The aesthetic of Gear

[UglyCasanova]

I like looking at things that look nice (especially textures and details), I also like looking at things that remind me of things that I like. That's about as far as my reasoning for customizing my things goes.

[retinal orbita]

Those ugly wood basses are like, one of the things I truly couldn't play even if I loved everything else about them.

It’s funny - I used to feel totally ambivalent about them and then one day.... maybe about 9-10 years ago I was like..... shit I LOVE these. I sold my jag bass, bought an Ibanez BTB 6 used on Kijiji and have never looked back. But the band I was in with some good friends, they fuckin’ HATED it. They’d say like.... “you go to the bathroom we’re gonna take it and throw it into the road!!”

Or like... they’d never refer to it as an actual bass, they’d call it the “stupid fat guitar” or I’d buy a bass specific pedal and they’d be like “why, you don’t play bass”. And that just made me love her more! I’d also do annoying things like “hold on guys gotta change the two 9v batteries to get these active Bartololini pickups rockin’” and stuff.

That’s why I was so into Bell Witch - I don’t really love those records but I feel a kinship. The same friends and I saw them live and they looked like they were in physical pain....

[Lurker13]

I'm ashamed to say I wouldn't buy a Bearfoot pedal because I really dislike the wobbly text on it.

I actually own one of these:

I find the looks oddly appealing, in an unusual and calming sort of way (and I like the tone, too). The wobbly text is just part of the handmade aesthetic.

But hey, one person's junk is another person's treasure.

[cantremember]

Well I had a long reply for the thread but when I hit submit it asked me to sign in again and I lost it.

Basically I like my pedals black if the option is there. If I love the pedal and never plan on getting rid of it I'll have it etched or whatever. The only amps I think are ugly are the peavey jsx and Mesa boogie triple recs otherwise most amps look cool. Finally, I don't like strats and pink or yellow guitars.

Generally, if it sounds right and looks bad its not hard to overlook imo. Sounding good is typically the most important part at the end of the day.

[Dowi]

Regarding pedals icare about aesthetics but sound has the priority, so i'd grab them anyway as long as it doesn't look awful as the Eventide Rose or it has those terrible fonts used on Wampler pedals. I'd love to personalize the looks of a lot of pedals of mine but i don't always have the time/cash/capabilities, so i did it only on a couple ones. Regarding guitars it's different, if i don't like the looks i won't buy it no matter what, end of the story.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Those ugly wood basses are like, one of the things I truly couldn't play even if I loved everything else about them.

It’s funny - I used to feel totally ambivalent about them and then one day.... maybe about 9-10 years ago I was like..... shit I LOVE these. I sold my jag bass, bought an Ibanez BTB 6 used on Kijiji and have never looked back. But the band I was in with some good friends, they fuckin’ HATED it. They’d say like.... “you go to the bathroom we’re gonna take it and throw it into the road!!”

Or like... they’d never refer to it as an actual bass, they’d call it the “stupid fat guitar” or I’d buy a bass specific pedal and they’d be like “why, you don’t play bass”. And that just made me love her more! I’d also do annoying things like “hold on guys gotta change the two 9v batteries to get these active Bartololini pickups rockin’” and stuff.

That’s why I was so into Bell Witch - I don’t really love those records but I feel a kinship. The same friends and I saw them live and they looked like they were in physical pain....

I'm totally with your friends but I can respect your commitment. I think if I somehow found one that was like, the greatest simple passive bass for a reasonable price, I could maybe handle the disgusting looks. But it's the fact that they're all uniformly full of active stuff and features I hate sonically

[Eivind August]

I find the pedals that do the stuff I like, and if I think the looks could be improved and I know I will keep it, I get them etched. I guess I just find it more neat when my pedals have matching colours and spacey/Zelda-y stuff on them that somewhat fits what the pedal does? It's not important in the sense that I'd play the uglyest of pedals if that was my only choice for getting the sounds I want, but since I have the opportunity to customize, I do it.

It might also partly be about personalization/kinship, as others have mentioned. If I know I'll keep something, I like having something on it (be it a sticker, a patch, a new finish or whatever) that makes it "mine", in some sense.

