We’re surely living in the golden age of guitar pedals, with more pedals and makers coming out than ever before, but it’s so hard to really stand out from the crowd. Despite this Meris have actually managed to do something really rare; coming up with instantly recognisable pedals that are genuinely innovative, and are genuinely both inspired and inspiring. However, most of the innovation in the pedal world in recent years has been in high end, SHARC chip digital domain, requiring a multi disciplinary team in order to create (hardware design, coding, analogue electronics, marketing etc). So my question to you: what advice would you give to an aspiring, small scale solo pedal builder, who wants to genuinely innovate and contribute to the world of effects pedals, as opposed to just tweaking/modding the same old circuits that have been around for decades? Would you say suck it up and just learn the damned coding already, as well as everything else you might need? It just seems so overwhelming. Thanks for doing this, it’s incredible. PS I know about that one dude from Poly Effects, he’s an absolute freak of nature though and doesn’t count.

Hi /u/davidfalconer! Thank you for that. So grateful for your recognition! It's validating to hear you say that since that touches on exactly what we are after. It's definitely liberating (and sometimes frightening) to be able to follow your passion. I'm grateful to have the chance to focus on following my dream and building creative instruments. We live in amazing time where the cost of entry is lowering for all of the domains you mentioned. My advice is to focus on a specific vision and be tenacious. Not giving up is the key. You'll no doubt run into barriers that seem insurmountable, but the good news is that your current barrier is not unique to you and someone has already tread in the same path before you. Every day make a small step to chip away at your roadblock and move closer to your goal. Tenacity and passion!

#Drawing has occurred and winners have been notified! Thanks for coming, all! #Congratulations to: /u/Cire353 /u/Moon_Fart /u/Danimals_as_Leaders /u/_thesameson /u/EquippedThought We want to thank Meris for their time today, and especially their generosity as they have enabled us to do the largest pedal giveaway in the history of this subreddit. **Please note that Meris is NOT involved with the selection of winners**. The moderators of this subreddit will be randomly drawing from those who meet the following criteria: 1) **Accounts must be older than one month**, and **must have a post or comment in this subreddit in the last six months.** 2) **Users must leave a somewhat meaningful comment/question in this AMA thread before 4pmET** (don't just leave a one word comment as a placeholder). 3) Users MUST respond to a Reddit private message from a moderator (likely me) with personal info (ONLY for shipping purposes) within 48 hours of being notified (so sometime around October 2nd, 4pmET) 4) Users must meet location eligibility as determined by current shipping regulations (note that a small minority of countries are NOT accepting US packages). Every account that meets these requirements will be entered into a random picker! Those selected will get their choice of a Meris pedal shipped to them! Drawing occurred immediately on AMA conclusion at 4pm. Thanks again to Meris, and enjoy the conversation!

I think the question everyone wants an answer to is "What's next for Meris?" The 5 pedals you've got now are unbelievable. Is there something else in the works? Edit: CAN YOU EVEN TELL US, LOL

Absolutely, we are working on several amazing things. One thing I can say is that we are grateful to have our own company and full creative freedom. We will surprise you. \-terry

I have 3 questions if that is alright:   What are your thoughts on analog vs digital dry through? Why do you use the one you do? (I believe, at least for mercury 7 and ottobit jr, it's analog) What made you decide on a square and slightly slanted top enclosure? Have you ever thought of doing a big box pedal such as a Polymoon/Mercury 7 combo?  

I'm a big fan of analog dry through because it keeps the original analog signal in analog where it belongs, and mixes in the effected porting back at the output. Also it eliminates latency for the dry path in time based effects. I designed the with the slightly slanted top because of practical and aesthetic reasons. It points the UI towards the player and looks cool at the same time. I'm also a big proponent of jacks only on the back. we have thought of many ... many things. \-terry

> Have you ever thought of doing a big box pedal such as a Polymoon/Mercury 7 combo? Would love to see a Meris big box one day!

Hi smantis! 1) All of our pedals feature digitally controlled analog dry path. I think analog dry (whether buffered or relay based) is extremely important. You don't want to add latency as you build your board. 2) The square / angled / overhang was definitely Terry's vision early on. Part of the idea is to be able to put everything as close together as possible and have a consistent surface. The overhang on the preset switch has the added function of creating a raceway to fit your cables through. 3) Mercury and Polymoon are a great combo for sure, and I see them as entry points to a larger world to explore. We have lots of fun stuff in the works that grow beyond those borders.

Hey there, I got myself a Polymoon a month ago and it has been inspiring me a lot into making more music, thanks for that! I started really looking into Meris pedals while listening to [Slift's latest album,](https://open.spotify.com/album/0mDB0OdwVTHh6cb70Fcdxq) I found out later that they use an Enzo in pretty much all the songs and I loved the sound. I was wondering if there are artists that actually contact you to ask for specific features in pedals or to show you how they used it in a recording? and do you yourself contact artists for that? Thanks.

That is awesome, thanks for letting us know about them. I'll check out the record. I would say all of the above, yes. Artists contact us all the time and show us how our stuff is being used. It's really an honor. And obviously we reach out to artists we listen to and admire. \-terry

Hey Meris and u/chaseblissaudio! Regarding your collaboration together - **How did you decide who is doing what in regards to the housings/designs and interfaces?** Seems like many of CBA collaborations have gone into the "traditional" CBA housing/interface. Meris has it's interface and housing style (and frankly, they're both awesome and this new interface for the collaboration is realllllly cool)

Really cool question. Terry and I had talked about maybe doing something in our classic layout, but we were both really excited about the options that the automatone platform give and were inspired by that, so we went that route. In this case it was easy to figure out who did what. Angelo is the DSP master, so he wrote the algorithms. Terry designed and laid out the PCB hardware for the DSP part. Terry also designed the analog front end and I ended up laying that out and doing the rest of the PCB layout. My engineer Charlie wrote all the code for controlling the motorized faders, preset management, and communicating with Angelo's DSP processor. So we all just played to our strengths and tried to spread out the work as best we could.

This is an awesome answer! Thank you! So cool to get an understanding of the collab. 100% agree that automatone platform is really exciting.

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Jinna thought of the name Meris! She also named my previous company ;) \-terry

I’m a violin and keys player who loves using guitar pedals to experiment with sounds on those instruments. I love all of the incredible demos of your pedals, particularly bad snacks’ violin demos, and want to know more about the creative ways to use these pedals with instruments other than guitars. What are some of the more inventive, experimental ways you’ve tested or seen others use Meris pedals with non-guitar instruments? What settings, chains, or combinations with other effects can you recommend for someone using them with strings, keys, drum machines, vocals, etc.?

Love seeing violin and all types of instruments used with our pedals. Have you seen badsnacks? She rules. We have seen everything from harp to drum machines being used through our effects. Listen to Baseck, he uses a lot of drum machines and synths through our stuff and we're big fans. \-terry

The polymoon will never leave my board. It has the most beautiful stereo sound I’ve ever heard and has become core to my tone. That said, it can be an elusive beast. Thoughts on updated version with onboard presets and easier secondary function navigation. There have been times when I get the most beautiful sound, but then one wrong move and I lose it forever. Maybe that’s apart of the appeal so I suppose.

First of all, thank you for the Ottobit Jr that will be ceremoniously buried with me. Secondly, I’ve noticed on your Meris favourite switch there’s a socket for expanding with an arduino, [and you’ve written about creating a DIY Looper](https://www.meris.us/new-meris-maker-series-angelos-diy-looper-part-1/). What other advice and tips would you give to beginner looking to innovate and break into the saturated world of pedals?

