My Top 10 Favorite Guitar Pedals 

I must add. My mother is 92 years old. Shes battling Lymphoma and dementia. I quit my job to take care of her because I will NOT put her in a nursing home. Playing my guitar using your ambient guidance is the only respite I have. Thanks bill! You saved me

Congratulations on 9 years Bill!! Been a long time fan. I would love to see a video on your guitar collection or guitars that hold a special place in your heart.

You are the Bob Ross of pedal demos man 😆 super chill dude. Keep doing what you do

Congratulations on 9 years Bill! Great to see your Little Alligator has thrived for 20+ years. We do plan to reissue it someday... Maybe for the channels 10th anniversary??? 😁

Happy 9 years! You really helped me relax and play guitar as a form of therapy instead of always grinding and working with it. It's important to practice new things, but it's also extremely important to zone out and create a sonic space for your mind to wander.

My other fav is deco. Genius pedal. So useful for so many different settings. If I show up to a jam with 1 pedal, that’s the one.

Great method for evaluating the top 10! They sure help you make unique music, thanks Bill!!

Thank you for the informative and descriptive video. I’m going to go out on a limb, but I’m getting a strong Strymon vibe here LOL! and that ain’t bad. Here’s to nine more Bill! Congratulations!

Congrats On 9 excellent years, Bill!!

Congrats on 9 years! :) My longest standing pedal brand is probably Ernie Ball because I'm on my third volume pedal from them in decades of playing (I'm in my late 50s). Early in my musical journey (80s) Boss was of course my go to and that went through the 90s. But by then I'd moved to rack units as many others did back then. My main one was a 1989 Korg A3 that did my compression, delays and reverbs. For the last 8-10 years, it's been an evolution including changing my amps (I now play a Revv Dynamis 7-40 which is their least metal amp and the clean channel is an awesome pedal platform. Before that was an '89 red knobs Twin that died on me in 2020 and was replaced temporarily by a Katana head then the Dynamis. My dirt comes from either that amp's red channel or a JHS Angry Charlie or a couple models in the Line 6 HX Effects I'm now using which replaced a Boss MS-3 I'd played for a few years (so multi effects are still a thing for me ;) Other than that, Wampler would probably be the most represented pedal company on my board with two pedals, the Tumnus Deluxe (modified Klone) and the Ego Compressor which, like you, I really love. Other than that, a Polytune Mini and a Boss SY-1 (we play neo-prog including some Marillion where I needed somethjing to emulate a Roland GR-300 guitar synth and the SY-1 does so brilliantly for my needs.

Congratulations on your 9th! When I started out on my effects journey, your channel helped a lot. I think that was way back 2014. In turn, my first inclination was to buy the Strymon trifecta and the Neunaber Wet Stereo Reverb. But after quite some time, I found myself loving the Eventide Factor/H9 pedals. Right now, I have both the Space and the TimeFactor. But, really, it's all thanks to your in-depth guides to effects that I learned to stack them properly and get those heavenly sounds.

Oh my, was it 9 years already? Time flies by, heads lose hair, difficult times, wonderful times, all bound together with a love for ambient music, pedals, and recordings. You took us all along on that path with you! Congratulations and thank you! Namasté, dear Bill! After the number 1 pedal reveal i was tempted to question: "What about the big sky? Did you forget all about that, or just take it for granted?" Fortunately, you answered that question near the end of the video. And since you asked about our favorite pedal brands: 1. Like you i'm a Strymon adept. i just love the way Strymon enhances the original signal, with very realistic digital simulations. 2. I love electro harmonics, for still being there after all these years; providing cool loopers, delays, and awesome reverberations; for offering something weird and unexpected in every pedal; for the MEL-9. 3. TC-electronics has always had my interest in providing great, and affordable functionality in every pedal; for their loopers and delays; for the mash footswitch/effect pedal concept; for their user tone concept.

Amazing lineup Bill. Thank you!

Great video. Thanks for the help over the years. You have helped me get my Frippertronics rig (or what i believe is Frippertronics) together. Keep on the great work!

Congrats! Love your videos and guitar playing.

I seem to like a lot of EHX pedals. I also love Strymon. I have a Volante, and a DECO. I also love the TC stuff. They are priced to enable you to get into many different things. I still have the first Flashback I ever bought. I also just got the new TC Stereo Chorus +..it sounds great. Now I have a couple of Beetronics pedals, because I love Fuzz, and because they sound great, and they are a quality company. Congrats on your many years of YouTubing!

