Why are pedals generally looked down upon?

[Tawlks]

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.

I like this new guy.

 

[spawnofthesith]

I used to be of the opinion that non-fx type pedals (ie boosts, eq, so on and so forth) were of the devil. Then I actually started trying some of those things out and my mind was instantly changed, so I'm guessing thats why people look down on 'em, they haven't actually tried anything out.


That, or they had something like a boss metalzone or metalcore as a new player through their crappy SS combo, and that left a sour taste in their mouth, and that idea was just propagated by the self proclaimed tone gurus on the internet (it was a combo of those two for me )

 

[bigdaddyd]

Hi guys, I am new here but recognize a lot of you from various boards and have met a few of you from time. I have to ask, who exactly are these people that are putting down pedals? I don't know too many people that don't use any. All of my favorite music, whether it be Hendrix, Van Halen, STP, Kotzen, Extreme, Zep, Gov't Mule...was created with pedals. Even rack dudes integrate them as well. I have a ton of pedals, but I use them sparingly. As Austin Powers would say, they are my bag baby. I never really got along with rack stuff, although I dig that too...I just can't really figure rack gear out to well.

 

[JakeAC5253]

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.

This sparked an idea in my head, everyone back the fuck up. If you can listen to a tone and tell that there is a pedal being used it's bad tone. If you can listen to a tone with a pedal being used and not know it then it is good tone. But if a man speaks his mind and there isn't a woman to hear it, is he still wrong?

 

[some dude]

I have to ask, who exactly are these people that are putting down pedals?

Blooze dudes with built in overdrive, reverb and tremolo.

High gain rhythm players with built in distortion.

I'm sure there's others, but those are the two most common ones I see.

 

[oldmanmetal]

You guys tell TERRIBLE jokes. I like pedals for some things, racks for others, and straight amp tones. They all have their place. Not going to bring Death Metal amp for the blues gig, or visa versa. I love pedals, and use them for many things. I was not aware they were frowned upon.

 

[Digital Jams]

I do not think anyone here looks down on pedals, shit I AM 80s to the bone and own 15-20 pedals. Even the plexi palace which are THE snobs of marshall use dirt pedals.

 

[bigdaddyd]

I have to ask, who exactly are these people that are putting down pedals?

Blooze dudes with built in overdrive, reverb and tremolo.

High gain rhythm players with built in distortion.

I'm sure there's others, but those are the two most common ones I see.

This doesn't answer my question. Instead it is a vague grouping of people, most of which use pedals themselves....at least to some degree.

 

[some dude]

I have to ask, who exactly are these people that are putting down pedals?

Blooze dudes with built in overdrive, reverb and tremolo.

High gain rhythm players with built in distortion.

I'm sure there's others, but those are the two most common ones I see.

This doesn't answer my question. Instead it is a vague grouping of people, most of which use pedals themselves....at least to some degree.

Yes it does, you just don't like the answer.

 

[Shark Diver]

I had just recently read the, "a $4K amp shouldn't need a boost" idea:

"I hate an amp that needs a boost or OD always on to make it do what I want. A $100 pedal in front of a $4000 amp doesn't make much sense to me, and sounds like shit at the end of the day. Boosting leads and compressing the tone from time to time is fine."

"I would not use the word hate .... but feel the same. Phase (vibe) and wa is about the only pedals I use any more. For me if I need to boost I am using the wrong amp."

"The only reason I use a boost or an od or fuzz is to make ear splitting sounds that make sense to nobody."

Maybe out of context, maybe not.

 

[glpg8o]

because pedals use bipolar junction transistors in various configurations (common emitter, emitter follower, common base, etc) which have unity gain, but also a headroom that is X defined and cannot boost above this amount - meaning the input signals voltage levels are important to take note of. the configurations of the BJT's also alter the effects of the input and output impedances in a negative way as players see it as "feeling or umph". pedals normally do not have enough quality to buffer the signals without signal degeneration anyway and are normally in the same range as FM radio transmissions - 5khz-15khz.

its why CAE uses pedal loops and switches the loops the pedals are in so that your signal chain does not become degraded or weak when the pedal loops are turned off -regardless of the pedal being on or not.

racks have improved some of these points - but by no means is it a fix.

depends on the player, your pocket, and tone of choice.

