Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

Mr 9finger

Mr 9finger

Digitally Challenged
When I started playing you basically had 5 brands of pedals. Boss, MXR, Ibanez, Dunlop for wahs, and EHX. If you couldn't find something you liked within those brands you were basically SOL. Now there's hundreds of options and little variations on everything you could imagine. It's overwhelming most of the time.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but it tends to make you over think things way too much. I really have to be in a certain mood/mindset to accomplish anything or I just end up listening to clip after clip, YouTube after YouTube until basically everything sounds the same. 90% of the time I end up coming back to the usual brands listed above unless something really REALLY catches my ear. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing as they are usually a lot cheaper than the boutique stuff.

Options are awesome little things that will drive you phacken nutz most of the time.
 
Re: Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

other than the above listed name brands the only pedal that I have serious GAS for is the Cmatmods Brownie. I tend to use boss, mxr, and dunlop myself. I have however been looking at red witch pedals. In particular their fuzz pedal. I just cant afford them. So yes I hate shopping for petals
 
Re: Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

I am going to build an amp in an attempt to control my addiction to buying pedals.
 
Re: Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

Its tough when you have so much variety and so many brands to choose from, especially when most of them all do the same job and sound way too similar. There are a lot of guys out there who are serious boutique pedal users and wouldn't even think of using a boss pedal on their board. But the truth is, most musicians that are actual musicians who play out on a regular basis and use their gear outside of their bedroom get by just fine with Boss, MXR, Ibanez, EHX and Dunlop. Check out all of those premier guitar rig rundowns. Those guys have some nice boutique and vintage pedals, but the majority of their pedalboards consist of those brands mentioned above. Tried and True.

Having said that, I've been building up my pedalboard lately and I've totally succumb to the delights of the bells and whistles that so many great brands offer.
 
Re: Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

I play through a Twin so OD pedals at the very least are a must. When I bought the Twin I spent some hefty bucks on the first couple of pedals. Then some years later I tried some of the cheap Chinese pedals like Joyo and Byang etc. You know what? Those $30 to $50 pedals for some weird reason do the job every bit as good as my expensive ones. They're true bi-pass, quiet, and sound pretty damn good. I know nothing about electronics but out of curiosity I've taken them all apart at one time or another and amazingly, regardless of price, they all look to have the same workmanship and, apples to apples, seem to be made out of the same stuff. What's up with that? I really believe that all of these pedals that are on the market today are pretty much state of the art and that most everything else is just marketing hype. Given that there are so many options that add up to the same thing I've decided that the way to relieve my frustration is to simply accept the fact that China has been making a huge majority of the worlds electronics forever and the bottom line is that they are better at it than almost everyone. How many times have you heard guitar players say that they've bought four or five expensive pedals and still haven't found "the one". So from now on I'm a "cheap pedal" guy. At least if I go through several pedals without finding satisfaction I can still feel that I didn't take it in the shorts as bad as I could have. I'm sure that there are a whole lot of electronics Gurus out there who can set me strait in a heartbeat but I don't care. As far as I'm concerned if it sounds good and it works then it is good. If it's cheap then that's even better.
 
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Re: Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

IF I don't bloody well ADORE it, back to GC it goes... and if it ain't used to begin with, I ain't buying. Maybe if I fall in absolute love with something that dies on me, then I'll repurchase it new, but never new first.

No I'm not being cheap, I blow plenty of cash on GAS. It's just that some of my favourite guitars have been random $100-150 craigslist (or even GC used rack) scores, and I can't justify spending a WHOLE GUITAR OR MORE worth of dough on a piece of basic electronics, no artisan worksmanship or mojo involved.

As to $300+ on a pedal, seriously, what were these guys even thinking??? Web's littered with Ibanez Prestiges, Grecos, even the occasional MIA Fenders for such sums. And if you're also into bass, you can get absolutely STAGGERING amounts of used bass gear for that sum, even a full serious midsize gig-worthy complete rig, fully made in Japan England and USA, without a single letdown component in sight... Pedal just can't compare.
 
Re: Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

Analysis Paralysis.


I get it too. Pedals, pickups mostly. Suffering right now re: pups for my 335.
 