9 years, woot woot! Bill and all of his hard work have been a massive inspiration. I started going back through every video and there is such a robust library of information here. Astonishing amounts of time and effort put into everything, it's just great. I miss all of the old technique (both playing and recording) content that was more prevalent early on. I know orher channels show chords, progressions, etc. However, Bill has a natural gift of making his content completely understandable and easy to grasp. Rarely do you have to play something back because of pure confusion, ha.

Congrats on your longevity & success. I WAS hoping there would be a few more 'effecty' type pedals suggested, you featured mainly delays & compressors, although I did appreciate the volume pedal being #1. Maybe another video featuring some stuff that produce crazy/weird/fun sounds???? Happy New Year!

It's great that you are so open about not buying that strymon pedal but rather receiving it from them. Honesty is a great quality!

Congratulation on 9 years and 500+ videos. Great list that I was really interested in seeing. Like you, I'm a big Strymon fan. One thing I'm considering is replacing my Big Sky with something smaller like a Blue Sky. I tend to stick to room reverb when I'm sitting playing in my basement. Live I use my Deluxe's reverb.

Love this way of doing a top ten: it's the pedals that actually get used that are the important ones.

congratulations on your channels birthday! awesome selection. brands wise I favour chase bliss audio, strymon and Keeley

A little (?) late, but happy anniversary. Your videos are very informative, answer most of my questions, and really great to listen to. Keep up the great work.

I have the Timeline, Big Sky and Mobius. I'd say Bill is the main reason I bought the "Stryfecta". The Big Sky is simply astounding, and I was never into reverb before hearing that pedal. But my favorite pedal for awhile now is my ISP Theta Preamp, not ambient, but a very good sounding distortion / preamp. Thanks for doing this research of your videos for us Bill. That was a huge job!

Congrats on having such a great channel. The pedal brands I use the most are from either Z Vex, Old Blood Noise Endeavors or Death By Audio. My favorite new pedal is the Vongon Ultrasheer, it's an addictive, highly-musical little ambient magic box.

I knew the Lil' Alligator would be #1 before I even clicked the video! Haha!! You're a legend, Bill. Congrats on 9 years!!

Bill thanks for beinga class act. You play great, teach valuable things in awesome, practicle ways, and have a wondersful humble spirit. You are a Blessings Brother.

Congrats to your anniversary! You inspire me to be a better musician every day. To answer your q, my favorite brands are Boss, MXR, and Tc Electronic. I know they're common brands but I think that's because they're so great! I really love the classic tones of MXR pedals and Boss pedals, and I love the toneprint option for Tc Electronic pedals. Take care!

I’m with you on the love for Strymon. I really try not to get locked into one brand but they just do it very well.

Thanks for sharing sir. You’re a joy to watch, your tone of voice and quiet somber demeanor is a breath of fresh air. Very informative video and as always much appreciated. I’m quite impressed with your arsenal of pedals and I must admit I’m a little jealous. I was lucky enough to be able to buy the Strymon Flint brand new. And ever since I’ve had that I’ve been dreaming about the Riverside as well. Can’t wait to check that one out as well as the El Capistan some day. Thanks again for making these videos. Great job as usual. Take it easy.✌️

Love you, Bill!

Another excellent video thank you for taking the time to do this. No doubt inspired by your choices, I have the strymon timeline which sadly it is smarter than I am! have you ever considered doing a deep dive instructional video on some of these pedals?

boss for modulation and jhs for od and just good looking stuff ;P premature gratz on 9 years, rly enjoyed this one

My top 1 is a pedal I discovered here - the EQD Avalanche Run, thank you again for your amazing demo! Perfect for ambient looping... 2nd: Walrus Audio Juliana - love the stereo effect and the vintage-warm vibes it creates. 3rd: Dr Scientist Dusk - makes anything sound like an old synth with LPF. And another one that is very very special: the Soma Cosmos - perfect meditative tool...

Congrats!

Thank you, Bill! As usual, it's been very entertaining, and educational. Hope that the falling pedal survived! :) Well, it is perhaps much to ask, and not really doable, but it would be interesting to peep how do you create your music... Starting with the choice of the pedals.

Im so glad I caught this show, really cool. I am a fan of ambient music in general, I play live and I prefer delay over reverb. I might use my tube reverb on my amp for that surf or old school sound but I feel delay is a much stronger ambient tool than reverb in general. Anyway loved this segment, no doubt that every thing Strymon makes is always top tier if not the out right best!

Great video as always Bill. The top 2 were easy to guess 🙂EHX for me as they are stocked by my local music store, although I have some nice Aria analogue pedals from the 80s

Congrats and some surprises in here! Well, my board is basically dominated by TC Electronic (about 3/4)... I think they have almost no competition in that "budget/mid" range with how good their pedals sound and how many actually clever, useful features they have. I have got a few more "boutique" pedals and love them too, but that really has to be something specialised that does a specific thing I love.

