anyone else hate pedals?

  • Thread starter Thread starter CyanJaguar
  • Start date Start date
greenbaysucks said:
i also don't think it's fair to judge the necessity of pedals based on experience or playing ability. beginners, while obviously needing some form of know-how to play the thing (otherwise why would they buy pedals?), can develop their own style by merely including some form of effects from the beginning. they acquire knowledge of pedals from the get-go, and can therefore apply it much earlier and possibly more effectively than someone who spent 1-2 years with nothing more than a Squier beginners' pack.
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yeah, your right, i see your point
 
All this talk about pedals is enough to drive anyone nuts. There are so many different ones to choose from that a person could spend weeks in a shop just trying them, and still not find quite what they are looking for. As others have mentioned, " there are enhancers and there are disguisers," and you have to decide for yourself which, if either you want or need. Start with a good sounding guitar and amp, develope adequate playing skill, then decide what you need to expand your sound. Yes, I said "expand your sound," because that is the forgotten purpose of all pedals. Most pedals are designed to run through a clean amp, cranking up the overdrive on an amp then adding more distortion with a pedal ( in my opinion ) slurs the sound so badly that it sounds like crap. I'm not anti-pedal by any means, they have their uses and in the right combination, ie guitar>pedal(s)>amp, can expand and enhance your sound. And remember, no matter how much you like a certain effect... it wont work on every song you play.
 
All of this with gigging and recording bands:
I've played bass forever without effects
Played bass with effects (once I learned to DIY them and got sick of giving them all away)
play guitar now - 7-8 pedals 50% of them distortion types.

It just depends on the type of music you want to make. The "purist" - cable to awesome tube head, cranked - thing is great for straight rock, punk, etc. Less cranked, riding the vol. knob to "clean up" yeah - blues rock, great technique, fingery, solos etc.

There are places you can't go this way. You don't have to go there, but it isn't a better or worse scenario in my opinion.

As to recording - I always record my effects - plugins or outboard never sound rigt to me on guitar. Every track I cut I think about, and listen to, my sound and adjust to make it sound the way I want it to - there is enough to do in the mix without messing with guitar effects.
 
Plugins, Pedals and Recording Medium...........

Rokket said:
Eddie (we have the same first name, btw),
I use the plugins in my software more now. I got rid of all my pedals when I bought a digitech processor, then got rid of that because I was only using about 10% of its capabilities. I like things simple, so I don't use a lot of outboard effects now. Mostly just the amp's distortion. Reverb, wah, chorus, anything else I feel it needs are added in during mixing, and it's all software now. I won't down pedals, because I'm sure I would go back to them in a hearbeat if I was gigging again, and the all-in-one processors are too much to fiddle with to set up for a live gig, for me. Just right now, I am just doing home recording, and I don't have any use for pedals.

But I still love them for what they can do. I am of the same frame of mind as my last guitar hero, Randy Rhodes. He hated wireless systems and didn't like processors, so he had a specially made 50 foot guitar cable and his board right on stage with him. There was no guitar tech in the background stomping on his pedals, and no wireless system. He employed a noise gate and his pedal boards. That's the way I'd do it. But then again, if I gig, I prefer to play bass, and I don't use effects at all on my bass...
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Rokket or Eddie,

Yeah I can see your point with the simplicity issue of the plug-ins and getting rid of your pedals as you mainly do homerecording and not much gigging these days.

Great story about Rhandy Rhodes and him not liking the wireless systems.............I myself have never used them, cannot see the need for it for myself at the moment, but they have their own place if you like running around a big stage................

As far as my recordinghabits go I went all the way back to the past [well, not all that far but still...........] I though "Let me just get a 4-track tape machine and work with all the ins and outs of that method before I "progress" to digital machines and using a pc for recording. Along with the 4-tracks came more pedals as I thought I need to spice up my recordings with different sounds.

I am very aware of all the limitations this medium gives you, but it is great! I do record with effects, as my editing possibilities are not large. Really I have to know before I record anything how I would like the song to come out, now this can be a pain, but it does get you to focus on things, and so far I do like the results [pitty that I can not post music yet here on this forum, oh I know, I still live in the Stone Ages but heh.................I get by..........that is untill one of you starts pointing out what it is I am missing :D ]

Eddie :)
 
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