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Do you avoid buying the usual suspects when you buy pedals?

Why don't you use the "Usual Suspect" Pedals?

  • Almost everything mass produced generally sucks

    Votes: 4 5.3%

  • Boutique Pedals generally sound way better

    Votes: 14 18.7%

  • I have constant GAS and have to find that sound in my head

    Votes: 28 37.3%

  • I want to support smaller businesses and TBers

    Votes: 15 20.0%

  • Boutique pedals generally look damned cool

    Votes: 3 4.0%

  • I wanna be different!

    Votes: 11 14.7%
  • Total voters
    75
  • Poll closed .
#21
As a matter of affordability I have the usual TC electronic/EHX suspects on my board

Got a small sound/bigsound mini over xmas :cool: and apart from anything it just looks so good and quality's on another level (I know the guys a TB'er so massive thanks if you catch this)

Now I'm constantly GAS-ing for something like it even if (shallow-ish-ly) based almost purely on looks, anyhoo my 2 cents, clearly one other person is in the 'looks damn cool boat' at least.....:bassist:
 
#22
That's a funny one.

5-6 months ago, before finding these forums I would have been happy with a board that looked something like this:

Link Removed

At the time I had an oc-3 and a tu-3 .. was only missing - one - pedal to "fill the board!".

Then something terrible happened. I wanted a "real" pedal, wanted something cool like a q-tron but got a DBBM and was all confused, that sucker could not possibly fit in my oh so awesome would be boss case!! So I said the hell with that punny thing! I'm building myself a pedalboard! I tried a bit of research and I asked for help here The very first answer my cries for help was.. Look into Darkglass (some of you guys are evil). I did, and I was screwed that was the end of it.

Long story short, the muff got replaced by a duality, I swapped the oc-3 for an Octamizer and remember that -1- missing pedal? I could have easily been an odb-3, but no.. it's a B7K. Never got the q-tron either.. ended up with a proton.

Why? simply because now I know about these and I love'em! I don't avoid usual suspects, I compare them with others.. and they lose :D
 
#24
I have about 1/3 vintage, 1/3 mass market, and 1/3 "boutique" pedals.

My fav just happens to be vintage
I think that vintage pedals are usually just a bit quirkier and cooler! They aren't reliable, they're hard to find, and sometimes annoying to power, but it's hard to beat the possibilities of crazy sounds from 70's and 80's Russian and Japanese technology!

Turns out, some companies like TC Electronic and MXR make some amazing pedals, so I ain't ashamed to use em!! (Never once have I had a good experience with Tech21 or ElectroHarmonix though. Not yet, anyway)

I've been let down by many boutique pedals, but I'm a total believer in a few boutique pedals!

What this all comes down to is how good each and every particular pedal is, and that's not always directly proportional to who makes it/ where it's made/ how much it costs.
 
#25
After years of toying with effects I know pretty much exactly what I want these days, so there's not a lot of guesswork. I'm not like a guitar tonehead where I'll try a hundred different overdrives looking for 'THE TONE', I don't play rock music so I don't have that thing going on at all. And I'm happy to use mass-produced kit if it will do the job. Equally I'm happy to commission a pedal from a bespoke builder if nothing on the market does what I want.

I will still buy stuff out of curiosity sometimes though, just because I think it's weird and neat. Sometimes they turn out to be mega useful.
 
#27
A combination of supporting small builders, better quality construction, better CC, the fact that they look damn cool, and the main reason - small builders make pedals with sounds that sound better, produce "my" sound, and/or produce sounds you can't find on effects made by the big name companies.

Example: if the EHX muffs were all they're cracked up to be there wouldn't need to be countless clones or derivatives made by virtually everyone else. Wren & Cuff, Fuzzrocious, Fuzzhugger, EQD, and a slew of others make Muff clones or derivatives that sound better and are built tougher than EHX's "true" muffs and do so with better customer service and, at times, cheaper or equal prices.

tl;dr - smaller builders just build better stuff.

*edit*
I voted for "almost everything mass-produced sucks." I'll be at the nearest coffee shop listening to obscure minimalist bands you haven't heard of until I name one you have, only to say that they're too mainstream now and suck. Where are my sister's jeans....
 