Re: Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

BEACHBUM said:
I play through a Twin so OD pedals at the very least are a must. When I bought the Twin I spent some hefty bucks on the first couple of pedals. Then some years later I tried some of the cheap Chinese pedals like Joyo and Byang etc. You know what? Those $30 to $50 pedals for some weird reason do the job every bit as good as my expensive ones. They're true bi-pass, quiet, and sound pretty damn good. I know nothing about electronics but out of curiosity I've taken them all apart at one time or another and amazingly, regardless of price, they all look to have the same workmanship and, apples to apples, seem to be made out of the same stuff. What's up with that? I really believe that all of these pedals that are on the market today are pretty much state of the art and that most everything else is just marketing hype. Given that there are so many options that add up to the same thing I've decided that the way to relieve my frustration is to simply accept the fact that China has been making a huge majority of the worlds electronics forever and the bottom line is that they are better at it than almost everyone. How many times have you heard guitar players say that they've bought four or five expensive pedals and still haven't found "the one". So from now on I'm a "cheap pedal" guy. At least if I go through several pedals without finding satisfaction I can still feel that I didn't take it in the shorts as bad as I could have. I'm sure that there are a whole lot of electronics Gurus out there who can set me strait in a heartbeat but I don't care. As far as I'm concerned if it sounds good and it works then it is good. If it's cheap then that's even better.
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Yeah, you're on to something here, BeachBum.

First of all, many guitar pedal circuits are very simple when compared with almost anything. (Heck, even teddy bears have microprocessors in them these days!) The Chinese circuit manufacturers could build these circuits while sleeping through the third shift, and the build quality would be fine.

Next, most of the classic pedal designs are so well understood that a 20-minute internet search will drop a complete schematic (with improvements) into your lap. Anyone can clone a classic pedal - the challenge is in finding production electrical components that will work in the old circuit designs.

Finally, I think few of us have the kind of guitar rig that will really suffer noticeably if our pedals were not silver-soldered by virgins dancing on the head of a pin in the back room of some boutique shop. I'm not saying a high-end pedal might not sound just a bit better than your basic MXR dirt box, but for most of us, the extra money would be better invested in a new amplifier than in paying 4X for an overdrive pedal.

Back on topic, I love shopping for new pedals. Maybe a little bit too much...
 
Re: Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

Most builders just clone/almost-clone/slightly refine the classic designs (keyword: most).

It's only logical to end-up with a ton of pedals that perform the same task in the same way.

Of course, in a bedroom/showroom setting where you play by yourself, the minute changes will come through, even when they are subtle. However, in a band setting with the drums, other guitar player, bass, vocal, keyboards, whathaveyou, a fancy tubescreamer-based pedal will be almost (to my humble ears at least) undistinguishable from the original tubescreamer.

That is, of course, my humble opinion.
 
Re: Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

Surgeon said:
Most builders just clone/almost-clone/slightly refine the classic designs (keyword: most).

Of course, in a bedroom/showroom setting where you play by yourself, the minute changes will come through, even when they are subtle. However, in a band setting with the drums, other guitar player, bass, vocal, keyboards, whathaveyou, a fancy tubescreamer-based pedal will be almost (to my humble ears at least) undistinguishable from the original tubescreamer.
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Original tubescreamers aren't exactly cheap, either... unless you can find one of the strange rebranded ones with an obscure name.
 
Re: Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

I hate shopping for pedals. That's why I've stopped. There isn't anything out there I really need - except maybe a Klon for leads.
 
Re: Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

erksin said:
This thread makes me sad.
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Don't feel sad. Turn that frown upside down. If it's any consolation, I knew I had to have the DLSMKIII as soon as Andy hit the first chords. I have to say though, it's rare that a pedal jumps out and grabs my attention. There's so many shades of gray when it comes to dirt boxes these days, that they all run together. I think the real problem is there is few really good sites that demo the pedals well. I like Pro Guitar Shop and I like watching their demos. Andy is a phenomenal player and I could watch him play for hours. But that's some of the problem. Andy is so good that he makes most everything he plays through sound good.
 
Re: Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

I think the thing that helps me the most when shopping for any gear, including pedals, is that I've gotten very good at knowing what will and won't work for me. I can try four pedals that do the same thing and know within a few minutes which one is the winner.
 
