Turned Off By Scarcity

[UglyCasanova]

Depends on how you view the unobtanium pedal in question. I have a Sonic Crayon pedal, but I use it, step on it, drop it occasionally, gig with it. It pretty much sounds unlike any other vibrato I've heard. Its parameters are extreme and the quality is more like that found in high-end digital synthesizer modules. When it comes to letting go of such pedals, I'm much more confused. On one hand you don't want to feel like you're losing money (if you yourself paid top dollar), on the other hand you don't want to be an ass. What usually happens is that I put the pedal in question up for sale on Reverb and/or eBay at a high price and leave it open for trades on ILF, looking to trade either for something as rare that I wouldn't mind checking out, or something more easily obtained that comes close to what the pedal would sell for, if 10-15% less. That's as close to fair as I've come (though some might consider me to still be an ass).

Collecting rare pedals to keep them on display on the other hand, I don't get.

[D.o.S.]

Probs because you don't have a spam bot that's fine tuned to perfection.

[lordgalvar]

Probs because you don't have a spam bot that's fine tuned to perfection.

haha, yea that guy

That is no good, but funny to read.

[UglyCasanova]

Probs because you don't have a spam bot that's fine tuned to perfection.

That's the dream, right there.

[frigid midget]

Same here. It's not that I can't afford the kind of pedalboard that would win a bazillion credibility points here, or that I don't have the patience for a waiting list or whatever...

I just rarely see a pedal that's worth it Part of the fun for me is the challenge to find the old cheapo alternatives that are often either overlooked or looked down on by the average boutique obsessed pedal snob.

I had my boutique fase too, and it was fun while it lasted, but if boss/mxr/ibanez/pearl/yamaha makes the noises I need for my shit, why look futher?
It might also be that my style/taste in music doesn't really call for any dual filtered envelope fuzz phasers with a ton of knobs and controls...

It might sound self-righteous or whatever, but I can't admit I take a bit of pride in sounding bitching trough say, a Laney AOR stack and just an FZ-2, a Bluebox, and a de7. Plus, I never seen a great live show by a band that was using a humongous pedalboard filled with exotic hip boutique stuff. Not to turn this into an anti-boutique rant, I actually love eqd, dr scientist, zvex, etc. But sometimes the 'boutique for the sake of boutique' thing seems to drive people away from makling decent music imo.

[daseb]

I always wonder, is it scarce because you are a dude in your basement and can make three a month? Or because you can only get xxx of whatever Mojo part you need? Or because you are creating hype?

This. I don't have a problem with scarcity, and paying for it, if it's genuinely something handmade by a dude in his basement who does them when he can get the time. As someone who also has to take that approach to art, it's sort of a bummer that mass production has devalued the appreciation for that in many people.

But that said while owning a tonne of gear like that I don't think it necessarily sounds that much better than stuff you can buy in every guitar shop. I know give me a current run MXR Distortion + straight from under the counter and I'll probably be able to get close enough to my Tym ODP to play a show or whatever.

It's nice to own a really finely crafted axe made in some workshop but one from K-mart is gonna chop enough wood to keep you warm.

It might sound self-righteous or whatever, but I can't admit I take a bit of pride in sounding bitching though say, a Laney AOR stack and just an FZ-2, a Bluebox, and a de7. Plus, I never seen a great live show by a band that was using a humongous pedalboard filled with exotic hip boutique stuff. Not to turn this into an anti-boutique rant btw, I actually love eqd, dr scientist, zvex, etc. But sometimes the 'boutique for the sake of boutique' thing seems to drive people away from makling decent music imo.

This too. I mean I love all my nice gear but how many bands have we all seen completely rip shit up with a DS1 and a taped together JCM900 compared to bands with huge boards full of stuff straight out of the tone report weekly catalog that were boring as all hell? I'm thinking in particular of two 'doom' bands I walked out on recently that had huge interesting boards and no songs.

[oscillateur]

Yeah, and more importantly beyond the basics nobody here really needs any specific pedal or other gear to make music.
We do love these things, yes, but they're mostly bonus stuff as far as I see it.

[CyaNitrate]

Something else that's interesting is what pedals become super sought after, where other fairly uncommon pedals aren't. My Screeching Owl fx Hydra comes to mind. It isn't super common, and was made by a one-man operation who last I knew was no longer producing them. Yet, while I love and use mine, I don't hear a ton of people clamoring for them either.

[chuckjaywalk]

Do note that the initial post doesn't mention cost or resale. I don't care if a pedal is $100 or $300, if I can't pick one up without constantly searching eBay and b/s/t or being on a wait list, I don't want it.

