The Great Canadian Pedalboard Contest
The Great Canadian Pedalboard Celebrates Canadian Boutique Effects Industry.
Canadian guitar tech and pedalboard rigger Steve Baric has teamed up with 15 boutique guitar pedal builders across Canada to create the first “Great Canadian Pedalboard.”
The pedalboard itself, built under Baric’s brand Rig Hacker Pedalboards, is being offered up as a country-wide giveaway on Canada Day, 2023. Entries officially start online May 1st.
“Canada is FULL of amazing boutique builders,” says Baric. “The idea that we have such a thriving industry here at home is incredibly exciting. I wanted to share these brands with Canadian guitarists and get them as much attention as possible.”
Baric says the idea came to him as an offshoot of his activities on YouTube, where he frequently demonstrates and promotes pedals and guitars for budget companies.
“Most of my YouTube sponsors are from overseas,” he says. “Mainly budget brands from China. I thought it made sense to start approaching domestic brands to see if they could use some demo profiles.” The project, he says, exploded from there.
“I started reaching out to some builders I follow already,” Baric explains, “and I was amazed at how enthusiastic they were to not just have some demos done, but to also participate in a national giveaway!”
The project has been joined by Amps & Ehfects, an online directory that highlights Canadian builders of guitars, effects, and amplifiers. Winnipeg’s Pegcity Pickups and Nebula Guitar Straps are also offering up prizes to the Canadian winners. And Nepean’s Next Gen Musical Ltd. is onboard to supply all of the power supply, cabling, connections, and accessories to bring the pedalboard to life.
Baric says that Next Gen is his main supplier for pedalboard parts, and that the parts retailer has also offered to ship the completed pedalboard to the winner.
The grand prize will include 15 pedals from the following manufacturers:
Ellman Tone | Roy Electronics | Broughton Audio | True North Pedals | Master Effects | Airis Effects | Shoneswood | GUP Tech | Wounded Paw Audio | Empress Effects | TAL Audio | Fairfield Circuitry | MayFly Audio Systems | Dr. Scientist Sounds | Coffee Shop Pedals
The grand prize also includes a free set of Pegcity Pickups, a Nebula Straps guitar strap, and additional promotional prizes from Amps & Ehfects.
In addition to the grand prize, two smaller prize packages will be up for grabs.
To enter, contestants will be asked to provide a name, email, and phone number via electronic form. They can earn extra entries by sharing the contest link, and by following the participating companies on social media. No purchase is necessary.
The contest runs from May 1st, 2023 through June 30, 2023, with the final draw being held on Canada Day, July 1st, 2023. Winners will be notified by email and by phone.
To enter this year’s contest, visit
Guest Article by Steve Baric
With over 35 years of professional guitar playing and pro-level guitar tech experience, Steve Baric Custom has evolved into a one-stop luthiery with services ranging from restringing to pickup installation, kit customization to fully customized builds from scratch. Rig Hacker Pedalboards, the pedalboard arm of Steve Baric Custom, provides boutique pedalboards, custom boards, and custom cases from locally-sourced Canadian native, felled, and reclaimed lumber. Tone consultations, custom hard rigging and wiring, and more are available to guitarists ranging from new players looking for their first pedals to seasoned professional touring artists.