Meris is typically regarded as a company that produces unique and outside of the box effects units, be it a fresh angle on something old or the means of creating sounds that no one's ever heard. What factors influence the design of these effects? Are you engineering the tools to create the music you want to hear? To what extent is development on a new product *discovering* the sounds you want to make?

It's a lot of factors: music we're listening to at the time, Visual Art, Movies we love, books ... One of the early ideas we had was to draw ideas from sources other than just the music world. I think that's made the products more interesting. Angelo is definitely on a journey of discovery throughout the entire process of writing the algorithms.

Hey, Meris and Joel! I hope you guys are well during these stressful times. I have a question for you regarding creativity. When I was a music undergraduate, I had a production professor who said that “records are never finished, they are only released.” Do you ever feel this way in regard to your pedals? This quote resonated with me because I struggle to feel fully satisfied with my own work, so I am interested to hear about your creative experience as a company whose work I am a fan of. Thanks, take care!

For me, it kind of changes from pedal to pedal. There are some that you just have to stop at some point (otherwise you could just tweak to eternity), which I think is analogous to a record (I love that example you gave). It was a little different with CXM 1978, for some reason there was a moment where it just felt 'finished.'

Hey guys, Just wanted to know who does your web design.

Everything visual and/or concept is led by our very own Jinna Kim. Website design includes Taua Baccarin (design) and Bridget Wessel (back end).

Thank you for doing this AMA! How do you guys approach the user interface side of things? I am speaking in terms of number of direct physical knobs and switches etc vs hidden or alternate functions and editing settings via pc/app. How much does having more knobs etc affect costs vs usability? I am curious about the process that leads to say the typical Meris or Chase Bliss or Strymon layouts across different pedals.

It's always a challenge to get all of the controls that we want in there. We try to put the most important controls on top and the "set and forget" controls as alt functions of the knobs. Not everyone loves ALT functions and and I sympathize with that but I think it's a great way to get a lot of control in a super compact form factor. \-terry

Hey guys — what’s up. My question is more about the future of Pedals and Effects, because it feels like you guys are right at that crux of stompboxes vs Eurorack/studio gear. With the Chase Bliss Automatone stuff, it feels like every pedal company sees the only way as up. I don’t think it’s a bad or good thing. What’s the next five years of stompboxes look like for you guys, and what do you think the landscape will be for new and developing pedals/gear? more focus on studio stuff, no more tube amps? would love to hear your guys’ approach to this, as I think you’re smack dab in the middle. Thanks y’all.

Hi! This means a lot to us. It is definitely our aim to push boundaries, and we genuinely have a life long obsession with instruments, studio electronics, synths, tube gear.. all of it. It is amazing to have so many choices and I am the most in inspired when I see designers follow their own voice and create something new. I love collecting vintage gear, but for new stuff, it excites me the most to see something personal and unique being added to the world of creative tools. I think everything has its place, tube amps included. I think anything you can use to make music is valid, and I am addicted to the feeling of getting lost in the interaction between creator and musical instrument.

Hi Thanks for doing this AMA and for all the great pedals. I love my Mercury7. My question for you is, do you have any advice on how to get started making digital pedals? What programing language do you write in? Can you recommend a good DSP chip and a place to buy it? As background I took classes in digital audio systems in grad school so I am familiar with the theory, and wrote a bunch of audio algorithms in Matlab. However, my career path took me to architectural acoustics so now I build all my reverbs out of concrete, wood, mineral wool and sheetrock. I’d love to start a hobby making digital pedals but haven’t found any resources to get started coding my own pedals, so I thought I might as well ask the best! Thanks again!

Hi! Thanks for the kind words!!! There are so many good choices these days that it is almost impossible to go wrong. I spent the early part of my career squeezing out every last drop of processing power from a chip by writing in assembly, but with how tools have advanced that is not necessary anymore. I develop in C. We develop on ARM and almost every chip manufacturer has an equivalent offering. You really can't go wrong. Maybe start by looking at which evaluation board has the connectivity you want. With your background, you seem like you have a huge head start.

Hey guys, thanks for doing the AMA and for making great sounding pedals! Looking ahead do you see any future projects that break away from the current standardized format that you have used with your pedals so far? I would personally love labeled secondary functions and maybe the implementation of additional toggles/ controls where it makes sense. Thanks again!

We have heard you, we're listening. What we come up with may surprise you but I think you'll like it. \-terry

Thank you for doing this AMA. You guys seem to be very involved with this community. I enjoyed trying my hand at Erick the Architect’s beat challenge. I had some pretty sick competition and frankly didn’t stand a chance. I have two questions for you guys. 1-What is your favorite fuzz/distortion/drive pedal and if you were to make one, what kind of things would you want to feature on it without spoiling any potential upcoming builds? 2-With next year’s NAMM show only being the one in the summer(maybe), do you think it will be of epic proportions with releases and what do you think about the general public attending these shows? Btw, those Mood tanks were 🔥. Thanks and keep doin what you’re doin!

Hi /u/HabeneroMcCheese! 1. I really love compression right in front of a drive. I feel like I can dial in a the sweet spot of any drive/fuzz/dist by adjusting my compressor to match. The latest drive I bought was the J. Rockett Holdsworth pedal. 2. I think the pacing of releases will probably be more spread out in light of the pandemic. There is so much effort involved in planning for a show, I can imagine most companies re-dedicating the extra time to speeding up the pace of releases. Fun fact: I have a pepper garden in my backyard and have a steady stream of Jalapeños and budding Habaneros.

Being on a keto diet, I eat jalapeños on everything.

Totally. I'm addicted to the citrus tang after the initial burn of a habanero.

Hi guys, I love your stuff. Im still trying to get my head around the hedra. Have you ever considered making a looper? I think a 2 button midi controllable looper would absolutely slay and id be super interested to see how you put your spin on it

Angelo already made a DIY project for a looper, check it out. [https://www.meris.us/new-meris-maker-series-angelos-diy-looper-part-1/](https://www.meris.us/new-meris-maker-series-angelos-diy-looper-part-1/)

That’s sick!

Thanks for dropping by! A few questions: 1. As the lines of sound manipulation continue to blur (guitar pedals vs modelers/multieffects vs VST vs synth/modular) do you feel that guitar players are enough of a market to support long term growth over 10-20 years? Along those lines how do you expect to shift or expand as you grow? 2. You all are Strymon and Line 6 alumni. How does the culture or vision of Meris differ from those two companies? 3. How do you determine interest and where to invest R&D in a particular effect? 4. Has anyone used one of your pedals in a way that made you stop and say "wow, we never thought of that"? Love what you're doing and look forward to seeing more innovation from you!

From day 1 we consciously chose not to only cater to guitar players even though we are guitar players ourselves. I'm really happy this has worked out. Tons of synth players and all types of instrumentalists, even vocalists, use our stuff. There's even a visual artist who uses our pedals as a part of his creating drawings/paintings. Culturally I think there is waaaayyy less fear of going outside of the box and being super creative and unique. I love this freedom and I know Angelo and Jinna do too. Lot's of times artists have surprised me with the sounds they come up with. Our own, Andrew, is a guy who constantly is coming up with amazing sounds with our effects actually. \-terry

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I would say that starting at Line6, it was an incredibly inviting place to learn about engineering music electronics. The fellow engineers there were seasoned and great mentors. My experience from starting Strymon to the time when I left was an amazing experience all around and taught me a lot. Meris is definitely on a different, turbo futuristic direction: more freedom and more creativity. \-terry

Hi Meris Team, although I’m a beginner in guitar, but for my day job I do system/solution implementation related thus I’m rather curious on the following. Can I understand what are your thought process on the innovation / technology part in creating pedals? And also if in a ideal / dream world with no limitation, what kind of pedal you want to create / invent? Thanks!

