2019 was a blast for us gear geeks.

The pedal industry saw a slew of out-of-this-world innovations that no one could have possibly seen coming.

We witnessed the release of a distortion fuzz pedal driven by a bolt of lightning to the release of a 2-in-1 Delay Reverb pedal that merged its two wildly successful predecessors into one. What a time to be alive!

We've crunched the numbers and did the math. We present to you the Best Selling Products of 2019 at Echoinox!

5th Place: Source Audio Collider Reverb/Delay 2-in-1

Honestly this pedal would have easily hit the top 3 spots if it was released earlier in 2019. Source Audio Collider was announced some time between September/October 2019 and was sold out before they even hit our shores in October. The fact that it reached the top 5 spots within 3 months of selling already shows its popularity among pedal connoisseurs.

The Collider was an amalgamation of the amazing Nemesis Delay and the ridiculously powerful Ventris Reverb. The Ventris Reverb in particular, was a daring project that brought "give the customers what they want" to the highest literal level possible by using inputs from the community on TheGearPage forum. You can read more about it here.

The controls seemed menacing at first but it was so intuitive that I haven't looked at the manual till this day. The pedal features 2 independent 56-bit signal processors, which means you can control both effects completely separate from one another. Paired with two independent footswitches, the versatility is unparalleled as compared to any other reverb/delay pedal I've seen in the market to date. 

As if that wasn't impressive enough, the pedal itself allows 8 user presets (or 128 via MIDI), MIDI compatibility, Tap Tempo, "Freeze" effect for the reverb (think TC Electronics Hall of Fame 2) and an app that lets you control the pedal via your phone. There's also a community of enthusiasts who uploads their presets and you can download theirs into your pedal with a click.

The Collider features 5 types of Delays and 7 types of Reverbs at your disposal. Tone is a subjective topic but if you can't find your tone from these options, you probably have a very specific type of reverb or delay that you're looking for. Anyway check out this terrific demo below for soundbites;

Personally I find myself using all 12 modes interchangeably, with my favorites being the Swell reverb, True Spring Reverb, Oil Can Delay and Tape Delay. At times where I don't have the time to tweak around or want a simple delay, the Analog and Digital delays are pretty much "one-size fits all" in most songs. 

4th Place: BOSS RC-30 Loop Station

When a pedal from 2011 still makes it to this chart, you know it's pretty much a timeless piece. 

The BOSS RC-30 Loop Station has been a staple for buskers and gig subs (substitute) for as long as I can remember. It was already popular but rose to prominence when Ed Sheeran used it for his live shows. The pedal is perfect for musicians looking to do sing and strum performances. Take a stroll down Clarke Quay or Arab Street and you'll spot at least 2 or 3 of these laying on the ground looping for live performances

Built like a tank, two loop tracks, drum simulator, 99 memory presets, microphone compatibility, some cheesy effects to keep things interesting...there's really nothing to complain about this looper honestly except maybe its size and price tag. The local price of $414 makes it way too steep for the average musicians to afford.

Fortunately with our contacts, we managed to bring in RC-30s at $368, which is the cheapest in Singapore guaranteed. It's over 10% less than what the local shop is asking for!

And if I may add, we earn peanuts from selling RC-30s. We're really doing this for the local musicians, just as the whole business is.

Check out this demo of the RC-30 by Alex Hutchings. This has been my favorite demo since the day I saw it

3rd Place: Greer Amps Lightspeed Organic Overdrive

I was most excited about this dude right here when crunching the data for 2019.

Not only did the Greer Amps Lightspeed Organic Overdrive helm 2018's best seller list, they typically sell out within the same month that they arrive in. The only bottleneck preventing it from securing the top spot is, unsurprisingly, the production time. Each pedal is hand built in the US. The wait time from when we put up an order to actually receiving them is roughly 2 months, subject to Nick Greer and his team's workload.

An instant favorite of Peter Honore's, the Lightspeed retains your original tone with zero coloration. The pedal adds more pronounced attack and clarity to your picking, more grit and breakup that're adjustable via the Gain knob and dramatically enhances the sensitivity of your pickups to your playing dynamics. While it is mostly used as an always on pedal, I have also seen people use it like a treble booster to cut through the mix during solos.

If you're eyeing on one you'd better act fast, for the Lightspeed sells out in lightspeed. I just had to.

2nd Place: Vertex Effects Steel String

Okay I've never played a real Dumble Steel String Singer amplifier and chances are you haven't either. However I've gone through dozens of Dumble clones from amplifiers to plugins to pedals. With John Mayer's tone in "Where the Light Is" (especially on the infamous "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" song) as a reference point, this pedal gets you close to that chimey clean sound that's so widely coveted.

The Vertex Steel String pedal does exactly what it promises - Clean transparent light overdrive that retains your amp tone. It's subtle, yet without it the difference in tone is huge! I could always tell in a heartbeat when my Steel String was off. Crank the Gain knob to the maximum and it adds a bit of crunch to your tone, just enough to hit the sweet "verge of break-up" spot. Roll down the Gain and push the Volume up and you get yourself a Boost pedal for cutting through during solos. Toggle the Mid EQ with the center knob to clean up any muddiness. Dialing in tones can't get any easier than this.

 The Steel String pedal has found its way onto many famous artistes' board. Cory Wong from Vulfpeck had one, Tosin Abasi had one, Instagram virtuoso Mateus Asato did a demo on it. Scroll through Vertex's Instagram wall and you'll see a lot more familiar faces.

Everyone I know who has one is happy with it and you'll probably be no exception.

1st Place: Boveda 2-Way Humidification System 49% HA

I know what you're thinking. This probably isn't very fair since Boveda packs are much cheaper than pedals, but I looked at the numbers and honestly, Boveda packs deserve all due credit. 

If we were ranking purely by quantity for this article, Echoinox Cables and Elixir/Ernie Ball strings would have pushed all the others back by a few spots. However to keep the article pedal-centric, I omitted cables and accessories and I would have omitted Boveda too if not for the huge impact it had on customers who had used them.

All wooden instruments with an open soundhole are subjected to a phenomenon we call "bloat". When the moisture in the air (also known as humidity) is higher than that of the guitar, the wood from the guitar will absorb these moisture in a bid to achieve equilibrium. Once too much water enters the wood, it begins to swell and that's what we call "bloat". The reverse is also true - a guitar with higher moisture than the surrounding air will release its moisture content till equilibrium is met, often leaving the wood to dry and thus cracking. 

Ideally, guitars should be kept at 49% humidity at all times. The foolproof solution is to keep them in a humidity-controlled cabinet, but not everyone has $4000 spare cash or the space to keep a gigantic cabinet.

That's where Boveda comes in. Boveda packs work with any guitar, in any bag (though hard case is preferred), at any time. The packs work 2-ways. If your guitar is too dry, the packs rehydrate your guitar. If your guitar is too moist, Boveda packs will suck out the moisture from the wood. Your instrument will be maintained at 49% humidity, which takes the guesswork out of the equation. Who wouldn't love set and forget functionalities.

One crucial difference between the Boveda packs that we import and regular Boveda packs (or any other brand's humidification pack) is the HIGH ABSORPTION trait. The humidity level in Singapore is always above 70%. Regular humidification packs won't do a thing for your guitar. HIGH ABSORPTION packs are specially tweaked to combat insane humidity levels such as that of our sunny island

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2020 just started and we already know it's going to be great. There's a new pedal brand coming in 1-2 week's time, as well as a new lineup of Echoinox cables that you won't want to miss out.

If you haven't already, now's the time to follow us on Instagram or sign up to our mailing list to never miss another update! We couldn't be more excited for the next few weeks!