Low Gain Overdrive, The Warthog Distortion.

Pricing : £99 - £299

zandercircuitry.co.uk

Since : 2016

Where : Canvey Island, Essex 

Key Personae : Alex Millar, Maisie Millar

About : Really innovative extended features pedals with very distinctive Trade Dress look and feel, including unique proprietary knobs and outline graphics onto raw enclosures. Best known for its Multi-Clipping Compact Gain pedals which feature 8 different clipping options, dual footswitches and smart EQ controls.

Range Includes : MAINLINE } American Geek Fuzz, Cafetière DistortoFuzz, Cranium Rat Distortion, Duplo Lo-Fi Delay Workstation, Foxxton Woods Octave Fuzz, Junipero Aqueous Modulation Workstation, SiClone Silicon Fuzz Factory, Siva Opamp Fuzz, Sono Bass Drive / Distortion, Surplus Dual Overdrive, Templo Reverb Workstation, Terra Firma Power Amp Distortion, GLYPH SERIES } same compact circuits in single graphic black enclosures.

Notable besides Cafetiere : Cranium Distortion, Foxxton Woods Octave Fuzz, Siva Opamp Fuzz.

Pricing : £149 - £299

Main Listing A-Z, notable brands that just missed inclusion in the cover image are punctuated by a video, like the 27 Leading Lights!

4114customeffects.co.uk/

Since : 2013

Where : Bradford, West Yorkshire

Key Personae : Daniel Holmes

About : Mostly a custom builder by the looks of it who's built all manner of pedals over the years, while more recently the focus seems to be on his Flux Capacitor Delay.

Range Includes : Flux Capacitor Delay V2, Aero' Drive, Bad Kush Octave-down Fuzz, Birdbrain Klone, Doom Envelope Filter, Dual Buffer / Splitter, Fatman Bass Overdrive, Fatman Overdrive, Faux Tone Machine, Fuzzactaron, FX Loop booster, Gypsy-Vibe, Hybrid Fuzz, Hydradrive Screamer, IT Crowd TS808, Little Blue Pill Booster, Mythical Overdrive V2, Obviously Cloned Distortion, Twinulator Overdrive, Twinulator Overdrive Mini, Warm Muffin Overdrive. 

Notable : Only current listed pedal is the Flux Capacitor Delay V2

Pricing : £285

audiokitchen.co.uk

Since : 2007

Where : Acton, London

Key Personae : Steve Crow, James Dunbar

About : Celebrated Root and Branch themed boutique amp builder with a fine line in Valve and JFET pedal preamps and boosts too.

Range Includes : Fake Plastic Trees JFET Preamp, The Big Trees Valve Preamp, The Small Trees Valve Boost, The Small Trees TST DI / Valve Boost, The Flying Squirrel Valve Preamp / Overdrive / Fuzz.

Notable : Fake Plastic Trees JFET Preamp, The Big Trees Valve Preamp, The Small Trees Valve Boost

Pricing : £325 - £749

audiostorm.uk

Since : 2008

Where : Manchester

Key Personae : Sean Mandrake

About : Fantastic Engineer-led Brand where Sean is always trying to push things forward to the next level - always making the best use of leading-edge technology to deliver smarter more usable and more versatile pedals - he definitely goes his own way!

Range Includes : Grand Classic Distortion, HotBox 120 Attenuator, HotBox 130 Attenuator, Quad Screamer Overdrive, Tone Lord V2 Booster, Volumefink

Notable : Grand Classic Distortion, Quad Screamer Overdrive, Tone Lord V2 Booster 

Pricing : £99 - £229

badpennyfx.com - Retired!

Since : 2017 - Retired

Where : Newhaven, East Sussex

Key Personae : Mark & Felix

About : Distinctive mostly slightly oversized square wood-framed fuzz boxes. Beautiful facia plates, smart knob choices and overall excellent quality of finish - possibly just slightly too large overall to be properly pedalboard friendly.

Range Includes : Dluxe Drive, Flow Boost Mini, Fuzz Controller V2, Fuzz Controller Germanium, Killswitch, Littlebox Fuzz, Lollygagger Overdrive, Marshall Controller, Morse Fuzz Mini, Nerd Fuzz + Boost, Old Fuzz Mini, Quagswag Fuzz Boost, Smoothflow Twin-Stage Dynamic Boost, Widow Dual Overdrive/Fuzz, Wireless Germanium Fuzz.

Notable : Fuzz Controller V2, Wireless Germanium Fuzz, Widow Dual Overdrive/Fuzz.

Pricing : £145 - £165

bghpedals.com

Since : 2018

Where : London

Key Personae : Christopher Harding

About : Vintage fuzz specialist, particularly celebrated for his take on the various Zonk style fuzzes. Does a range of Vintage Fuzzes, Overdrives and Preamps.

Range Includes : Baby Zonk, Big Face, Clean Octave Badger Fuzz, Element 32 Treble Booster, Full Monty Buzz, Junior Special D-Style Preamp, Manic Fuzz, Problem Child Hybrid Fuzz, S:P/D:P Fuzz, Timbre Twister MKI, Timbre Twister MKII / Supa Twister, Vintage Style Zonk, ZII Fuzz, Zonk Machine

Notable : Baby Zonk, Element 32 Treble Booster, Full Monty Buzz

Pricing : £175 - £400

bigfootengineering.com

Since : 2009

Where : Leominster, Herefordshire

Key Personae : Rhys John Stubbs

About : Smartly engineered relatively simple pedals with cute line drawn graphics on primary colour enclosures. Typically come in 3 Editions - Regular (Medium), Mini (Compact), and XL (Medium Extended Features). 

Range Includes : King Fuzz, King Fuzz Mini, King Fuzz XL, Octo Puss, Octo Puss Top Mount, Octo Puss XL, Octo Puss Prime, Octo Puss Prime XL, Thunder Pup, Thunder Pup Mini, Thunder Pup XL, Trouble Booster, Trouble Booster Mini, Trouble Booster Uno, Trouble Booster XL, Yak Face, Yak Face Mini, Yak Face XL

Notable : King Fuzz XL, Octo Puss Prime XL, Thunder Pup

Pricing : £119 - £199

bluewhalepedals.com

Since : 2020

Where : Hartland, Devon

Key Personae : Robert Whale

About : Handcrafted Pedals made in Cornwall, mostly based on classic / vintage fuzz, treble booster and tube screamer circuits. Cooltone pedals seemed to have been made at the same premises - same circuits looks like - just a different label as such. Seems like Cooltone is now fully folded into Bluewhale.

Range Includes : Distortion X, Echoverb, Fuzzbender, Fuzzbender FF, Germanium Boost, Screamer, Tonemaster Rangemaster, Voxbender

Notable : Fuzzbender FF, Germanium Boost, Screamer

Pricing : £149 - £179

booinstruments.com

Since : 2012

Where : South London

Key Personae : N/A, Anonymous?

About : CNC engraved, paint-infilled elegant brushed enclosures, option of lit-up base plate / Lid for extra £10. Actually really elegant and well-made pedals - have a sort of slightly understated glamour about them!

Range Includes : Boost (Transparent), Chorus CE-2, Delay (Digital), KC Klone Boost/OD, Overdrive (TS808), Phaser PH-1R, Tremolo, TS808 Overdrive

Notable : Chorus CE-2, Phaser PH-1R, Tremolo

Pricing : £65 - £170

brightonion.co.uk

Since : 2010

Where : Brighton, East Sussex

Key Personae : James Murphy

About : The UK's preeminent utilities pedal maker - finely crafted Loopers, Switchers, Patchboxes, and Splitters. Also the recent innovative BOP Blocks 3D-Printed pedalboard risers. The place to go for utility pedals!

Range Includes : 2-8 Switch Loopers, Amp / Kill / Latching / Momentary / Pedal / Remote / Tap Switches, AB / ABC / ABY Switchers, Buffers & Splitters, Patchboxes, BOP Blocks Pedalboard Risers

Notable : 2-8 Switch Loopers, Amp / Kill / Latching / Momentary / Pedal / Remote / Tap Switches, BOP Blocks Pedalboard Risers

Pricing : £5 - £120

britishpedalcompany.com

Since : 1965 (unsubstantiated)

Where : Doncaster, South Yorkshire

Key Personae : N/A, Anonymous?

