My dad brought a fuzz face home from the store when I was 15 or 16 (1969 or 1970-ish?). My buddies and I loved it for basement jams. When we got tired of practicing our three-song repertoire, we could adjust the gain to pick up the local AM radio station through my bass amp!
My favorite moment, of gear picking up a radio frequency, is Hendrix at The Isle of Wight. They’d been having issues with the PA system picking up the hand held radios, that people working the festival were using. During Machine Gun, Jimi is slowly building it up, just as an actual riot has started, with people pushing fences down, and storming in, while random Hell’s Angels members, we’re beating the crap out of people. Jimi’s team have already called the chopper, to have it ready to be there in minutes, because they thought the crowd might storm the stage. Then, suddenly one hears a guy yelling “security personnel, security personnel…” then it’s hard to hear the rest, as Jimi was so pissed by then, that he starts ripping into the guitar, and they eventually have Mitch do a drum solo, while Jimi makes sure it’s not his Fuzz Face, which they’d test before shows, to see if it was picking up radio signals. He’s told it’s the main PA, snd that a riot is happening, etc. So he tries to get people to chill for a bit, then he just plays his last song, and they run straight to the chopper, as reports of people being killed are coming in. The version, with the full drum solo, is great, but usually not a well mixed and mastered recording, on the bootlegs one can find it on. The edited version, which takes out the drum solo, and maybe a minute or so of the parts around it, was mixed by Eddie Kramer, and sounds excellent. I remember wondering, if Jimi told someone to get on a megaphone or something, and say the “security personnel, security personnel, we have a…” for the song, because it works so well within it. 😄
Music isn’t gymnastics. It isn’t about technique or gear. It’s about expressing yourself with your own unique voice. If that works straight into an amp for you, awesome! If someone uses five hundred pedals, awesome! If someone only plays acoustic, awesome! The only thing that matters is that the music is forging a connection between humans.
Exactamundo!!! I say a very similar version of this, all the time, when someone sees my board, and asks “why do you have so many pedals…” I’ve only had a few people, make a comment, after we’ve jammed, or after I play the gig, etc. It’s usually, “I can do most of what you did, with just my amp…” and occasionally, someone being sincere, saying I sound great, but I don’t need so many dirt and Fuzzy pedals. Which has been true, because I was still finding the tones, that inspire me to play songs I would never listen to, in a cover band, or just sitting in with a band. The folks who say they can do it with just their amp and a wah, I’ll show them that I have a phaser on, at all times, at a low depth and rate, just for a little movement, and then the delay and reverb I use the most. Then I turn on the Uni Vibe, and ask them to do that tone, with just their amp, and on and on. I try to be respectful, and not get into a dumb argument, so I usually just ask who their favorite player is, then I tell them the gear, that I know they use. So many will name Angus, yet he has a preamp built into his guitar, that is based on one in a wireless piece, from just before or during the Back in Black tour. Clapton gets named, and I go through some effects he used in Cream, and after. I mention how he put a treble bleed in his Strat, and how he does use pedals, including a delay. He was using Boss DD-2 and then the 3, when it was released, among others that he will try for different songs or shows. I ask what Gilmour would sound like, without a Fuzz, some type of boost, with a mid hump, compressors, eq pedals, buffers, his modulation pedals(which have been every basic mod effect, except maybe a Pitch Shifter) and his delays. I will even show them what it would sound like, by dialing in a good Gilmour tone, like Dark Side gigs, or just to play the main melody in Shine On… That one, not only shows how important, that the effects are, but also how one should really think of them as another instrument, or an extension of the guitar. That reverb and delay drenched, phaser and Leslie combination shows how he gets the tone. Then when one takes away, one effect after another, until it’s just the amp, or amp with its Reverb, they are left with playing that very easy melody, that just falls flat and dry, unless they crank the reverb, and then one loses the guitar and how each note is so clear. I’ve turned many a player, into someone who got them at least 4 or 5 pedals, if not the same person having a bigger board than me, when I see them a year later. 😆
@@steverolfeca The octave up pedals, that are done like an Octavia, don’t seem to work well with most acoustic pickups, I’ve tried. My best pal, who is the frontman, of the band we’re in, has used an acoustic for everything, through a cheap solid state Fender Stage 100, since 2009ish. I have the same amp, because it’s a great pedal platform, snd I used to bring it as a backup, because it’s only went out one time in the 14 years I’ve had it now. The transformer gave out, and it cost what the amp did, to replace it, but being barely $130, it’s not that hard a hit for an amp that is so durable and reliable. He was against pedals too, until I had to move away, for a few years, to take care of my father, who was losing the ability to get around, and my mom wasn’t able to do it all anymore, as she’s the same age. I left him with most of the pedals I bought, in order to see if I need a Klon type pedal, or a certain type of fuzz, a digital multi mod pedal and the Malekko 616, that I used with a DD-3, to get really trippy sounds, or just to have one darker delay, one pristine. I showed him how they work, and every way he could use it to do things not possible without one. He ended up buying a few other pedals, and now he’s found an even better sound, for how he wants his acoustic, with gain and distortion. He isn’t a lead player, so he used the effects to do things, when I’d normally be soloing, or doing a certain sound for the songs.