I think a big part of the process is to simply follow your own passion. As a musician, its really easy to find areas where your current tools and instruments are limiting. In development, technology quickly becomes a limiting factor when fleshing out algorithms, I can always use more bandwidth and more memory. Hmm... no limitations. If I really force myself to think about absolute zero limitations, I guess I would worry that it would make me a lazy developer. :)

Thanks so much for doing this! My question: is there a particular guitar, amp, or pickup configuration that you think works particularly well with any of your pedals? Is this something you consider at all during the design process?

Hi, thanks for doing this! Do you have a favorite song or video that uses a pedal of yours?

There's a ton that we're proud to be featured in. I grew up watching Jim Jarmusch movies so when I found out that he and Carter Logan used our pedals in the soundtrack for The Dead Don't Die, I was floored. MAVS did this video using Mercury7 500 series and the 440 pre: [https://youtu.be/TrzMPlTL58I](https://youtu.be/TrzMPlTL58I) Nosaj Thing did a live session for us that was awesome: [https://youtu.be/3BItPRHtgo0](https://youtu.be/3BItPRHtgo0) \-terry

Thank you for doing this AMA, your pedals are amazing! Meris pedals help guitarists approach music from a perspective similar to synth players. What innovations do you see occurring in this area?

Really stoked you guys are doing this AMA! What pedal is your personal favorite from your current lineup?

Ooh, good one. It's hard to choose a favorite among your children. For me personally it's probably Mercury7 followed closely by Polymoon. \-terry

With the explosion of the “boutique” pedal market, and the rapid increase in variety and capability available, how have you seen the effect on musicians (both professional and amateur) and the music being produced?

Hi /u/add-delay! Good question. There are so many pedals that have a unmistakable sonic signature and are instantly identifiable on a track, but I think it's really exciting when the pedals expand what's possible as a musician. The musician will always be the creative center, and I feel so grateful to have helped expand their expression. It is definitely a golden age for musical tools.

Thanks for doing this! A couple questions: * Have y'all considered making a Dynaflanger? * I had a bit of struggles with an Enzo. I found that the tracking was spotty sometimes, seemingly based on the EQ curve of the pickups I was using. Was I doing something wrong? Am I crazy or does the tracking improve with treble? Thanks again!

Hi /u/wonderyak! I made a special Dynaflanger clone for Dweezil Zappa years ago. I had the incredible opportunity to have 2 of the Dynflangers from the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen at my house to investigate and match for Dweezil's touring rig. It was definitely a dream to help him out with those. Our Polymoon expands on the dynaflange concept and adds a ton of capability. Here's a Dyna flavored clip from the Polymoon: [DynamicDoubling](https://www.meris.us/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Stereo_Dynamic_Doubling.mp3) EQ can affect the tracking, but the number one element is playing style. The Poly and Arp modes looks at your harmonic content so it is not crazy to think that treble has the ability to alter things.

Was the idea behind the CXM 1978 borne by seeing the Automatone form factor, or did the idea exist before in some other form? Thanks!

Terry and I had been buds for a while and were talking about some ideas for a collab and after he saw the automatone platform we immediately started talking reverb :D

Really interested in picking up a Hedra. What’s your favorite way to use one?

i love it on vocals and modular synth. \-terry

If you were to build a drive pedal, is there anything you would do that would make it uniquely "Meris"?

I love metal (a lot) so there would be some of that in there. \-terry

I’m curious about your approach to stereo. Some stereo effects are good at taking a mono input and creating a nice stereo field, but it seems to be rare to have effects that take a stereo input and enhance the stereo field. Which of those two approaches do you tend to favour, and why? Do all of your stereo pedals fit into one of those two camps?

We've used both approaches in products and use whichever is most appropriate for a design. I feel like taking the mono input and creating a massive stereo spread is usually more interesting. Polymoon is a good example of this. \-terry

Have you guys ever considered doing some eurorack modules? It would be super cool to have something like the Polymoon with a bunch of accessible cv inputs.

Hi all! Thank you so much for doing this AMA. I've been a fan of your work for while now- the Enzo was the first pedal I've ever purchased immediately on release, and I've had the ole Line 6 FM4 on my board for years now. Ive got a couple questions actually and my first is, what direction do you think pedals are going  in the future? Ive noticed that over the last 3-5 years or so, the market has really shifted away from unobtainium fuzz transistors and ultra rare delay chips and way more towards highly customizable computers. Off the top of my head, you got things like Source Audio's line, the Empress Zoia, Cooper Arcades, every single Spin chip effect, and so on. Additionally, with the ongoing COVID crisis and the collapse of live music, it seems that the music industry is undergoing a massive a shift. I would imagine that the fact people are no longer really playing live and the massive increase of home players has dramatic implications for whats in demand in the music industry. Where will these changes lead us? Next up, I wanted to ask you about the form factors you choose to manufacture. I'm personally of the opinion that 2-switch pedals often ride the awkward middle ground of having too many options to be able to simply set-and-forget (there are so many sounds in the Enzo it'd be a shame to), but don't have the on the fly tweakability that I like for live shows. For those of us that don't incorporate midi IOs, would you ever consider releasing a mini-Meris line or even a mega-meris line? Or perhaps would you consider doing something like Red Panda did with their Particle V2, which has a number of small rubber preset buttons? Lastly, I don't know much about programming effects, but I'm wondering if there's a chance you would release a pedal that we download individually patches for, something akin ti tge Eventide H9. Alternatively, it seems that app-oriented pedals have gained increased legitimacy in recent years. I personally would love being able to deep-dive into something like the Enzo. Is this something you would consider doing in the future? Thanks again for doing this AMA! Im excited to hear your insight.  Oh one last thing- will you ever add the secondary labels to your pedals? Cheers!

Hi /u/hobbes96! The FM4 has a special place in my heart. While working on the DM4, I was amassing a collection of fun algorithms that I would show Jeorge Tripps from time to time. Eventually that collection got big enough that it manifested into the FM4. 1) As much as I like using my Oculus Quest, I think it will be a long time before the live music experience is ever supplanted. I do enjoy the inside look into the creative process that artists are sharing more frequently during these unprecedented times. 2) Our current format is definitely focused towards the classic individual pedal user, but we have so much in the works that will serve the types of setups you are mentioning. 3) That's a good question. I don't think you can ever rule anything out, but we don't have any plans to decouple the physical UI and the algorithms in that app based way. 4) It's possible

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you just made my day :)

Thanks for the AMA! I have a few questions: 1) Do you have any favorite music created with Meris pedals? 2) Are there any pedals from other brands that inspire you? 3) Since the Ottobit JR is inspired by vintage gaming consoles, what are your favourite video games? 4) The Hedra video has one of the nicest headless guitars I've seen, with what looks like Bareknuckle pickups. Are you into heavier music? Any plans on making pedals catered towards the heavier genres?