About : Long-term maker of vintage UK pedal replicas, with somewhat opaque origins. Mostly known for its Vintage style fuzzes. Its range is split into 4 series - Vintage, Compact, Special Editions, and Dumble.

Range Includes : VINTAGE } BPC PepBox Fuzz, Buzzaround Fuzz, Dallas Rangemaster, Vintage } MKI Tone Bender, MK1.5 Tone Bender, Professional MKII Tone Bender OC75, Professional MKII Tone Bender OC81D, Rangemaster Veritone, Shatterbox Fuzz, Zonk Machine, COMPACT } BPC Pep Box, Dallas Brit Face Fuzz Black, Dallas Brit Face Fuzz Silver, MKI Tone Bender, MKII Tone Bender, NOS Rangemaster, Rangemaster, Zonk Machine, SPECIALS } Britsound MKIII Fuzz, King of Fuzz Tone Bender MKII, Lemon Boost, Mullard OC44 Rangemaster, Mullard OC71 Rangemaster, NOS Dallas Rangemaster, Rangemaster Fuzzbug MK1.5, Rangemaster Fuzzbug MKII Wood MKI Tone Bender, DUMBLE } Dunble Blackface, Dumble Silveface

Notable : Compact MKI, Compact MKII, Compact Zonk

Pricing : £239 - £399

butterflyeffectpedals.com

Since : 2014

Where : Bedford, Bedfordshire

Key Personae : Mark Mills

About : Vast range of actually very beautifully made clones with top-notch graphics, superior components, and superior production values - vast range of over 50 types and other varieties that can be made to order. A little option paralysis on the actual options front - I've concentrated on the key fuzzes, and what's currently available in store!

Range Includes : All Muff variations with added 4th Mids Control, Hornet Moth Fuzz, Marbled White Creamy Dreamer, All Tone Benders MKI - MKIV and including Supa Fuzz and Zonk Machine, also Buzzaround, Coronal Mass Ejection (Meathead), Dust Bunny (PEE), Aces & Eighths (COB), Filth Foundry (Fuzz Factory), Flower of Evil (Monolith Oracle), Fuzz Buddy (Companion), Hairy Heffalump (Woolly Mammoth), P450 & P450+ (PEE + SG-1), P450 Catalyst Fuzz / Octave Fuzz / Swell, Phaser II (Phasor), Antikythera Mechanism Chorus (Sea Machine), Danger Bird (Crazy Horse), Double Arrow (Dual Klone)

Notable : Hornet Moth Fuzz, TB MKIII, Phaser II

Pricing : £110 - £240

www.buzzelectronics.co.uk

Since : 2010

Where : Polegate, Ease Sussex

Key Personae : Simon Bond

About : Utilities Pedal brand making raw grey box and black lacquered Looper-Switchers of a variety of scope and complexity, also Patch Pedals.

Range Includes : 3/4/5/6/7/8/12/16 Channel Loopers - Programmable and MIDI Capable, Double and Quad Patch Pedals

Notable : Multi-Channel Programmable and MIDI Loopers

Pricing : £43 - £360

buzzingbugsfx.com

Since : 2022

Where : Truro, Cornwall

Key Personae : Daniel Goldberg

About : Beautifully made Fuzz pedals with superior attention to detail and really eye-catching spirograph style geometric designs. Made with superior components for superior texture and harmonics.

Range Includes : BB01 Vox-inspired Fuzz Preamp, BB02 Percolator Fuzz, Raise Hell Percolator Fuzz V1, Raise Hell Percolator Fuzz V2

Notable : BB01 Vox-inspired Fuzz Preamp, BB02 Percolator Fuzz

Pricing : £99 - £129

www.wah-wah.co.uk

Since : 2002

Where : Nuneaton, Warwickshire

Key Personae : Stu Castledine

About : One of the 3 modern Fuzz Lords alongside David Main and Steve Williams, has taken something of a back seat of late. Known for his immaculate and flavoursome vintage style fuzzes, preamps, and wah pedals.

Range Includes : 3-in-1 Tone Bender, 7120 Silicon Fuzz, Grey Wah, Magical Mystery Box Preamp, MK One Bender, Pro MKII Fuzz, Spider Box, Standard Wah, Supra-Vibe, Supa MKI Fuzz, The Wizard Distortion

Notable : Magical Mystery Box Preamp, Supa MKI Fuzz, The Wizard Distortion

Pricing : £234 - £348

championleccy.com

Since : 2017

Where : Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Key Personae : Woolly

About : Beautifully idiosyncratic brand - making colourful, unique and fairly unusual effects pedals with quirky names - and highly identifiable graphics. Cool and unique truly.

Range Includes : The Divvy Fuzz/Crunch, The Fettle Boost (V2), The Dunsh FuzzStortion, The Kilter Parallel FX Loop Utility, The Skitter V2 Reverbolo, The Swan Hunter Loft Echo & Reverb.

Notable : The Dunsh FuzzStortion, The Skitter V2 Reverbolo, The Swan Hunter Loft Echo & Reverb.

Pricing : $160 - $290

www.cogeffects.co.uk

Since : 2013

Where : Sheffield

Key Personae : Tom George

About : Specialist bass pedal maker who's done a number of really complicated combination fuzz pedals over the years including several for Mike Kerr of Royal Blood. Very distinctive classy black and red mostly outline graphics on brushed metal enclosures.

Range Includes : Grand Tarkin Bass Fuzz, Nightfall 66 Band Overdrive, Mini 66 Bass Overdrive, R-1 Fuzz Octave, T-16 Analogue Octave Mini, T-47 Analogue Octave, T-65 Analogue Octave, T-70 Analogue Octave DLX, Tarkin Fuzz Mini.

Notable : Grand Tarkin Bass Fuzz, R-1 Fuzz Octave, T-70 Analogue Octave DLX.

Pricing : £180 - £350

cogginsaudio.co.uk

Since : 2018

Where : Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset

Key Personae : Dan Coggins

About : Dan Coggins is the Engineer behind seminal brands Lovetone and Dinosaural, where his latest venture is Coggins Audio Ltd, while he's also Thorpy's full time Analogue Design Engineer. On the side as such he's managed

to squeeze out one more classic in the shape of his 3 x Gain Stage Cogmeister / triple boost/overdrive.

Range Includes : Cogmeister triple boost/overdrive

Notable : Just the one pedal currently - made in small batches - via info@cogginsaudio.co.uk

Pricing : £299

cornellamps.com

Since : 2009 [Pedals, Amps go back to 1991]

Where : Southend-on-Sea, Essex

Key Personae : Denis Cornell, Brian Hucker

About : Legendary Boutique Amp maker who started off working for Arbiter back in the day - the home of the Fuzz Face. The Cornell Legacy Fuzz capitalises on all that knowledge and preserves that pedal's vintage qualities while extending Gain and Volume range.

Range Includes : Legacy Fuzz. The First Fuzz and Overdrive Special Preamp are long since retired

Notable : Only the Legacy Fuzz is current

Pricing : £250

creberinstruments.com

Since : 2017

Where : Devon

Personae : N/A, Anonymous?

About : Slightly mysterious brand supposedly handmade in Devon but with scant details and weirdly available on Ebay, but not Reverb.com. Pedals look decent but there is insufficient information available to establish proper provenance. 

Range Includes : The 12AU7 Valve Classic Authentic Tube Overdrive, 1950s Style Slapback, 1960s Style Germanium Classic Fuzz, 1970s Style Silicon Classic Fuzz, Active Line Selector, Analog Vibration, Classic Boost, Classic Drive, Classic Fuzz, The Classic Switcheroo, Classic Vibration, Clean Boost, Germanium Boost, Mute Kill Switch & Tuner Send, Passive A/B Selector, Passive ABY Line Selector, Passive Line Selector, Pedal Shoot-Out Alternator, Send & Return FX Loop Selector, Treble Boost, Vintage Warp Dynamic Filter + Auto Wah.

Notable : 12AU7 Valve Classic Authentic Tube Overdrive, Analog Vibration, Classic Fuzz

Pricing : £75 - £240

demiurgeinstruments.bigcartel.com

Since : 2012

Where : Brighton, East Sussex

Key Personae : Joseph Maxwell

About : Smart mix of original and evolved typically compact edition clone pedals - always with elegant graphics. Probably still best known for his cute cartoony Doomy O))) Compact Life Pedal.