[PanicProne]

I would definitely (and have done a couple of times) pay extra for a custom paint, limited run etc of something I like. I get a lot of inspiration by how the pedal looks. It makes me sit down and play it more etc. Same goes for my guitars. I've a very strict feel, a lot of it based on looks, for what I want to use it for or write with it. (But that probably connects a lot to how I visualise music as different colours etc while playing/writing/listening.) That said, looks on their own don't matter. A lot of the Earthquaker stuff for example, I really like the look of, but never seem to gel with soundwise. Doesn't mean I think it's bad, it just doesn't feel "personal" enough to me. It's not "me". All though I'm aware of how we borrow and are influenced by stuff all the time, the sounds we make as well as gear we use, I've always worked hard to not be a person who "consicously" rips off what others do. That feeling is important to me. I pretend that (to whatever extent it's possible) sort of shows in the gear I use too.

In short, it's probably an identity kind of thing. I use the look of things to include aswell as exclude myself from others. In the end, it's gotta sound/feel good, but finding that sound and/or feeling sometimes comes easier when something looks cool.

Edit: By no means do I feel I'm unique. But I still try real hard not to consciuously "copy" something, just cause I think it's good. But then again, where you draw the line between something "new" or simply "reproduced" is a whole other discussion.

[Ghost Hip]

Is there gear you WILL NOT USE because you don't like the look even if it is really what you might need?

Absolutely. I'm not surprising anyone saying that lol. Honestly if it isn't my thing aesthetically I know someone else somewhere builds something that can accomplish the same thing that makes me feel good when I look at it. Earthbound Audio and the Throat Locust is a great example. Finally an HM-2 clone that doesn't look tacky as fuck. I'm very much affected by my environment. If I dislike the environment I suffer creatively. Being inspired visually is huge.

I impulse bought my Yamaha MT3X four track based solely on looks. It looks like if nightrider was a four track. Fuck yeah.

NSFW: show

I think the only thing that tops aesthetic is if its cheap. Digitech Digiverb or Ibanez Phase Modulator. Both are essential pedals for me, put some stickers on them, keepers.

[lordgalvar]

I also like looking at things that remind me of things that I like.

End result for many "dudes" out there:

NSFW: show

I kinda like bare metal these days. If pedals were all sloped, big, stainless boxes (like they came from the DMC factory) with minimal boxing/labeling of logical control descriptions.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Yeah I forgot about that aesthetic. Naked ladies is an absolute no get out of my house I'll burn this guitar thing for me.

[frodog]

I tend to look at my board as a whole, with a variety of different colours and aesthetics represented, except the cheap and ugly ones. Like there's no way I'd buy a Joyo pedal that would make me depressed to look at, besides they don't make anything unique. But I don't have super specific needs that only one device can offer either, so I feel there's always an alternative.

What I definitely don't want is a conservative, TGP-style board. Every time I look through the pedalboard thread over there I get bored very quickly because they all look so similar.

I like the way Dwarfcraft does wild illustrations and colour combos but still manage to keep it sort of clean, contrasted with something like Iron Ether, a more industrial approach. But RMA is the gold standard for me, I think it would be near impossible for any other maker to copy that.

[Confuzzled]

I do have some douchebag rules when it comes to pedal aesthetics. I hate the font Brush script which has held me off from buying a Timmy (I do own the 1st edition of the danelectro knockoff though), or anything Frantone, etc... it's OK for Fender, but it ends there. Same thing with comic sans or the font Hobo (danelectro back talk reverse delay knob text). I think I'm not a fan of wooden enclosures either. I can get behind the craftsmanship but in my mind I keep thinking it's going to rot or weaken over time. Admitting your problems are the first step towards recovery, right?

I am def. going to get a back talk at some point though I do have a few reverse delays.

[goroth]

Is there gear you WILL NOT USE because you don't like the look even if it is really what you might need?

Absolutely. I'm not surprising anyone saying that lol. Honestly if it isn't my thing aesthetically I know someone else somewhere builds something that can accomplish the same thing that makes me feel good when I look at it. Earthbound Audio and the Throat Locust is a great example. Finally an HM-2 clone that doesn't look tacky as fuck. I'm very much affected by my environment. If I dislike the environment I suffer creatively. Being inspired visually is huge.

I impulse bought my Yamaha MT3X four track based solely on looks. It looks like if nightrider was a four track. Fuck yeah.

NSFW: show

I think the only thing that tops aesthetic is if its cheap. Digitech Digiverb or Ibanez Phase Modulator. Both are essential pedals for me, put some stickers on them, keepers.

This is pretty much how I think.

But I also don't like stuff that has a capital a Aesthetic
If a pedal board has been *curated* rather than put together then it gets me wound up.

[retinal orbita]

I *curated* this DS-1, carbon copy and a Holy Grail Nano maaaaaaaan