If you have 40 pedals, you've made more of a connection with Sweetwater, than humans. Humans just plug in and play with, wait for it, HUMANS. Consumers play at home, alone, with 40 pedals. None of my friends or family need pedals to connect and play music together. A consumer mindset is antithetical to human connection.
Before the pandemic, I was a plug straight into the amp kinda guy. Not because I disliked pedals, but because I just never thought about 'em. When I had all that extra time on my hands, I started experimenting with a few here and there until it became a quest to come up with sounds that enhanced my writing. The funny thing is, I've always been a big fan of a lot of bands that're considered Shoegaze and they've been a big influence on me. So, adding pedals was kinda the missing element. I still love ripping through songs by Motörhead, the Ramones, Black Sabbath or AC/DC. But it's also a blast playing U2, MBV, Swervedriver, the Church and Radiohead. Why limit yourself? Or at least, don't try to limit others. Good call, sir.
"When I had all that extra time on my hands" Correction, time and extra MONEY. Most people during COVID were trying to keep their jobs and homes, not buying overpriced pedals. Everyone had time, but only the most fortunate hade EXTRA money, instead of more debt.
I only used a Wah, that I could fit in the back of my amp, for many years, until I found used DD-3’s for $30-40 in 1998ish. It was just a couple years, after they first released the DD-3. I knew Dave Navarro had said he used a DD-2, when gigging, for awhile, then went to the DD-3, after it came out. It was small enough to fit in the back to, but I eventually got a gig bag. I’d tried many a Fuzz Face, in the years, after I first started playing, but I never knew why I had trouble with them. I found, that it was because of how many I was trying, that were germanium vs Silicon. I had a cool guy, who owned a half pawn shop, half guitar shop, who knew my family, and would let me bring some gear home, to try it out, and it helped him not have to do it to make sure it worked properly. Yet, he had several Germsnium Fuzz Faces, that had no bias pot, so when they weren’t the right temperature, it sounded terrible. Sometimes it seemed like it just didn’t matter if the pedal was hot or cold. Eventually I got to play some very nice, snd some real garbage vintage pedals, that he acquired. 5 or 6 Uni Vibes from 68’ and 69’, and about 20 Fuzz Faces, ranging from one that looked like it had just been made, dated to 1967, to ones that looked so dirty and dented, that it felt weird, plugging in my guitar. 😄 It was the ugliest one he had, that was a BC108 silicon, that was dated to have been made in 1968. It was like a different pedal, compared to all the Germanium ones if used. The myth of the best components, snd the perfect transistors, had become a thing, and folks were looking for the ones from 1966 or 67’, even though Jimi likely didn’t have a Fuzz Face to use on any track on Are You Experinced?; so they could take the transistors out and make a better Fuzz. Analogman benifitted most from this, as he saw how hyped people get over using gear that their heroes did, and he made them with the best components he could get. All those Uni Vibes had slight differences in how deep the throb was, and how much range the speed control had. Some were garbage, but three of them are the times in my head, that I still judge my reaction to hearing a Uni Vibe by. Once I got a BC108 Fuzz Face, I used it for everything, until the value went up drastically, when I was in a bad situation, and I sold it for a lot. I got the Dunlop JHF1, when it was released around 2008ish. Still have it, snd several others, that work much better with other pedals, but the volume knob cleanup, on the Dunlop BC108, is my favorite clean tone. So, I still have it, and use it sometimes.