Range Includes : Black Mountain Signal (Broadcast), Black Mountain Signal Deluxe, Brainbox (Gray Channel), Choco Boost, Chroma Drive, Doomy-O))) Octave Boost Distortion, Doomy-O))) Deluxe, The Great Sea Aqueous Lo-Fi Modulator, Professor Quakers Auto-Wah, Teras Dual Overdrive (Duellist)

Notable : Black Mountain Signal Deluxe, Chroma Drive, Doomy-O))), The Great Sea Aqueous Lo-Fi Modulator.

Pricing : £85 - £220

designretroworks.co.uk

Since : 2012

Where : Rossendale, Lancashire

Key Personae : David Robert Willetts

About : Distinct consistently styled satin silver boxes with coloured stripes and (DRW) oval outline logo, Quality looking range of pedals, still hand-made and very reasonably priced.

Range Includes : Chorus, Compressor, Flanger, Fuzz Bass, Ge Fuzz Ace, Ge Fuzz Ace Plus, JD-01 Compressor, Overdrive, Si Fuzz Ace, V2 Valve Pre-Amp/Drive.

Notable : Chorus, Flanger, Ge Fuzz Ace.

Pricing : £129 - £199

dickinsonamps.com

Since : 2007

Where : Crystal Palace, London

Key Personae : Jonathon Dickinson

About : Beautiful polished and satin enclosure Valve-powered Amps, Preamps, and Overdrives, and solid-state Boosts. Really modern aesthetic with distinct Trade Dress and modern elements - amazing looking proprietary flying saucer style knobs.

Range Includes : D1 Valve Overdrive, Lo-Mo Booster, P1 Valve Pre-amp.

Notable : D1 Valve Overdrive, and Lo-Mo Booster

Pricing : £200 - £599

echolinepedals.com

Since : 2008

Where : Surrey

Key Personae : N/A, Anonymous?

About : Maker of mostly compact Pete Cornish clones, with the Roadrunner (Clark Gainster) kind of the one outlier. Really well made elegant black powdercoated boxes with white graphics and labels - sound pretty great. I'll be waiting for the CC-1 and NG-3 to come through!

Range Includes : Everest Drive Fat Overdrive (SS-2), Germanium Distortion (G-2), Germanium Drive, Roadrunner Transparent Overdrive (Gainster), Signal Driver Boost (NB-3), Silicon High Gain Fuzz (P-2), Vactrol Optical Compressor (OC-1). (Also Custom Shop Duo Series available - featuring any 2-in-1 from £279>)

Notable : Everest Drive, Germanium Distortion, Silicon High Gain Fuzz

Pricing : £129 - £149

emmergyfx.co.uk

Since : 2013

Where : Bridgwater, Somerset

Key Personae : Michael Gardner

About : Awesome boutique brand just coming into its own now - makes some really interesting fuzz pedals in particular - where I'm loving the current trend of splashy abstract paint enclosures with dominant pink and purple hues - and knobs to match!

Range Includes : Blake Driver 2, Blown A Wish Fuzz, Cherub Jet Fuzz, Dial-Up Fuzz, Empty Skies Fuzz, Flaming Cake Fuzz, Gristle Throbber, Later and Later Deep Blue Delay, Phosphocreatine Overdrive, Pink Noise Stutter Fuzz, Ratbender, Slowdriver FuzzDistortion, Unseen & Unspoken Reverb into Fuzz, Weight Gainer Overdrive

Notable : Blown A Wish Fuzz, Gristle Throbber, Slowdriver FuzzDistortion, Unseen & Unspoken Reverb into Fuzz

Pricing : £120 - £185

expressofx.com

Since : 2017

Where : Manchester

Key Personae : Sof Tebboune

About : Secret Weapon Fuzz builder with immaculate attention to detail and a particularly fine transistor wrangler - consistently delivering those Mojo tones. Nowadays mostly makes occasional small batches of Gørva enclosure Custom Editions - which all sell out in seconds!

Range Includes : Buzzabout, Fuzz Bender MKI, Fuzz Bender MKI.V, Fuzz Bender MKII, Fuzz Bender Mojo Edition, Germanium Boost, Germanium Fuzz, Il Signor Bender (VTB), Silicon Boost, Silicon Fuzz, Tup Fuzz (Ram), CUSTOM } Custom Dual Ge/Si Boost, Custom Dual Ge/Si Fuzz, Custom Dual Ge/Si Fuzz & Ge Boost, Custom Dual Ge/Si Fuzzbender MKII, Custom Dual MKI.V Germanium Fuzz, Custom Quad switchable Fuzzbender MKII

Notable : Fuzz Bender MKI, Custom Dual Ge/Si Fuzz, Custom Dual Ge/Si Fuzzbender MKII

Pricing : £209 - £429

www.foresteffects.co.uk

Since : 2019

Where : Swinley Forest, Surrey

Key Personae : Oli Brown

About : Somewhat under the radar brand, formerly known as Yellowstone FX - best known for making cool and unusual fuzzes - especially the Fauna Octave Fuzz - formerly Bambi Fuzz. Really good production values - good looking pedals.

Range Includes : Burro Booster Mini, Chamois Buffer, Charm 8va Fuzz, Fauna MKII Dual Octave Fuzz, Hardwired Germanium Treble Booster, Onça Overdrive, Ursa Silicon Fuzz.

Notable : Fauna MKII Dual Octave Fuzz

Pricing : £49 - £239

funnylittleboxes.co.uk

Since : 2020

Where : Norwich, Norfolk

Key Personae : Andy Ilgunas

About : Boutique pedal builder best known for the runaway success 1991 Pearl Jam inspired Overdrive + Distortion - the first proper UK sort of £99 budget boutique pedal. Actually probably SoundLad got there first!

Range Includes : 1991 Pearl Jam inspired Overdrive + Distortion, Punk Spirit Overdrive (Levellers)

Notable : 1991

Pricing : £75 - £99

www.ghosteffects.co.uk

Since : 2004

Where : Birmingham

Key Personae : Ian Sherwen

About : Often spoken of in the same glowing terms as the original 3 Fuzz Lords - Stu Castledine, David Main, and Steve Williams. Another Fuzz Master specialising in replicating rare circuits from the 60's and 70's in mostly mid-size boxes.

Range Includes : Another Green Fuzz, Aston Community Centre Treble Booster, Futura MKI, Mind Rocker (FF), Outside Context Problem, Silicon Pep Box, Sounds of Today MKI, Tone Bender MKI (with Solasound / Macaris), Warmjet V Fuzz (WEM).

Notable : Futura MKI, Sounds of Today MKI, Warmjet V.

Pricing : £100 - £299

wraa.bigcartel.com

Since : 2018

Where : Manchester

Key Personae : Tom Richardson

About : Really creative and fabulously affordable brand consisting of colourful and stylish enclosures delivering glitchy, lo-fi proper texturising effects.

Range Includes : Albert Gramophone Sim, Dual Katzenjammer Variable Speed Looper x 2, End Credits 7 Second Delay / Loper / Bitcrush / Stutter / Glitch, Episodes Multi-FX Glitch Machine, Glitchwave567 Chaos Engine, Katzenjammer Variable Speed Looper, Mini Ripples Glitch Delay, Pixeldust 3x Looper / Tap Tempo Stutter, Retroflect LoFi Tape Sim, Wobble Vibrato.

Notable : End Credits 7 Second Delay / Loper / Bitcrush / Stutter / Glitch, Glitchwave567 Chaos Engine, Mini Ripples Glitch Delay, Retroflect LoFi Tape Sim.

Pricing : £90 - £180

gojira.co.uk

Since : 2015

Where : North Ayrshire, Scotland

Key Personae : Scott Meiklejohn

About : Simpsons and Futurama inspired pop culture pedals with 3D printed Duff Beer knobs etc. Really stylised enclosures - while circuits are mostly classic clones - really cool though!

