Gear demos have become a major part of buying musical equipment of all kinds, from guitars and amps to pedals and plugins. You've probably encountered YouTube channels like Knobs and 60 Cycle Hum, which get a lot of attention and viewership, but there’s a huge ecosystem of gear demo channels to explore.
Below, we’ve collected a few of our favorite up-and-coming gear demo channels that we think you should be following.
Anne Sulikowski
Anne Sulikowski is an ambient oasis in a sea of riff-centric demo channels. Based out of Canada, she regularly releases demos full of dreamy sounds and video footage, including this one of the Chase Bliss MOOD.
In addition to filming demos in a way that showcases each pedal’s features, her demos are art in their own right. Visually, they’re a perfect match to the ambient, lo-fi music she creates with her pedals. It’s the kind of music you might want to put on in the background while you work or relax.
Megan L.
She simply goes by Megan L., and she’s quietly been releasing some of the best boutique pedal demos on YouTube. There isn't a lot of explanation into the features of each pedal—like many on this list, she goes the "no talking" route for her content. But she showcases some of her favorite settings with timestamps and written descriptions included in the info section of each video.
Like Anne Sulikowski, Megan's videos are a visual pleasure. They don’t feature dreamy backgrounds like Anne’s do, but Megan displays strong capabilities with video and image editing. One thing we love about her videos is how she makes it so easy to see, understand, and use her settings. Oh, and you’ll definitely want to check out her shootout videos.
Ponderer Sounds
Ponderer Sounds, based in Australia, clearly puts a lot of love into each pedal demo. As a result, the channel isn't quite as prolific as others on this list, but what they lack in quantity they more than make up in quality. From their stop-action intros to their use of color and fonts, these demos fall into the “work of art” category.
They craft songs in their demos that showcase the pedal rather than focusing on showy riffs. The result is videos that give you a true idea of the potential of the effects rather than the chops of the player.
But don’t get it twisted: Ponderer Sounds features some beautiful instrumentation by a skilled musician. Check out their channel to see demos that feature both excellent guitar and synth playing.
Sound Isles
Sound Isles is another Canadian demo channel that leans into ambient sounds—this time, with as big of a focus on synths as on guitars. Like demo channels on this list, Sound Isles makes a serious effort to bring drama and art into not only the audio aspects of their demos, but the visual craft as well.
The format of these demos isn’t dissimilar from Knobs and other non-talking demo channels. They use text on the screen to explain the elements of the pedal, and you can hear how adjusting the pedal changes the sound of their instruments in real-time.
Bully Thakidd
If you play bass, you owe it to yourself to check out the Bully Thakidd channel. Now, Allen Brown’s channel isn’t strictly demo-focused, but he does frequently demo and review basses, amps, and effects.
Brown's no-frills demos feel like listening to a friend talk about their instruments. They’re in-depth, honest, and feature his stellar funk riffs.
Jimmy Lynn
Jimmy Lynn, based out of Taiwan, is another talented player who features pedals by playing over full-band tracks, but without long-winded explanations of each pedal and its features. If you’re a fan of classic rock and want a demo artist who lets pedals speak for themselves, check out his channel.
Demos in the Dark
Ryan Plewacki from Demos in the Dark and Mas Distro has been slowly building acclaim for his demo channel for just over a year. His demos feature his killer playing over full-band tracks, so you can hear each pedal in action. He then digs into a robust description of the specific features of each effects pedal.
Brock Davisson
Brock Davisson’s demos aren’t traditional, formulaic demos. Instead of setting out to dig into the features of each pedal, he uses and showcases effects in his own playing—which ranges from ambient drones to classic blues and everything in between.
Also somewhat unconventional is that Davisson doesn't feature a super wide range of pedals. Rather, he goes really in-depth with the specific pedals he does demo over the course of several videos.
Devon Blue Whitaker
Devon Blue Whitaker is a mad scientist whose blue gloves have become his signature. As far as his demo videos go, they’re downright cinematic in quality and effect.
While a lot of the demo artists on this list focus on “no talking” demos, Devon does a great job balancing both the act of showing us what a pedal can do and talking to us about it. His explanations and descriptions of pedals and their features are informative, in-depth, and, honestly, quite soothing.
Emily Hopkins
So far, we’ve covered demo channels that feature guitars, synths, basses, but what about harps? Emily Hopkins brings her unique experience as a harpist to talk about and demonstrate different types of effects pedals. I mean, come on—who wouldn’t want to hear the Montreal Assembly Count to Five on a harp?
A bonus with Emily is her video came cover song content, including this Animal Crossing 8AM cover featuring a Korg Miku Stomp. You’re welcome.
Emily Harris is a freelance writer and co-host of the Get Offset podcast and demo channel.