Why do pedal builders put the LED next to the footswitch?

[Officer Bukowski]

I use pink LEDs more often than not

[skullservant]

Violet LEDs are my personal favorite. DEY SO MYSTERIOUS LOOKING

[Chankgeez]

Oh, yeah, while we're talking about LEDs. For some reason I prefer metal LED bezels.

[skullservant]

I'm digging the new black plastic ones that Mammoth just got not too long ago. But I mean I'd totally make every pedal all black if I could

[Chankgeez]

Black Metal Bezels?

[skullservant]

Black Metal Bezels?

\m/

[Narwhal-Industries]

The light on our pedals is above the switch, customers seem to like it there. On our pedal beside the switch would be in a way of the audio path.

[Chankgeez]

The light on our pedals is above the switch, customers seem to like it there. On our pedal beside the switch would be in a way of the audio path.

Ha. I just looked again at your LED placement, FullCustom. That's exactly where I don't like it.

If I leave my foot on the switch, it obscures the LED. I know I'm probably in a small minority who cares about where on the enclosure the LED is located, but sometimes I can't be bothered to remove my foot from off of the pedal after I've switched it on or off.

I like to have a clear view of the LED, unobscured by foot or knobs. Is LED placement gonna stop me from buying a pedal I want? No, but I'd probably enjoy it better if the LED is real easy to see.

[Psyre]

I'm the type that thinks if you need a light to tell if your pedal is on, you probably don't need that pedal in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, I think LEDs are good, but if it's really a big issue then I think the pedal might be too subtle to justify buying/using.

An example of bad placement: Boss CE-3. LED is super dim and obscured by the middle knob.

[Ghost Hip]

I'm way late to comment on this but I don't understand why you need to keep your foot over the pedal after you turn it on? Only time I do that is if I'm going to turn it off within the next few seconds. And if I'm doing that, it's probably for an intense dynamic change in the song in which I can certainly hear the pedal is on.

This complaint sounds as silly as the "my high gain/oscillating fuzz makes a lot of noise when I stop playing." Answer: Turn the pedal off. Can't see the LED? Move your foot.

[WeHuntKings]

i didn't know this was something people complained about.

[Chankgeez]

I'm way late to comment on this but I don't understand why you need to keep your foot over the pedal after you turn it on? Only time I do that is if I'm going to turn it off within the next few seconds. And if I'm doing that, it's probably for an intense dynamic change in the song in which I can certainly hear the pedal is on.

This complaint sounds as silly as the "my high gain/oscillating fuzz makes a lot of noise when I stop playing." Answer: Turn the pedal off. Can't see the LED? Move your foot.

Oh, it's a totally silly complaint. Maybe not as silly as "my high gain/oscillating fuzz makes a lot of noise when I stop playing", but definitely silly.

Sometimes I'm too lazy or too caught up in the moment to move my foot. Simple as that.

Is it more easier for me to move my foot than to try to convince pedal builders to alter where the put the LED on the pedal? Yes. Is it more fun? No.

Now here's a pedal that has proper LED placement:


OK, let's move on to the next subject: Pedals which have unusable/dead spots at some point in the range of one or more of their controls.

[Ghost Hip]

OK, let's move on to the next subject: Pedals which have unusable/dead spots at some point in the range of one or more of their controls.

Total boner killer. Especially if the pedal has only two or three knobs. Might as well have made it a flipswitch. I'm no builder, but whenever I get a pedal like that I can't help but think there is a way to work around/fix dead spots.

[goroth]

Boss HM-2! Weirdest taper on a distortion pot ever. On the other hand, you don't actually need a pot. Fixed resistor at max

[goroth]

I can't help but think there is a way to work around/fix dead spots.

Yep! There are many different tapers you can get in different values, and by adding resistors to the lugs you can change the taper even further. There is no excuse for poorly designed pot tapers. There are even mechanical solutions, such as having a larger diameter knob for increased fine adjustment, or a smaller diameter knob if the change is too slow. It doesn't change the circuit at all but changes how we interact with it, which is super important. No reason for dead spots!