Updated Dec. 1, 2020 | by Paolo De Gregorio

Most Popular Pedals 2020

The Monthly StompBuzz is back, with the usual update on the most searched pedals on our site in the previous 30 days period – in this case, that is November 2020!

For some inscrutable reason, last month was the month of the Plexi Pedal – not one, not two, but THREE Marshall Plexi emulation were released by popular manufacturers, and they all made this top 10! There were other intriguing releases (Keeley Hydra in particular), some of which didn’t make the list but went very close – we added them at the bottom of this post as Honorable Mentions.

The chart below lists the stompboxes that had the most searches in the Month of November 2020*.  It features brief descriptions about each pedal (mouse-over or first tap) and video demos (on click or second tap).

817642115
Hologram Microcosm
$449 - A multi-mode granular looper/phrase looper/delay filter and reverb. Ofers 11 unique granular and looping effects with 44 preset variations, Stereo In/Out, Expression In mappable to many controls, MIDI, 60 sec. Phrase Looper, Stereo Reverb, “Hold” function to freeze effects and patterns, pitch modulation, Resonant Lowpass Filter, presets, trails and Tap Tempo.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
3023155856
Keeley Hydra
$249 - A compact Stereo Reverb + Tremolo with 3 modes (Spring, Plate or Room) and tap-tempo enabled Harmonic, Vibrato, or Sine Wave Tremolo. Each effect has its own footswitch and can be placed first in the chain. Dual function knobs are accessible by holding the Color knob, ( black fonts for Tremolo, white fonts for Reverb).  Includes Trails, remote switching compatibility, Expression and Tap-Tempo inputs.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
More
Reverb Amazon
https://amzn.to
Strymon Nightsky
$429 - A stereo “reverberant synthesis workstation” that combines reverb, pitch-shifting, a resonant filter, modulation with multiple waves shapes (which can be routed to pitch, reverb or filter), and even a step sequencer! Three footswitches allow several functions including preset storage/recall, sequencer control and momentary effects.
Sweetwater | Reverb | Amazon
2874677572
Chase Bliss Zvex Bliss Factory
$450+ | ZVEX’s classic gets the Chase Bliss treatment. All the controls of the original are here, plus a new resonant low pass filter knob, and two three-way toggles for fattening up the tone and setting auxiliary knob functions. Any parameter can be saved to a preset, and controlled by midi or expression pedal using the dip switches on the back. Not cheap but super-versatile.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
4280147614
DSM and Humboldt Simplifier
$329 - An amp and cab emulator that features a true analog preamp that recreates in fine detail the most popular clean channel preamps, a power amp sim and dual independent Cab sims with spread control. Stereo FX loop, headphone amp with Aux input for monitoring or silent practicing, two XLR DI out, and two bypassable ¼-inch jacks round up the features. XLR and Headphone out.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
More
Reverb Amazon
3845218640
Wampler Plexi Drive Mini
$149 - A boutique mini plexi distortion that delivers the same tones as its bigger, popular siblings but at a lower cost and smaller footprint. The circuit integrates the three basic Gain, Tone and Volume knobs with two toggle switches for Bass and Mids, essentially offering a circuit very similar to the one found on the popular Deluxe version, minus the extra Boost.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
More
Reverb Amazon
2045433549
BOSS OC-5
$129 | The new Vintage mode faithfully recreates the mono sound of the classic 1982 OC-2. The Poly mode can track chords and features polyphonic enhancements, an octave-up feature for extended range, and improved tracking technology for latency-free response. The variable Range knob restricts the effect to only the lower notes, great for bass.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
More
Reverb Amazon
3420448866
Third Man Triplegraph
$399 - A collaboration between Coppersound and Jack White of The White Stripes. The three levers - replacing regular footswitches - activate an Octave Up (left pedal), an Octave Down (right pedal), and a kill switch or auxiliary FX loop (center pedal).  A toggle switch allows the player to choose between the two modes for the center pedal.
eBay | Reverb | Amazon
895886244
Friedmann SmallBox
$169 - A stompbox rendition of Ch 1 of the company's Small Box, a compact Plexi-style amp. More nuanced and classic sounding than the BE Overdrive, it features six controls, just like the amp: Level, Gain and four EQ knobs: Bass, Mid, Treble and Presence. A toggle switch on the side panel changes the effect's gain structure, delivering an extra push for a more in-your-face, high-gain Plexi tone.
Zzounds | Sweetwater |
More
Reverb Amazon
1884951194
Carl Martin PlexiRanger
$219 - Combines a plexi channel and a 15db boost, with separate footswitches. The boost (1st in the chain) is a custom silicon circuit inspired by the Treble Booster. Each has an independent EQ section: simple Tone control on the Plexi side and parametric EQ (Range + Freq) on the Boost, which is clean when the Range knob is at zero. A 3-way Low Cut Filter (off at 0) tames the low end.
Alt Seller | Reverb | Amazon

Here is the text version of the chart highlighting variations compared to last month and total number of Google searches on our site. Click on the links below to read our coverage and video aggregation.

  1. (=) Hologram Microcosm (9694 searches)
  2. (New) Keeley Hydra (7132 searches)
  3. (-1) Strymon Nightsky (6476 searches)
  4. (New) Chase Bliss Audio + Zvex Bliss Factory (4837 searches)
  5. (-2) DSM & Humboldt Simplifier (3250 searches)
  6. (New) Wampler Plexi Mini (2918 searches)
  7. (-3) BOSS OC-5 (2638 searches)
  8. (-3) Coppersound Triplegraph (2374 searches)
  9. (New) Friedmann Smallbox (2346 searches)
  10. (New) Carl Martin PlexiRanger (2204 searches)

Honorable Mentions
These pedals followed very closely: EQD/Death By Audio Time Shadow, Cornerstone Gladio, 1981 Inventions DRV, Chase Bliss/Meris CXM 1978, Strymon Deco, Origin Magma, Land Devices HP-2, Nux Horseman, Chase Bliss Blooper, Vertex Steel String Supreme.

*The search data was collected from our Google Search Console.

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