What does it take to build an independent business in a competitive musical instrument industry? For Steve Dennis, founder of FX Pedal Planet, it starts with a passion for music, a commitment to customer service, and a belief in championing independent brands and builders. From a pedal-focused online community to a growing specialist retailer, Steve has carved out a space by putting people and the products they love at the heart of the business. In this Industry Voices feature, Steve shares his journey, his approach to business, and his thoughts on the opportunities and challenges facing the independent music industry.
1. Five years is a great milestone. What prompted you to start FX Pedal Planet in the first place, and how has the business evolved from those early days to where it is now?
Thank you. FX Pedal Planet began as a Facebook community for people who loved effects pedals, particularly handmade boutique pedals. Musicians, DIY circuit builders and independent makers came together to share ideas and discover new gear. As we got to know the builders, we started interviewing them about their work, both online and through written features. We later extended those conversations to emerging and established artists too.
That gave the community a closer connection to the people making and using the equipment. As the group grew, opening a shop felt like a natural next step. I wanted musicians to be able to buy the pedals we’d been talking about and bring that shared enthusiasm into their own playing.
Today, we’re a UK family business supplying independent effects pedals to customers here and overseas. Over the years, we’ve also stocked and sold guitars, basses, amplifiers and accessories. It’s lovely to look back and see how a shared interest became a business. I still get the same enjoyment from discovering a great pedal and getting to know the person who made it.
2. You describe FX Pedal Planet as a family-run business built around musicians who care about great sound and well-made gear. What does that mean in practice, and what do you think has helped you build a loyal customer base?
As a musician, I know how personal choosing equipment can be. Whether you’re playing at home, recording or performing, you’re looking for something that helps you find your own sound. Sometimes that means getting closer to a tone you’ve always loved; sometimes it’s discovering something completely unexpected. I want customers to feel comfortable exploring those possibilities and asking us for advice.
Because we’re a family business and directly involved in every order, that relationship stays personal. We take responsibility for looking after people, giving straightforward answers and doing what we’ve said we’ll do. We also know we’re representing the builder, so the care they’ve put into a pedal needs to continue through the customer’s experience with us.
I personally test, inspect and gift wrap every pedal before it leaves, even though its maker has already checked it. Many musicians save carefully for their equipment, and I want opening that parcel to feel special. I think people come back because they know we’ll give their purchase that attention and be there to help afterwards too.
3. A big part of the FX Pedal Planet offering is your focus on independent pedal builders and smaller brands from the UK and around the world. What attracts you to these businesses, and what do you think they bring to the market that is sometimes missing from the bigger brands?
I love how much of the builder’s personality you can see in an independent pedal. That might be an original circuit, a fresh approach to a familiar design or artwork that immediately catches your eye. I spend far too much time looking at new pedals on social media, but there’s always something interesting to discover.
Once you get to know the makers, you start to appreciate just how much work goes into them. Someone might spend years refining a circuit before carefully selecting and testing the components, then assembling each pedal by hand. Even a small detail in the enclosure or finish can tell you something about the person behind it. I think that gives musicians a lovely connection to the gear they’re using.
Independent builders bring fresh ideas and give players more choice, and I enjoy helping their work find an audience. Supporting them also gives those ideas room to develop. A small workshop today could become a much bigger brand in years to come, and it’s rewarding to be part of that along the way.
4. How do you go about deciding which builders, pedals and products to bring to FX Pedal Planet? Is there something specific that makes you think, “Yes, this is something our customers need to know about”?
Often, it’s the artwork that catches my attention first. I’ll be scrolling through social media and a pedal will make me stop and take a closer look. It might have an unusual design or simply a beautifully finished hammered enclosure. Care in the presentation can be a promising sign, and it makes me curious about what’s inside. As someone once said to me, we all like having a pedal on our board that makes another musician ask, ‘What’s that?’
From there, I want to understand the circuit and hear what it can do. A familiar design can take on a character of its own through the builder’s ideas and choice of components. I love discovering those hidden gems: pedals that are lovely to look at, thoughtfully made and have a sound that makes you want to keep playing.
That’s the kind of work I want FX Pedal Planet to represent. I’d like us to be a shop where musicians can find something a little special and receive service that matches the care behind it. Of course, the pedal also needs to be reliable, useful to our customers and commercially sensible for the business.
The relationship with the maker matters too, because our support continues after the sale. Good communication and clear warranty arrangements help us look after customers, while useful demo videos help people decide whether a pedal is right for them. When the product and the support are both there, I feel confident introducing it to our range.
5. You’ve spent around 10 months developing the new website. What was missing from the old site, and what did you want the new one to do differently for customers?