Range Includes :  8 Bit Arp, Bender Fuzz, Drone Muff, Duff Muff, Fry 808, Heretic Deluxe (Triple Rat), Mammoth Fuzz, Meaty Fuzz, Mr Bender 808, Mrs Mangel's Muff, Noise Ensemble Fuzz, Octave Generator, Ouroboros (Mangler + Trembulator), Principal Skinner TS808, Reverie Reverb, Tanto Drive/Distortion, The Testicle Analog Octave Up, Trembulator, Tubescreamer 808, Stratoblaster Mini, 

Notable : Bender Fuzz, Duff Muff, Tubescreamer 808 (Homer / Principal Skinner)

Pricing : £70 - £150

goliathfx.co.uk

Since : 2020

Where : Pontefract, Yorkshire

Key Personae : Matthew Clark

About : Really cool rising boutique brand which is just starting to properly find its feet now. Matthew is the undisputed master of crackle / craquelure finishes!

Range Includes : The Bal'Rog Distortion, Black Ice / Ice Drive Bass Overdrive, D-05 Distortion, Desolation Distortion Pedal, MKII Silicon ToneBender, Pedal Switchers / Loopers, The Thundermuff Bass Muff Fuzz

Notable : D-05 Distortion, Desolation Distortion Pedal, MKII Silicon ToneBender

Pricing : £85 - £180

www.greencarrotpedals.co.uk

Since : 2014

Where : Ossett, West Yorkshire

Key Personae : Andy

About : Colourful vegetable themed brand especially well known for its Comfortably Plum and Pumpkin Pi Muff derived fuzzes.

Range Includes : Comfortably Plum Dual Fuzz/Drive (Ram Muff + Powerboost), Cornstar Overdrive (Plexi), Dirty Raddish Boost, Pumpkin Pi Twin Channel Muff, Purple Maize Vintage Phaser, Fuzzy Pickle (Astrotone)

Notable : Comfortably Plum Dual Fuzz/Drive (Ram Muff + Powerboost), Pumpkin Pi Twin Channel Muff, Fuzzy Pickle (Astrotone)

Pricing : £95 - £200

ebay.co.uk/usr/mrbeardy13

Since : 2020

Where : Belfast, Northern Ireland

Key Personae : N/A, Anonymous?

About : Small boutique builder of mostly clones - simple primary colour enclosures with white handwritten labels.

Range Includes : Croga Fuzz, Deverb EchoVerb, Doom FET Distortion, Dordain Muff Fuzz Small Box, Dordain Muff Fuzz, FFuzz, Fuzz Ge, Fuzz Si, FuzzUp, Jeaby SE Germanium Rangemaster, MFZ-1, Octave, Overdriver, Reverb, Russian Fuzz Muff, Valvo Overdrive, Vibe

Notable : Reverb EchoVerb, Dordain Fuzz, Vibe

Pricing : £55 - £80

holyislandaudio.bigcartel.com

Since : 2017

Where : Cardiff, Wales

Key Personae : Gwion Christmas

About : Distinctive, slightly experimental band-infused pedal maker - making use of highly distinctive sort of poster art graphics.

Range Includes : Abracadaver Boost / Overdrive, Angel Teeth Distortion (DOD250), Glass Palace Overdrive, Plague Pit Dual Abracadaver, Stop! Abracadaver + MAE Yes (With Mark Audio), Tides V2 Dirty Reverb.

Notable : Abracadaver Boost / Overdrive, Angel Teeth Distortion (DOD250), Tides V2 Dirty Reverb.

Pricing : £75 - £205

homegrowndevices.com

Since : 2020

Where : Chelmsford, Essex

Key Personae : N/A, Anonymous?

About : Elegant enclosures extended features pedal maker with some really smart and innovative features.

Range Includes : Petals Gated Touchplate Distortion, Spring Green Spring Reverb, Vel-Chro Fuzz (Fuzzrite), X/Y CV & Expression Joystick.

Notable : Petals Gated Touchplate Distortion, Spring Green Spring Reverb, X/Y CV & Expression Joystick.

Pricing : £130 - £200

hubcapjohn.wixsite.com

Since : 2013

Where : Skegness, Lincolnshire

Key Personae : John Hayward

About : Mostly vintage style Rangemasters and Fuzzes in compact enclosures with iconic vintage artworks, or in a variety of Tobacco Tins. Very reasonably priced.

Range Includes : Beano Booster Rangemaster, Bearded Lady Fuzz + Rangemaster, Bleeding Heart Fuzz, Bleeding Heart Fuzz Tobacco Tin, Dark Moon BC109 FFuzz, Fallen Angel Silicon Rangemaster, Germanium Fuzz Face Tobacco Tin, Inflation Busting Silicon Fuzz, Iron Man Rangemaster, Silicon Fuzz Face Tobacco Tin, Sundial / Hellos Fuzz Face, Tattooed Lady Rangemaster, The Texan Germanium Square Face Fuzz, Three Nuns Fuzz Tobacco Tin.

Notable : Sun Dial Germanium FFuzz, Tattooed Lady Rangemaster, The Texan Germanium Square Face Fuzz.

Pricing : £55 - £249

indifferentengine.com/tapeecho

Since : c2022 [DIY Pedals]

Where : Cambridge, Cambridgeshire

Key Personae : Adam Pau, Ton Wilson

About : Primarily a Post-anxietycore band - but with a fine line in quirky mechanical DIY pedals - including the current Janky Tape Echo, and imminent Micro Rotary Speaker.

Range Includes : Janky Tape Echo, Micro Rotary Speaker [soon].

Notable : Janky Tape Echo

Pricing : £255

www.jfetlife.com / jfetlife.square.site

Since : 2020

Where : Bath, Somerset

Key Personae : Mark

About : PCB specialist and sometime pedal maker - currently only a single pedal listed.

Range Includes : Canned Syripp Fuzz (Gated + Snarling)

Notable : Canned Syripp Fuzz (Gated + Snarling)

Pricing : £100

reverb.com/uk/shop/jsa-effects

Since : 2016

Where : Derby, Derbyshire

Key Personae : Simon Andrews

About : Talented engineer making fantastic sounding circuits - but in rather plain enclosures with Dymo style labels.

Range Includes : Cheeky Monkey (Bad-), Fat Preamp, Germanium Fuzz, Hot Toddy Transparent Overdrive, Little Treble Maker, Momentum Drive, Omega Screamer, The Pedal That Must Not Be Named Mini, Vintage Mosfet Boost.

Notable : Fat Preamp, Hot Toddy Transparent Overdrive, Momentum Drive.

Pricing : £90 - £175

kingsleyamplifiers.com

Since : 2000

Where : Maple Ridge, BC, Canada

Key Personae : Simon Jarrett

About : Simon Jarrett is the master of Tube / Valve pedals - building some of the very best tube-powered Boosts, Modulations, Overdrives and Preamps available anywhere. All his pedals sound superb, and come mainly in medium or large enclosures.

Range Includes : Artisan Tube Overdrive / Fuzz, Bard V2 Tube Bias Modulator / Tremolo, Constable V2 Preamp (Plexi), EQ Lift Boost, Harlot V3 Tube Overdrive (Fat), Harlot Gain Mode Switch, Jester Tube Overdrive (Kingsley DLX), Jouster Double Overdrive, Juggler V3 Dual Preamp (Maiden + Page DS / ODS), Maiden V2 Tube Preamp, Merlin MIDI Program Switcher, Minstrel V3 Tube Overdrive, Page Tube Boost, Page DS Tube Boost, Page TS Tube Boost, Peasant Tube Boost, Serf Tube Boost, Squire Preamp (Org / BF / TB), Squire 86 Preamp (EF86)

Notable : Artisan Tube Overdrive / Fuzz, Minstrel V3 Tube Overdrive, Page TS Tube Boost.

Pricing : $105 - $700

krachwerke.com/online-shop.html#!/Guitar-Effects-Pedals/c/111305261

Since : 2021 (Pedals)

Where : Greenock, Scotland

Key Personae : Helmut Watterott

About : Krachwerke is foremost a Recording, Mixing and Mastering studio based in Greenock Scotland. Secondly Krachwerke is also a band and a lover of all gear relating to making music - including having its own range of guitar / bass pedals.

Range Includes : 32 Distortion, 32 Distortion Acid Etched, 32 Distortion +, 32 Distortion Mini, Cù Bòcan Fuzz, DMB Overdrivem Fuzz Dog Fuzz Face BC108 Kit, Fuzzy Blender Si, Herrscherin V1 Fuzz, Herrscherin V2 Fuzz, Herrscherin V3 Fuzz, Herrscherin V3 Etched Fuzz, Herrscherin Plus Fuzz, Passive Volume Mini - V1 / V2, Texan Grit Rangemaster - Si / Ge, Torc Mòr Dirty Distortion Fuzz - Gold / Red.

