The Most Popular Guitar Pedals of 2022 (Instagram Study)

This post may contain affiliate links

 

It’s that time of year again! 

 

If you’ve been here a while you’ll know that I sit down at the end of each year and tally up all of the pedals featured on @PedalHaven in order to find which guitar pedals are found on pedalboards the most often.

 

This year is no different! This year there were 300+ pedalboards featured on the Pedal Haven Instagram account and nearly 3200 pedals! So let’s find out which of those pedals were found on pedalboards most often in 2022.

 

Interesting Findings

  • Overdrive pedals were the most popular type of pedals on pedalboards this year – the Browne Amplification Protein was the most popular overdrive pedal on boards this year.
  • 328 of the 3192 pedals posted on @PedalHaven this year were Strymon pedals, making Strymon the most popular pedal company – followed by Boss (284), TC Electronic (190), and Electro-Harmonix (148).
  • The average pedalboard had 9 pedals on it.

 

The Most Popular Guitar Effect Types in 2022

 

To start, let’s dig into the most popular types of pedals featured on pedalboards in 2022. This year, overdrive pedals were the most common, overall – with the Protein from Browne Amplification taking the win as the most commonly-spotted overdrive.

 

Most popular guitar effect types 2022

 

2022’s Most Popular Guitar Pedals, Overall

Now that we have an idea of the most popular effect types, let’s check out which pedals featured the most. It is never surprising to see tuner pedals taking the top spots here – after all, everyone should have a tuner on their board! 

 

most popular guitar pedals of 2022


pedal haven merch

Shop Pedal Haven Merch


The Most Popular Overdrive Pedals of 2022

As mentioned above, overdrive pedals were the most popular type of pedal on pedalboards this year. But what are the top 10 overdrive pedals of 2022? 

most popular overdrive pedals of 2022

 

The Protein from Browne Amplification wins this year. Of the 533 overdrive pedals posted, 38 of them were the Protein – making the Protein the most widely-used overdrive this year. However, the Protein is followed closely by last year’s winner, the Morning Glory from JHS Pedals (featured 31 times) and Analog Man’s King of Tone. It turns out we all had Bluesbreaker fever this year! 

 

The Top Overdrive Pedals of 2022

Manufacturer Pedal Name Where to Buy Where to Buy
Browne Amplification Protein View on Reverb
JHS Pedals Morning Glory View on Reverb View on Amazon
Vemuram Jan Ray View on Reverb View on Amazon
Analog Man King of Tone View on Reverb
Jackson Audio Broken Arrow View on Reverb View on Amazon
Greer Amps Lightspeed View on Reverb
King Tone Duellist View on Reverb
Strymon Sunset View on Reverb View on Amazon
J. Rockett Audio Designs  Archer View on Reverb View on Amazon
Bondi Effects Sick As View on Reverb

 

The Most Popular Delay Pedals of 2022

 

The second most popular type of pedals featured this year were delay pedals. In fact, of all the pedals posted on @PedalHaven this year, nearly 11% of them were delay pedals! Here are the 10 most-used delay pedals from 2022:

most popular delay pedals of 2022

Strymon dominates the rankings, taking the top three spots with their classic TimeLine Multidimensional delay, their Volante Magnetic Echo Machine, and their dTape Echo – the El Capistan.

 

The Top Delay Pedals of 2022

Manufacturer Pedal Name Where to Buy Where to Buy
Strymon TimeLine View on Reverb View on Amazon
Strymon Volante View on Reverb View on Amazon
Strymon El Capistan View on Reverb View on Amazon
Boss DD Series (Compact) View on Reverb View on Amazon
Universal Audio Starlight View on Reverb View on Amazon
MXR Carbon Copy View on Reverb View on Amazon
Boss DD-500 View on Reverb View on Amazon
Caroline Guitar Company  Kilobyte View on Reverb View on Amazon
Strymon Dig View on Reverb View on Amazon
Walrus Audio ARP-87 View on Reverb View on Amazon

 

The Most Popular Reverb Pedals of 2022

Next up, let’s take a look at the Reverb category. Just like in previous years, reverb pedals were quite popular on pedalboards in 2022. And there were some heavy-hitter reverb pedals in this year’s ranking:

most popular reverb pedals of 2022

We see some familiar faces from the most popular pedals featured in previous years, but some new faces made the rankings this year too! Including Universal Audio’s Golden Reverberator and the Dark Star Pad Reverb from Old Blood Noise Endeavors.

The Top Reverb Pedals of 2022

Manufacturer Pedal Name Where to Buy Where to Buy
Strymon BigSky View on Reverb View on Amazon
Strymon BlueSky View on Reverb View on Amazon
Boss RV Series View on Reverb View on Amazon
Universal Audio Golden View on Reverb View on Amazon
Strymon NightSky View on Reverb View on Amazon
Walrus Audio Slö View on Reverb View on Amazon
Neunaber Immerse View on Reverb
Old Blood Noise Endeavors Dark Star View on Reverb View on Amazon
Chase Bliss Dark World View on Reverb
Earthquaker Devices Afterneath View on Reverb View on Amazon

 

The Most Popular Compressor Pedals of 2022

 

You may refer to your compressor pedal as your ‘secret weapon’, but it looks like the secret got out – compressor pedals were the 5th most popular pedal type this year. Here are 2022’s most popular compressor pedals:

most popular compressor pedals of 2022

The Cali76 from Origin Effects took the win this year! Followed closely by the Compressor+ from Keeley Electronics, the Bloom from Jackson Audio, and last year’s winner, Xotic’s SP Compressor.