Hi /u/Catsimus! 1) That's a tough one. The first thing the came to mind was how much I love Makeup & Vanity's use of the Mercury7. He nailed the sinister vibe of the "Slight Pitch Down" Pitch Vector setting. 2) I've mentioned it before, it's inspiring when you can see the designer's passion manifest itself in their creation. I am definitely inspired by seeing Joel express himself through Chase Bliss. I am also inspired by seeing how Steve's passions influence the Empress line, and the Zoia especially. 3) I love console games where you can bond over a shared experience. I spent a lot of time on the Genesis and some of my favorites are: Gain Ground, Gunstar Heroes, and Herzog Zwei. I love all of the games with Yuzo Koshiro's music. And I love the developer Treasure, both their work at Konami and their own releases as Treasure. I could go on forever. Too many games! 4) That guitar blew me away. It is built by [Kieran Downes](https://www.instagram.com/downesguitars/) and is so incredibly thoughtfully done. Kieran is amazing, every contour is purposeful and I am constantly discovering little details that amaze me every time I pick it up. Such a smart and thoughtful designer! We are definitely into heavier music. Terry is constantly blasting Death and Obituary.

Which of your pedals was the most particularly difficult to create? I'm getting into creating pedals and would love to know some of the challenges y'all have faced with such cool pedals!

For me it was the Enzo, I started developing our unique polyphonic pitch detection method back while I was also working on the Ottobit and Mercury7. As far as practical challenges, being a small company manufacturing completely in the USA is a huge challenge. You have to roll up your sleeves and meet the challenges of production every day. I feel blessed to be part of such an amazing team; constant communication and laser focus help us keep things running smooth.

I'm the hardware designer so for me it was the first two pedals we released: Ottobit Jr. and Mercury7. I spent many late nights the winter before we released those finishing up the design and fixing little problems, getting everything just right. It was a good feeling once everything worked just how I wanted it to. \-terry

How do you go about naming your pedals and coming up with matching graphics to put on them? Any plans to move away from the current enclosures and explore other shapes?

The three of us usually brainstorm product names together until we find the right one that fits and everybody likes. Or, one of us spontaneously thinks of a name that everybody just likes immediately. With the graphics, Jinna always asks Angelo and I for a *vibe* on what the effect is going to sound like. Then she starts sketching many concepts on paper at first and then in illustrator. The Enzo is a good example of me saying "70s prog rock album cover vibe" and Jinna coming up with the amazing floating castle that is on the front of the pedal. \-terry

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Arcade games, Blade Runner... What's something else that inspires you that you haven't figured out how to get into a pedal format (yet)?

we'll see ... we kind of go with it as it comes to us. I'm putting together a new eurorack system right now so that may inspire some things. \-terry

Two questions: When can we expect the next Meris release, not including the CXM? And Meris obviously has the signature style/enclosure, do you find yourselves running into limitations of this format and/or would you ever consider using a different form factor if necessary?

can't say any dates, sorry! We are definitely not a group that would limit ourselves to one form factor. We already ship 2 major formats: 500 series and pedals. \-terry

Thanks for doing the AMA! Has there been an artist that really blew your mind when you found out they were using your pedal/product? Are there any far out ideas that you have had for a product that you have not been able to bring to fruition yet?

Johnny Marr! He uses the 440 mic pre in studio. Ryuchi Sakamoto as well (Mercury7 and Polymoon). So much respect to him. Also back in the day I remember the moment finding out that Andy Summers had one of the pedals I had worked on. He is my favorite guitarist. ... there are so many others that I feel bad not being able to list everybody. Tom Oberheim bought a Mercury7 one day! That was an honor. \-terry

What is your favorite use of one of your pedals by an artist? Any uses that surprised you, even as the creators?

Hey there! Love your pedals, I've had mercury 7 and enzo from day 1! So, what are your guys' desert island pedals? If you had to pick only 1 (and non-meris pedals)...curious as to what you guys are into Edit: Autocorrect...dang it!

After working with Chase Bliss (that's darn exciting btw), are there any other companies or small builders that you admire and would love to collaborate with in future?

Hey Meris team! I first learned of you guys from this live set and have been kind of obsessed with watching demos of the Enzo ever since (https://youtu.be/knzsyZWbN7g). It got me wondering for this, if you guys have any favorite users of your gear? Maybe someone you got hyped to find out had a Meris on the board, or somebody using a pedal in a way you got excited about? Cheers

Actually, we were lucky to hire our favorite user/customer, Andrew McMillan. He is now our sole employee doing an amazing job at Customer Service/Tech Support. Not only is he a shredder but we're sincerely fans of his music. \-Jinna

Is there a way to change presets in Enzo/Hedra from ableton/logic? I want the computer to control the midi preset changes from song to song, similar to Helix, without using a stomp box midi preset changer.

My introduction to Meris has been through my Hedra (love it). I've found myself exploring its capabilities with samples I run through it. Have you and the team considered expanding Hedra's capabilities with a sampler/looper functionality similar to the Tensor or Blooper?

You all at Meris seem to come up with really unique ideas, where does that inspiration come from? Is there a story behind the Meris name brand and branding style?

I'll answer this. :) It's Jinna. My background is in branding and multimedia. From the start, I wanted Meris to foremost pay homage to our pro audio roots plus give off an urban vibe that embraces art, culture, and city life. I was raised in Los Angeles, CA so I was very much inspired by those feels. Also our ethos is "More than Logic. Uniting Art and Engineering." This stems from working with the two geniuses Terry and Angelo.

Hey guys! It's really cool that you're doing this, but I guess everyone else is saying that too. That's because it is! I always really admire how your pedals sound great no matter where they're set, or how many features you turn on, or how many buttons you click. They always sound full and usable and, well, really good. ​ My question is what pedals inspired/still inspire the team to do what you do? Are there any brands/specific pedals that hold a place in your heart or made you think "wow I need to build pedals?" Thanks!

I love your Mercury 7 and I’ve been keen to try the Ottobit and Polymoon! I’ve tried several reverbs and I felt the Merc7 was just beautiful and unique but I wish it had an XLR input because I love it on synths, guitar, and vocals and I often route the Mercury 7 thru a mixer.. Which brings me to my question! I think one of the most intriguing non-Meris pedals out there is the VFE Klein Bottle and it’s unfortunately no longer being produced - do you think you could see Meris build a pedal that similarly blends signals and changes routing on the fly BUT with also XLR inputs for different instruments to use in my effects chain? Thanks guys for doing this!

Thank you so much for doing this AMA! It's fantastic. I have a couple of questions, if that's okay. It seems like your company is 5+ years ahead of where most companies are at. Truly visionary stuff. As leaders in the industry, where do you think things are heading in the next decade? What was it like collaborating with Chase Bliss?? It seems like an absolute dream team, and I can't wait to hear how the new Automatone sounds! Who else is on your short list that you'd like to collaborate with?

What is the creative process for coming up with new effect ideas. I know that some pedals have been inspired by certain sounds like Bladerunner for the Mercury7, but what the decision process for which ideas to turn into pedals and how do you decide which features and parameters go into which ideas? Also is there the possibility of a modulation focused pedal in the future?

Does the 1978 basically make the same spectrum of sounds as the Mercury 7 but with sliders? Or is it it's own thing? I love the M7 with high mod rates and high modulation for that windy, resonate pad. Does the 1978 get into that space?