Notable : 32 Distortion, Herrscherin V3, Torc Mòr Dirty Distortion Fuzz.

Pricing : £47 - £166

latentlemon.co.uk

Since : 2015

Where : Hastings, East Sussex

Key Personae : Justin Saban

About : UK Boutique builder best know for his Bass Brassmaster and Hurts Percolator Fuzzes.

Range Includes : Bass Brassmaster Fuzz, Hoo-Tron-3 Envelope Filter, Hurts Percolator Fuzz, Luton 4-Stages of Grief Ripping Fuzz.

Notable : Bass Brassmaster Fuzz, Hurts Percolator Fuzz

Pricing : £179 - £184

leylandpedals.co.uk

Since : 2020

Where : North-West England

Key Personae : Caleb 'Leyland' Holmes  - aka 'Cale'

About : Young up-and-coming pedal builders with some smart ideas that just need some very minor refinements - his Hum Along Distortion is still his flagship pedal - a brilliant take on the Distortion half of the Boss DF-2.

Range Includes : Bloomsag Boost, Head Full Lo-Fi Analog style Delay, Hum Along DF-2 Recreation, Oversaturated Market Fuzz, Tactave Gnarly Octave Fuzz, Boss DF-2 Feedbacker & Distortion Mods.

Notable : Hum Along DF-2 Recreation, Oversaturated Market Fuzz, Tactave Gnarly Octave Fuzz.

Pricing : £100 - £170

lifeisunfair.co.uk/

Since : 2016

Where : Cardiff, Wales

Key Personae : Michael Grindle

About : Maker of particularly fine fuzzes alongside some really cool Joystick Controller pedals. All with great artworks too.

Range Includes : The Dream Left Behind Fuzz, Pale Spectre Tremolo / Boost / Heterodyne Modulator, Pineal Gland Dual Expression Joystick Controller, Potential Dual CV Joystick Controller,  Synaptic Cleft Semi-Modular Tremolo Unit, Violet Oscillation Shoegaze Fuzz.

Notable : Pineal Gland Dual Expression Joystick Controller, Pale Spectre Tremolo / Boost / Heterodyne Modulator, Rorschach Tonal Manipulator, Violet Oscillation Shoegaze Fuzz (with Pedal Partners).

Pricing : £100 - £333

lottiecanto.com

Since : 2018

Where : Birmingham

Key Personae : Lottie Canto

About : Rising Birmingham-based pedal builder and electronic assisted kalimba specialist

Range Includes : The Agency Boost (with James Kellaway), The Bull Fuzz, Colour Palette 8-Reverb-Mode electronic assisted Kalimba

Notable : The Agency Boost (with James Kellaway), The Bull Fuzz, Colour Palette 8-Reverb-Mode electronic assisted Kalimba

Pricing : £110 - £250

madebymike.co.uk

Since : 2008

Where : Edinburgh, Scotland

Key Personae : Mike Livesley

About : Prolific demoer and builder of effects pedals - mostly clones, but some very interesting fuzzes too.

Range Includes : '78 IC Muff, '78 IC Muff with Mids, Dual '78 IC Muff / MXR Distortion II, Dual Rat / '78 IC Muff, Green Muff, Dist2 (MXR)Modded Tube Screamer (TS808+), Echo Base Delay, Fuzzy Beetle (Halter Skelter), Germanium Fuzz Face, LolyChorus / Vibrato (Analogue), Ram's Head Muff, Salt Storm Harmonic Overdrive (Brit Stack), Saltbooster (LPB-1), Saltbooster+, Saltshaker Tremolo, Sign of the Chimes Dual Drive (Vox), UltraLord Sonic Mayhem Fuzz.

Notable : Fuzzy Beetle (Halter Skelter), UltraLord Sonic Mayhem Fuzz

Pricing : £85 - £180

Website Expired! (www.magneticeffects.net)

Since : 2015

Where : London

Key Personae : Christian Livingstone

About : Datsun band lead guitarist and brilliant pedal engineer with several superbly engineered pedals to his name - I own a lot of these, but never quite enough! - Chris is currently decamped to Japan, and so the Magnetic Effects pedal business is on hiatus for now!

Range Included : Black Moon Germanium FFuzz, Buzzer Buzzaround Fuzz, Buzzkill Fuzz (Fuzzrite), Doctor Mids, Double Feature Germanium Fuzz + Cocked Wah, Dual Drive (TS808 + Rat), Electrochop Optical Tremolo, Eye to Eye 4-Stage OTA Phaser, Fast Eddie Clark Germanium Overdrive with Fixed Wah, Lonely Robot Distortion (Rat), Midphoria Fixed Wah + Clean Boost, One Off Fuzz Wah, Professional MKII Fuzz, Sändare Low Gain Overdrive/Boost, Solar Bender V4 (TB MKII), Sonic Taylor Germanium Overdrive, Vortex Boost / Echo, White Atom Hybrid Fuzz V4, Zig Zag Dual Stag Drive, Zoia Clean Boost + EQ

Notable : Double Feature Germanium Fuzz + Cocked Wah, Solar Bender Fuzz (TB MKII), White Atom Fuzz.

Pricing : £125 - £145 mostly

makingwaves.io

Since : 2020

Where : Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Key Personae : Matthew Hammett and James Wilkinson

About : A kind of lifestyle pedal brand following a similar part to 1981 Inventions - but UK based. Highly visual brand with uniquely shaped and crafted enclosure, and some smart engineering by Matthew Hammet.

Range Includes : Sunburn Overdrive

Notable : Sunburn Overdrive

Pricing : £295

marshall.com/amps/products/pedals

Since : 1967 (Pedals)

Where : Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire (originally Hanwell, London)

Key Personae : originally - Jim & Terry Marshall

About : Legendary UK Amp Maker, now owned by the Swedish Zound Industries group - who are behind Urban Ears, Adidas and Marshall Consumer Electronics Products - chiefly Headphones and Bluetooth / Wireless Speakers. Very first Marshall pedal was the Supa Fuzz (TB MKII) made by Sola Sound.  Marshall then launched its celebrated series of square pedals - including the Guv'nor, BluesBreaker, DriveMaster and ShredMaster - in 1988 and 1992 - recently wholly replicated by Marshall and re-issued earlier this year.

Range Includes : The Guv'nor, BluesBreaker, DriveMaster, ShredMaster.

Notable : The Guv'nor, BluesBreaker, DriveMaster, ShredMaster.

Pricing : £169

www.muiraudiodesign.com

Since : 2022

Where : Bournemouth, Dorset

Key Personae : Colin Muir

About : Colin is an incredibly talented Electronic Engineer with a firm foothold in the test & measurement engineering systems sector. The Morphtone EQ is his very first effects pedal built and finished to a very high standard with some really smart features onboard.

Range Includes : Morphtone Dual Blendable EQ Pedal

Notable : Just the one pedal do date

Pricing : £249

mwfx.co.uk

Since : 2008

Where : Somerset

Key Personae : Matt Warren

About : Somerset builder best know for his Judder Sample Repeater Stutter Box - which comes in various editions. He also builds a number of pedals in wooden enclosures. Mostly made to order - with often fairly long delivery schedules.

Range Includes : 8Bit (Arcade Emulator), Expression Pedal Remote, Glitch (Glitchshifter), Judder Sample Repeater, Judder Sample Repeater True Bypass, Mini Judder, Judder Wood Edition, Tremolo, Tremolo Enhanced.

Notable : 8Bit, Glitch (Glitchshifter), Judder Sample Repeater (Stutter Effect).

Pricing : £18 - £450

mr-fx.co.uk / reverb.com/shop/we-have-sound-guitars?make=mike-rivers-guitars

Since : 2019

Where : Worthing, West Sussex

Key Personae : Mike Rivers

About : Cool compact range of mostly fuzz pedals in various different sizes of enclosures, including Tobacco Tins. 

Range Includes : Fuzzinator, FuzzOmeter, Octave Fuzz, One-knob Fuzz, Rangemaster Brownie, Rivermaster Treble Boost, TB MKII, Tin of Fuzz, Tin of Rock, Worm Drive. 