Congrats on 9 year anniversary. Strymon (Timeline, Mobious) and Wampler (Ego, Tumnus Deluxe, Euphoria, ...) also rule on my board. Strymon for the delay and modulation FX, and Wampler for the dirt. I have to agree about your choice for loopers. The Ditto X4 is a must have, but I also use the X2. I should also point out that it was your video using the Iridium to demo the Headrush FRFR 108 that sold me. I now have a second "ampless" board using the Iridium along with the Brigadier, Ola, and Blue Sky. That board features a Tumnus and Ratsbane. Cheers.

I have the same # 1. The little alligator because saw it in your videos. Congratulations and go forward. Keep inspire us.

Your body of work is legendary!!

Nice top 10! My favorite brands for ambient type fx are strymon and eventide, also i really love gamechanger audio. I really enjoy boss compact pedals though.

You're the reason I bought the Immerse lol. Use it on almost every track of mine! Thanks again 🤘

Easiest #1 to guess ever! :D I agree about reverbs for recording. Much easier to fit into the arrangement by using a plugin. Congratulations on nine years!

Bill, I’ve got a blend of pedal (companies’) choices over time, though my most represented are TC Electronic and Walrus Audio. Recently went to a small board setup for electric guitar. Topside , there’s just a Source Audio ZIO, EQD Plumes, TC Electronic Plethora X3, and the same Neumaber Immerse reverb pedal you use-all running into a Walrus ACS1. A TC Electronic Bona Fide buffer is out of sight, mounted on the underside of the board and a TC Polytune sits off the board but fed by an Ernie Ball VP Junior tuner out.

Love the videos and just subscribed! My favorite builders are Death By Audio, Black Arts Toneworks, Minotaur Sonic Terrors, EQD, in no particular order.

I knew the little aligator was going to be number one. I purchased my first volume pedal because of this channel

The did and deco. Love em

Long-time viewer; infrequent commenter; CoO fanboy! Thanks for 9 years (and going…), Bill. Your vid’s always make my day. “We’ve” all been through a lot this past decade and your continued good humor, gentle spirit, and positive encouragement has been a blessing to us all. I’m a Morley fan, myself. My #1 still-in-constant-use-couldn’t-live-without-it pedal is my big ol’ Morely Volume-Pan pedal. You know, one of the old chrome units the size of a pickup truck? It sits in the middle of any & every setup I have used since 1978-on stage or in studio. LOVE the ultra-smooth feel and built-like-a-tank durability. I use it after initial tone shaping and before modulation effects; so Compression->Boost->OD/Dist ->Amp/Emulator->Morley Volume->To modulations, delays, loopers, mixers, etc.->Overall Volume pedal (35-year old Boss FV200). So, 3 volumes: pre-distortion swells via guitar vol (nice clean to distortion swells!); post distortion via Morely for grand swells into the delays and reverbs; post delay/reverb swells and overall volume via the Boss FV at the end. Thanks again!

Love it. I use Deco, Iridium, El Capistan and add reverb in my DAW. I installed the Righteous Sound 1991 Gazing pickups on my Tele Deluxe, and honestly I don’t need anything else :)

Thankyou. Very cool :)

I’d like to see a video of your favorite ambient bands.

I have a very similar Morley pedal, was my first or second pedal. Had it about 20 years. It's a combo Wah / Volume pedal, but I primarily use the Volume.

Completely understand the affinity for Strymon gear, though I always go for their simpler, compact devices, as I do with most other pedal builders. Too many on hand to have to read heavy manuals. My Meris Hedra is probably my most complicated pedal, until the Chase Bliss Generation Loss pre-order comes out. I love Walrus Audio, particularly the Slo, Wampler, JHS and Fulltone as well. Right now everything is centered around a Hudson Electronics Broadcast BC-24V-USA preamp pedal with a Tumnus Deluxe and Benson Geranium Boost in front. Lots of "wet" pedals after that going into an old Carvin stereo power amp (while the tube shortage is going on). But it is almost like trying to choose a favorite child...😝

I was never much into pedals. Playing in many local bar band situations. I mainly used a Cry Baby Wah, which I bought in 1979 and recently just died on me and I used a DOD Overdrive Preamp 250. Occasionally I used a MXR 10 Band Equalizer and a MXR Phase Shifter. But, now that I play in a worship band at Church. I’m using more delay, reverb and compressor. Which I use an old POD 2.0 and Floorboard. I do have a ZOOM G1X Four. Which I haven’t used at Church yet. I’m also looking into either the POD GO or the Helix Floor. At Sweetwater, they have a Helix with Worship Tutorials patches. So I’m looking into that. The stage for the musicians at Church is very small. So that’s why I’m looking into a multi effects unit, all in one.

