Pedal Art Snobbery

[D.o.S.]

Hmmm.

I think generally there's an aesthetic I prefer on my pedals (I like the way MXR pedals look compared to Boss, for example), but I'd be leery of stepping on anything I thought looked "really cool" in an artistic way, rather than a form & function way.

So I've got no qualms stepping on my Supercollider, but I dunno if I'd really use a custom etched box.

[goroth]

I've always thought GH was pretty interesting looking company. I usually love the art too. I just can't stand Amy Winehouse.

I didn't even know it was her until you guys brought it up. I dig their aesthetic. On the other hand, a Laura Bennet fuzzhugger would be hard to use for me, because that really is art, and I wouldn't want to ruin it with my crappy shoes/beer/gigs/shit. So I don't really get the purpose of full on art pedals (then agan, I'm pretty pragmatic gear wise).

[dubkitty]

i admit to being turned off to pedals by their art schemes at times. for example, i don't think that Soviet Communism is cute or cool given its record of atrocities, and thus i won't buy pedals with glib usage of Soviet/Stalinist imagery. the Trotsky Drive was a non-starter at my house, and anything with Mao's picture would get no more space on my board than the Final Solution Fuzz should such a product exist. i thought the Pussy Power was asinine, not because it was "obscene" or "sexist" but because i thought it was "childish" and "dumb." and if something's completely hideous, like some of the new C'bread packaging, it's going to be hard to convince myself to look at it regularly.

on the other hand, i wouldn't let the externals keep me from a sound i desperately needed. if something with ugly or offensive art was necessary for my board, i'd re-house it or peel the label/paint the enclosure as necessary. and if the only way i could get the bottom end i needed was with the Hermann Goering Wah, so be it.

[goroth]

C'bread has really dropped the ball design wise. The old stuff was ok-to-cool, the new stuff is horrible-to-tolerable.

Good point about the imagery thing .

[julius_deane]

It's a factor for sure. Sometimes I think it's more about subtlety and simplicity and simple aesthetic choices. All of the Infanem stuff would be great examples.

Ideally, everything on my board would be custom artwork-wise. So far, I have my AB-Synth, Robot Shiva, vinyl Tremolessence v2. I guess you could also count the Visual Sound analog delay that I "aged" myself. wah

[rfurtkamp]

This thread tells me there's a market in atrocity-related pedals waiting to be tapped.

[Mudfuzz]

This thread tells me there's a market in atrocity-related pedals waiting to be tapped.

[Fuzzy Fred]

you;re all perverts

[Mudfuzz]

you;re all perverts

[dubkitty]

<Peter Laughner voice>
i don't need a fuzz
don't need a fuzz
i don't need a fuzz
i need a final solution</voice

[DarkAxel]

I also search for some kind of visual appeal in my pedals...

or at least it should look non-terrible

the design sometimes... draws me to the pedals

[dubkitty]

that's also quite true. the art on the Ab-Synth was one thing that attracted my attention about Tom's stuff because i WUB WUB WUB the Art Nouveau. the art on Devi's big boxes, particularly the Rocket, Shoe Gazer, God Zilla, and TBDs, was also striking. i really like the E13-style lettering she's going back to now; it has a nice stark aesthetic you don't see much anywhere else. and i love the original 80s TC boxes in the flat black aluminum boxes with the white lettering, the chorus, phaser, and EQ...such a Scandinavian vibe, clean perfectly sized sans-serif type you can read while standing up.

[rfurtkamp]

Yea, I love some of the designs out there graphic-wise. Some of Devi's stuff was inspired, I love, love, love the old US fuzz with the bombs.

I'm even fond of vintage Roland. It's sooooo 70s.

But yea, I need a Belsen was a Gas fuzz, stat.

[Ghost Hip]

I bring this up in almost every aesthetic thread but I'd choose an EHX big box pedal over its XO equivalent no matter how noisy it is.

[Mudfuzz]

I bring this up in almost every aesthetic thread but I'd choose an EHX big box pedal over its XO equivalent no matter how noisy it is.