[ChetMagongalo]

I've played a lot of really cool pedals that are scarce. They're not cool because they're scarce, they're just cool pedals that happen to be scarce. The SS/BS PolyGrace is a really unique and awesome pedal, I've never heard other pedals make the sounds you can with it, I wish there were more so people could check it out, but I think they were a PITA for Brian to make or something. I do hope that builders don't intentionally make pedals artificially scarce to inflate prices, but it's not really my choice.

[Jwar]

Do note that the initial post doesn't mention cost or resale. I don't care if a pedal is $100 or $300, if I can't pick one up without constantly searching eBay and b/s/t or being on a wait list, I don't want it.

I get your perspective and it totally makes sense.

I sometimes get the thrill of the hunt though.

For instance, Prescription Electronics recently (this year) closed it's doors for good. I have since been looking every fucking where for a Depth Charge. I've owned one 3 times and am a dip shit for letting them go each time. So I've looked for probably the last six months and either A)someone else buys it before I can or B) no one is selling it C) someone wants a hype price for it. I finally found one for 170 shipped from the UK last week and I pounced like a motherfucker. LOL. It arrived and I'm happier than a pig in shit. It is the best bass fuzz I've ever used. But now it's scarce because the company went under.

So I guess it just depends on what it is, if you're into hunting or not.

I'm a stay at home player, so if something cool pops up and I have the money, fuck it, I'm going to try it. If I were a gigging musician I wouldn't have time for that. LOL. At least I don't think I would.

[hbombgraphics]

Do note that the initial post doesn't mention cost or resale. I don't care if a pedal is $100 or $300, if I can't pick one up without constantly searching eBay and b/s/t or being on a wait list, I don't want it.

I get your perspective and it totally makes sense.

I sometimes get the thrill of the hunt though.

For instance, Prescription Electronics recently (this year) closed it's doors for good. I have since been looking every fucking where for a Depth Charge. I've owned one 3 times and am a dip shit for letting them go each time. So I've looked for probably the last six months and either A)someone else buys it before I can or B) no one is selling it C) someone wants a hype price for it. I finally found one for 170 shipped from the UK last week and I pounced like a motherfucker. LOL. It arrived and I'm happier than a pig in shit. It is the best bass fuzz I've ever used. But now it's scarce because the company went under.

So I guess it just depends on what it is, if you're into hunting or not.

I'm a stay at home player, so if something cool pops up and I have the money, fuck it, I'm going to try it. If I were a gigging musician I wouldn't have time for that. LOL. At least I don't think I would.

interesting perspective,
and I agree, the more I play out lately the less board fiddling I seem to do,

Huniting is cool sometimes, but I do most of my best hunting for sneakers

[braaandooon]

The hunt is the fun part. I have a nice collection of scarce vintage effects that may even make David Gilmour soil himself.

I tend to not look for anything specific, and typically just look for barn sales, estate auctions, and other unlikely places that lists music mechandise. In most cases I buy boxes of shit for a few hundo and sell off all the fluff to cover my expenses and keep the goods.

Just in the past few weeks I've added a Bee Baa, OG reverse Electric Mistress, a brand new V7D Muff, and a few other goodies to my collection. After selling all the undesirables, I end up profiting and keeping all the goods to myself.

I still can't get over the fact that I found perhaps the rarest Big Muff known to man (Marveltone D&S) sitting around in some barn and paid under a hundo for it.

[hbombgraphics]

The hunt is the fun part. I have a nice collection of scarce vintage effects that may even make David Gilmour soil himself.

I tend to not look for anything specific, and typically just look for barn sales, estate auctions, and other unlikely places that lists music mechandise. In most cases I buy boxes of shit for a few hundo and sell off all the fluff to cover my expenses and keep the goods.

Just in the past few weeks I've added a Bee Baa, OG reverse Electric Mistress, a brand new V7D Muff, and a few other goodies to my collection. After selling all the undesirables, I end up profiting and keeping all the goods to myself.

I still can't get over the fact that I found perhaps the rarest Big Muff known to man (Marveltone D&S) sitting around in some barn and paid under a hundo for it.

This is why I go to yardsales, and this is why I often walk away disappointed. Never find this stuff.........

[braaandooon]

I think location is key, I live in the middle of a corn field in Indiana. The people you typically see at an estate/barn sale around here have no interest in musical merchandise, and the people offing the stuff have no idea of the value of these so called "metal boxes".

My main go to is my local "penny papers". If the listing states musical merchandise with no specifics, I'm on it like flies on shit.