The original website served us well during our first five years, but as the business grew, we could see where it needed to improve. Some customers told us they struggled to find products, so our starting point was to make it easier to discover a pedal and understand whether it would suit them.
The project began around ten months ago, when I first discussed the ideas with Ansely. They built the website in about three months, and I spent much of the remaining time rewriting product descriptions and getting the photography up to the same standard. There were plenty of weekends spent preparing for the launch!
It also gave me a chance to step back and look at the business as a whole. We reviewed our procedures, and I wrote down who we are as a company and who our customers are. It sounds simple, but putting that into words helped us make decisions throughout the project. I really enjoyed creating a brand colour palette too, so the website and our social media posts would have a consistent identity.
With that clearer picture, we improved the search and navigation and gave the products more space through detailed pages, high-resolution images and descriptions written from a musician’s point of view. I wanted people to enjoy exploring the gear and feel well informed when choosing it. Loyalty points and the option to select a preferred delivery date also help us recognise returning customers and fit purchases around their lives.
Behind the scenes, the new admin area has made the website much easier to manage. Order confirmations, tracking updates, review invitations, back-in-stock alerts and password reset emails are now automated. I can also manage products, orders, stock and returns alongside discount codes, newsletters, banners and blog posts, all in one place. It makes the whole process much more straightforward.
6. You’ve described the new website as being designed very much around the customer. What are some of the new features or improvements you’re particularly excited about, and how will they make the experience better for musicians?
I’m particularly pleased with how much easier it is to find a pedal that fits your setup. The search suggests products as you type, and you can filter by brand, price and instrument use. It also covers the practical details musicians need to check, such as power requirements, current draw, battery operation and jack socket position. There are filter options for connectivity, controls, trimmers, MIDI compatibility and remote switching, as well as switch and bypass types, limited editions and signature pedals.
Once you’ve found a few possibilities, related products and a recently viewed list help you keep track of them. When you return from a product page, your original search, filters and sorting are still there. The product information is also organised so you can read as much detail as you need. ‘Snapshot’ gives a quick overview, ‘Full Story’ goes into more depth and ‘Dial It In’ explains the controls and setup. For those who enjoy the technical side, ‘Inside the Circuit’ explores the design and lists components where we can. Images and videos help bring all of that to life.
We’ve thought about making the purchase itself more convenient too. We know our customers lead busy lives, so they can choose a preferred delivery date that fits around their plans. Every order earns loyalty points towards future purchases, and we can offer bonus points on particular brands. Planet Outlet and time-limited promotions provide further deals, with countdown timers showing when each offer ends. If a pedal is out of stock, ‘Notify me when it’s back’ sends an automatic email when it becomes available again.
The site works well on a phone, and visitors can choose their cookie preferences through the consent banner. Beyond shopping, our blog and newsletter share updates, and the charity and community pages show our wider involvement in music. There’s also a WhatsApp button, so it’s easy to get in touch with us when you have a question.
7. The new site also gives you a stronger platform to showcase the independent builders and brands you work with. Why was that important to you, and how do you hope the website will help those brands reach new customers?
Looking after customers and representing builders well go hand in hand. Someone may have spent years developing a pedal, and I want the way we present it to reflect that care. I’d like builders to feel proud of how their work appears with us, and musicians to enjoy discovering the people behind it.
The new website gives us more room to tell those stories. The homepage brand carousel introduces our makers, and ‘Our Products & Partners’ provides more background, with each brand’s logo, description and website link. Customers can then use the brand filter to explore the range. We can also give partners priority placement in the ‘Featured’ view around new launches or dealership partnerships, supported by promotions and loyalty bonuses for individual brands.
That helps people discover builders they might never otherwise come across. We serve customers throughout the UK and further afield, so a small workshop can reach a much wider audience through us. Helping a maker’s work find its way to a musician who will enjoy it is one of the most satisfying parts of the business.
8. Ansely has played a major role in designing and developing the new website. What was it like working with them, and what did they bring to the project that helped turn your ideas into the finished site?
I’ve really enjoyed working with Ansely. They’re a small business themselves, and they understood from the outset how much customer service and professionalism matter to us. I could explain what I wanted customers to experience, and they helped me turn those ideas into a website that would work in practice.
They’re a young team with an enthusiastic, ‘can do’ attitude, and I never felt that a question or suggestion was too much trouble. I’ve particularly enjoyed sharing ideas across different generations and learning from each other. They encouraged me to think more broadly about what we could do, and the project grew beyond what I’d first imagined.
