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2020 has been a rough year for just about everybody.
In the Pedal Haven world, we’ve been trying to keep the spirits up by continuing to post pedalboard photos on the @pedalhaven Instagram.
And after a year of posting hundreds of your pedalboards and thousands of pedals in 2020, this got us thinking…
What are the most popular pedals that were featured on our Instagram account this year?
So we looked at EVERY. SINGLE. PEDAL. that was featured on the Pedal Haven Instagram feed and crunched the numbers in order to find the most popular pedals of 2020.
Key Findings:
- The TC Electronic PolyTune was the most popular pedal across the pedalboards we featured in 2020 – Not surprising, everyone needs a tuner, and the PolyTune is a great choice.
- The most commonly featured non-tuner pedal is the iconic Dunlop Cry Baby (featured 44 times). Followed closely by the Strymon Timeline (featured 42 times) and the TC Electronic Ditto Looper (featured 40 times)
- Overdrive is the most popular effect type in the study – with 535 of the 3181 pedals featured being overdrive pedals.
- BOSS is the most popular pedal manufacturer in the study. Followed by TC Electronic, Electro Harmonix, and Strymon.
The Most Common Guitar Effect Types of 2020
With countless guitar effects like overdrive, delay, reverb, and chorus, we were curious to see what the most popular types of guitar effects were. Here’s a look at the top 10 most common effect types that people used on pedalboards in 2020:
The Top 50 Guitar Pedals of 2020
After taking note of every single pedal from every single pedalboard that we featured, we were left with a list of over 3,000 pedals. Then we did some fancy sorting to find what pedals showed up the most across the hundreds of pedalboards we looked at. Here is a look at the top fifty pedals that we featured in 2020:
| Manufacturer | Pedal Name | How Many Times Was It Featured? |
|---|---|---|
| TC Electronic | PolyTune | 136 |
| BOSS | DD Series | 55 |
| BOSS | Chromatic Tuner | 53 |
| Ernie Ball | VP Jr. | 47 |
| Dunlop | Cry Baby | 44 |
| Strymon Engineering | Timeline | 42 |
| TC Electronic | Ditto Looper | 40 |
| Electro Harmonix | POG | 39 |
| Strymon Engineering | Big Sky | 36 |
| Ibanez | Tube Screamer | 35 |
| Dunlop | DVP4 | 35 |
| MXR | Phase 90 | 31 |
| MXR | Carbon Copy | 30 |
| Keeley | Compressor | 29 |
| Strymon Engineering | Flint | 27 |
| Fulltone | OCD | 26 |
| TC Electronic | Flashback | 25 |
| Walrus Audio | Julia | 25 |
| TC Electronic | Hall of Fame | 24 |
| ProCo | RAT | 24 |
| Electro Harmonix | Big Muff | 22 |
| JHS Pedals | Morning Glory | 22 |
| BOSS | Reverb | 22 |
| Xotic | SP Compressor | 22 |
| TC Electronic | Spark | 22 |
| BOSS | Loop Station | 21 |
| Earthquaker Devices | Plumes | 20 |
| Strymon Engineering | El Capistan | 19 |
| 1981 Inventions | DRV | 18 |
| Walrus Audio | Slö | 17 |
| Origin Effects | Cali76 | 16 |
| BOSS | DD-500 | 16 |
| Line 6 | HX Stomp | 16 |
| BOSS | Tremolo | 16 |
| BOSS | Blues Driver | 15 |
| Strymon Engineering | blueSky | 15 |
| BOSS | Chorus | 15 |
| Xotic | EP Booster | 15 |
| MXR | Analog Chorus | 14 |
| MXR | Dyna Comp | 14 |
| Strymon Engineering | Iridium | 14 |
| Greer Amps | Lightspeed | 14 |
| Chase Bliss Audio | Mood | 14 |
| Korg | Pitch Black | 14 |
| Benson | Preamp | 14 |
| Electro Harmonix | Soul Food | 14 |
| BOSS | Compression Sustainer | 13 |
| Walrus Audio | Deep Six | 13 |
| Klon | KTR | 13 |
| Strymon Engineering | Mobius | 13 |
The Most Popular Pedal Companies of 2020