Notable : FuzzOmeter, Octave Fuzz, Worm Drive.

Pricing : £69 - £149

neelectronix.com - Retired? 

Since : 2018

Where : Newcastle, Tyne & Wear

Key Personae : George Todd

About : Newcastle based pedal builder making mostly fuzzes, one at a time, and mostly in Tobacco Tin enclosures, flagship pedal to date is the 4-knob Red Menace Fuzz.

Range Includes : Curvy Fuzz, Grey Blur Harmonic Exciter, Moon Unit Fuzz, Red Menace Fuzz, Various Tobacco Tin Fuzzes / with Boost, ZaaP Fuzz - Germanium / Silicon.

Notable : Grey Blur Harmonic Exciter, Red Menace Fuzz, ZaaP Fuzz - Germanium / Silicon.

Pricing : £80 - £150

nineofswordsaudiodestruction.com

Since : 2012

Where : Leicester

Key Personae : Jonathan Wesson

About : Really cool affordable fuzz maker with some killer sonic destruction circuits in various sizes of enclosure.

Range Includes : Abyss Tone Annihilator Delay, Altar Bass Fuzz, Burial at Sea (Meathead+), Funeral Party Lo-Fi Distortion, Hand of God Noise Factory / Oscillator, Headache Harmonic Percolator, Satanic Fuzz Ritual Oscillating Fuzz, Twin Earth Deluxe (Muff), Tyrant Fuzz (Meathead).

Notable : Funeral Party Lo-Fi Distortion, Hand of God Noise Factory / Oscillator, Tyrant Fuzz (Meathead).

Pricing : £75 - £90

north-effects.co.uk - Retired?

Since : 2012

Where : Hackney, East London

Key Personae : Nigel Currie

About : Now seemingly debunked formerly industrious / prolific fuzz maker - using raw enclosures - very affordable - several different vintage replicas and evolutions in compact size boxes.

Range Includes : 22/7 Green Russian, 22/7 Red Ram, 22/7 Violet Ram, The 404, The AD-50, The Boss,  FuzzRite / The Rite, The Government Issue, MK II Super Deluxe, The MKII, MuffFace, The MuthaFuZza, The Primitive (FZ-1), Repeat-Percussion Tremolo, The Rhubarb, Russian Face, Schimmer, The Scrambler, The Super, Triangle Fuzz, Vorg Warp Sound, The VoxyJen, The Warp.

Notable : The MuthaFuZza, The Primitive (FZ-1), Vorg Warp Sound.

Pricing : £55 - £120

orangeamps.com/products/fx-pedals

Since : 1977 (Pedals)

Where : Borehamwood, Hertfordshire

Key Personae : Cliff Cooper, Charlie Cooper

About : Legendary UK 70's Amp Bran - actually started back in 1968. Pedals were introduced in 1977 to gain dealer footholds in the face of serious competition with Marshall, Matamp and Vox.

Range Includes : Acoustic Pedal Class A Acoustic Preamp, The Amp Detonator ABY, Bass Butler Preamp, Bax Bangeetar Guitar Preamp & EQ, Distortion Pedal 70's inspired Reissue, FS1 Mini Footswitch, Fur Coat Vintage 70's Octave Fuzz, Getaway Driver 70s Orange Amp Preamp, Guitar Butler Preamp, Kongpressor Class A Compressor, Omec Teleport Audio Interface, Phaser Pedal 70's inspired Reissue, Sustain Pedal 70's inspired Reissue, Terror Stamp Class AB 20 Watt Guitar Amp Pedal, Two Stroke Boost

Notable : 1970's inspired Reissues, Butler Preamps, Fur Coat Fuzz / Getaway Driver Preamp / Kongpressor Compressor.

Pricing : £79 - £279

owenelectronics.co.uk/owen-guitar-effects/ - Retired

Since : 2006

Where : Swinton, Manchester

Key Personae : Martin Owen

About : Mainly a Guitar Effects Repair shop with a sideline in mostly Bass Pedals - very 70's styled / oversized typically tube-powered types - superb sounding and well loved by bass players. Martin has struggled with poor health in recent years, so likely permanently retired now.

Range Includes : Axe Juice Overdrive, Bass Bomb Driver, Bass Gremlin Overdrive, Space Charge Tube Distortion

Notable : Bass Bomb Driver, Bass Gremlin Overdrive, Space Charge Tube Distortion

Pricing : £120 - £185

etsy.com/shop/pickletech - Retired

Since : 2014

Where : No specific location given! Somewhere in England...

Key Personae : James Howard

About : Really affordable experimental fuzz pedals - largely in over-sized enclosures - but with cool graphics and very well priced. Been retired for a while supposedly.

Range Includes : Berkatron Synth/Fuzz, Death Hooter Distortion, Distorture Percussive Noised Fuzz, Ergosphere Fuzz/Distorion, Hoax Drone, Juan Louder Booster, Mega-Berkatron Noise/Synth/Fuzz, Nvidia Brutal Disharmonic Distortion, Pectin Fuzz, TurboSonix Guitar Synth, Vorpal Sword Distortion/Fuzz.

Notable : Mega-Berkatron Noise/Synth/Fuzz, TurboSonix Guitar Synth, Vorpal Sword Distortion/Fuzz.

Pricing : £50 - £100

pigeonfx.com

Since : 2013

Where : Hastings, East Sussex

Key Personae : Brook Morton

About : Mostly maker of PCB's these days - largely Vintage Fuzzes - current only active pedal is the OC44 Rangemaster. Occasionally makes some really smart fuzzes too.

Range Includes : Various PCBs, FY-2 Companion Fuzz, FY-6 Super-Fuzz, HS Treble Booster Germanium, HS Treble Booster Silicon, Rangemaster OC44 Treble Booster

Notable : Rangemaster OC44 Treble Booster

Pricing : £140 - £225 for pedals

fuzzboxes.co.uk

Since : 2012

Where : Southend-on-Sea, Essex

Key Personae : Steve Weston

About : The lead guitarist from the band High/Low is also a very fine pedal engineer - with numerous celebrated pedals to his name - including the Soda Drive, Ghosty LoFi Modulator and Super Fuzz Boy.

Range Includes : Aurora LoFi Delay V2, Aurora LoFi Delay-Verb, Aurora LoFi Delay-Verb Mini, Bass Dual Soda Drive+, Bass Soda Drive+, Best Man Fuzz, Beast Master Deluxe Fuzz, Beef Box Fuzz (Meathead?), Dual Soda Drive+, EchoHead Tape style Delay, Ghost Boy (Game Boy Modulator), Ghosty LoFi Modulator, Ghosty Mini LoFi Modulator (Chorus/Vibrato/Tape Warble), Meatropolis Velcro Fuzz, Soda Drive+, Signal Boost Volume Pedal, Space Fuzz, Super Fuzz Bender MKII, Super Fuzz Bender MKIII, Super Fuzz Boy (Game Boy Fuzz), Twin Fuel Driver, Vintage Booster, Vintage Tremolo, X-81 Driver (Guv'nor) UTILITY } Amp Footswitch Mini, Amp Footswitch Micro, FX Loop Attenuator Mini, Kill Switch, Kill Switch Mini, NES Game Kill Switch, Red Buffer, SNES Tap-Tempo, Tap Tempo Footswitch Mini, Tap Tempo Footswitch Micro, Tap Tempo (NES Pad), ONE OFF } Amstrad Walkie Talkie Fuzz, Ghostbuster Ghost Trap Ghosty Modulator, Kodak Brownie Camera Fuzz, Larger AF Power Meter Velcro Fuzz, Model 100 Meter Fuzz, Smoothflow Transformer Fuzz, WITH ZANDER } Avalanche Soda.

Notable : Various Soda Drive, Ghosty LoFi Modulator, Various Super Fuzz Bender, Super Fuzz Boy, Vintage Booster

Pricing : £30 - £169

reactorpedals.co.uk

Since : 2019

Where : Nottingham, Nottinghamshire

Key Personae : Josh Lambert Hurley

About : Newish West Bridgford builder with a fine eye for detail - so far we've had Harmonic Percolators and an interesting delay pedal which may be still in development, alongside a couple of intriguing one-offs. Elegant Trade Dress from the start - minimalist graphics on brushed aluminium enclosures.