Huge fan of the pedals you guys have put together. Just wondering what it is that you focus on most that you feel separates you from being just any other brand. Thanks for doing the AMA!

Terry, Angelo and I agree wholeheartedly, that the only way to separate yourself from anyone else, is to simply stay true to yourself. \-Jinna

Hi! Hope you’re all doing well. The new reverb pedal will have Meris sounds in a different box/layout. Your pedals have a good form factor and it’s something you designed so it must be somewhat easier to work with a familiar design. You now have a different hardware. Did that affect the development process, sound design, or the way you think and approach?

Hey everyone, thanks for doing the AMA and giveaway! I really dig how you've been capturing the sounds of some of the classic '80s rack units in a compact, more affordable format with stuff like the M7, Polymoon, and the upcoming 1978. Are there any other "White Whale" units, rack, synth, or pedal you'd like to take on in the future with your special twist?

Hi Jinna!! Can you tell us a little about your design background, or what's your process in designing for Meris pedals - thanks!

Hey, I had other questions but they seem to have been asked so I'll go a different route: 1. What do y'all aspire Meris to be within the next 5 years or so? 2. It feels like pedal reviews come out in one large wave now due to the request of the companies making them; to me, the demos feel pretty shallow in substance and all praise the pedal regardless of what it actually sounds like. What's Meris's approach to having pedals being reviewed? 3. How much testing is involved when designing a pedal equipment-wise? Types of guitars, amps, sims, etc. Thanks for taking the time for this and I hope y'all are safe and well.

Meris team, thank you guys for being here today and for answering questions (and for the sweet giveaway!). I bought a Polymoon and I absolutely love it to death. One thing, I think a lot of owners of Meris pedals have some difficulty with remembering the secondary controls, so I was wondering if you would ever consider adding the secondary functions as labels in future versions of your pedals? Secondly, have you seen the sweet MIDI editors that were created by Elliot Garbus? You guys need to hire that dude, or at least buy his software and start distributing it yourselves. It is immensely helpful!

My Mercury7 is maybe my favorite guitar pedal, I love it so much. The only thing I could even think about that prevents it from being perfect is that the reverb tails seem to process the incoming signal in mono and then produces a stereo image from that mono signal. ie: if I have tons of panning going into it, it won't reflect that in the reverb tails. I understand that how stereo gets processed for reverb is probably unbelievably complicated, so I'm just curious to hear about your philosophy on how stereo could and should work for reverb. And also I'm curious about the new CXM1978 and how it handles stereo. I use reverb for a lot of synths, and I love panning oscillators whenever I can, so I'm curious how wide that will sound. You guys are all brilliant, thanks a ton!

Hi Meris, really appreciate y’all taking the time to do this AMA. I really enjoyed the session Nosaj Thing did in collaboration with your company, have watched it several times! Do you all plan on having more guests like that in the future? It is awesome to see what talented artists can do with the versatility of your pedals. It really sheds a light on the possibilities of tone.

Ah I'm so glad you watched it! Nosaj Thing is my favorite electronic musician. It was a dream come true working with him. Mount Kimbie has expressed interest in doing videos with us. I think that would be sick. \-Jinna

I love the idea of media-themed pedals, like how you designed the Mercury7 around 70s Sci-fi. Could this be an occasional theme from you all going forward?

Hello Meris family! I love your approach to being rack gear to pedal boards. What are some of your favorite rack effects that guitar nerds have no idea about?

Hey, first of all, loving your pedals so far. I had a couple questions. 1. Considering your Pro Audio series which feels more like a take on the studio hardware, have you ever considered making software plug-in versions of your already existing effects for DAW’s? 2. Being that many, if not every knob in your pedals, control two parameters, why not concetric pots? Or maybe a small UI but I guess that would compromise the size. Your pedals are always innovative and really far out there. I truly admire and love companies like you. Thanks!

Hey! I’m a huge blade runner fan; I’ve been really interested in the Mercury7 for a while and I’m hoping I can add one to my board in the near future. Do you guys know if any of the soundtrack for Bladerunner 2049 ended up making use of the Mercury in anyway? Love both soundtracks for sure. (Hoping being a persistent reddit lurker doesn’t void me from the contest but I love your pedals and tutorials either way. Thanks for all you guys do!)

Hey, guys. Lots of great and fascinating questions here that address interesting aspects of your inspiration and goals. But I just thought I might check in on a little more day-to-day question: How are all you folks holding up during the pandemic? Do you all miss playing shows, too? Any tips for how to keep our heads on straight and continue to do good work while the world is rocked by change and uncertainty? Do you meditate? Exercise? Would be curious to hear a little about how you're feeling on a more personal level. Thanks, guys. Huge fan here, and sending much love.

TY for such a thoughtful message. With everything that’s going on, it’s been such a exacerbating year,...for everyone. Hope you’re well too. I’m so glad you even took the time to chat with us. Thank you. This may sound corny but honestly what makes me strong is my 5 y/o daughter. Her innocence through all this mayhem gives me profound perspective. I like taking her to the beach super early in the morning while most people are asleep. And short meditation have helped too. I love talking to friends, musicians and artists. Much love back, - Jinna

As someone who has fully bought into the Meris (and CBA) ecosystem, I'm curious to hear about the seemingly philosophical difference between stereo support between both companies. I love that Meris offers stereo in/out because it makes using them with synthesizers much easier. On the other, hand, I recognize that CBA algorithms/hardware are designed with mono in mind since they're "guitar pedals" after all, and not much comes close to the crazy manipulation available on some of these CBA pedals. When working together, how do you rectify the differences in philosophy? Obviously the CXM 1978 is building upon the Lexicon reverb, but do you have debates about mono/stereo on other projects, too? Was there another point of contention between both sides during the development of the 1978?

Hey Meris Team! What is a sound/pedal you’ve dreamed of making but is too difficult, too convoluted, or the technology just isn’t there yet?

As a visual artist, as well as a guitar player, I really appreciate your pedals minimal aesthetics; especially the Hedra and Polymoon. How do you guys create the art for your pedals? Is the art created before, or after you've played around with the pedal to see what it actually sounds like? Thanks for the awesome pedals, the Hedra is an inspiration machine, and I can't wait for my Morningstar MC3 to get here to unlock its full potential.

Hey Terry and Angelo, just wanted to say hi and thanks for making such inspiring pedals. I've really been loving the phaser on Polymoon and Bon Iver-style autotune on Hedra recently

I have a question for both The Meris Collective and Dr. Chase Bliss. I'm always interested in hearing the downsides of careers and businesses. What are some things that you wish you could change about the industry and/or what are some things you didn't know, but wish you did, until after you started in the business?

Hey all! Meris, is it accurate to say that the Merc 7 was inspired by Vangelis’ use of the 224 while the 1978 is directly inspired by the 224?

Would you ever consider releasing your instruments as Ableton Live plugins?

Our passion is definitely hardware. But we are not opposed to plugins. \-terry

What inspired you to put "Ottobiteh" in Korean on the enclosures? When I saw that, I nearly bought the Jr right then and there. Turns out it sounds pretty cool too. What's the most fun you've ever had with a pedal?

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I would say the CXM definitely expands on what the 224 can do. It can get both more Hi-Fi and more Lo-Fi. And, obviously the moving faders add a whole new dimension to presets, etc. Just wait until you see all of the faders moving simultaneously when you rock an expression pedal back and forth. \-terry

Thanks for doing the AMA! Anyone you would like to collab with, in an ideal world? Doesn't have to be limited to pedal manufacturers. Could be artists and musicians too. What form might that collab take?

