Guitar Pedals Are Going Big at The NAMM Show
As a musician, recording engineer and a lifelong fan of gear, I ended up at my first NAMM Show in 2010. Like a kid in a candy store, I was totally overwhelmed! Guitar pedals at the show are my jam. You’ll find me fiddling with knobs and trying the latest toys.
The question when you’re at The NAMM Show is where do you start? If you’re like me and into effects pedals, then head over to Hall D. That’s where you’ll find all the pedals that drive exploration, connection, excitement and adventure in music creation. They’re a sugar high, painted with bright colors, designed by mad scientists and garage geniuses, and thoroughly addicting. Simply put, they make playing more playful.
There’s an incredible upswing in energy within the pedal community and participation of several impactful and adventurous builders from all around the world. To help tell this story, Paolo De Gregorio, publisher, editor and blogger at Delicious Audio and Deli Magazine, shares his insights below. A producer, musician and gearhead himself, Paolo brings the same passion to pedal innovations and his upcoming Stompbox Booth at The 2025 NAMM Show.
Hi Paolo! Can you tell us a bit about your Stompbox Booth and what attendees can expect?
The thing about pedals and effects is that they trigger passion. The Stompbox Booth is a shared booth and a way to showcase new, smaller builders. It’s grown into a community booth where people network and explore. It’s a place at the heart of the pedal area near other more established brands.
How much gear do you typically share in the booth?
We literally have thirty boards in a twenty-by-twenty-foot space. There you’ll find some really interesting builders; new guys who just started making pedals a year ago. And you’ll get to play their first prototypes! And there might be a new Empress in there or a Keeley or a new Earthquaker Devices. For people who are looking for new stuff, our booth is full of it!
Your Stompbox Booth is an in-the-headphones demo experience. What’s that like and how did you come to that idea?
I'm sure you heard the discussions about NAMM being loud. But it doesn't need to be too loud — in particular in the guitar area. Of course, you guys have drums and brass, which have to be pretty loud, but those have moved somewhere else. And apart from amps, you don’t really need any volume anymore for guitars. The headphone experience has really improved. So, we’ve worked to separate out the companies with performers, and things have gotten quieter for sure in the guitar and pedal sections of The NAMM Show. So that’s the main difference you will experience in our booth.
What's trending right now in the world of pedals? And how are producers and engineers using pedals?
There's a bit of a crisis in the pedal world right now. The peak has passed, maybe during or just before the pandemic. Sales were incredible then, but it's tough for boutique builders to break into the market dominated by bigger brands.
To stand out, companies like Earthquaker, Hologram Electronics and Chase Bliss create pedals that mix different effects — these are imaginative, flexible and even unpredictable, which is inspiring for musicians. I call them "happy accident generators" because they break patterns and help with creativity.
There's been a lot of repetition in the market though — overdrives and fuzz pedals. I run a blog called Delicious Audio, and I’m tired of writing about the same thing every day! But things are starting to pick up with more interesting releases from companies like Old Blood Noise Endeavors. Pedals that blend different effects are great, and that’s why so many producers use them as outboard gear, not just for guitars, but for synths, electronic wind instruments or pro audio.
These new devices are incredibly inspiring. Brian Eno had this deck of cards to inspire musicians, and pedals work the same way. They help musicians break out of their usual patterns and come up with new ideas. Delay pedals, for example, can reorganize sounds in a granular way, not just repeat them, adding layers of creativity. Some of these new pedals are practically synths without oscillators — complex, amazing engineering that offers endless possibilities.
What kind of people do you typically connect with at The NAMM Show?
NAMM reaches a global community — 120+ countries — so it’s a huge platform for small or U.S.-based builders to get noticed in the international music market. We have a lot of builders in our booth from the U.S. and Canada, but attendees come from all over — Europe, South America, even Japan. The U.S. is the biggest market for guitar-related products, and The NAMM Show is the entry point for builders because it’s not just a typical guitar show. It’s where press, influencers and buyers come together. If you do something interesting, you’ll get noticed.
Chase Bliss Audio, for example, is one of the hottest companies right now, alongside Meris — both from the U.S. But there are tons of guitarists who just want overdrives and fuzzes, and companies like JHS or Theremaniacs from the UK do those incredibly well. What’s great about this market is that there’s room for different approaches because the audience is so large. It’s also a collector’s market, so it’s not about cutting-edge competition. Most of the developers are friends because they know that people don’t just buy one pedal, they collect multiple. It’s a friendly, less cutthroat market.
For people who don’t use effects pedals, what are some use-cases they could consider?
Well, there are reverbs, like a Strymon pedal, that work for all kinds of applications. They can be super creative, but also sound normal and create subtle, pleasing ambience. Honestly, if you’re an amazing musician, you’ll make anything sound good. Effects can improve your sound a bit. If you’re not as good, a compressor on your guitar can help even out your performance. It’s important to tweak your tone depending on the environment — some rooms accentuate certain frequencies, so having an equalizer can help. Effects have tons of applications, and it’s all about figuring out how to make them work for you.
▸ ▸ ▸
Ready to Explore Guitar and Effects Pedals at The NAMM Show?
Whether you’re a performing artist, touring manager, studio engineer, producer, or house of worship musician interested in creating or manipulating sound, you’ll find the latest innovations in effects pedals at The NAMM Show. The best part about it is you’ll get to try them all hands-on and hear your own playing. Register today to experience it all for yourself.
About the Author
Luke Walton is a producer, mix engineer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, with previous stints on the road supporting The Doobie Brothers and Gregg Allman. His music has been featured in commercials for brands like Lexus, Coors Light and Pantene, and he has composed theme songs and underscore across Japanese media for NHK, Fuji TV and Tokyo Theatres Company Inc.