Re: Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

My board is pretty much set. No doubt i will tweak something sooner or later but for the moment I am happy. The closest thing to boutique is the fulltone stuff. "Boutique" 13 years ago I suppose but not really anymore. The most recent additions have been BYOC kits I built myself.

I find that as I get older, have more experience with equipment and a better vision of the exact tones I want that it gets a lot easier to isolate the gear I need to get it. My amps and guitars have been stable since about 2006 for example.
 
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Re: Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

Adieu said:
Original tubescreamers aren't exactly cheap, either... unless you can find one of the strange rebranded ones with an obscure name.
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I didn't mention "original-first run-ts808" though.

Unless I'm widely misinformed and have been living under a rock up here, Ibanez do still make a tubescreamer. 100$ for a TS9 that's pretty darn close to an original ts808 will do the job perfectly. Compare it to the boutique pedals that cost 2x or 3x that and basically do the same thing: not so expensive.

Still, that's not to mention that many many cheap chinese brands make tubescreamer clones.

You can also buy kits and make your own too, which is cool if you think that you really need the 808 specs.

All in all, I stand by what I wrote about this.

Coming back to my argument that slight changes won't matter much in a band context:

I realized this after building myself a clone of the Blackarts Toneworks Pharaoh. It's a fancy Big Muff but everyone's been raving about those so I built one.
Everytime I plug into it I can't believe how good it sounds. It's got a few switches and nice options. It's a great fuzz. However, after maybe 15 minutes with it I go back and plug into my triangle big muff and 90% of the Pharaoh's tones are in there. There are a few more tweaks available onthe Pharaoh but in a band context, I don't think they'd matter that much. It's still, to its core a BMP and sounds like one most of the times...
IMHO, same goes for a lot of the fancy boutique pedals out there: they're really cool toys/instruments/tools (however you wanna look at it)but in the end, when you're playing with others, many of their lil' subtleties and nuances get lost. I like many many of these boutique tweaked-whateverclassics out there though, I'm not being negative towards them at all...
 
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Re: Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

Mr 9finger said:
Don't feel sad. Turn that frown upside down. If it's any consolation, I knew I had to have the DLSMKIII as soon as Andy hit the first chords.
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Wasn't really talking specifically, but more about the generalizations being made in this thread. Just bums me out when people paint the effects industry as a whole with the same brush. I'm not naive enough to think that those perceptions don't exist and in some cases are totally warranted, but just the same I think a lot of it comes out of a lack of understanding on the part of the buyer as to what effects are truly originally-derived designs and which ones are clones and why it should matter. That is as much the fault of the maker as it is the buyer - if you expect people to take you seriously as a company and set yourselves apart, you have to do some educating as to why you're different. Even if that explanation is detailed and presented clearly people will still look with a jaundiced eye. That's why I think forums are so great - end users (especially ones with a depth of experience) really are the ultimate judges of whether the thing is worthy or not.
 
Re: Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

erksin said:
Wasn't really talking specifically, but more about the generalizations being made in this thread. Just bums me out when people paint the effects industry as a whole with the same brush. I'm not naive enough to think that those perceptions don't exist and in some cases are totally warranted, but just the same I think a lot of it comes out of a lack of understanding on the part of the buyer as to what effects are truly originally-derived designs and which ones are clones and why it should matter. That is as much the fault of the maker as it is the buyer - if you expect people to take you seriously as a company and set yourselves apart, you have to do some educating as to why you're different. Even if that explanation is detailed and presented clearly people will still look with a jaundiced eye. That's why I think forums are so great - end users (especially ones with a depth of experience) really are the ultimate judges of whether the thing is worthy or not.
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I'm pick'n up what you're putting down. I think if the guys out there that are making original designs would promote that more, there would be less confusion. That's a double edged sword though. As soon as that original design gets popular, people start copying it. Then you're back to "THE BEST TUBESCREAMER EVER" situation.
 
Re: Anybody else hate shopping for pedals?

Re-selling is the worst for boutique/obscure pedals. There are a number in my local classifieds that are priced high and haven't moved in months.
That tends to scare me away from buying those type of pedals at a new price, since I tend to end up flipping about 50% of the pedals I buy.
 
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