Nice topic! Both are equally valid. I do think some people take topics way too seriously. People need to realize it’s okay to have fun with guitar, and fun with pedals!
I like making musical textures with my guitar, and I use effects, lots of effects. One chord a bar is all that is often needed, it's all about the song
There’s a local musician to me that uses 4 big pedal boards, 3 different amps and last show I went to had 6 different guitars for just him. He’s a great musician but all that extra work on a show that maybe 3 ppl in the bar were actually watching what the band was doing made me wonder if it was worth it for a bar gig.
I've noticed these last few years there seems to be a trend towards 'I'm offended by . . . ' as if that's the end of the discussion (remember when people discussed stuff?). I think it's pervasive across all sorts of things - a bit sad really , , , well the 'offended ones' are sad, anyway 😅 Each to his own!
Whilst im not a huge U2 fan, what people miss often is the influence he had on the sound of guitar on pop records from the 80s onwards. Especially with the session players. Tim Pierce talks a lot about this
I know guitarists who are just like this...funny thing is, most of their heroes DO USE pedals. And even if they don't, Hendrix, Jeff Beck, EVH and countless others use pedals, are u really saying that those guitar icons are below you? Pffft...get real. 🤦🏽♂️
The Edge is the player that got me into guitar when I was 16. I'm 53 now. Having said that, I've been through many obsessions over that time. Pop, rock, blues (lots of blues), jazz, etc...But my real passion was in recording and producing music. I don't even consider myself a guitar player anymore. I think of myself as a music maker. If you're a shredder....great. If you're into atmospherics (pedals galore) then great. But for me it comes down to how does all of this serve the song. That's it.
I 100% agree with everything you said here. I have massive respect for players who can get a great tone by running straight into the amp, but I also have massive respect for players who can use pedals creatively to make really musical moments. I do also understand the criticism of some about those who use effects to hide behind because, as a guitarist, it can be pretty obvious what is happening. That being said, I always recommend to my students, but put into my own personal practice as well, the idea of learning all parts completely clean before adding any effects. Thank you for the video. It was great!
I was really into pedals for a long time. I had a pretty big board. But then I started to move on and get into amps instead. At the same time, my pedals started to break and fail. As I further realized the power of amps and speakers and saw my pedals become points of failure, the pedals started to look unnecessary and toylike. Additionally, as I played with a band more I found that most pedals did not make my guitar sound more audible but rather the opposite in many cases. I found that the fewer I used the more clear and distinct the guitar became. I wouldn't say I'm anti pedal now but I do hold them to a different standard now. They are not just many different paints and colors at my disposal. They have to have a clear practical purpose in songs and actually make the guitar sound better in a band. If not they're out. It took my board down from 14 to 4.
I think for many folks it is just that they dont need many of them. I always had classic amps (at least thats what they callem now) when we played back in the 70s and early 80s. Had reverb on the amp (depending) , natural gain settings in the amp and maybe back then a wah depending on your set. Felt obligated to try more and set up a board, but for me it was just something else to go wrong, consume my time, add noise or have a dead battery etc. Some of the little cover bands playing around here will have a gutar player with maybe 8 to 10 pedals in their chain. Inevitably they stomp on the wrong one, or have it set wrong in the middle of song, immediately drop to their knees and start fiddling about w/knowbs or patch cables etc...sometimes while the band plays on. Everything is very different for the office studio though and with DAW and plugins for recording. It's like having the biggest crayon box in the class!
If all you play is one genre or style that may work, then again maybe not. ACDC tribute band, yeah one sound will work. Playing covers from 50s to today, one sound isn't gonna work, and it will take away from the songs not having appropriate tones.
@@salg1386 Well it is not just one sound. We played a broad spectrum in those days from flletwood mac, southern rock (skynard , allman bros etc.) to Roy Obison, Beatles, Aerosmith, Eagles and on. All sounded good enough to make $$. Only a few bands I know can get by with one sound. I had many pedals over the decades, but rarely used them live, a wah and a fuzzface at times (I remember using it on Revolution by the Beatles for instance) A lot of players just never indulged in pedal board idea with a dozen patch cables and a lot of effects. Back then, if you played with a long signal chain you would be amplifying the buzz and 60 cycle hum of all the flourecent lights in the bar! The pedals were a great antenna for interference. Also, the guitar was just part of the sound for most of the money making gigs, not always the center of attention. Dancers and drinkers are not going to notice and the venues sound like crap. Live is just another world apart from recording.
