Pedal "culture"

[Coma]

Seems we're going through a golden age as far as effects go. Every year more and more cool stuff comes out, and thanks to the Internet and social media more obscure and small-scale builds are now more accessible than ever before.

Now I got into the pedal game quite late (roughly 2016 and onwards). But when I first picked up the electric in the late 90's/early 00's nobody I knew really gave a hoot about pedals. Dirt boxes was something you bought because you couldn't afford a tube amp. You'd get a Wah because you'd heard Hendrix or a Boss something-or-other but that was about it. Cut to now and everyone and their mom has a pedal board the size of Texas.

So my question for you older.... ahem, I mean vintage chaps - were guitarists always this hung up on FX units and boxes? Did people fuzz over building that perfect collection back in the 80s and 90s as well or is it a byproduct of the age we're living in and technology making things more accessible?

 

[Bogner]

I believe the more options a person has the more easily it is to get pulled into the pedal arena. Pedals have gotten very good in comparison to what they were in the past. People like options and so the hunt begins. I was always an amp guy and still am and only recently has my interest in pedals grown. Part of that is the pedals getting better. Part of that is new pedal designs and options. Part of that is because I have a whole lot of amps and there aren't as many new amps made like there are new pedals. Additionally, pedals typically cost much less than amps so not everybody can afford to chase amps where they can chase pedals. I think all of this (and probably more) plays into the pedal game.

 

[Hank-]

It's the accessibility for sure & abundance of stuff at various price points.

You can by a ts808 clone new for around $30 & return it within a week from your doorstep if you don't like it. This wasn't possible to such an extent back in the early days. Plus YouTube made checking out new gear demos alot easier. So yeah, it's not culture thing, just more of the present day thing. Having said that, there is not much ground breaking stuff I've across lately in the guitar music land even though stuff is accessible now.

 

[dave74]

Same here. Started playing in 88 and quickly got into pedal distortion. Briefly had a Boss BE-5 while playing with a local group, but once we broke up I basically stopped using it and eventually sold it. Then a few years ago I decided to give individual stomps an honest try. Since then I've been hooked, fortunately for my wallet I seem to dig the basic stuff most.

 

[PFDarkside]

Read this:

http://churchoftone.com

See if you can guess who these characters are if you haven’t read the story before.

 

[PFDarkside]

The rise of Social Media has played a big deal. Now the appearance of the pedal, the way the board looks, etc. has become a big deal. Also, the rise of the “bedroom player” has enabled the swing to massive boards. (The board I use at home is huge, the one I take out is about 5 pedal on a PT Mini)

On the topic of functionality, there have always been players that want multitude of tones, they were all in the rack game before. Now the high end pedals are capable of more than the old rack units could ever do.

Anyway…. I know why JoeBa said what he did…. He used to be able to play every fuzz and OD that came out, now there are so many it’s impossible to keep up.

I’ve posted before, about a decade ago I had a thought to start building pedals to try to become a small company. Seeing where the industry is now, I’m glad I didn’t spend a lot of resources doing that, it’s such a tough market now!

 

[dave74]

I'm still utterly puzzled how so many small brands can sell enough to stay afloat. Not talking about the JHS, Keeley, Wamplers,,,,more the really small brands I see people selling all the time on craigslist and facebook. Constantly seeing stuff I never even heard of before.

 

[Bogner]

I'm still utterly puzzled how so many small brands can sell enough to stay afloat. Not talking about the JHS, Keeley, Wamplers,,,,more the really small brands I see people selling all the time on craigslist and facebook. Constantly seeing stuff I never even heard of before.

A lot fo those companies aren't real companies or they don't stay going. There is no realistic way that they can. Take Klirrton pedals for example. AWESOME pedals, fairly new to the pedal game compared to a lot of other companies, and it is simply a side gig for the owner/builder/designer of the pedals. He has a full on job/career aside from the pedals and does his thing that way. He has help assembling the pedals etc but the pedal business was never his main gig nor will it be.

 

[Mincer]

I never got into the pedal collecting game, or guitar or amp collecting either. I've always thought about the sound first, then sought gear to see if I could make that happen. But also, I focused more on the playing part rather than the gear part. I am not anti-pedal, but the whole internet culture around it, and how one pedal sounds .3% different than this other one so I must have it and it is better than what you have.

 

[beaubrummels]

Pedals weren't a thing back in the day because there weren't that many good ones and not that many choices. I went from no pedals to rack gear to makes sounds. The last 10+ years of pedals is simply replacing rack gear as it's finally caught up to the quality of studio gear and it's much easier to carry, even if it's a pedal board the size of Texas. (Which beats a 6-8 space rack the size of Russia.)

 

[Animal]

http://churchoftone.com

Good read.

 

[PFDarkside]

A lot fo those companies aren't real companies or they don't stay going. There is no realistic way that they can. Take Klirrton pedals for example. AWESOME pedals, fairly new to the pedal game compared to a lot of other companies, and it is simply a side gig for the owner/builder/designer of the pedals. He has a full on job/career aside from the pedals and does his thing that way. He has help assembling the pedals etc but the pedal business was never his main gig nor will it be.

Yes, exactly. I think there is still opportunity in the market but it’s really dwindled. If a really good DSP engineer decided that they were done with the corporate world and wanted to make some new pedals it would still work.

However, I’m amazed how many people are still trying to duplicate the success of the King of Tone by dropping two modified circuits into one enclosure.

 

[Aceman]

I started playing in 80-85 seriously.

There were always "pedals" about. I think in the 70's a row or board of 5-7 might not be uncommon. But the sound of rock was pretty straight ahead. Maybe a Phaser, Flanger, Chorus for "effect" and a delay or echo of some sort. You could easily play most all rock with like three pedals < 1980-ish.

