Blindingly bright pedal LEDs

[AllFourths]

Am I missing something with why these blindingly bright pedal lights exist? Sure, there needs to be some indication of when the thing is on, but couldn't their brightness be tuned down by about twenty degrees. I have resorted to making light covers but gluing 8 layers of paper together and cutting them into little squares which I then tape onto the pedals. Super ugly and annoying, but otherwise I can't operate the damn things in low light conditions.

[Twocan]

I'm trying to read this post but I'm blinded by your pedal lights...

[skiptracer62]

The light helps for live settings. Under those stage lights the bright leds stand out. At a recent practice, my guitarist's fuzz factory was accidentally turned on and he didn't know it. He thought there was a failure somewhere on his board. His FF has a tiny green led so i think he'd appreciate a big bright led.

[bigsnaketex]

My Boss Rotary Ensemble (for leslie effects) flashes like the 4th of July in the French Quarter - but the swirling lights indicate the sounds I am producing and I find that it helps me adjust it just right to the drummer and rhythm guitar player - so I like it on that pedal. The other 12 I have on my pedal board just have a little red light on them to indicate on or off.

Which pedals do you have that are "flashing" you??

[Staredge]

MXR? My Bass Fuzz deluxe is a huge white led.

[erigod23]

I agree, those blue LEDs are obnoxiously bright!

[mjac28]

I agree with the OP one of my all time favorite pedals the Fuzzrocious BDPG has a white light that could guide a ship in. I wish there was an option for us home players that don't need the high intensity lights.

[AmpedSilence]

I feel my BDDI is too dim.

I have this problem with the desktop I built, it has an extremely bright power led, so I took some of the GF's nail polish and with a light coat on it, it helped.

[Mattbass97]

Mxr bass envelope has a insanely bright blue led and if I look at my settings while standing above it I can't see them haha but I do like really bright lights as its almost impossible to mistake any of the pedals for being on

[gmarcus]

Originally Posted by Staredge

MXR? My Bass Fuzz deluxe is a huge white led.

I had the same problem until I borrowed some fingernail polish from Mrs gmarcus and touched it up. Now it is a cool purple and just bright enough to see.

[Unrepresented]

They get me rev'ed up like a deuce.

Bright LEDs are annoying in low light conditions, agreed, but are very useful in higher light conditions like daytime shows outside.

When you go to hit that big opening C during that soft ballad midway through your set it's really reassuring to note that your face melting distortion is indeed turned off.

[superdick2112]

I like 'em bright for live use.
IMHO, what all pedals need is a 2 position indoor/outdoor LED dimming switch - problem solved.

[Swift713]

I put 4 layers of painters tape over the tempo light on a DD20

[bassgod0dmw]

I have put tape over mine a few times

[Caca de Kick]

Yes some have rediculously piercing bright LED's.
I use a black sharpie and color the light to desired brightness. The ink acutally works like wintow tint since it's not solid black.

[BrianCee]

I also had a prob with several of the notoriously bright MXR's killing my eyes.

As others previously stated, painters tape (many colors available, I used the blue - 1 layer). Problem solved for about $2...

[ThinCrappyTone]

I'm hoping my ear will get better as my sight diminishes

[NoxNoctus]

I use a tiny piece of gaffers tape. Doesn't cover the entire LED so its still bright, just not blinding if I look down at my board. Easy to remove if it's bright out

[66Atlas]

Sunglasses!

[NoxNoctus]

Originally Posted by 66Atlas

Sunglasses!

Buying sunglasses for each pedal might get costly.