 

Top Compressor Pedals of 2022

Manufacturer Pedal Name Where to Buy Where to Buy
Origin Effects Cali76 View on Reverb View on Amazon
Keeley Electronics Compressor+ View on Reverb View on Amazon
Jackson Audio Bloom View on Reverb View on Amazon
Xotic SP Compressor View on Reverb View on Amazon
Walrus Audio Deep Six View on Reverb View on Amazon
Keeley Electronics Compressor Mini View on Reverb View on Amazon
Wampler Pedals Ego View on Reverb View on Amazon
Strymon Compadre View on Reverb View on Amazon
Boss Compression Sustainer View on Reverb View on Amazon
JHS Pedals Whitey Tighty View on Reverb View on Amazon

 

The Most Popular Fuzz Pedals of 2022

 

Everyone loves fuzz pedals! And fuzz pedals were the 6th most popular effect type found on pedalboards this year. But what were the most-used fuzz pedals? Take a look:

most popular fuzz pedals of 2022

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Big Muff from EHX took the win. However, when compared to previous years, there has been a drastic drop in Big Muff pedals on pedalboards! Last year there were 40+ Big Muff featured, but there were only 14 this year! That said, this classic fuzz still took the #1 spot in the fuzz category. 

 

Top Fuzz Pedals of 2022

Manufacturer Pedal Name Where to Buy Where to Buy
Electro-Harmonix Big Muff View on Reverb View on Amazon
Benson Amps Germanium Fuzz View on Reverb
Caroline Guitar Company Hawaiian Pizza View on Reverb View on Amazon
King Tone Mini Fuzz View on Reverb
Mythos Pedals Golden Fleece View on Reverb View on Amazon
Dunlop Fuzz Face View on Reverb View on Amazon
JHS Pedals Bender View on Reverb View on Amazon
Boss FZ Series View on Reverb View on Amazon
Caroline Guitar Company Crom View on Reverb View on Amazon
Formula B Pedals Fuzz Rangers View on Reverb

 

The Most Popular Distortion Pedals of 2022

It turns out that 2022 was the year of the rat. The original ProCo RAT took second place – but of the other 9 pedals here, 4 of them are inspired by the legendary ProCo RAT circuit. Here’s a look at the rankings for the most popular distortion pedals:

most popular distortion pedals of 2022

 

Related: the best RAT clones

 

The Top Distortion Pedals of 2022

Manufacturer Pedal Name Where to Buy Where to Buy
1981 Inventions DRV View on Reverb
ProCo RAT View on Reverb View on Amazon
Boss DS-1 View on Reverb View on Amazon
JHS Pedals Packrat View on Reverb View on Amazon
Suhr Riot View on Reverb View on Amazon
Black Mass Electronics 1312 View on Reverb
Gamechanger Audio Plasma Pedal View on Reverb View on Amazon
Earthquaker Devices Acapulco Gold View on Reverb View on Amazon
JHS Pedals PG-14 View on Reverb View on Amazon
Earthquaker Devices Life Pedal View on Reverb View on Amazon

 

The Most Popular Modulation Pedals of 2022

 

This year I combined all modulation pedals into one graphic. Overall, we see a nice mix of chorus pedals, tremolo pedals, phasers, vibratos, and all-in-one modulation pedals like the Strymon Mobius. 

most popular modulation pedals of 2022

Manufacturer Pedal Name Where to Buy Where to Buy
Walrus Audio Julia View on Reverb View on Amazon
Boss CE Series View on Reverb View on Amazon
Strymon Mobius View on Reverb View on Amazon
Walrus Audio Monument View on Reverb View on Amazon
MXR Phase 90 View on Reverb View on Amazon
Walrus Audio Julianna View on Reverb View on Amazon
Caroline Guitar Company  Somersault View on Reverb View on Amazon
Fairfield Circuitry Shallow Water View on Reverb View on Amazon
Drybell Vibe Machine View on Reverb View on Amazon
Strymon Zelzah View on Reverb View on Amazon

 

The Most Popular Amp & Cab Sim Pedals of 2022

Amp and cabinet simulation has come a long way in recent years, and because of this, we are constantly seeing amp & cab sim pedals popping up on boards. So this year, for a new category I wanted to find the most common amp or cabinet simulation pedals on pedalboards this year:

most popular amp and cab sims of 2022

This year’s winner, the Strymon Iridium has been a staple in the amp sim world for a few years now. And rightfully so, it is great! However, it is nice to see that the new line of Universal Audio amp simulation pedals becoming so popular – the Ruby and the Dream from UA took 3rd and 4th place this year, despite only being available for the latter half of 2022.

 

Manufacturer Pedal Name Where to Buy Where to Buy
Strymon Iridium View on Reverb View on Amazon
Walrus Audio ACS1 View on Reverb View on Amazon
Universal Audio Ruby View on Reverb View on Amazon
Universal Audio Dream View on Reverb View on Amazon
DSM & Humboldt Simplifier View on Reverb View on Amazon
Origin Effects Bass Rig Super Vintage View on Reverb View on Amazon
Origin Effects Bass Rig ‘64 Black Panel View on Reverb

 

The Top 10 Guitar Pedal Companies of 2022

 

Of the 3000+ guitar pedals featured on @PedalHaven this year, which companies took up the largest share of them? Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 pedal companies – based on how many of their pedals were featured on @PedalHaven in 2022:

 

Company Pedals Featured in 2022
Strymon 328
Boss 284
TC Electronic 190
Electro Harmonix 148
JHS Pedals 140
Walrus Audio 130
Dunlop 100
Earthquaker Devices 90
MXR 78
Keeley Electronics 60

 

Thanks to everyone for submitting their pedalboards this year and thanks to you all for checking this out! If you’re not already, head over to Instagram and follow me at @PedalHaven and feel free to submit your pedalboard while you’re there!