“Ohio supports their own, Alaskans have expensive taste”: Reverb reveals the most popular effects pedals in each US state – and a quarter of the country favors one brand in particular
A few months ago, Reverb maintained tradition by announcing its best-selling effects pedals of the year – a list that seemingly identified a winner from 2024’s mini amp modeler arms race.
Now, the online gear retailer has delved deeper into the data to produce a list charting the most popular pedals in each US state.
Like its overarching pedals round-up – and its list of the best-selling electric guitars from 2024, which saw a previous chart-topper toppled – the state-by-state run-down makes for rather interesting reading.
Perhaps the most unsurprising-yet-still-interesting-to-see stat is the fact that Boss comfortably dominated proceedings. Indeed, Boss pedals were the go-to units for 13 states, which roughly equates to 25% of the entire country.
Across the board, Boss’ RE-202 Space Echo, BD-2 Blues Driver, TU-3 Tuner and CE-2W Waza Craft chorus all topped state-level charts, as did the RC-5 Loop Station in Colorado and RV-6 Reverb in Alabama.
(Image credit: Reverb)
It was one of the key takeaways from the larger list – that Boss is still the name to beat in the effects pedal game – and that’s been further cemented here.
Other popular brands to achieve a multi-state presence include Electro-Harmonix – whose Pitch Fork was favored in Nevada, and Nano Metal Muff was most popular in Wyoming – and MXR, which had its Reverb, Duke of Tone overdrive and Carbon Copy delay show up on the map.
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Some other note-worthy results include the Strymon Big Sky reigning supreme in Texas, the EarthQuaker Devices Dirt Transmitter topping sales stats in its home state of Ohio, the Chase Bliss Mood finding favor in Maine, and Idaho championing the super-budget Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz.
(Image credit: Future)
Oh, and as Reverb notes, some states had rather expensive tastes: Alaska, for example, went all-out for the R2R Electric Supa MKII – a rare and collectible boutique fuzz of which only 200 were apparently made.
There was also a strong showing from amp modelers and digital amp sim pedals, which further reflects the wider findings of the general rundown. Across the map, Line 6’s HX Stomp, the IK Multimedia ToneX One and Universal Audio Ruby all made the cut.
It is worth noting the Reverb methodology, though. In instances where an effect was the top-seller in multiple states, Reverb awarded it as the winner only in the state with the most purchases. Whether that could increase the overall dominance of Boss even further is unclear.
“Ohio supports their own, Alaskans have expensive taste,” Reverb writes of its findings. “13 states – or roughly 25% of the country – chose a Boss pedal more than any offerings from other brands.”
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