When I started playing guitar in the early 1980s everyone referred to effects as "boxes," as in "I got a new distortion box." A chorus or flanger or delay we just called a chorus or a flanger or a delay, or maybe a "delay box." Volume pedals and wah pedals were called that because, well, they have a frickin pedal right there on the box. Everything else was just an effect box. And somewhere along the way we all started talking about pedals and pedal boards and I have no idea when or why that happened. I did a quick google search for a few effects manufacturers and Ibanez was using the word "pedal" in their ads by the early 1980s, but MXR does not.
So when did everyone start calling a box with a switch on it a "pedal"? Why? I can't even remember the last time I saw any reference to an effect box.
So when did everyone start calling a box with a switch on it a "pedal"? Why? I can't even remember the last time I saw any reference to an effect box.
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