@@6stringcodger450I think some people take for granted that its possible for even smaller local level bands to get record quality production values at there live gigs these days. I was looking at reviews for the Strymon Decco recently and was amazed that you could sound like an authentic 70s record just live in the room without having to lug a big analogue desk and reel to reel tape machines etc. is truly a great age we live in, ironically where i live there has never been less live music available in The local scene. Go figure?
Eddie Van Halen’s subtle use of a phaser and flanger on VH1 added movement and colour which benefited the songs. His revolutionary technique wasn’t pedal dependent - he knew what was needed and when … the ‘less is more’ thing 👍
The Edge is a sonic pioneer. His use of effects enhaces U2's songs. He makes it sound like. there are 2 or 3 of him. He never lets the songs get lost in the noise.
This is the equivalent of criticising a painter for using Acrylic instead of Watercolours. Or drawing with sharpies. Pastel colours are nice, but sometimes you need a bit of neon or metallic to express the sound to convey the thought or emotion inside your head. Or maybe you just want to Jackson Pollock sound from a great height. Art should have no boundary. The more variety in our tones allows us to say more than just Happy, Sad, and Angry.
Use whatever tools are available to you to create your own sound. It's boring when everyone sounds the same. Bands which I like which demonstrate creative use of effects are. QOTSA, RATM. A Perfect Circle, Incubus.
I’m sure if Hendrix was still around he’d be creating some mind blowing reverse delay, double octave, stereo panning synthesiser craziness on a Helix plugged into Quad Cortex. Do whatever makes you happy whatever skill level you are.
I have little to add to what you said because you covered it well. The only thing i would say is, try not to be THAT GUY who is constantly fidgeting with your gear whether at rehearsals or gigs. It drives people nuts! By fidgeting I mean trying to find a sound you like and never finding it.
I recently posted a photo of my new amp on a FB page and included my pedals in the photo. I thought being that it was a Fender amplifier fan page that I would share my excitement with people on the page. It was amazing how much negativity I got from people just because I have pedals, or as some people called them “talent boosters.” People would say, you don’t need pedals, just crank the amp. I don’t understand why people can’t see that you can enjoy using pedals sometimes and cranking the amp other times. I think having more than one option when it comes to tone makes playing the guitar more fun.
Facebook groups are tough. For every good person looking to share in common interests, it seems like there are 10 who just want to act superior to everyone else for whatever they think is best. From their parents basement.
My home practice setup is quite elaborate, more so than I would like it to be, but I’m kind of an obsessive tone freak, and running small practice amps in an apartment usually means sacrificing a full, rich, big tone. The kind of tones like you would have you were playing somewhere where you could just plug straight into something like a Twin Reverb or a Marshall pushed to their sweet spot. So I use pedals and other stuff to get those kinds of tones from a small apartment friendly setup. My main home amp, is an old 25 watt solid state fender combo with a 10” speaker. On its own it’s “okay”. But it’s small sounding, with that typical boxy midrange of a small combo. So (for my basic foundation amp tone), I run into a multi effects pedal for EQ and/or compression (and some modulation fx), then into Fender-voiced preamp pedal, then into another of the same multi effects pedal for added post-gain EQ capability (and different modulation fx), then into an old Tascam 4 track (that I mainly use to split the signal to two amps, but it also colours the tone a bit like the preamp pedal does), then into both the guitar amp *and* a 25 watt Ampeg bass amp (because the Fender lacks bass at apartment volumes). This isn’t set up for a stereo setup - both amps are side by side as if they are one full frequency amp. This is just for the basic foundation sound - there are of course also delay and fuzz in the chain (and overdrives, but the overdrives are just there after the fuzz to smooth it out - I never use them on their own). With this smallish but elaborate setup, I can get a full, rich, larger-than-it-looks sound, at literally conversation volume. I can do a good emulation of Fender Blackface, Brownface and Tweed Deluxe, as well as half decent Hendrix Marshall sounds. One plus is that it’s all analog amp tones. I tried messing around with digital amp models for a while, but it just resulted in me tweaking settings more than playing, and the analog “modelled” tones I created actually sound better. Btw, I do have a number of vintage tube amps, including a 1966 Princeton, all of which would sound great for guitar-straight-into-amp sounds, except that they all now need proper maintenance, and it would be just to damned expensive to fix them all now that I’m retired.