Awesome content! Ever thought of doing a studio reveal?

Intresting!👍👍

Mazel Tov! So grateful for you!🫶🏻

The 2290 delay on the tc is awesome... also, I love coming up with glitchy loops on the triple delay since it doesn't oscillate ...

I have big home made board… EHX dominance, I really love to work with them. Had many TC but bought the Plethora x 3 and sold 3 of my 4 tone print, except the SENTRY, because I loop my dirt’s with it. DECO AND LEX V2, the 5 first MERIS are also on my board. DISASTER AREA DMC-6 + QCONNECT & SMARTclock, to MIDI and pulse control it all.

You're a legend

Great vid Bill. Only got one of those tc trip and that was influenced by you… Love loads of different brands but Keeley is highest on my list… esp. Caverns and Eccos. 😎

I like the Strymon pedals a lot. I have three of them now. Volante, Nightsky and DECO. I enjoy making pedals too, mostly fuzz, drive and boost but I built a Pete Cornish optical compressor clone, it's my favorite compressor now. I like Catalinbread pedals, I got two, the Adineko and the Zero Point. Seymore Duncan as well, I have two, Silverlake and Polaron. I do like the "Made in USA" stuff.

I have the Dig for a 2 months and it is amazing!

Wow! And thank you.

Hey Bill, great concept to choose favorites. One small issue: going by number of episodes creates a significant bias for pedals that were acquired a long time ago. You might want to “normalize” each by the amount of time owned, to better reflect your current preference and the ranking among them (For example, does featuring a pedal 100 times over 8 years makes it preferred over a pedal you featured 75 times in the last year?) Just a thought. Still loved the concept, that lineup is definitely a great one either way! And of course, congrats on 9 years of creation!

Thanks, brother. For half a second I thought you were a Strymon shill. Your final comments proved me wrong. You are true to your craft and to your choices of sonic enlightenment. Thank you for sharing your experiences... 😺

The moment you started by count I knew Morley volume pedal will be #1

When I first got back into music making, I set myself a rule, probably arbitrary, that I could not have more than two pedals from any one manufacturer. Once I was done with the initial build of my pedal board, the first manufacturer I broke this rule for was ElectroHarmonix. Second was EarthQuaker. Based on my currents wants, third will likely be JHS. And then Old Blood Noise.

The Immerse is awesome. The Wet mode is also gorgeous and it has one of the better Shimmers around too.

I always think EHX have some of the best sounding pedals, but their footprint and the huge clunky power supplies always make them less desirable for playing out, though I think some of the newer “nano” type versions of some of their classic pedals address this issue some. Pedals like the Holy Stain are really distinct and sound amazing. I also like the Keeley Dark Side for a beautiful fuzz/delay classic rock sound. Boss is almost always a great overall choice and I usually use my very handy Boss BCB-60 pedalboard which demonstrates not only the rock solid musicality of Boss but also their excellent build, footprint and user-friendly interface. Just set everything at 12 O-Clock, lol. Can’t go wrong

Congratulations on 9 years Bill! Question on the TC Flashback Triple delay, in parallel mode, can you pan each delay? One to the left, one in the center and one to the right?

Nice collection, even though I know tis but a fraction of it! Was surprised not to see the Big Sky on there. I just bought one at full price then returned untouched it after seeing I could save hundreds buying second hand. Might consider the TC units also. There is another reverb the name of which evades me but it sounded great, and when you play a new note or chord, it kind of fades out the old verb in favour of the new vern, so it doesnt sound washed out or out of tune if you play another key. Wish I could remember it....

Great content Bill! Do you ever stack reverbs? (thinking Immerse + Big Sky)

I'm not sure if it's my favorite, but if I had to recommend only one pedal, I think it'd be a Keeley Caverns v2.

Gamechanger Audio. Plasma, Plus, Light and Bigsby are all on my board.

Congrats! Really enjoy your content. In your opinion how reliable is the Ditto X4?

You should try some Strymon pedals. I hear they’re pretty good.

I have only three pedals (in total) which almost match your top 3 (+ cheap reverb). Instead of a volume pedal at no1 I forward the effectrode blackbird (sounds great even w/o cabsim and makes my wampler ego almost redundant). Thanks for your channel!

I have and love both versions of the Immerse reverb but I prefer the original on my acoustic board and v.2 for my electrics.

When I first started, I was leaning towards EHX and EQD. Lately I've been getting more Boss and Walrus Audio tho.

