What are Boutique Guitar Pedals?

All guitarists are searching for their own original sound, and using boutique guitar pedals is one popular way to insure that you stand out from the crowd. Unlike mass-produced guitar pedals, boutique pedals are usually made by small independent workshops, and most often, the pedals are hand-made and numbered.

While the large manufacturers can usually sell guitar effects pedals cheaper, small boutique pedal companies specialize in individuality and attention to detail in their effects. Companies such as Carl Martin, Divided by 13, Fulltone, Keeley and Red Witch are all smaller boutique manufacturers, dedicated exclusively to producing outstanding guitar tone.

As you might expect, small companies that hand build guitar pedals usually charge more for their products, but many pro guitarists insist that the higher price of boutique pedals is justified because of their quality and originality of tone.

As well as the small guitar workshops, boutique pedals are also produced by a few larger companies such as Electro Harmonix and Huges & Kettner. These medium-size manufacturers manage to avoid being labeled as mass producers of guitar effects because of their stellar reputations, and their attention to detail in producing quirky, non-traditional guitar effects.

Boutique guitar pedals come in many different flavors, from swirling chorus effects, to vintage, hand-built overdrive units. Primarily, most of these high-end effects are influenced by the vintage guitar pedals of the 1960s and 70s. For example, many boutique pedal manufacturers sell replications of rare 1960s pedals.

And though the prices of these units tend to be much higher than standard mass-produced guitar effects, when you consider the rarity of these 60s era pedals, and the fact that many of them will be in poor condition after all these years, it can actually make much more sense to buy a replication of a classic pedal than the original.

In a way, the trend toward using boutique guitar pedals is a reaction to the overly commercial music of the past few decades. Guitarists use these unusual and unique sounding "stomp boxes" to create an entirely different palette of sounds.

By using exotic guitar pedals, artists are able to shape the sound of a music to a far greater degree, and avoid the bland same-ness of much commercial music these days.

But as well is sounding unique, boutique guitar pedals are also small, functional works of art. Many boutique pedals are actually hand-painted and hand-labeled, ensuring that no two will look like. Boutique pedal producers such as Zvex are a good example of this. All of their pedals feature vintage analog knobs and foot switches, and are decorated with hand-painted symbols and icons.

So when a guitarist buys a boutique pedal, they are buying something very different from a mass produced multi-effects gadget; they are buying a unique piece of history that has been handcrafted and tested in a small workshop to perform to the highest standards, and create a totally unique sound.

There's no doubt about it: these pedals cost more than mass-produced units from the big names, but you can also find them on auction for about the same price as a bland, mass-produced effects pedal. And when you consider the originality and inspiration you will gain by using boutique guitar pedals, it's easy to see why they are becoming more and more popular everyday.