Why are pedals generally looked down upon?

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blackba

blackba

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I typically see alot of these comments and was just curious why stompboxes were in general looked down upon. Here are some of the comments I have seen over the years(not quoted word for word).

"I want to hear the tone of my amp without all those tone sucking pedals in the way"
"I don't want to hear some cheap stomp box, I want to hear my amp"
"Anyone who can't get a good sound by just plugging into their amp and cranking it, needs to quite playing. Pedals are just toys for girls."
"Gone is the art of riding the volume knob, now everyone has to have an attenuator or pedals."
"Gotta love to see a $300 amp with $10,000 worth of pedals."
 
Pedals are generally looked down upon because they are on the floor. Bwahahaha! I'm so damn funny...

I think we can blame the internet guitar forum hyperbole for that, tbh. I don't listen to all that, but then again I like my Krank and my Line6. :doh:
 
I think this is a rigtalk/HRI thing.

If you play anything from the 70's or 90's, you're using pedals. :thumbsup:


After 15 years of being a Rackie, I've added pedals to my arsenal. Nothing sounds like a Big Muff/ :rock: :rock:
 
guitarslinger":2n6i5rnn said:
After 15 years of being a Rackie, I've added pedals to my arsenal. Nothing sounds like a Big Muff/ :rock: :rock:
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Gene, I didn't know you are Iraqi! :lol: :LOL:

It would be SO easy to continue on with that same joke and bring in your comment that "Nothing sounds like a Big Muff" but, to ensure I do not upset anyone's delicate sensibilities, I shall refrain..... ;)
 
I think pedals got a bad rep in the late 80's as advanced rack gear started to become the rig to have? Some of the old pedals were poorly made, very noisy, and did bad things to your tone if they were off (tone suck), changed your tone, feel, etc. There may have been a backlash too, as it was only amps and pedals until the rack gear golden age, but I remember some noisy rack gear too.... Maybe many people have that experience, and some of the new mainstream pedals haven't improved much, and the boutique are not cheap either.

What I find interesting (funny) is that many of these original, old pedals (I had many I purchased new in the '70s from EH and MXR, still have them too) are sought after today. I only recently, within the last 2 years, got back into pedals...getting rid of my old rack gear, buying modelers and tube amps, then pedals...but my stompbox pedals are limited these days (I don't use my old pedals from the '70s), I'm using TC Electronic mfx pedals mostly, and having a blast FWIW, rack/studio quality with a great form factor...win/win for me. YMMV
 
Post subject: Why are pedals generally looked down upon?Posted: September 7th, 2010, 11:36 am
Becuase they are on the floor...HELLO!
 
King Crimson":27tfjdgf said:
Post subject: Why are pedals generally looked down upon?Posted: September 7th, 2010, 11:36 am
Becuase they are on the floor...HELLO!
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Too slow, junior.
 
I'm sure part of it is generational. I tend to see it more with overdrive/boosts than other effects, some people consider it a design flaw if you have to use one to get your sound.

"For the amount of $ this amp costs you shouldn't have to put a pedal in front of it to get your tone!" :lol: :LOL:

Being old school I don't embrace that argument but it is a valid one I suppose.
 
I don't know, but I use pedals to change my amps sound if I want.
When I use any pedal of effect, the reason I use it is to "change" the sound.
Both my main rigs have tons of color added if I want.
My basic live rig, I use a Whammy 2, EB Volume pedal, Wah, Phase 90, ISP Decimator going into a head.(G Force in the loop and out to a stereo power amp)
My rack system, I use a EB Volume pedal, a Whammy 2, Wah, and everything else is Eventide, TC, and a slider with pedals controlled by a GCX.
I personally like to add color to my sound with either pedals or rack gear.
99% of my recordings I go guitar-Decimator-head-cabinet.
Effects in the mix
 
But why is adding a boost or compressor or fuzz or EQ any different to modding your amp?

You have your amps tone, you do something to change the tone, your a happier player. :S
 
Code001":3gbub3w1 said:
Because people are stupid.
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Holy shit, i was going to say EXACTLY the same thing. :lol: :LOL: I swear i was.
 
jet66":76i5tcjy said:
Pedals are generally looked down upon because they are on the floor. Bwahahaha! I'm so damn funny...

:doh:
Click to expand...

:lol: :LOL:
 
Code001":1eskmrms said:
Because people are stupid.
Click to expand...

You know Tom, I agree with most of your posts, but this one......I REALLY agree with :lol: :LOL:
 
I use them to get tones the amp doesn't do. My Peavey Ultra has great cleans and a thick compressed gain. It doesn't really do open crunch like a Hiwatt, but I have a pedal that does. It doesn't do a high gain with terrific clarity, but I have a pedal that does.

That's all aside from the effects that my amp doesn't cover in any way. Vibe? Need a pedal. Delay? Pedal. Wah? Pedal.
 
1) When I was younger pedals generally sucked. Common pedals were Dunlop and Ibanez, both of which had bypasses that could really dull your tone. Boss was better, but once you stack a number of Boss pedals together similar shit would happen. Things have improved since then, but the attitudes haven't kept up with the technology.

2) A lot of guitarists misuse pedals. It's like you're listening to great tone and then the lead player steps on the suck box and drives a knife right through your ear drums.

3) A lot of guitarists overuse pedals. The classic example being every single solo being drenched in so much chorus and delay/reverb that you can't tell what he's playing.

I could come up with more... but I'm kind of un-motivated at the moment.
 
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