The guitar pedal world is dominated by giants who have been making pedals for decades, like BOSS, Electro Harmonix, and MXR. But every year we see new and exciting pedal companies forming and creating amazing new pedals. Here’s a list of the top fifty pedal companies that had pedals featured on pedalboards from the Pedal Haven Instagram:
| Manufacturer | # of Pedals Featured |
|---|---|
| Boss | 371 |
| TC Electronic | 317 |
| Electro Harmonix | 248 |
| Strymon | 193 |
| MXR | 167 |
| Earthquaker Devices | 108 |
| Walrus Audio | 104 |
| JHS Pedals | 99 |
| Dunlop | 97 |
| Xotic | 60 |
| Keeley | 57 |
| Ibanez | 54 |
| Chase Bliss Audio | 52 |
| Fulltone | 51 |
| Ernie Ball | 49 |
| Wampler | 37 |
| Digitech | 35 |
| Line 6 | 35 |
| Empress | 33 |
| Mooer | 31 |
| ProCo | 27 |
| GFI System | 26 |
| Vertex Effects | 24 |
| Meris | 19 |
| Origin Effects | 19 |
| Korg | 19 |
| Source Audio | 18 |
| 1981 Inventions | 18 |
| Analog Man | 17 |
| Way Huge Pedals | 16 |
| Jackson Audio | 15 |
| Vox | 15 |
| DOD | 15 |
| Old Blood Noise Endeavors | 15 |
| ZVEX | 15 |
| Eventide | 15 |
| Greer Amps | 15 |
| Klon | 15 |
| King Tone | 14 |
| Benson | 13 |
| Neunaber | 12 |
| Fairfield Circuitry | 12 |
| Catalinbread | 11 |
| J Rockett | 11 |
| T-Rex | 11 |
| Joyo | 11 |
| Bondi Effects | 11 |
| Friedman | 10 |
| Montreal Assembly | 9 |
| Vemuram | 9 |
What Are the Top Pedals in Each of the Top Effect Types?
From the iconic Big Muff to the Strymon Timeline, we wanted to know what the most popular guitar pedals were for each of the most popular effect categories. So after we discovered the most popular effect types, we broke the data down even further to find the most popular pedals in each of the top effect categories.
The Top Overdrive Pedals of 2020
Having an overdrive pedal on your board is almost essential. But with so many to choose from, here’s a look at the top 10 most popular overdrive pedals we featured on pedalboards in 2020:
The Top Delay Pedals of 2020
Whether you’re playing screaming solos or washed-out ambient soundscapes, a delay pedal is a solid choice for any guitar player. Here are the top 10 delay pedals that we featured in 2020:
The Top Reverb Pedals of 2020
One of the most popular, and my personal favorite, guitar effect is reverb. There is an endless sea of incredible reverb pedals to choose from but here’s a look at the top 10 reverb pedals we saw in 2020:
The Top Fuzz Pedals of 2020
Everyone needs a fuzz pedal on their board. Here’s a list of the top 10 fuzz pedals that we featured on our Instagram in 2020:
The Top Compressor Pedals of 2020
If you’re looking to bring a bit more clarity into your playing, then a compressor pedal is the right choice for you. Here are the top 10 compressor pedals of 2020:
The Top Distortion Pedals of 2020
Distortion pedals rock – That’s all there is to it. Here are the top 10 distortion pedals that we saw on our Instagram in 2020.
The Top Boost Pedals of 2020
A boost pedal can be a bit of a secret weapon on your pedalboard. Switch it on to give your sound a bit more volume and kick to help your solos cut through the mix. Here are the 10 most popular boost pedals that we featured in 2020:
The Top Chorus Pedals of 2020
Chorus pedals help add some movement and modulation into your tone. Chorus can be a really interesting effect if used in the right setting! Here are the top 10 chorus pedals featured in 2020:
The Top Tremolo Pedals of 2020
Like the chorus pedals mentioned above, a tremolo pedal is a solid choice if you’re looking to add a bit more modulation and interest to your playing. Here are the top 10 tremolo pedals of 2020:
Be sure to stay up to date by following @PedalHaven on Instagram (and submit your pedalboard photos while you’re there!)