Recovered Pedal Addicts

TimmyO

I took a look at the Pedalboards thread a few times in the last few weeks - because this stuff used to be my absolute go-to interest - I loved seeing what people were using, did oohs and ahhhs at big or complicated setups and generally loved all the geekery and faffing that goes along with building your effects setup.

But something has changed - now as soon as I see more than a few all I can think of is powering issues, isolation nightmares, patch cable woes. Basically at some point I've fallen out of love with pedalboards (I use that word because I still love the sound of effects.

I can't be sure but I think it's happened twice differently - at one point I went from an OTT pub-rock board (obviously I NEEDED 6 different types fo dirt pedal to cover all the bases...) to a Pedaltrain Nano (Boston, drive, trem or rotary, delay) that I gigged for a good while. 

Then things crept back up again to a full G2 monster setup - and then one day I went Helix.

Now I don't mean this as a multics vs pedals thing, or an anti-fx thing (I still LOVE the OTT sounds some people use) but I'm intrigued as to whether others have become reformed FXers? 

I think for me it isn't about becoming pro multi and anti pedal, it's just that I sub-hobby of keeping a pedalboard running and always seeking out the next perfect addition became a ball ache rather than fun.

So shout out - who else has moved away from all that (for whatever reason) ?

<no need to make this a defence of fx for those still into all that - that's not what this is about :-)  > 

TimmyO

oh, and That Pedal Show remains my most-watched youtube channel! :-) 

Gadget

I've still got too many.

Buying pedals tends to be something I do when I can't play for some reason.

Then when I do get to play, I realise multiple choices of dirt, delay, mod, reverb, etc. is just silly, given that I'm not well-off or have loads of playing / storage space.

Jalapeno

Monster G3 job is currently in the attic - downsizing to a "few" pedals and something (currently a POD HD 500) for (a few) presets.

Only presets I want is a few Edge ones - can't be arsed with lots of knob twiddling/programming.

Winny_Pooh

Found some nice sou ding things I am happy with and then ran out of money

My current board is so tightly put together that I can't just buy a pedal to replace another, it'd mean regigging the whole thing and thats been useful in killing gas. 

Still want to try a Revival Drive though.

mburekenge

I still have GAS for gear but have decided to invest in lessons instead. 

Fez

I have tired of lugging the huge Pedaldeck  flight case about so I just bought a Pedaltrain Metro 20. Almost the same pedal set up though I bought a Hypergravity mini to replace the Marshall Ed and my Vox wah is too big so for the moment will live off board.

meltedbuzzbox

I have 6 pedals on my board and I am happiest with that number. I litterally cannot be arsed re wiring it and messing about any more. 

I still love pedals and this is my favourite section of the forum but I find my interest waining a little with the lack of original creations and the ridiculous amount of rehashed drive pedals. 

JezWynd

Used to be a pedal junkie, constantly swapping out modulation sounds, delays and compressors but since changing from Tele to hollowbody I've moved away from that sound. Now I just use a combo with onboard trem and reverb and it's perfect. I find the hollowbody with P90 doesn't react to compression the same way as a Tele, so that's gone too.

Still use a couple of pedals with bass; comp, flange, delay and occasional vibrato but I haven't swapped them out in an age. I like it this way; much more focussed on making compositions and learning pieces rather than creating soundscapes with infinitesimal variations in modulation colour.

Teetonetal

I’ve got loads of pedals, but it’s over a year since I bought the Last one. It’s not that I lost interest, just I really like what I have.

ICBM

TimmyO said:

I took a look at the Pedalboards thread a few times in the last few weeks - because this stuff used to be my absolute go-to interest - I loved seeing what people were using, did oohs and ahhhs at big or complicated setups and generally loved all the geekery and faffing that goes along with building your effects setup.

But something has changed - now as soon as I see more than a few all I can think of is powering issues, isolation nightmares, patch cable woes. Basically at some point I've fallen out of love with pedalboards (I use that word because I still love the sound of effects.

I can't be sure but I think it's happened twice differently - at one point I went from an OTT pub-rock board (obviously I NEEDED 6 different types fo dirt pedal to cover all the bases...) to a Pedaltrain Nano (Boston, drive, trem or rotary, delay) that I gigged for a good while. 

