Guitar Pedal Brands UK: The Map

If you're looking for a list of boutique guitar pedal brands in the UK, you've come to the right place! Although Boost Guitar Pedals is a retailer of some of these UK pedal builders, this is a completely un-biased list.

I've made a concerted effort to list as many UK pedal builders as I can to make this a truly useful resource for everyone. Have I missed any? Probably! Let me know...

Guitar Pedals UK: A Golden Age

From super-high end build quality to forward-looking circuit topologies and eye-popping artwork, we’ve never had it so good. The British boutique pedal scene is currently enjoying a golden age, with seemingly endless releases of exciting and sought after pedals from established as well as new guitar pedal companies.

What Are The Origins Of Boutique Guitar Pedals In The UK?

The UK has been at the forefront of guitar effects pedal design since the 1960s, when pioneers including Roger Mayer created some of the first guitar pedals. Many of the earliest pedals were fuzz pedals, a primitive form of distortion. It was not long until fuzz was all over the airwaves, changing the course of musical history forever.

Mayer made his name as Jimi Hendrix's effects wizard, modding existing pedals and creating new designs such as the Octavia which went on to define Jimi's legendary sound.

Of course, the UK's influence didn't finish at the end of the 1960s, and other builders have built rock-solid reputations, perhaps none more so than Pete Cornish, who took on Mayer's mantle as pedal guru to the stars in the 1970s. 

Fast-forward several decades and many boutique pedal builders today are still captivated by heritage circuits from the early days of the effects pedal, sourcing rare NOS components to replicate the originals as closely as possible. Others, meanwhile, prefer to focus on modern designs and new sounds.

Below you'll find a map of guitar pedal brands in the UK. The plan is to make it as comprehensive as possible, so I'll update it as often as I can.

Whether you're into vintage-correct Tone Benders or multi-clipping modern distortion, it's fair to say that the burgeoning guitar effects pedal scene in the UK has you covered!

Guitar Pedals: Made In Britain

Here's a small selection of UK-made guitar pedals worth checking out...

[product=fredric-effects-verzerrer]
The Fredric Effects Verzerrer may be made in London, but it's based on the only cold war-era East German distortion pedal, originally produced in the 1960s and '70s. It veers from distortion into spitty fuzz and full on velcro mode and sounds remarkably unique.

"It’s just pure nastiness. This pedal nails the splutter-fuzz effect as well as any we’ve tried" - Guitarist Magazine December 2019
[/product]

[product=stompnorth-clipshear-getter-drive]
Made in Scotland, Stompnorth's flagship Clipshear Getter Drive combines valve and MOSFET circuits with optional silicon and germanium clipping diodes to achieve a multitude of low to mid-gain tones. Stompnorth founder Duncan MacKinnon designed the Clipshear Getter Drive to be an integral part of your rig, an "always on" pedal that enhances your core tone. It provides up to 17dB of clean boost that can easily push the input of your valve amp.
[/product]

[product=raygun-fx-dual-soda-drive]
From Southend-on-Sea, the Raygun FX Dual Soda Drive+ is a super-flexible drive pedal which ranges from boost to dense distortion. It combines two Soda Drive+ circuits in a single pedal, with the option to run each channel independently or stack them for more tonal variation. Both channels have a 3-way toggle switch, allowing you to select from Dirty, Boost (less gain, more volume) or Fuzz (a germanium diode) modes.
[/product]

[product=bleak-district-electric-antistatic]
Bleak District Electric is based in Derbyshire. Phil has cleverly designed the Antistatic as a combined CMOS fuzz and micro-looper. It's a phenomenal little package that's great for experimental synth layers or expansive soundscapes: pair it with a good delay and/or reverb and you're good to go!
[/product]

[product=tate-fx-raise-the-dead]
Located just up the road from Boost Guitar Pedals HQ, the Tate FX Raise The Dead is a single-knob design based on a 1960s Colorsound fuzz. Founder Stuart is a stickler for attention to detail, and he has gone all out with the components for this pedal. After feedback from early versions, he has also included a small input transformer to simulate the inductance and resistance from a guitar pickup to allow it to work perfectly anywhere in a signal chain - particularly after buffered pedals.
[/product]

Guitar Pedal Brands UK: The Map

Guitar Pedal Brands UK: The List

4114 Custom Effects

Audio Kitchen

Bad Penny FX

BG Harding

Bigfoot Engineering

Bleak District Electric

Bluewhale Pedals

Boo Instruments

British Pedal Company

Butterfly Effect Pedals

Buzz Electronics

Castledine Electronics

Cog Effects

Colorsound

Cooltone Pedals

Cornell Amps

D*A*M

Demiurge

Design Retro Works

Dickinson Amplification

Effectrode

Emmergy FX

Expresso FX

Flattley Guitar Pedals

Forest Effects

Fredric Effects

Ghost Effects

Gojira FX

Green Carrot Pedal Company

Hamstead Soundworks

Heaby Pedals

Holy Island Audio

Homegrown Devices

Horrothia FX

Hubcap John

Hudson Electronics

JFET Life

JSA Effects

Krachwerke

Life Is Unfair Audio

Lottie Canto

Made By Mike

Magnetic Effects

MWFX

MR-FX

NE Electronix

Nine of Swords Effects

North Effects

NRG Effectts

Origin Effects

Owen Electronics

Pete Cornish

Pickletech

Pigdog Pedals

Pigeon FX

Rainger FX

Raygun FX

Reactor Pedals

Redbeard Effects

Reeves Electro

Ritual Devices

Roger Mayer

Rothwell Audio

Sine-Effect

Sleeping Dog FX

Snake Oil Fine Instruments

Sola Sound

SoundLad Liverpool

Stompkins Pedals

Stompnorth

Stone Deaf FX

Tate FX

Thorpy FX

Time Travel Audio

Vein Tap

Wee Lush FX

Williams Audio

Wraa Labs

Zander Circuitry

If you're a guitar pedal builder, or you know a guitar pedal brand in the UK that isn't on the list already, get in touch and I'll add them on!