Nice topic. Many ways of enjoying tone, and endless discussions. I'd say let it be, let people make music in a way they like to express themselves. With or without pedals. And don't pay too much attention to the online corksniffers who probably never play live with a band. Do your thing and enjoy it. I play different amps and different guitars, sometimes with just a few good pedals, sometimes with lots of em. Gainstacking is fun, and no guitar straight into an amp can provide that versatility..
I am not against using pedals. I buy one with high hopes and try it at various settings don’t like what I hear and go back straight into the amp. I have an RC Booster, Nobels ODR1, Boss 7- band equalizer and tuner The tuner is the only 1 that gets used. I wonder if they just don’t go well with the music I play. Mostly Chet Atkins style fingerpicking and hymns played in that style.
I don't use any pedals now, but I have in the past and might go back to them in the future. Robben Ford would be one of my favourite effects using guitarists.
I don't know anything about anger or hatred. I know that I personally don't use a lot. One overdrive, sometimes, Chorus sometimes. Uh....tuner? Verb if the amp doesn't have it so - super rarely. I really enjoy using the amp and the sounds that tubes make. I'm not huge on pedals. But - other people are, that's fine.
I love going straight Into the amp! But I also love pedals. Some of my favorite players go straight in or use only a couple of pedals like Julian lage, Rory Gallagher, Derek Trucks etc, but I also love players who use lots of pedals like David gilmour, John frusciante, and Mike Enzinger. The bottom line, people should experiment and find what helps them express themselves best, helps them be creative, and keeps them playing!
Love your channel Jack... thank you for the great content. My question is, is this still a thing? In the age of modelers with every effect and amp literally at your feet, can anyone legitimately still cry about using pedals? It really seems like an antiquated way of thinking IMHO. Also, most situations do not allow you to crank up a tube amp to the level needed to get it to react the way you need it to. The only way to for most players to get something approximating a cranked amplifier is to use some outboard signal processing.
This! I play in a cover band, and we play a range of music that requires many different tones and sounds. One thing I really don't like is seeing a cover band and they use the same sound for every song, like playing Aretha Franklin and Journey with the same tone, ugh
Honestly, it's whatever gets you to pick up and play. I myself love pedals, but I also adore a plug-in and play setup just as much as I do a pedal platform.
I’m pedal curious. So far it’s like salt in a recipe, can’t use too much, but a Goldilocks portion is quite tasty. I mostly play classicals and acoustics. Love ‘em. Marvelous tone. Once I pick up something with a pickup, I want to do something altogether different. Why not?
The journey of playing electric guitar for many starts with chasing gain and sustain on top of reverb/delay. As they become more proficient, they start to play with cleaner tones. Then they turn a corner and start using effects to enhance elements of the song and not their playing.
I can tell when players lean to hard on their pedals. Often times, the problem is they overdo distortion/gain. Most often they simply need to turn the amp up and use an overdrive if needed to get the sound they're after. It takes a long time to figure out how all the effects work with the amp and guitar.
I can get by with a tuner, an overdrive and a clean boost velcro'd to a little home made board and all running on batteries so there's less stuff to trip over. Great topic!
Personally, I am of the school of thought that if it works for you, use it. However, one should take care to not becoming over dependant/reliant on one's gear. Secondly, I believe that in many cases, less is actually more, but only to a point...
Even if you are getting all your dirt through the amp you still need a delay pedal if you’re playing lead. I get not wanting to use a pedal for dirt but I didn’t realize people were against all pedals.
I love my pedals. I've got more than 20 and I use them all for individual things. A lot of great players use many different pedals. Pedals are for having different colors for your songs, just like a painter uses different colors for a picture. Overused, yeah, they can be annoying. Used right, they can make a boring song exciting. The naysayers probably wouldn't tell David Gilmour or Eddie Van Halen they shouldn't use effects. To each his own but don't slam players for expanding their sound. Pedals Rock!