Range Includes : AZ-5 Germanium Percolator, AZ-5R Germanium Percolator (Russian Transistors & Diodes), Dose Rate Delay, V30-B Overdrive (Vox AC30)

Notable : AZ-5 Harmonic Percolators

Pricing : £105 - £200

roger-mayer.co.uk/guitar_effects.htm

Since : 1964

Where : Worcester Park, Surrey

Key Personae : Roger Mayer

About : Jimi Hendrix's one time pedal guru and purveyor of Octavia Octave Fuzz. The range has expanded significantly in latter years - very high quality - with a price-tag to match. Format-wise slightly old-fashioned nowadays which doesn't really matter to their core target audience.

Range Includes : 615 Smooth Analogue Dynamics Processor, 4644 Drive, Amp + Bass Preamp, Amp + M59 Preamp, Axis 27 Fuzz, Bell Air Wah, Octavia Classic, Purple Haze Octavia Ltd Hand-Signed, Rocket Ship Axis Fuzz, Rocket Ship Octavia, Rocket Ship Visage Fuzz, Spitfire Distortion, Visage 45 Fuzz, Voodoo-1 Classic Distortion, Voodoo Axe Classic Fuzz, Voodoo Bass ClassicVoodoo Blues Overdrive, Voodoo Boost TC, Voodoo Vibe+.

Notable : Bell Air Wah, Octavia Classic, Rocket Ship Octavia, Voodoo Vibe+.

Pricing : £299 - £1699

rothwellaudio.16.ekm.shop / rothwellaudioproducts.co.uk

Since : 2007

Where : Bolton, Lancashire

Key Personae : Andrew Rothwell

About : Slightly under the radar now while really excellent hi-fidelity quality sound-design and finely engineered mostly gain pedals in mostly polished enclosures with black and red graphics.

Range Includes : Atomic Booster, F1 Booster, Cool Little Knob, The Heartbreaker Overdrive/Boost, The Hellbender Bluesy Overdrive, Hot Little Knob, The Love Squeeze Overdrive, The Major Bypass Passive Loop Switcher, The Switchblade Heavy Rock Distortion, The Tornado Class A JFET Overdrive

Notable : The Hellbender Bluesy Overdrive, The Switchblade Heavy Rock Distortion, The Tornado Class A JFET Overdrive.

Pricing : £35 - £149

rushamps.com / www.macaris.co.uk/colorsound/macaris-exclusives

Since : 1965

Where : London

Key Personae : Pepe Rush, Lucy Rush.

About : The Beatles' favourite fuzz not long since revived by original engineer's daughter - Lucy, and mostly sound via Macaris these days seemingly.

Range Includes : Lucy Rush PepBox 2.0. Pepe Rush PepBox by Lucy Rush

Notable : Lucy Rush PepBox 2.0. Pepe Rush PepBox by Lucy Rush

Pricing : £309 / £359

sineeffect.company.site

Since : 2014

Where : Glasgow, Scotland

Key Personae : Grant MacMillan

About : Somewhat EQ specialist Scottish guitar pedal maker - delivery precisely engineered tone enhancers with super low noise floor.

Range Includes : Disphoria Distortion, H24 High Pass Filter (24dB/octave), L24 Low Pass Filter (24dB/octave), MegaPara V4 3-band Parametric EQ, nanoPara 1-band EQ.

Notable : Disphoria Distortion, MegaPara V4 3-band Parametric EQ.

Pricing : £84 - £184

sleepingdogfx.co.uk - Not Active

Since : 2012

Where : Lincolnshire

Key Personae : Michael Haynes

About : Larger a custom pedal builder with a few fuzzes cool branded fuzzes and the Instrument Voicing Preamplifier to its name.

Range Includes : Apis Buzzaround Fuzz, Chi-Wah-Wah, Deathly Boost, Fall of Troy Stoner Fuzz, Fuzz Hound, Fuzz Master Professional, The Fuxx Face, Howling Overdrive, Instrument Voicing Preamplifier, K9 Buffer, Laika Phaser Vibrato Rotary, Low End Throey Bass Distortion, Octodog 1 Up 2 Down Octaver, Ramona Dual Overdrive/Distortion, Repeater Tremolo, Squish-Squash Optical Compressor, Trembrulé Tremolo, Valhalla Fuzz of the Gods, Wet Dog Analogue Chorus, You Dirty Dog (Rat).

Notable : Fall of Troy Stoner Fuzz, Instrument Voicing Preamplifier, Valhalla Fuzz of the Gods.

Pricing : £55 - £350

snakeoilfineinstruments.co.uk

Since : 2019

Where : Brighton, East Sussex

Key Personae : Rob Chapman, Lee Anderton, Zach Broyles

About : Specified by Rob Chapman and Lee Anderton, circuits engineered by Zach Broyles of Mythos Pedals fame, built in the UK.

Range Includes : The Marvellous Engine Distortion, The Very Thing Boost/Overdrive

Notable : Only 2 pedals to date

Pricing : £149

sonuus.com/products.html

Since : 2009

Where : St Neots, Cambridgeshire

Key Personae : Dr James Clark, John McAuliffe

About : Two smart treadle style multi-fx pedals and 2 smart audio interfaces / adapters.

Range Includes : i2M / G2M Musicport MIDI / Audio Interface, Voluum Volume / Compressor / Gate / Limiter / Tremolo, Wahoo Wah/Filter

Notable : g2M V3 Universal Guitar to MIDI Converter, i2M USB / MIDI Audio Interface, Voluum Volume / Compressor / Gate / Limiter / Tremolo, Wahoo Wah/Filte

Pricing : £99 - £299

sounduneaudio.com - Retired

Since : 2013

Where : Falmouth, Cornwall

Key Personae : Virgil Cain

About : Maker of speaker cabinets, pedal boards, amplifier casing, flight cases, and some very refined mostly Overdrive and Fuzz pedals with elegant sort of topographic / wave line graphics - quite close in look and feel to Making Waves FX - wonder if there is some connection there!

Range Includes : ALS Tap Tremolo, Egerys Twin Boost/Overdrive, Enowell Uni-Vibe, Hazelphron Overdrive Fuzz, Kara Fuzz Reverb, Mawgawr Twin Channel Overdrive, Omberthi 2-Channel Overdrive, Skovarn Fuzz.

Notable : Hazelphron Overdrive Fuzz, Kara Fuzz Reverb, Skovarn Fuzz.

Pricing : £145 - £200

soundladliverpool.co.uk

Since : 2020

Where : Liverpool

Key Personae : Marc Dunn, Danny Dunn.

About : Cool compact range of highly stylised and quality finished gain and EQ pedals - a sort of role model for the Funny Little Boxes 1991. Expertly designed and assembled by 2 musical brothers with more than 30 years of Music Industry experience between them. 

Range Includes : Belter Skelter Bass Overdrive, Clean Machine 2-Band Reactive Gain Stage, Hungry Beaver Voltage Starved Power Fuzz/Boost (Violet/NYC Muff), Private Beaver Voltage Starved Power Fuzz/Boost (Green Russian/Red Army Muff), Scran Vintage Immersive Overdrive, 

Notable : 2 x Beavers, Belter Skelter, and Scran.

Pricing : £99

instagram.com/stompkins_pedals

Since : 2017

Where : N/A

Key Personae : Ritch Tomkins

About : Custom designed pedal parts from enclosures to knobs and in fact whole pedals too - collaborates a lot with Demiurge Instruments.

Range Includes : Alpaca CMOS Overdrive (w/ Demiurge), Boss Switcher, Chocoboost (w/ Demiurge), Dirty Boost, Embers Overdrive (Maxon OD-880 - w/ Demiurge), Fuzz Driver, The Gary Overdrive (Tim - w/ Demiurge), Grit Enhancer (Speaker Cranker - w/ Demiurge), Grit Low Gain Overdrive, Invictus Dual Drive (w/ Demiurge), Meris Footswitch Controller, Mild Octave Up Octaver, Senior Fuzz, Tap Tempo Mini Switch, T.O.D.+ Transparent Overdrive, Unwelcome Guest MOSFET Rat.

Notable : Alpaca CMOS Overdrive, The Gary Overdrive, T.O.D.+ Transparent Overdrive, Unwelcome Guest MOSFET Rat.

