Behringer

Uli Behringer, a Swiss engineer, founded the company in Willich, Germany, in 1989, building affordable audio gear at prices the established names rarely matched. Behringer moved production to China the following year and has since built a reputation, not always a welcome one among original designers, for recreating classic synths, drum machines and pedals once their patents expire — the company argues this makes the practice legal, and it's a large part of how the brand is known today. It's now owned by Music Tribe, still chaired by Behringer himself, and employs roughly 3,500 people. On GuitarBomb it shows up almost every week with another budget-priced clone of a vintage pedal. Here's what we've covered.