“F**king shameful behaviour” boutique builder slams Behringer’s plan to release 300 $15 pedals to “disrupt” the pedal industry
Behringer has never been shy about shaking up the gear world, but its latest announcement didn’t quite land with those who make pedals for a living.
In a recent social media post, the company opened with a mock apology: “Dear guitar players. We owe you an apology.” It said it had been “so busy disrupting synthesizers, mixers and DJ gear” that it forgot about guitarists.
Its fix is 200 to 300 all-metal analog and digital pedals at $10 to $15 each. The range will run “from legendary legacy pedals to wildly innovative new designs,” including open-source pedals players can hack and modify themselves.
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The post then raised the question itself: “will this upset a few boutique pedal manufacturers? Probably. Sorry about that,” it answered, with a laughing emoji, before adding that the photo of the pedals attached to the post was “just the beginning.”
For London-based builder Intensive Care Audio (ICA), the joke didn’t land. The team reposted Behringer’s announcement to their Instagram story with a caption: “Behringer openly joking about destroying small independent builders. This is fucking shameful behaviour.”
In a separate post, they laid out what the pressure feels like from the workshop floor. “Running a small operation like this is becoming increasingly difficult due to a wide range of complicated issues,” they wrote. “It feels like everything is against us right now. The last thing we need is a giant, faceless multinational company gleefully revelling in destroying the livelihoods of thousands of small builders.”
They also questioned where the designs come from. “Behringer did not design these circuits for the most part. They did not live on a shoe string budget to carry on doing what they love,” the post continued. “Things like this make it hard to want to bother carrying on.”
That last line will worry anyone who values the independent pedal scene. ICA was founded in 2020 and has built a name on characterful designs like the Fideleater lo-fi chorus and the Vena Cava Filter, the latter of which has been spotted on the pedalboard of IDLES guitarist Lee Kiernan.
Behringer’s critics have long argued that its model rests on copying other people’s work, a charge that has already led to legal disputes, including one with Klon. Its defenders say it puts classic sounds within reach of players who could never afford the originals and that many of its clone targets are long out of production. Behringer’s own post leans on the latter: “great tone should come from your fingers, not your credit card.”
The pricing is particularly provocative at a time when boutique builders – especially those based in the USA – are struggling to survive thanks to tariffs and other increased costs, though smaller builders all over the world are facing reduced margins due to the general state of the global economy.
Pricing like this is only possible at huge manufacturing volumes, something that a small workshop in North London simply cannot match, however good the designs are. What remains unclear is how many of the 200 to 300 pedals will be direct copies and how many will be original.
Behringer isn’t being shy about what their intention is here, posting in the comments underneath the post, “Tell us which pedal you’d love us to make next! And if you have the schematics, even better! We’re listening. Legendary classics, analog, digital, or something completely crazy. If the community wants it, we’re happy to build it.”
How many of those new pedals will impact the business of the boutique effects makers that have driven so much of the innovation behind the effects boom of the last decade remains to be seen, but clearly these small makers are apprehensive about the situation.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