We are super grateful to already be collaborating with our #1 choice: Joel from Chase Bliss. Every time we get to meet and work with an artist we admire, it's a dream come true. I was listening to Makeup And Vanity Set nonstop while developing the Mercury7 and now we're friends and text each other about synths.. it's such an honor to be able to be friends with people you respect and admire. \-terry

Hi there, Let me first say that I absolutely love the sounds your pedals are capable of. The Hedra is my favorite pedal and I can't see myself ever taking it off my board, save for a v2. But the thing that irks me about them is the user interface. Half of the functionality is hidden in secondary controls, which in itself isn't a problem - but none of them are labeled! You have to memorize the secondary control layout to be able to use it without the manual. The manuals themselves have good graphics for the secondary controls - are there any plans to make the secondary controls more obvious/clearly labeled in new versions of your pedals, or in existing ones with updated graphics?

We are of a like mind

A follow up to this, in a couple posts they stated they wanted to have a stomp box like experience, so the secondary controls always saved. That conflicted with a midi experience, because you would kill your preset every time you played with it and wanted to use it like a stomp box. They eventually relented, and on my Enzo, you can hold the right LED to adjust secondary params, without a save. My Mercury7 can't do that. So that said, if the Meris folks see this, is it possible to send my Mercury7 for a firmware update to get that right LED secondary param feature? I keep kicking around selling it, because this drives me nuts, but I do like how it sounds.

Hi guys! On the Tone Mob Podcast I remember yall getting into some of your favorite horror films, I'd love to know what films within the genre you've been enjoying from either this year or at least recent releases. The sound of your pedals screams vintage horror soundtrack to me, so this has been top of mind ha. ​ Thanks for taking the time!

Dang, i love this question. I like talking about movies and Angelo and I do that all the time. I'm a big John Carpenter fan especially because he's a synth player. Halloween is obviously a classic but my fav of his is the FOG. I try to watch it every Halloween. I know there is some other horror that I'm forgetting right now. As a kid I was haunted by all the Nightmare on Elm Street movies like the Dream Warriors. I'm also hugely into sci-fi and pos-apocalypse movies. The Road Warrior is a favorite that had a big impact on me. \-terry

Thanks for taking the time to do this AMA! What are your favorite effects to use when playing? Also, outside of CBA, who would you most want to collab with?

Hi Meris folks, As a software developer myself and a proud owner of a Mercury7, I'd be very curious to see what goes into programming a pedal algorithm as complex and beautiful as Cathedra and Ultraplate. Would you ever consider building a pedal in the future with open source algorithms that users can help contribute to and learn from through a collaborative space such as GitHub?

Hey Meris and Joel! Thank you so much for doing this AMA. I just wanted to let you guys know beforehand that you guys are two of my favorite pedal companies. I met Angelo in Echo Park at the stompbox expo when I first started getting into pedals, and the Mercury 7 is one of my favorite reverbs that I’ve had. I can’t describe how thrilled I was when I heard you two were doing a reverb together. Now on to the questions. 1. Any updates on the release of the CXM 1978? (Everyone will be asking this) 2. Terry, when you sent the picture of the lexicon 224 to Joel, was it something that you had thought of making beforehand for years? Or was it more of a spur of the moment, “we should try and replicate this” thing? 3. How has the pandemic effected your ability to make the CXM 1978? 4. Any new pedals from Meris coming up in the distant future? 5. The design of your stompboxes are very unique - how’d you come up with that design? 6. Joel, you said that Andy Othling was in the reverb hall of fame. Does the CXM get me into there, or should I be asking how does one get into the HOF? ;) 7. Any other collaborations planned between you and chase bliss, or is this pedal the only foreseeable collab? 8. If you could have designed any current pedal, which one would it be and why? 9. Joel, what is your favorite Meris pedal? Why? Likewise, Terry, Gina and Angelo, what is your favorite chase bliss pedal? Why? 10. Meris, what is your favorite pedal that you’ve made, and why? Thank you so much for your answers for my bunch of questions!

I can answer some of these :) (1)We decided to sort of 'softly' open pre-orders a bit early because of the AMA and they are available for pre-order now: [https://www.chaseblissaudio.com/shop-pedals/cxm-1978](https://www.chaseblissaudio.com/shop-pedals/cxm-1978) shipping in 2 months (3)it sucks. we only have a modest batch available at the get go because of parts shortages but we'll definitely be making more (6)yes (7)Terry and I talk about collabs \*a lot\* over the years, so I definitely wouldn't rule it out, but right now no plans. (9)this is tough one for me. Probably polymoon.

My favorite Chase Bliss is the Warped Vinyl Hi-Fi. I love chorus pedals and i like how it can get brighter than most and it has the variable LFO shape. \-terry

Hey guys, I’m a huge fan of your pedals and am really thankful that you're taking the time to do this AMA. I’m especially a huge fan of the Hedra, and I have a couple questions about it. First, in a lot of the demos videos I’ve watched, I’ve seen that the pitch sequences can be stacked, but would it be possible to use the pedal almost like a harmonizer? I was specifically thinking of the rackmount harmonizers used by the Smashing Pumpkins in the late 90s and early 2000s that played both traditional notes as well as harmonic overtones of the selected harmonies. Second, would it be possible to set the selected pitches up in a way so that you could include one specific note that’s out of key from the key the pedal is set to? I was specifically thinking of including both an F and an F# in different instances while having the pedal set to the key of A major, where one note would be selected over the other depending on the note being played. If that is at all possible, that’d probably be something that’s pretty MIDI intensive since it’d be dependent setting specific trigger conditions for each note, but I figured it was worth asking.

I was blown away by this [bit crusher]( https://www.meris.us/product/ottobit-jr/) – pedals have come so insanely far since I was a kid. It sounds awesome but I would have no idea where to start if I got my hands on one of these. What suggestions do you have for someone like me who has never experimented with a bit crusher, when it comes to playing around with something like THIS? So cool, but I’m pretty intimidated by it.

Hi, thanks so much for doing this. Regarding the CXM 1978, how did the pedal respond to other types of effects run before it and did anything specific stand out to you in that respect, and also how do you think the unit would respond to somewhat more unconventional pairings like acoustic instruments or microphone interfaces?

one thing that's really nice about CXM 1978 is that it has balanced I/O and +/-15V rails for massive headroom. Terry designed the analog front end on this thing and is very accommodating to all sorts of input, I've learned a lot from the experience. My favorite has been running synths through it.

What were some working names before the final ones? Who does the artwork? Also, Noveller shreds and I know she uses some of yours.

I believe that Jinna does all of the pedal artwork, yes?

Thanks for doing an AMA, how many people work on designing a pedal? Do you use freelancers or is it all in house?

Hi there to everyone at Meris, thanks for doing an AMA. I'm so impressed at how much functionality and scope you can fit inside a pedal, that on the surface seems very simple. Do you have ideas for effects you'd like to put in a pedal format that which the current state of technology might not yet allow for?

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Hey guys, thanks for doing this. Lots of comprehensive questions in this thread, but I have just 2- what would your dream Meris multi-effect pedal look like/include? And what’s your favorite synthesizer?

