Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

[jon the art guy]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

I have quite a few pedals, most of which I almost never use. Usually I have a dirt pedal or two in front of the amp and that is it. I have nothing against effects, analog or digital.

There is a certain snobbery that comes from people who brag about how they don't use effects. Face it, the friggin' distortion that comes from your amps is an effect. The people who designed electric guitars and amps didn't intend for them to be distorted in the way we use them. If you're able to get delay or flanger sounds out of your hands, more power to you. The rest of us mortals will use effects when needed.

This snobbery extends to players who tend to use an effected tone. The Edge and Tom Morrello are constantly being ripped on for not being good players, and I think it is only because they tend to us a lot of (or in the case of Morrello, are perceived to) use a lot of effects. Very few players have achieved a sound like either of them, where you can tell from the first note they play, who they are.

Those of you whose hands are made out of pure tone, I am in awe of all of the magic and mojo in your hands.

Yup. Let's plug our guitars into powered PA speakers with eq shelving and a digital verb and get the mother tone our predecessors were looking for.

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[gripweed]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

I have quite a few pedals, most of which I almost never use. Usually I have a dirt pedal or two in front of the amp and that is it. I have nothing against effects, analog or digital.

There is a certain snobbery that comes from people who brag about how they don't use effects. Face it, the friggin' distortion that comes from your amps is an effect. The people who designed electric guitars and amps didn't intend for them to be distorted in the way we use them. If you're able to get delay or flanger sounds out of your hands, more power to you. The rest of us mortals will use effects when needed.

This snobbery extends to players who tend to use an effected tone. The Edge and Tom Morrello are constantly being ripped on for not being good players, and I think it is only because they tend to us a lot of (or in the case of Morrello, are perceived to) use a lot of effects. Very few players have achieved a sound like either of them, where you can tell from the first note they play, who they are.

Those of you whose hands are made out of pure tone, I am in awe of all of the magic and mojo in your hands.

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

I don't hate pedals. I use three of them. Decimator, Polytune & Radial ABY LoL!
What I don't like is the constant tweaking, internet scouring, personal debating and second guessing that comes with the pedal territory.

I don't think that tweaking is a necessary component of having a lot (or even just a few) pedals. I have a bunch of stuff on my board, including a Strymon Timeline and Mobius, widely regarded as a tweaker's paradise. I tweaked them when I got them to set up patches that worked for what I needed out of the pedals. Whenever I feel like I need a different type of phase/flange/chorus/ice delay/tape delay/whatever, I go and make a new patch. But I only infrequently tweak them when playing with other people. I have everything set up on my board so that I only have to tweak it before I start playing to match whatever volume my amp is at. If I could figure out a way to make my knobs stop moving from coming in and out of my case, I'd be super stoked.

[jon the art guy]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Kudos to you for finding a muse in your amp. I'm still looking for mine.

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[Van Noord]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Fair enough.

There is no right or wrong. In my experience with gigging and seeing many other bands is that the best tones I have heard by far have been with pedals into a nice loud clean amp. Just my experience and opinion. I also find amp gain harsh and thin 90 percent of the time and I'm not talking low level amps...I have played JVMs, Mesas, Soldanos etc. But to make this clear that is MY preference and I'm not putting down anyone who does use amp gain...I like a very thick sound

Hmm, see and my experience has been the opposite. I find it easier to coax fat, thick gain tones from amps as opposed to pedals which always feel synthetic and thin to me. Meh, what evs.

[SongsForTheDeaf]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

I don't hate pedals. I use three of them. Decimator, Polytune & Radial ABY LoL!
What I don't like is the constant tweaking, internet scouring, personal debating and second guessing that comes with the pedal territory.

I prefer to maintain and utilize the three most prominent tone factors. Pickups, amplifiers & speakers. There is enough going on there to satisfy my tone urge and objective. I get a more pure and less convoluted result that way. Again, I came to this conclusion after a long and winding pedal road.
I won't tell players to not use pedals, but will applaud them for looking past them. Pedal junkies will forever crucify me for that. But that's what disagreeing with anothers opinion brings.

Fair enough.

