I dont get it.

[DRut]

I guess this is more of a rant than a post. But I dont get it. I am a new bassist and I have seen about 10 or 15 different pedals with no labels on them. Mostly boutique, but why would a manufacturer make a pedal and then not label what each knob does

 

[Gluvhand]

I guess this is more of a rant than a post. But I dont get it. I am a new bassist and I have seen about 10 or 15 different pedals with no labels on them. Mostly boutique, but why would a manufacturer make a pedal and then not label what each knob does

So you can label them yourself?

 

[jTrolt]

I would disregard them.
You do not need them.
As you progress, you may identify advanced tweaking that you'd like to accomplish.
Enter the boutique pedals.
For now, keep working on the essentials.
Pedals are not essential to becoming a competent bassist.

 

[Killing Floor]

Without getting into the dozens of aesthetic choices builders make if I can’t figure out what the controls do it’s not on my board.

 

[whoismarykelly]

I guess this is more of a rant than a post. But I dont get it. I am a new bassist and I have seen about 10 or 15 different pedals with no labels on them. Mostly boutique, but why would a manufacturer make a pedal and then not label what each knob does

Putting a nice print on a box is a difficult task for a lot of DIYers because most print and powder businesses have minimum orders that don't allow for one-offs so lots of folks just build pedals in plain boxes. Less common with people building for sale nowadays but it happens. It was way way worse 15-20 years ago when every new pedal brand was blank box clones of generic drives and boosts. Back then no graphic on the box was a sign that you had fancy boutique stuff.

 

[J Posega]

Because you have ears and those tell you more about how something sounds than your eyes do.

 

[mouthmw]

Yeah I’m not seeing this much in the boutique world anymore. Maybe some DIY, but certainly not highly regarded builders.

 

[DRut]

Yeah I’m not seeing this much in the boutique world anymore. Maybe some DIY, but certainly not highly regarded builders.

So there are people out there building their own pedals, I didnt know that.

 

[joel the bass player]

Gonna be honest, I've put together a handful of pedals from PCBs and not a single one has any labelling. Some take a minute or two to remember what they do, but it isn't exactly rocket surgery.

It's hard enough drilling the holes accurately, and my penmanship would only further detract from the aesthetics.

 

[mmbongo]

Even worse than that is 'clever but useless' labels!

WHAT DOES THE PASTUREIZATION KNOB DO?!?!?? AAAGGGGHH!!

 

[Reedt2000]

Even worse than that is 'clever but useless' labels!

WHAT DOES THE PASTUREIZATION KNOB DO?!?!?? AAAGGGGHH!!

View attachment 5441236

Keeps it bacteria-free, obviously....

 

[Isaac_James]

Even worse than that is 'clever but useless' labels!

WHAT DOES THE PASTUREIZATION KNOB DO?!?!?? AAAGGGGHH!!

View attachment 5441236

Just in case you're actually curious like I was - this is a compressor pedal and the Pasteurization control is basically a tone knob.

Quarts - level
Cream - amount of compression
Pasteurization - high frequency expansion
Spill - Attack time

Later version of this use the more useful descriptions for each knob, but early DOD pedals from the 90s often had silly knob control names like this.

 

[TwototheValley]

 

[Isaac_James]

View attachment 5441249

I mean at least this tells you what the pedal does, the DOD pedals didn't even go that far.

 

[MCS4]

Guess you would hate my board then...

 

[Isaac_James]

Guess you would hate my board then...

View attachment 5441285

I love the bottom row. A Fifth Element tribute?

 

[TwototheValley]

Guess you would hate my board then...

View attachment 5441285

 

[WG Plum]

 

[DaveParker39]

mostly a homebrew/small batch phenomenon, two different skill sets required to build a pedal and to design and print graphics

yes, there are some builders who do it as a stylistic choice but that's not the norm

 

[Parzival]

I’m with you OP. I don’t get it. Someone builds it themselves, I get that. If you are selling them, you should do more than a metal box.

But Parzival, these may be 1 man operations.

This comes from a 1 man operation

And it is not much more than a lot of metal boxes I have seen and less than some others.