Correct! The anti-pedal people I find to be unable to figure out to use the pedals properly, or only know how to play one thing so they only need one sound or are stuck in a pseudo-superiority mindset like the dbags on TGP
I've used a few pedals over the years but never a whole board full of them. These days i prefer to play without them but i certainly don't hate them. There is, though, a certain pleasure to be had from plugging straight into an amp with a single curly lead and seeing what delicious sounds you can make 🙂
Yeah i don't get it either. I've had players tell me that playing without pedals is "more honest". If you drill down into the logic of that claim, it falls apart pretty quickly. I agree with everything you said, Jack. 100%. Well put. My favourite players who make great use of effects are: Hendrix Gilmour Kevin Shields Billy Corgan Neil Young J. Mascis John Squire Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo (Sonic Youth)
I *personally* prefer distortion from a real tube amp, not a pedal. That's the tone *I* like, when trying to play distorted. Some people want more distortion at a lower volume than what you can get with only a tube amp. And some musical styles require that. That's fine. If I ever choose to play that music, I'd use a distortion pedal. For day-to-day playing, I choose not to. And there's plenty of effects, like delay, reverb, chorus, phaser, etc. that you just can't get without a pedal. And those effects can absolutely be amazing when used in the right context. Effects pedals are tools. Like any tool it has its time and place where it is most useful. Hating all pedals is ridiculous. You're shutting out tools that could potentially increase your creativity. Never know what you can do with them until you try.
Each to his own . . . I have spent the last 50 years in recording studios starting with 8 Track all the way thru to the latest Pro Tools rigs and all along the way we have made the most of whatever rack gear is on hand. The Beatles pushed basic stuff to the limit in the '60s with George Martin, Geoff Emerick, Glynn Johns and after that it never stopped. A lot of that hardware is still used today (especially analog rackmounts, I own a few bits and pieces) and you can find pretty well all of it in software packages - there are hundreds. To me pedals are more or less an extension of what we use in the studio designed for stage use. AND they are great for crafting the right sound for the right track and recording that in the studio as well. I really don't see a problem here - if going straight in with a maybe a touch of spring reverb on the amp works, why not? If you want to stack an OD, Compressor, Chorus, Delay, Reverb etc - also good. Edge, Johnny Marr and a few others are an inspiration for me sonically and musically, as it happens but early Peter Green, our George, Clapton & Page started the ball rolling for me with or without pedals.
Which way is the BEST? Whichever way the individual person thinks it is for him/her self. It's only becomes an issue, when we try to think our way is the ONLY way it should be done. And everyone should be that way too. I tend to be both ways. Yes, I play through my original 65 Super Reverb with no "outside" effects. Because this amp playing clean tones doesn't NEED any pedals helps. I have around 7 pedals, but I generally will only use 2 or 3 pedals at any given time. I will generally use use my Boss DS-1 Distortion, Vox Wah and then either a Flanger, Echoplex Delay or DOD Echo FX. I don't use lots of pedals because I play older mid 60's style of blues, like the Yardbirds. And I "try" to KISS = Keep It Simple Stupid ( and that a perfect description of me 😆) . So, I definitely agree with what you say. We really shouldn't "hate" anyone because they are doing what they themself feel is right for them. Thanks again Jeff!
I don't really get along with pedals. Over my 20 years of playing I've used several boutique, dirt cheap, and everything in between. I occasionally use a compression pedal. I often use a tuning pedal but that one doesn't really count. I recently got an EQ pedal that only gets some use. Other than that I like my amp sounds better. Effects pedals often just sound fake and plastic to me. There are some wild pedals out there that I'd like to get my hands on but they often fall to the back of my want list.