#29
Virtually all of my pedals are of the mass produced variety...It's not that I don't want boutique pedals, but sometimes I have a hard time justifying the price tag. :eek:

Don't get me wrong, I believe some or most of those pedals truly are worth the asking price, it's just sometimes hard to swallow.

That being said, all of the pedals I currently have (mostly MXR) suit my needs perfectly, but I do intend to add a few nicer pedals this year, some will replace some existing pedals, and some will be additions...gotta start watching the classifieds a little closer. :)
 
#30
I usually try to use what I think sounds like what I want. That has caused my board to be a mixture of "boutique" & "standard". Got some MXR, Dunlop, & Tech 21 mixed in with some Smallsound/Bigsound, 3 Leaf Audio, & FEA Labs. Everything on my board is cool to me, but I'm sure my GAS will cause a few changes in the coming year...:bassist:

I will always try to support the manufacturers that support TB...
 
#32
At one time it was actually my goal to assemble a usable effects board out of readily available mass market pedals....My fundamental reason for this was simple.....If i'm out on tour and something dies on me...i wanted to be able to walk into to just about any music store in the world, and be able to quickly replace it!!

But after actually doing this...I discovered that certain elements on my board just didn't quite perform the way i wanted them to, and at that point I had no choice but to look to boutique builders for what i wanted...or have my mass produced pedal modified to meet my personal specifications

there is nothing inherently wrong with mass produced pedals...but the companies that make them are trying to appeal to the broadest common denominator and not to the individual...

currently my board is about half and half...with dirt pedals accounting for most of my boutique purchases...
 
#33
Snakeman1066 said:
At one time it was actually my goal to assemble a usable effects board out of readily available mass market pedals....My fundamental reason for this was simple.....If i'm out on tour and something dies on me...i wanted to be able to walk into to just about any music store in the world, and be able to quickly replace it!!.
Click to expand...

Joe Bonamassa actually does this.

He plays basically all readily available (Guitar Center) type pedals on tour (all Boss, I think). He figures if a Boss pedal goes wonky anywhere in the world, it can easily be replaced in a pinch.

Almost certain that his studio setup is completely the opposite.
 
#35
As far as I'm concerned, if it makes the right sound for me and my applications, I will have it on my board.
Whether it's vintage, boutique or more mainstream is irrelevant. Sound is king
 
#37
Just my opinion, but I think the mass manufacturers try to appeal to as many people as possible so you end up with a bit of a generic sound. Boutique makers have a much smaller audience and generally have a more unique sound. YMMV
 
#39
I use mostly mainstream pedals with only boutique fuzzes. Mainstream pedals are readily available and more affordable. They can also be regularly found used for very cheap. There are plenty of quality mainstream pedals, but sometimes it takes more research and trials to find the one that works well with bass guitar. Finding mainstream pedal compressors and dirt pedals for bass are the most challenging.

After trying many boutique overdrives I learned to stay away from them because I feel like most of them have a very limited sound profile that is only suitable for some specific underground music genre.

The only pedals that I prefer boutique builders for is fuzzes. To me, fuzzes should be unique, bizarre, extreme, and sometimes down-right awful sounding. All features that would be avoided in a mass marketed pedal.
 
#40
I mainly get what i can afford. However, i picked the "I like to support independent builders".

I mainly go to used music shops (Atomic, in DC), try all the old used pedals out, and buy based on what sounds good. So, i DO have/had some mass-market stuff like: ProCo, Boss, DOD, EHX, Akai, Line6, MXR, and EBS.

I'm not a wealthy dude, but i there are a few indie builders that i have purchased from because i like them as much as i like their pedals...
- Sanfordandsonny (i''ve been IRL friends with Sonny for years)
- Death By Audio (I've been a HUGE fan of Oliver Ackerman since the Skywave days)
- Fuzzrocious (rad builders and an inspiration to my fiance and I)
- Devi Ever (awesome person, and the first indie pedal i ever bought)


Also, as an aside: i want to mention that I also mod/have modded mass-market pedals, and i think that pedal modders are just as (or, ALMOST as) awesome for the music community as the independent companies! :bassist:
 

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