In the 80's, they really started to proliferate, however...You had R&B, Pop, Metal, Glam, Blues etc all going strong

Option one was pedals
Option two was a Bradshaw or Midi-switcher
Multi-FX came into being
Rack gear too

So there were a lot of options. But on a budget you could still get this or that pedal and the Pedal lines expanded greatly as music production did.

I never really collected. I used a lot of pedals (maybe 10-15) regularly but I did a lot of special effect noises. Fake synth lines, wah parts, the ray gun in Rebel Yell, etc...
Next band was straight ahead classic /southern rock. No need for anything really.

But I never got rid of pedals. Today I have a lot of them because of income + don't throw away + I just like them for playing at home. I have gigged with Hollywood for a couple of years using a 10-12 pedal board though.

I find a new pedal, with a new sound or sounds, really kicks my interest, creativity, and playing into gear.

 

[LLL]

Seems we're going through a golden age as far as effects go. Every year more and more cool stuff comes out, and thanks to the Internet and social media more obscure and small-scale builds are now more accessible than ever before.

Now I got into the pedal game quite late (roughly 2016 and onwards). But when I first picked up the electric in the late 90's/early 00's nobody I knew really gave a hoot about pedals. Dirt boxes was something you bought because you couldn't afford a tube amp. You'd get a Wah because you'd heard Hendrix or a Boss something-or-other but that was about it. Cut to now and everyone and their mom has a pedal board the size of Texas.

So my question for you older.... ahem, I mean vintage chaps - were guitarists always this hung up on FX units and boxes? Did people fuzz over building that perfect collection back in the 80s and 90s as well or is it a byproduct of the age we're living in and technology making things more accessible?

It really is a Golden Age for gear.

But ironically (and very much so), the music biz is running on fumes, and Rock is a dying genre.

 

[jimilee]

I’m a guitar amp and pedal collector, but I do have a solid setup that I usually play. When I was gigging in bars I was playing pedals and went to a rack set up as did my brother. I always thought it sounded sterile. I think that, with the resurgence of records and the warmth they brought, so did they desire to go back to basics, if you will. That’s why I went back to pedals anyway.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mincer]

In the end it comes down to what you are saying. Only guitarists will criticize your gear, but if you are playing great music with great tone, a whole group of the guitarists who might have criticized you will now try to emulate you.

 

[Dave Locher]

I started playing in the the Akron/Kent/Cleveland area in the mid '80s, right after Devo and the Waitresses took off. There was a thriving club scene for original music. You could literally play out or see a band every night. Original music.
Nobody I knew in the '80s had more than a couple pedals and a lot of us used none, or one. Pedals were a thing for cover bands and cheesy rock dudes who thought silk shirts were cool. They were the same guys who would run a wireless unit and stand 4 feet from their amp on a 10x15 stage. Anyone with more than a couple pedals was considered lame or incompetent.
Goth? Delay, maybe chorus, maybe dirt pedal. Maybe no pedals at all.
New wave? Chorus, maybe delay, maybe dirt or compressor. Maybe none.
Punk? Plug straight in, or always-on dirt pedal.
Rockabilly? Delay pedal. Maybe.
Rock? Maybe a boost or overdrive for solos. Or not.
Seriously. I can't remember seeing more than 3 pedals in front of anyone back then, and that includes all the touring bands that passed through. The only exceptions were the cover bands, and we paid them no attention at all. They played different clubs for different people and lived in a different universe. None of us coveted pedals or collected them.

 

[Ascension]

We have always had pedals since I have been playing but it want;t like this. Now you see many spend mega bucks on gear then try and make their guitar sound like anything but a guitar with pedals. No where is it worse than in the modern worship scene where you have to have a board full of Stryman a Divided by 13 amp and a Duesenberg guitar or you just not "cool".
5 guitar tracks with horrible tone and super simple riffs with nasty tone like the repeating nasty jangling riff here.
https://youtu.be/lVL32yQywsA
Then guys like me who have decent tone and can really play get called in to play this mess like the record AUGG :banghead:!

 

[Mincer]

I don't mind the pedals that make a guitar sound like anything but a guitar. I do mind if you have nothing new or interesting to say with those.

 

[Aceman]

I started playing in the the Akron/Kent/Cleveland area in the mid '80s, right after Devo and the Waitresses took off. There was a thriving club scene for original music. You could literally play out or see a band every night. Original music.

Good times!

Nobody I knew in the '80s had more than a couple pedals and a lot of us used none, or one.

You didn't know me!

Pedals were a thing for cover bands and cheesy rock dudes who thought silk shirts were cool.

Yes, in a cover band. What else does one wear with Leather pants?

They were the same guys who would run a wireless unit and stand 4 feet from their amp on a 10x15 stage.

To be fair, a wireless reduces stage clutter and the risk of tripping on stages that have not gotten bigger...

Anyone with more than a couple pedals was considered lame or incompetent.

I prefer to be thought of as a painter with a large palette.


Goth? Delay, maybe chorus, maybe dirt pedal. Maybe no pedals at all. Goth was a thing in the 80's?
New wave? Chorus, maybe delay, maybe dirt or compressor. Maybe none. Pffft - Comp, Delay, Chorus or die!
Punk? Plug straight in, or always-on dirt pedal. That's about right
Rockabilly? Delay pedal. Maybe. Maybe? Where did the slap come from, your momma?
Rock? Maybe a boost or overdrive for solos. Or not. And a delay, or a Flange, or a Phase. But yeah...usually not all.


My other guitar player had like three pedals. An OD, a chorus, and switch for a rack delay.