It's a common theme, amongst those of us with meager talent (including myself), there' s a big temptation to make yourself feel better by dragging others down. It's an ugly thing and I do my best to avoid it. I'll make a couple points about "pedal attitude" 1) Sure, ya just plug it into your amp. But what's the amp got? Adjustable gain, tone controls, reverb, tremolo. It's not like the sound is totally "clean". 2) When the guitarist is immensely talented, you could say he doesn't need much more than his amp. But immensely talented guitarists are out there making a living at it, NOT kavethinc around RU-vid videos! I'm thinking of people like the late Mike Bloomfield. Then there are very talented musicians like Andy Summers from the Police. With his effects, he made such a huge sound you could forget that only one guitar was playing! There's no reason to diss him over the effects. He used that in service to the music. Let me tell a story about a concert I was at, about 20 years ago. It was John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and an opening act. I had recently gotten into electric guitar, after having played acoustics since I was a teenager. I had two guitars and a handful of effects. i was starting to have fun with the cool sounds I could make. The opening act had a guitarist that I liked. I could see his feet switching pedals on and off and I could make out what kind of pedals he was using. As I heard it I thought "hey, I could probably do that!" and it was enjoyable. Then Mayall's band came out with Buddy Whittington who is a fabulous player. With a beat up Strat that had a big ole patch of bare wood where his sweaty arm hung over it. Once he started playing, things changed right away. He had no pedals at all, just a Dr. Z amp. As he played, all I could think of was "omigod, I'll never be able to do what he's doing!". That is still true. In genres like blues, sheer talent can get you most of the way there without many extras. In others, effects can be a big part of the whole experience. Lately, I think too much attention has been placed on very expensive boutique pedals with fancy artwork. But yea, I love me some pedals and I'm always glad to hear about new ones.
If headroom is your drug of choice than pedals are definitely dangerous. It takes a lot of work to integrate them tastefully. From your hands to your ears there waits a slew of circuits, both a minefield and a candy store. I relish the challenge.
I'm a pedal user but not a fan of the Edge's playing at all. Andy Summers of the Police turned my head to how lush pedals can sound. I played U2 songs in cover bands and honestly, found them boring to play...I called them the "digga digga" band with that echo style they used. To each their own, but it wasn't my thing. I have lost any interest in wah wah and have less and less interest in chorus effects but man I love some tremelo and reverb as well as a boost pedal and EQ pedal.....I can get by with 5 pedals but have a much larger collection of the things.
I’ve done both for long stretches. I will say that the better the amp, the less pedals you need. What would Jimi be using if he were here? Probably a Quad Cortex or something similar possibly? Maybe he’d be happy with the modern gain we have today and would plug straight in. I dunno👋😜🎸👌
When I use pedals, it's only a few at a time, but I own lots of them, on three narrow 5' shelves. I built a 10-pedal board but currently there is nothing on it. Pedals are what I'd buy if I didn't have enough money to buy another guitar. U2 without The Edge is Bono reciting political poetry in a coffee house 😁
I hate pedals because I don't think there's any tone that sounds better than a guitar plugged directly into an amp but if other people want to use pedals that doesn't bother me
I know exactly how to use pedals. The correct way to use pedals is to not use then because the sound of a good guitar straight into a good amp can't be improved on.
I have no problem with pedals. I feel some guys use too many. It is an individual cholice. It is all about tone. Get the tone and go with it. The pedlas I dont like are voice pedals....bad singers hide behind them...
There’s also been a trend of channels, that are making videos, criticizing people who do demos of gear, and especially pedals. They totally miss the point, of a demo. If the person shows what the pedal does, anyone with any experience with effects at all, will know that any pedal can sound very different, depending on the guitar, amp or DI/Cab Sim, as well as other effects. So, this idea that the demoer, who doesn’t get into whether one should or shouldn’t buy the gear, being dishonest or someone shilling for these companies, etc. is just dumb. Any person that recommends crap, other audience, will eventually lose a portion of that audience. I have crap pedals from China, right there with my KingTone Uni Vibe, which is my most expensive one(that I keep on a gigging board).
Music. Is. Not. A. Sport! And here a spicy take: I’ve never heard good original music from anyone who acts like playing guitar IS a sport - even if they can “shred” Also - for the record: Amplifiers and speakers modify tone too! (With natural compression, EQ, and distortion). Purists that insist otherwise should use a DI box into a PA and tell us how good that sounds.
I hate pedals. My Katana replicates most of them good enough for my beginner ears, so why pay nearly as much as the pedal as for the amp? Seems most decent valve amps can create 80% of required noise anyway. Good enough for the Beatles?