 

[zuel69]

My cats breath smells like cat food.
Or just get a bb preamp.

because pedals use bipolar junction transistors in various configurations (common emitter, emitter follower, common base, etc) which have unity gain, but also a headroom that is X defined and cannot boost above this amount - meaning the input signals voltage levels are important to take note of. the configurations of the BJT's also alter the effects of the input and output impedances in a negative way as players see it as "feeling or umph". pedals normally do not have enough quality to buffer the signals without signal degeneration anyway and are normally in the same range as FM radio transmissions - 5khz-15khz.

its why CAE uses pedal loops and switches the loops the pedals are in so that your signal chain does not become degraded or weak when the pedal loops are turned off -regardless of the pedal being on or not.

racks have improved some of these points - but by no means is it a fix.

depends on the player, your pocket, and tone of choice.

 

[Random Hero]

Because people are stupid.

This.

 

[Ventura]

Interesting question... Been away for a couple days but this one caught my eye.

I can tell you why I think pedals are stupid... I think they're stupid because they typically make me bend down and constantly sit there spending precious "play time" while I try to tweak it to my liking. Nevertheless, that's ALL I hate about them - the benefits FAR outweigh this "minor inconvenience". Sure, it's great to be super simple and pure and just go direct to amp, in fact, that's how I typically practice. But when it comes to the textures, tones and styles I can drum up from just a few pedals - hell, I love 'em!! Regardless of the bending over - !!!

Some pedals are monsters - they require a lot of time and patience (ie Eventide's Factor series) and are super finicky when you start in on their learning curve. These are often dismissed as "horrible". Then there's the super simple ones - you step on them, something happens, and you step on them again, and they turn off - these range in price from minimal to ridiculous, and I've found that the more expensive they are, the more 'special uber guru magic' they seemingly possess

So it goes - they're a pain in the ass. But if you get the right mix of them, and learn each one of them independent of one another AND with the rest, you're set. But it takes time - and most of us aren't full time musicians making a living off of music - so this learning curve cuts into "precious play time" and the frustration level peaks and we instantly think "STOOPID PEDDLE!!!". One other thing - quality connectors are key in the image of pedals - if some cat comes to a gig with a board of 10+ pedals wired together with crap, the sound is typically CRAP and someone smart will say "dude, just can the board and go direct - we don't have time to screw with this' and as soon as he/she goes direct - VOILA!! - blanket lifted. But if one takes the time to use good quality cables, it makes all the difference...hence the reason some pro's have awesome sized boards in front of them, but their tone is wickedly good. They also know each pedal PERFECTLY well - inside and out...

Just my 2 cents. And ya, the spelling mistakes were intentional

V.

 

[Zachman]

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."

I find just the opposite to be true... Pedals are rather common-place and the standard used by the majority of players, compared to ex. rack gear users.

 

[joolzriff]

only by my own experience ,but the more nicer/expensive my amps got the more i found myself taking 1 pedal at a time out of my chain....chorus wasnt needed as the matchless sounded so nice period that the pedal was actually getting in the way for me....ect ect.......
when i got the SOLDANO my pedals went down one night for some unknown reason so in a pinch i plugged straight in and played 3/4 of the rest of the night like that and the direct signal was VERY noticeable to ME and was fun to play,infact much much nicer.....since that day i havnt used 1 pedal in my chain and dont regret the change.....actually i found that MY playing has improved from it,..concentrating totaly on playing rather than creating w/ pedals
Maybe in the future after my holiday from pedals i might start adding 1 or 2 for Ambience ect ect,MAYBE!