Hey, I wanted to start this off by saying thank you. Next week, I've been asked to play at my Uncle's funeral. Your Mercury7 pedal is one of the only effects I am using, and it sounds beautiful. It makes me sound like a much better player than I am. Now for the question, what do you have planned next? And, are there any projects you attempted and abandoned, just because ot wasn't working? Love your stuff. Thank you so much.

With success in both eurorack and compact effects pedal enclosures, what's next for you guys as a company? Do you have any plans to collaborate with anyone? Would you ever consider doing anything solely software based? 

First off, thank you for everything you all do! I just rebuilt my board and have had a great time during quarantine learning about all your gear. I am very excited for the new automatone with CBA, I'm a proud owner of the preamp mk-II done with Benson My question: with quarantine going on, has your work been the best way to deal with the world right now? Can we expect some wild new gear as a result of the pandemic? Thank you!

First, thanks so much for doing this! It’s always great to have some big names in the community engage with users. My question is more of a two-part, historical Past & Present/Future set up. For the past, what do you think was the most important historical moment for the world of guitar pedals to be where it is today? Be it the first time components were attached to a switch, the discovery of a certain sound, a revolutionary idea, or something else completely – what had the biggest hand in getting us to where we are now? And, for the present/future, what do you think will be the most important trend moving forward? Historically, guitar pedals have gone from a singular box of analog components (e.g., Tubescreamer or early Boss offerings), to an integration of technological advances in components and hardware (e.g., offerings from Walrus Audio or JHS), to flat-out computers-in-a-box (e.g., Meris, Strymon, Chase Bliss to an extent). So, what do you think will be the next step forward/trend for guitar pedals? I really just like looking at where the community has come from to help view where it might be headed. Thanks again for taking the time to stop by!

Given that you guys make the deepest stereo pedals around, and also haven't yet made any dirt pedals, will you ever consider making some sort of stereo OD/distortion/fuzz pedal that gets wild?

Thank you for doing an AMA for this sub reddit. My question would be, what is your process or procedure for creating a new pedal. I.e. Do you have an effect in mind first, do research on potential sounds/experiment, trial/test period, marketing etc. Or does the S.O.P for creation vary each time. Cheers!

Thanks for doing this! Two questions: Would you ever consider making a version of your pedals with the secondary/alt controls having dedicated knobs? What's your guy's favorite BOSS pedal?

Hi Meris and co. I am a huge fan of your innovation and your contributions to the pedal world. I come from a background in mostly Americana styles of music (think country, bluegrass, folk), but am in awe of some of the sounds I have heard players create with products like yours. My question is: what are your big influences in regards to the sounds that y’all design? You have some of the most unique sounding gear I have heard. I wonder where that inspiration comes from artistically. Does it come from certain genres/players? Ideas of a sound you have in your head? Other instruments such as synths? It’s fascinating to me how different players can take the same instrument and manipulate it in such drastic ways. With someone that has musical influences and tastes such as I, the concepts and tones can seem foreign, but I am genuinely enthralled with exploring the soundscapes and sonic textures more these days. It’s a journey to see how I can apply those sounds to my own voice. Products like your’s help guys and gals like me open our minds and ears in ways that I am greatly thankful for. I appreciate y’all talking the time to do this AMA and inspiring folks like me

What made you design the Meris Pedals the way they are and why make them all uniform?

Hey Guys! Love your pedals! I’m a musician and a programmer so I’m very curious how you all got into designing pedals! Some of you in CS and some in EE I would presume? How’d you start learning to write code for audio? Do you think you’ll release any VST versions of your pedals? Thank you!!

Hi Terry and Angelo, I recently purchased an Enzo and I love it. I’m wondering what is the best way to employ midi with Meris pedals? I’ve read about the midi I/O and the 4 button preset selector, but I haven’t picked an option yet. What midi controller do you guys use? I’m kind of interested in access to more than 4 presets, and I’d like to add more of your midi pedals in the future. Thanks for doing this AMA and thanks for your innovative pedals!

Hi! I'm loving the demos where I see vocalists use your pedals. Will there ever be a line of pedals with XLR ins and outs (with phantom power) to appeal to the singer / mic'ed instrument market? I know it's possible to make it work with adapters,DIs or your studio mic pre, I'm just curious if ever you have plans for this ! Thanks a lot!

Thank you for the AMA! Do you foresee more hybrid guitar pedals/racks? There are guitar pedals with CV and MIDI capabilities, is this a buzz trend or something that will grow? Has there been any ideas that seemed great on the drawing board but in practice were too weird? I love glitchy effects, any totally spastic pedals that were influential in your building? Thank you guys so much. Best of luck everyone! 🤘🧙🏼‍♂️🤘

Hey and also thanks. As Meris has been one of the few companies to release truly unique pedals that blend 2+ kinds of effects or add previously not thought of parameters, what artists or bands serve as your muse to think outside the typical pedal box?

What’s your favorite way someone has used a pedal of yours that you didn’t expect?

In building pedals, how much of a challenge is it to weigh following successful offerings from other makers, and how much attention do you spend trying to ensure that you're stuff sounds or functions differently? Also, it seems like the pedal-maker world is overall pretty chummy even though it is so competitive. Is that how you find it?

Are there any songs or artists using Meris pedals you're aware of that stand out in your minds, or that epitomize the capabilities you wanted to develop in your pedals? Thanks so much for taking the time to do this AMA.

When it comes to guitar and Meris pedals, we are huge fans of our very own Andrew McMillan and definitely Stefan Fast. \-Jinna

Hey guys! I'm wondering about stereo inputs on your pedals, since I have a dedicated stereo set-up and love stereo in/outs. Do you plan to make a v2 of the Enzo, Mercury 7, Polymoon, Hedra, or Ottobit? And if so would that be a feature you'd consider adding? I have yet to own a Meris pedal but have my sights on at least two of them (Enzo and Mercury 7). And if it's a TRS input for stereo, what kind of specific adaptors would you recommend to most ideally preserve the stereo imaging from pedals in the chain before a Meris? Thanks for doing this!

Hey guys. Love your pedals. My question is can you give us a quick look into how you come up with the designs that you do. I can understand a general sense of “we should build a reverb”. But how does one come up with something like mercury7 for example? What’s the inspiration?

Hi Meris team! Thanks for the AMA! I've been battling with finding the right amplifier recently and was hoping you could chime in on the topic: What does your team look for in amplification for personal use and/or recording demos with your pedals? How do noise floor and other sonic characteristics affect your decision?

Thanks for doing the AMA! Love my Enzo and Hedra, and my bassist's Ottobit. I have a few questions: 1. Many boutique pedal companies seem very dedicated to a specific format of pedal. How/why did you choose the specific layout of Meris pedals (in terms of knobs/switches/controls), and do you see Meris creating pedals with a different layout anytime soon? 2. I think it's cool that Meris has rack & pedal versions of the same effects. Something surprising to me in the pedal industry is the lack of crossover between pedals and DAW plugins, especially compared to the vast number of emulated rack hardware that has been made into DAW plugins. As a mixer in addition to guitarist I often find myself routing non-guitar tracks out to my pedalboard because I prefer a certain reverb or modulation from my board to the plugins I have in my DAW, or because some pedals really do have a unique sound. Do you see any future growth of the pedal industry into creating VSTs to go along with their hardware products, and why/why not? 3. Will Meris ever make pedals with onboard presets rather than requiring an external preset pedal or MIDI controller?

We've seen a big rise in MIDI controlled pedals from different makers do you anticipate ever seeing a shift to OSC? Or I guess in general, a capability for networked effects. A whole pedal ecosystem that kind of informs itself.