And those TGPDB "straight into amp" do gigs with one sound all night, like one I saw play Wicked Game then Night Ranger with the same sound. It sucked, but the TGPDB (The Gear Page Douche Bag) thought he was the greatest thing
Even 1 pedal in your chain changes the sound even when it's turned off. Buffers don't give you back what you lost. I like using a couple of pedals but hate losing the rawness of guitar straight into an amp.
It is kind of annoying it seems like there’s this aspiration of guitarists to simply be pedal demo’ers rather than trying to stand out as artists- their video format is deceptive in a way as well. it’s like here check out my original work in the context of hearing what this pedal does- rather than promoting their original work as their art their voice it’s simply a medium to showcase a pedal…..
Guitar players can be some of the most un-artistic and closed minded people in a supposedly creative field Imagine painters fixatting on what specific brushes and brands that other painters use to express themselves lol This is because for the majority it is really just gear focused Or if you happen to make the bad mistake of reading photography forums- 99.9% of all the posts are about gear and technicalities and rarely about actual photographs- it’s easier and more accessible to focus on gear than it is art in general
This is just life. Dems vs republican, Christian vs vmuslims, harley vs crotch rockets, musket enthusiasts vs AR crowd etc. I think I'll be a nitro snob "ewww how can you play poly guitar it needs to breath man." Why don't you just flip the script and start you own snarky movement about the direct guitar/amp people "if your going direct to amp why not just eliminate the amp and go acoustic, you old washed up has been."
Pedals are not instrument accessories anymore. They are a huge business. As of January this year there are more brands than all the pedal models we had in the 2010s. It's sickening and musicians aren't buying pedals anymore because they need them they buy them because they're addicted to buying pedals, it's sad.
Gee, maybe hate for these high profit margin pedals, with less tech than your TV remote, comes from RU-vidrs shoving a new one down their throat every video. "Best OD ever?"/"You gotta try this"/"Game changer" videos are disgusting, and insulting to anyone who's not a mindless consumer/small child. Maybe people who think an OD pedal, with $7 worth of parts, shouldn't be $300, when good tube amps are $600. Maybe, you need to promote pedals to keep your sponsors happy, and you in their money. Oh ya, that's the one.
Because to many who Lord and Savior happens to be Eddie Van Halen said many times that he doesn't like pedals yet almost every song from Eddie Van Halen has some form of effect pedal but it was a sarcastic remark from him when someone asked him in an interview about what he thought about Jimi Hendrix and his answer was I don't like a lot of pedals and people took that to heart. Instead of people actually thinking that when Jimi Hendrix was alive, there wasn't that many pedals but then again in that same article some numbnut actually said Eddie Van Halen invented the dive bombs. Did this moron ever listen to the Star Spangled Banner from Woodstock? It's just guitar players if they want to be Eddie Van Halen or Jimi Hendrix or Jeff Beck or any of the greats, like Jimi Hendrix said in an interview when he was asked how he feels about being called the greatest guitarist and he said I don't know about that but I'm probably the greatest guitar sitting in this seat and he meant the seat he was sitting in. Guitar players should focus on themselves becoming the best they can be because that's what the heroes that they all worship did. so if you want to use a freaking pedal use it and stop listening to what your heroes are saying and become a hero yourself because all these guys if you read up on them all decided not to listen to what people are saying and listen to what is inside of their heads. And by the way Jimi Hendrix is my favorite guitar player followed by Eddie Van Halen and Jeff Beck is in there with Jimmy Page and a few others and I think every one of those guys relied on a lot of pedals Even though Jimi Hendrix didn't have that much and in fairness same with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page and even Eddie Van Halen. These guys relied on what they wanted not what people were telling them or what was the next wow thing! Great video dude!
I agree about them possibly being a crutch, but I think learning how to play pedals is a skill in and of itself that can lead to a lot of musical creativity
@@Amish_Trivedi heavy delays, excessive reverbs, etc. Play one note per bar and fill lots of sound space. Nothing against pedals at all. But please learn to play, make phrasing, and vibe with parts first
@@jameshughes9706 That's fair- I guess I just don't feel like using all those things gets in the way of "playing." Plenty of great players bury their sound in some ways.
My main annoyance is all the pedals in gear demos. Here's Gregory Kochery with a $3,000 amp and a $10,000 guitar going into some shitty preamp pedal for a garbage gain sound. Just fucking distort the amp.