Pricing : £50-£200

stompnorth.com

Since : 2013

Where : Edinburg, Scotland

Key Personae : Duncan MacKinnon 

About : Smart monochromatic medium-sized gain boxes using the highest quality components. Distinct cartoon graphics and branding onto grey aluminium enclosures.

Range Includes : Bass Midge Booster, Fishmoth Vintage Fuzztoner, Midgie Booster Overdrive, Clipshear Valve Getter Drive.

Notable : Fishmoth Vintage Fuzztoner, Midgie Booster Overdrive, Clipshear Valve Getter Drive.

Pricing : £160-£180

timetravelaudio.co.uk

Since : 2014

Where : Edinburg, Scotland

Key Personae : Stuart-James Douglas, Mark Shade.

About : Over 15 years experience in the music industry, servicing both amateur and professional musicians alike. Includes Amplifiers, Instruments, Stage & Studio Equipment, and Backline Rental - and of course a handful of pedals and pedal spares.

Range Includes : Boost Pedal, Buzz Fuzz OC76 High Gain Fuzz, Germanium Fuzz, MKI Fuzz, Salvador Delay, Silicon Fuzz, Space Monkey Reverb.

Notable : Buzz Fuzz OC76 High Gain Fuzz, Germanium Fuzz, MKI Fuzz.

Pricing : £30 - £150

vein-tap.com

Since : 2011

Where : Plymouth, Devon

Key Personae : Ben Farmer

About : Really extensive range of smart effects and utility pedals with very consistent naming conventions. Some real highlights here - including the perennial favourite Dark Arts Tap Tempo Phaser and more recent Dark Waves Tremolo sibling. The Dark Triad is still the most distinctive / attractive pedal in the range, then the Dark Times Delay - would like to see some stronger brand markers in future and more of the styling of the last 2 mentioned!

Range Includes : Angel of Doom Fuzz (Opamp Muff), Angel of Blues Overdrive, Angel of Rock Distortion, Custom Footswitch for Duette and Session Rockette Amps, Dark Arts Tap Tempo Phaser, Dark Times Delay, Dark Triad Overdrive & Distortion, Dark Waves Tap Tempo Tremolo V3, Favourite Switch for Strymon Pedals, FS3X Triple Momentary Footswitch, Gallows Dual True Bypass Looper, Gallows Multiple Tire Bypass Looper, Holy Driver Overdrive + Boost, Holy Era Tap Tempo Delay, Holy Ghost Fuzz + Boost, Holy Roar Distortion + Boost, Leech Passive Volume Guitar Attenuator, Little Horn Boost Mini, Little Splitter AB Mini, MultiSwitch for Strymon Pedals, Murder One Dual Latching & Stutter Killswitch, Murder One Killswitch Mini, Murder One Triple Killswitch, Murder One XLR Killswitch, Noose True Bypass Looper, Saint Blues 808 Overdrive Mini, Saint Doom Fuzz V2 Mini, Saint Rock Distortion Mini (Silver Jubilee), Separator ABY Mini, Skinny Little Switch Latching Amp Footswitch Mini, Skinny Little Switch Plus Mini, Skinny Little Twins Dual Latching Footswitch Mini, Skinny Little Twins Dual Momentary Footswitch, Vein Tap Tap Tempo Mini, Vein Tap Plus Tap Tempo with Polarity Switch Mini, Vein Tap 2 Tap Tempo with Dual Outputs Mini

Notable : Angel of Doom Fuzz (Opamp Muff), Angel of Rock Distortion, Dark Arts Tap Tempo Phaser, Dark Triad Overdrive & Distortion, Dark Waves Tap Tempo Tremolo V3,

Pricing : £20 - £170

www.victoryamps.com

Since : 2018 (Pedals), 2013 (Amps)

Where : London

Key Personae : Martin Kidd

About : Major UK Amp Builder since 2013, led by former Cornell Amp Engineer Martin Kidd. 2018 saw the rollout of floor-based valve-powered preamp takes on the key 4 flagship amp types. Later we saw full floor amps with both Preamp and Power Amp sections, and finally the V1 Compact Pedal Preamp Varieties made in collaboration with Adrian Thorpe - which first emerged in 2022.

Range Includes : V1 The Duchess Preamp (Fender BF), V2 The Jack Preamp (Smooth Liquid Distortion), V1 The Kraken Preamp (Metal), V1 The Sheriff Preamp (Plexi), V4 The Duchess Floor Amp, V4 The Duchess Floor Preamp, V4 The Jack Floor Amp, V4 The Jack Floor Preamp, V4 The Kraken Floor Amp, V4 The Kraken Floor Preamp, V4 The Sheriff Floor Amp, V4 The Sheriff Floor Preamp.

Notable : V1 Preamp Series, V4 Amp and Preamp Floor Series

Pricing : £199 - £879

voxamps.co.uk/collections/pedals

Since : 1966 (Pedals)

Where : Dartford, Kent

Key Personae : Thomas Walter Jennings RIP, Dick Denney RIP

About : Legendary UK Amp Maker - who's first pedals were made under license (OEM Tone Benders) e.g. 1966 Vox Tone Bender (Licenced), proper homegrown pedal came one year later with the celebrated - 1967 Clyde McCoy Wah-Wah. Now make a mix of Multi-FX pedals, alongside recent Korg NuTube powered Valve Energy Overdrives and Distortions.

Range Includes : Stomplab 1G/1B Multi-FX Guitar / Bass Editions, Stomplab 2G / 2B Multi-FX Guitar / Bass Editions with Expression Pedal, VE-CD Valvenergy Copperhead Drive Distortion, VE-CE Valvenergy Cutting Edge Distortion, VE-ME Valvenergy Mystic Edge Overdrive, VE-SD Valvenergy Silk Drive, V845 Classic Wah, V846 Hand-Wired Wah, V847 / C Chrome Top Wag, V860 Volume Pedal.

Notable : V846 Hand-Wired Wah, VE-ME Valvenergy Mystic Edge Overdrive, VE-SD Valvenergy Silk Drive,

Pricing : £69 - £199

weelushfx.webs.com

Since : 2013

Where : Ryde, Isle of Wight

Key Personae : N/A, Anonymous?

About : Mostly Utility Pedals of all shapes and sizes and configurations - Buffer Boys, Killswitches, Patchboxes, Shoegaze Løøøpers, Sooper Løøøpers, also a Mini Muff and Dinky Boost!

Range Includes : A/B Sooper Løøøper, A/B Sooper Løøøper + , A/B/C Sooper Løøøper, A/B/C Sooper Løøøper + , A/B/Y Sooper Løøøper, A/B/Y Sooper Løøøper + (w/Master Bypass), A/B/Y Sooper Løøøper + (Mini), Buffer Boy - Various, Dinky Bøøøst, Dual Sooper Løøøper, Invertinator (Reverse Order Loop), FX Loop Løøøper, Invertinator (Mini), Killswitch - Various, Patchbox - Various, Shoegaze Løøøper (Feedback Loop), Sooper Løøøper + A/B, Shoegaze Løøøper (Large), Søøøper Happy Mini Muff / with Mids(, Sooper Løøøper, Stutter Shoegaze Løøøper (Momentary Feedback Loop), Shoegaze Løøøper +, Shoegaze Løøøper + (Mini), Stutter Shoegaze Løøøper (Large), Stutter Sooper Løøøper (Mini) , Tap Tempo - Various, Triple Sooper Løøøpe

Notable : Buffer Boys, Shoegaze Løøøpers, Sooper Løøøpers, Søøøper Happy Mini Muff with Mids Switch.

Pricing : £30 - £100

williamsaudio.co.uk

Since : 2009

Where : Bristol

Key Personae : Nick Williams

About : Another fine purveyor of Vintage Fuzz circuit replicas in medium size enclosures mostly - largely Tone Benders of various stripes, Rangemasters and Powerboosts. Several of the pedals specific extremely rare Transistors and are on a pre-order waiting list arrangement - including the MKI, and the OC81D MKII. Great sounding fuzzes all!

Range Includes : BuzzFuzz, MKI Classic, MK1.5 Fuzz, MKII Classic, MKII OC81D Special, MKIII Fuzz, Supa Fuzz, Power Driver, Ranger Treble Boost, Ranger Treble Boost Gold

Notable : MKI Classic, MKII OC81D Special, Ranger Treble Boost Gold

Pricing : £119 - £199 typically