One of my first pedals was the Solid Metal from Damage Control, which was the brand that became -- you guessed it -- Strymon! The Solid Metal has two 12AX7 tubes that really kicks up the distortion. I also had the Liquid Blues and the Womanizer from Damage Control, but sold them as they sounded very much like the Solid Metal (which I still have).

Well Bill, you’ve just sealed the deal to continue to get free Strymon pedals. Wish you demo’d more Chase Bliss pedals…. Thermae, Blooper are such amazingly creative pieces.

Digitech trio+. It’s such a good pedal for practice and coming up with new ideas. I run a blooper after it to mangle the bass and drum sounds.

That Neunaber Mark I is my single favorite pedal.It is so easy to get something beautiful, and it is impossible to make it sound bad. I use the detune a lot when I want modulation. Like you, I didn't like the changes on the Mark II (except the more readable paint).

I recently found out about Red Panda Labs and am enjoying the Context V2. They make lots of interesting time based effects with different takes on freeze/hold. Otherwise I have a few 200 series boss pedals that work well.

Bill, I’d love to know which of your albums you consider your best work? Love your channel and your music!

Love this channel. Haves bought gear specifically because of one of your videos. I’m enjoying a TC Electronic Flashback 2x4 and it’s “mash’ button right now. Must haves: Boss DS-1 Distortion: great distortion that cleans up easily. Underrated pedal Boss Volume Pedal: cleans up above when back…roars when it’s forward Joyo Aquarius Delay: cheap little pedal that has an amazing reverse delay. A mainstay…always reverse. Big Muff: for when you want it heavy. Behringer SF300 SuperFuzz: when you want to get gnarly. Out of control or even Velcro tones at times. EXCELLENT clone of the original for dirt cheap. I keep multiple around. Tech 21 Microvibe: for when I want to get dreamy Line 6 Echo Park: versatile and excellent. Has served me well and been extraordinarily reliable considering the amount of use and abuse it took in the back of vans or being stepped on by clumsy guitarists I have 6 delay pedals (flashback 2x4, some boss dd series pedals, MXR carbon copy, etc. Still keep coming back to the Echo Park though. MXR Phase 90: dreamy. Milky. Liquid. Dreamy.

You might want to try a Zoia. A bit pricey,but Awesome😁🎶🎹🎶 Play On

Sorry I'm late to the party!! But to you Sir quite an accomplishment 💯 being on RU-vid you've made it this far because your content is above all the rest 👈🏼💯 and I'm just a guy who loves pedals as I've been playing for over 40 years!! True story quick story: When I started playing in a band I was blessed to have some guys who'd been around the country playing in bands for a living the Bass player had stories of watching Boston before they made it big! Yes!! The Bass player was a huge Hammond organ fan and yes Boston used Hammond's religiously.on his weekend off he would hit rehearsal spots around town and he also came across that other band Aerosmith!! The Bass player wasn't no slouch as he released an EP. that had a single on the top 200 the band was in the Kingsman genre!! Anyways I watch you all the time!! The way you describe the sounds and how you demo pedals is why I come back for more !! Again congrats!! Cheer's to many more trips around the Sun in RU-vid 💯

Great list, although my first thought was that most people watching would be very interested in the reverb pedal as most are probably not recording a lot, so it would have been really nice to have heard what your favourite would have been if you were using one live.

Have you tried Boss TE-2 Tera Echo out yet? It's pretty cool, I think you'd like it, and also Electroharmonix Mainframe, you can get some very intresting sounds out of those....

Thanks for the video. I have no pedals at all... and saying straight I never had one. I would buy a Walrus Lillian and DeepSix V3, but Digitech Trio+ will be the first, I think.

This video is FANTASTIC! I like fact that YOU purchased most of these pedals. Buy your pedals. Don't "Sell out"! Fight the suits, man or soon the "Heelocks" will get you! (digging the "Meet John Doe" reference?...yeah...I knew you would! )

Your love of Strymon gear is clear, but they produce some fine machines. Your bias, if you can call it that, is understandable due to consistent results in your studio work. I’d probably go for them if money were no object. I tend to favor Boss and TC Electronics, for much the same reasons but also considering the best solution for my budget. I own 3 of each, and plan to add a few more to supplement and expand.

My pedalboard is loaded with Strymon, too - Flint, Lex, BigSky, Volante.

I’d love to hear more detail on the demise of your iridium. Cautionary tales?!?

Hey, Bill, what was it about the ZOOM MS-70cdr pedal that made you refuse to review it? :-)

Awesome Bill. Also RIP to the Echosystem that appears to fall off your board in the opening clips... echosystem is such SUCh a high quality pedal...