Then things crept back up again to a full G2 monster setup - and then one day I went Helix.

Now I don't mean this as a multics vs pedals thing, or an anti-fx thing (I still LOVE the OTT sounds some people use) but I'm intrigued as to whether others have become reformed FXers? 

I think for me it isn't about becoming pro multi and anti pedal, it's just that I sub-hobby of keeping a pedalboard running and always seeking out the next perfect addition became a ball ache rather than fun.

So shout out - who else has moved away from all that (for whatever reason) ?

Me, for all those reasons.

I have a Boss ME-50 and I really can't be bothered with pedalboards any more. The final straw was when I compared the all-digital ME-50 to my analogue pedalboard to see how much worse the ME-50 was, and was shocked to find that not only was there really no difference in most of the effects, of the ones which were different, the ME-50 mostly sounded *better*... even the overdrives and distortions, which is where I assumed the analogue pedals would easily win. So I sold most of my analogue pedals.

Even though there are a couple of bits of functionality I've lost - the feedbacker on the DF-2, and the DM-2's ability to self-oscillate - I really would find it hard to summon up the enthusiasm to build another pedalboard. If I want that sort of thing I'm more likely to look at a more sophisticated multi than a separate pedal... although I haven't found anything I like yet. (Not helped by the trend towards round metal footswitches on most modern multis, which I hate.)

Wazmeister

Great thread...

Well, my journey has been one of excessive amp and pedal expenditure since about 2012...

Now, no amps at all, guitars reduced, 3 pedals left, and running a Kemper. 

Ill get a used Helix Floor too, when one appears on the Forum...

dindude

I don’t buy nearly as many pedals as I used to, but still way prefer power supplies, checking Ma levels, patch cables etc than menus and software updates.

Horses for courses.

Sporky

I went Helix for the flexibility and haven't looked back. 

Jonathanthomas83

Like @Gadget, I used to buy pedals when I couldn't play...pedals then inspired me to play. It keeps your interest and it's fun.

I'm reformed though. Since going digital, I bought one or two but now they've all gone and I'm fully Kemper. I also use some plugins for FX, they're fun too.

Sassafras

I used to buy loads of drive pedals till I worked out they all sounded much the same. The main differences to sound are those made to the amp's eq section.

tone1

meltedbuzzbox said:

I have 6 pedals on my board and I am happiest with that number. I litterally cannot be arsed re wiring it and messing about any more. 

I still love pedals and this is my favourite section of the forum but I find my interest waining a little with the lack of original creations and the ridiculous amount of rehashed drive pedals. 

I’m happiest at about 6 pedals.... anymore than that and I get itchy feet...Still really happy with my Hudson Broadcast and I’ve got a Skreddy 1971 incoming...I still love trying something new out, but don’t hang onto stuff needlessly.....(as you've all probably noticed)

mgaw

I like shopping

Paul_C

Me too!

I've gone from a quite frankly ridiculous chain of 34 pedals to a far more sensible 28.

pintspiller

I have more pedals than I use. 

I fancied an all Boss board, but never had the dough. An all Ibanez Soundtank board could have been achievable, but I pissed a lot of my wages away in those days.

I occasionally move pedals on and still have too many overdrive units.

I have a complete collection of later Locobox pedals, but only have three on my board currently.

I play bass in a cover band and probably only need a floor tuner.

ICBM

dindude said:

I don’t buy nearly as many pedals as I used to, but still way prefer power supplies, checking Ma levels, patch cables etc than menus and software updates.

I also dislike menus and software updates, which is exactly why I have a Boss ME-50.

No menus, no push-button/scroll-wheel editing, just knobs. You don't even have to programme it if you don't want to, there's a manual mode (which I always use) - basically it's an analogue pedalboard but without the power supply, cabling hassle or need to replace pedals when you want something different - just turn a knob. OK you can only have one distortion at once, one modulation and one delay (plus compressor, wah, and reverb) but for most purposes that's fine.

But if you do want to programme it to save your favourite settings, you can. It puzzles me why this simple concept isn't more common.