There is no right or wrong. In my experience with gigging and seeing many other bands is that the best tones I have heard by far have been with pedals into a nice loud clean amp. Just my experience and opinion. I also find amp gain harsh and thin 90 percent of the time and I'm not talking low level amps...I have played JVMs, Mesas, Soldanos etc. But to make this clear that is MY preference and I'm not putting down anyone who does use amp gain...I like a very thick sound

[Van Noord]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

I don't hate pedals. I use three of them. Decimator, Polytune & Radial ABY LoL!
What I don't like is the constant tweaking, internet scouring, personal debating and second guessing that comes with the pedal territory.

I prefer to maintain and utilize the three most prominent tone factors. Pickups, amplifiers & speakers. There is enough going on there to satisfy my tone urge and objective. I get a more pure and less convoluted result that way. Again, I came to this conclusion after a long and winding pedal road.

I won't tell players to not use pedals, but will applaud them for looking past them. Pedal junkies will forever crucify me for that. But that's what disagreeing with anothers opinion brings.

[SongsForTheDeaf]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Love sparking a good debate! Just wish this one inspired some new and original rebuttals from the advocates

I'm curious.... why do you dislike pedals so much ?

Personally I see them as tools for making music. Just Guitar>amp can get boring and stale FAST

[Van Noord]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Love sparking a good debate! Just wish this one inspired some new and original rebuttals from the advocates

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

I typically find the Puritans are the ones who don't have the ability to focus on their pedal layout and understanding of each setting, so they grunt and go Caveman because it causes thinky pain, plug straight in, and declare it God's Truth.

There is no "light" to be "seen" by scaling back on outboard gear any more than there is in having a 100-space rack full of AxeFXs so you can have every conceivable combination at your fingertips and Steven Hawking controlling your pedalboard. Different is different. Straight-in for some is boring and done-to-death, and outboard options is the 64-box of Crayons. The 64-box of Crayons for some is 62 colors more than they need to do what they want to do, so straight-in gives them the two tones they like - clean and whatever they set their Gain to. It has nothing to do with penis size, testosterone levels, proficiency with the opposite sex, IQ, genetic superiority/inferiority, or artistic talent.

[Van Noord]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

yeah that is wise... just judge people who do something different than you.

Seriously I'm sick of the purists thinking that Guitar->Amp is the only way to play.. Open your eyes and ears. I have heard amazing tones from just amp users and pedal into clean amp users. It is all preference so no need to "shake your head" at people who use pedals...

never said my way is they only way. I stated my opinion. Ive had pedals boards the size of small countries. Been there. Players obsess over pedals like grown men salivating over Lego sets. They eventually become pedal players instead of guitar players. I know players who have and use so many pedals that they can't even answer to what type of power tubes their amp takes. But know all and every resister value in every pedal. So, I shake my head at them. If that comment makes some insecure about their pedal (ab)use, then that's on them.
I'm entitleted to my analysis of something that I have direct relation to.

[xxxplorer]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Yeah, I'll scoop some on craigslist cheap and throw em on the bay and make a decent profit lol. Even sold a $20 classic od for $45.00 hehe.

[SongsForTheDeaf]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Online classifieds are the worst for getting low offers or a Boss DS-1 plus 20 bucks for my 250 dollar pedal haha

[wickenspoet]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Hope you've had good luck on Craigslist. Seems like everyone on Cleveland's Craiglist are either broke or low ballers. Had someone offer me $35 for an almost new Foxrox Octron, and $100 for a brand new, never used Damage Control Solid Metal, LOL.

Ebay had a special 2 weeks ago where you could list any item for sale for free. I cleaned up on there, sold like 12 pedals with zero fees.

[GuitarStv]

Re: Been selling off pedals lately... yet... playing more!

Some view pedals as creative igniters.

I see them as a hindrance.

Just a bunch of "this pedal, that pedal, sounds this way, sounds that way, twist this, turn that, first in line, last in line, second in line, level up, level down, less of this, more of that" bull$hit.

I've always shook my head at those people. Glad you've seen the light.

You're totally right. What kind of hack needs to use pedals on a regular basis?