The best selling effects of 2016

It is 2017 and probably time to look back on the year that was and the big sellers of 2016, we will look at a couple of sources for what was popular, starting with Amazon.

Best Selling effects on Amazon

If we sort most popular on Guitar Effects, you can see that the Donner Yellow Fall is the most popular of the pedals selling on Amazon. Now this is where it is interesting. If you look at Guitars you will find that there are quite a few Chinese brand guitars on the top of the list, why? Cheap and cheerful, especially for the parent of a new student, wondering whether they will follow through. These guitars tend to have mediocre ratings as a result, however the Yellow Fall doesn’t fall in that category. Whilst it is a Chinese brand, it is still very highly rated and I have seen it recommended on several occasions as an affordable delay.

Second on the list is the Dunlop Cry Baby Wah and why not? It is the classic wah of this and previous generations. This is the affordable and basic Dunlop and has a great overall rating, no wonder that this is so high on the selling list. I have to say, I’ve never been a big Wah fan, but I can definitely see the appeal of something at this price point.

Next on the list is the pedal that has seen a massive surge since it was released, the TC Ditto Looper, simple and easy to operate, especially for the guitarist who isn’t relying on loops, but just wants that little extra effect. Of course there are more advanced loopers on the market like the RC range from Boss, but they have nowhere near the ease of use that the Dittos have.

After these there are a few Behringers, a few tuners, with the first pedal over the $100 mark the TC Electronic Hall of Fame, which if you are looking for a reverb, this is probably one of the best in the budget range. In saying that though, I almost expected the TC HOF Mini in that spot, as the Amazon list definitely seems to be for the budget conscious buyer, so it seems that the reputation of the full size HOF has exceeded that of the mini.

Reverb

I’m not going to sit here and rip off an already written article on Reverb.com, so click on the link to see what the best sellers were for last year. Needless to say though, that Reverb being a more specialist service for musicians and serious guitarists, tends to show more of a trend towards higher end and more boutique builds with entries from builders like Chase Bliss, Source Audio and Walrus.  The best seller (new in 2016) is the EarthQuaker Devices Avalanche run which is also partially explained by the fact that it was an exclusive to Reverb for some of 2016. So, by all means check out the piece by Reverb, as they have a great deal more information about their statistics and sales figures which is interesting to see.

Online Stores

Lastly, having a look at the ‘Best Sellers’ for websites like Big Music, Guitar Guitar, Andertons you can see the same effects popping up quite frequently. It all depends on who the stockist is and what their brands are, but the theme of EHX and TC Electronics are very strong, then the individual boutique brands often come after this. I would have to say, after looking at all of these lists, that the Ditto Looper from TC is probably the best seller worldwide across all platforms, with it’s ease of use and the small footprint, it has made a big impression on the market.

So, what are your thoughts on the lists, is there anything that you thought should have made it on there but didn’t how many of these effects ended up on your board this year and did they live up to the hype?