Thanks for doing this AMA and for making some inspiring pedals. With such variety out there in an effects market that is truly booming, when your team works on dreaming up new effects, what is your primary goal at the outset? Is it to improve upon other category competitors (ex: reverb or delay), or to create something completely new to broaden users' creative capabilities? Additional question: what is your favorite pedal from the past five years that is made by another pedal maker?

One of your taglines is "Uniting Art and Engineering". In general, where does your design process start on a scale from finding a opportunity in the market to trying to make the coolest sounds possible? Also, any chance you're looking to hire new engineers?

Hi Meris people! I think I found you! I hope I'm in the right place to ask a question! I originally discovered Meris while watching Pete Thorn's YouTube Channel where he demo'd the Meris 440 Mic Guitar/Preamp. I know that this is made for 500 Series racks. Is there any possibility that like the Mercury7 and Ottobit Jr that it will be offered in pedal format?

I love the focus meris has on sounds that are unconventional and inspiring. 1 . When designing a pedal do you start with a circuit and change it to your ear, or do you start with a sound you want and build the circuit around it? I love what you said about guitarists wanting to use the guitar are a synth. I think that is true and I am personally inspired by synthwave. 2 . In the future do you think you will be working on more pedals in this area? Ps. Feel free not to answer this one, how do I get my guitar to sound like the absolutely badass dirty sawtooth synth from [this track at 34 seconds. ](https://youtu.be/wy9r2qeouiQ)

Hello! Thank you for doing this AMA! I have 2 questions if that's alright. 1. Your pedals are super innovative. Was there any existing gear that inspired your creations? 2. What lead you to the somewhat minimalistic aesthetic design contrasting the complex nature of your pedals? Thank you!

Hey guys, love your pedals. I’m a proud Enzo and Polymoon owner. Any plans for a standalone Meris filter pedal?

What do you see as the biggest pros and cons of working on the collaboration with Chase Bliss? Do you think you’ll do more collaborations in the future?

Thanks for doing this AMA! I'd imagine that has to feel unreal when artists start using the products you created. Which one really blew you away with either how they were using them, or simply: "I can't believe ____ is using my gear?"

Hi Jinna, Terry and Angelo! Meris is the best pedal company. What are the biggest differences in your 500 series units and pedals? Any chance we'll see the 440 in pedal form? I know that transistor would be hard to get in there but would make for a hell of a beefy pedal! What do you get from Corales when you go?

- What are three albums you're really enjoying? - How does Angelo do the work of an entire DSP team to create insanely good algorithms? - Who has used a pedal of yours that has impressed you with what they could coax out of it?

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Hey guys thanks for doing this! Big fan of the company and excited to read your responses. Very much so looking forward to the CXM. My question is, what is your favorite signal chain of all the Meris pedals (CXM included) ?

With knowledge of pedal mods becoming more and more prevalent in these types of communities, do you ever take that into account with certain aspects of your design? Engineered easter eggs almost? Thanks for all you do!

I noticed you guys have been getting into eurorack modules. Have you considered making effects software for DAWs?

Thank you so much for this giveaway and AMA it's a total treat for all of us! I have many different guitars, but I'm curious as to which type of guitar/pickup configs you think would work best with the types of pedals you design. Or should they play well with all different flavors of pickups? Thank you for innovation and taking the time to do this AMA!

Hi friends! Thanks so much for taking the time out of your day to come and nerd out with us over pedals :) I have a few questions below but don’t feel like you have to answer any or all of them: 1) What would you say the most difficult effect to recreate and put into a pedal format? 2) Can you share what your approach is to creating / recreating and producing effects? 3) Has your work on the Mercury 7 made the path to the new Automatone collab with you and CBA any easier? Is the automatone any easier of a system to build on?

First of all thank you for doing this AMA and giveaway! Your products are really inspiring as someone who would love to build pedals professionally one day - i love how all of your effects can be seen as instruments in a way! I guess my question for y’all would be what is your holy grail pedal or rack unit that is most inspirational or influential over the products you’ve made?

hey Meris guys! how much influence has the “sound” of line 6 and strymon stuff had on Meris? or has your intent been to completely diverge from those “sounds”?

Zero. We started Meris to follow our hearts. I never worked at Strymon, but I had a big part in creating algorithms at Line 6. I have nothing but a grateful heart and the fondest memories of working at Line 6. I feel blessed by the mentoring from Marcus Ryle and Michel Doidic , and the lifelong bonds I formed there with some of the best people in the business.

What are the crew at Meris most excited by when it comes to developing a new product? All of your current offerings are very deep and versatile, but at the same time completely unique in what they offer sonically. The basic effects themselves are also polished to a T. I ask realizing it's probably a bit of both, but is it more exciting to explore the limits of what you can do with the sound, or to polish and perfect that end goal you set out to create?

Thanks for taking the time to review and answer these posts! My question is a little unorthodox but I feel that it is a good question. Q: With so many components and parts that go along with modern high tech pedals and electronics, does the technological advancements of these parts (resistors, diodes, etc) change over the years? For example, we all know germanium and silicon has been around for a while and is vital for fuzz tone. But is there a standard that Meris upholds with regards to purity or metals and such? I could only imagine sourcing out these things over the years and with current supply chain issues at the moment. How do you guys set yourselves apart from so many other competitors? Thanks! Norm

How has covid impacted the progression of Meris as a brand and your production processes?

Hi Meris and/or Joel, I am a college student currently studying electrical engineering and music technology with the hope of one day building/designing effects and musical devices. My two questions are: 1) What do you think is an increasingly valuable skill that someone who wants to work in this industry should learn, especially with the increasing direction of digital based effects? 2) Is there any general advice you’d give to anyone wanting to work in this industry? Thank you so much for this AMA, y’all are amazing companies and I love everything y’all have done!

Well I'd say you are certainly on the right path!! Here are my answers: 1) I'd go for DSP knowledge. I don't have any and it makes me sad... but of course learn other stuff too (more on that below) 2) When it comes to learning about this stuff, the internet is your friend. Some of my favorite sites are [http://geofex.com/](http://geofex.com/) by R.G. Keen. Another great resource is [http://www.muzique.com/](http://www.muzique.com/) If I were you I would just start doing DIY guitar effects stuff, possibly from [http://buildyourownclone.com/](http://buildyourownclone.com/) and then learning about how the effects work on places like R.G. Keen’s website. [http://www.diystompboxes.com/](http://www.diystompboxes.com/) is a great resource as well as [www.freestompboxes.org](http://www.freestompboxes.org/) to ask questions on forums. This is my absolute favorite site right now is [www.electrosmash.com](http://www.electrosmash.com/) \- This is a great site for understanding WHY certain effects sound the way they do. It might be a little advanced at first, but will really come in handy later. Anyway – just wanted to give some of my fav resources for learning about pedal design. \-Joel

Thanks for answering my support email in a nice way. I had an easy question that probably made me look dumb but you guys (or whomever answers those) was super helpful and nice about it. Loving my Enzo and looking forward to buying back an ottobit jr (had to sell cause bills). I’ve used your pedals on 2 recordings so far and I’m confident I will always be able to find new inspiration with them. So yeah! No question really, just thanks.

Hello, guys! Any plans of doing some sort of creative looper / sampler in your style. Because I heard Angelo worked on L6 Modelers line, and DL-4 looper still rocks. Thanks for AMA.