They also brought the expertise to make it all work, from automated emails and tracking updates to thorough testing and a structure we can build on as the business grows. Their support made the whole process enjoyable, and the finished site feels right for our customers and the brands we represent. I’m very grateful for the care they’ve put into it.
9. Looking back over the last five years, what are you most proud of about what you’ve built with FX Pedal Planet? Has the business developed in ways you didn’t necessarily expect when you started it?
I’m most proud of the trust we’ve earned. I still have a picture of our very first parcel, and it reminds me how much we’ve learnt since sending that order out. We started with around 14 brands and now represent about 40, with exclusively five-star customer reviews throughout our first five years. It still amazes me when someone in another part of the world finds our small UK shop and trusts us with a purchase that matters to them.
I hadn’t expected quite how much the relationships would mean to me. Conversations with builders often move from pedals to family and everyday life, and I’ve made friendships I wouldn’t have had without the business. Working with our industry partners has also helped us raise money for charity and support organisations such as Strings For Hope. We’ve supported emerging musicians and bands too, and it’s lovely to be able to contribute to the community we’re part of.
As we’ve grown, we’ve tried to be thoughtful about how we operate, including our packaging and support for reforestation projects. I want to feel proud of the way we run the business as well as the products and service we offer.
None of this would have been possible without my wife’s support. And there’s a longer story behind it: about 30 years ago, my mum used to say, ‘Steve, get that music shop open.’ She knew it was a dream of mine and believed in me before I quite believed in myself. Building FX Pedal Planet has taught me a great deal, and I hope she’s proud.
10. What do you think is happening in the effects pedal and specialist gear market at the moment? Are you seeing any interesting changes in what musicians are looking for or how they buy their gear?
I’m often asked whether pedals are dead, but our own sales give me plenty of reason to feel positive about analogue gear. I enjoy digital equipment too and use modellers in my own rig. At the same time, I still love the response of a guitar, an analogue pedal and an amplifier being driven hard. You feel that interaction with the speaker as you play, and it’s part of what drew me to music in the first place.
Digital equipment can recreate those sounds extremely well, but the playing experience feels different to me. When I hear ‘My Generation’ by The Who, I think of that raw rock and roll energy. I sometimes wonder how it would feel if the same band appeared today with modellers, a silent stage and an electronic drum kit. For me, that physical connection between the player and the sound is a big part of the appeal of analogue equipment.
I see a similar enjoyment in vinyl. My stepson is 30 and loves his record collection. The sleeve artwork and printed lyrics become part of the experience alongside the music, and there’s an appreciation of the people who helped make it, from artists to printers and packaging companies. Buying a pedal from an independent builder can create a similar connection to the work and the people behind it.
That’s why, even in a digital age, I don’t believe analogue pedals will ever disappear. To me, they’re part of the sound and spirit of rock and roll. Musicians will keep exploring new technology and choosing whatever inspires them, but among our customers I see a continuing interest in individuality and well-made gear, along with a wish to understand what they’re buying. Helping people find equipment that suits them gives specialist retailers a useful role, and it leaves me feeling optimistic about the future of independent pedals.
11. What’s next for FX Pedal Planet? Now that the new website is live and you’ve reached the five-year mark, are there particular areas of the business, brands or opportunities that you’re excited to explore over the next few years?
With the website now in place, I’m looking forward to a significant new development planned for 2027. I’m keeping the details under wraps for now, but I think it could offer something valuable to the wider industry and smaller independent brands. We’ll share it with the MIA when we’re ready.
I’d also like to introduce more carefully selected brands and increase the stock we hold, so pedal enthusiasts can find more of what they’re looking for in one place. Discovering new builders is something I really enjoy, and I want to keep developing the range around products our customers will value. As we grow, keeping that personal care at the centre of the business matters just as much to me.
12. Finally, for a musician or retailer who hasn’t discovered FX Pedal Planet yet, what would you like them to know about the business and what makes it different?
We’re a family business built by a musician who enjoys helping other players find their sound. We focus on distinctive, well-made gear from independent builders, whether you’re a guitarist, bass player, keyboard player or someone using effects in other creative ways. I want the care those makers put into their work to carry through to your experience of buying it.
For me, it’s all about trust. I personally test, inspect and gift wrap every pedal before dispatch, and we’re happy to answer questions before or after a purchase. That care also guides how we represent our industry partners’ products and build lasting relationships with them. I want customers to have useful information, straightforward advice and someone they can easily get in touch with, so they can enjoy choosing their next piece of gear and feel confident that we’ll look after them.
A huge thank you to Steve for his time and thoughtful responses, you can check out the new FX Pedal Planet website here.
