Really concerned Guitarist is losing touch with reality

[Telerocker]

Guys, I don't say they never break down, I just share my experience with my pedals. My old Boss and Ibbie-pedals are still on my board, well most of them, and really, they never failed. Period.
Oh yeah, and some of my socalled Booteek-pedals like a Toadworks Dual Boost and an Emma Discumbobulator failed en needed repair.

[dave_mc]

A LOT of unscrupulous peeps cashed in on the boutique pedal thing. But there are signs... Is it massively expensive? Does it look like it was assembled by a blindfolded parkinson's sufferer? Is it marketed with the floweriest fluff that tells you nothing at all about the actual effect, but claims that not only will it make your SS amp sound like a vintage tube amp, it'll make you more awesome. Does it look like it was painted by a 3 year old or labeled up by someone who frankly didn't give a shitee? Is it the current latest TGP fad? Finally has someone sneezed black goop all over it or made attempts to hide what's in it.

The best thing to do is try them yourself if you can. Or ask questions on the DIY forums. The people on there have dissected and reverse engineered most effects (because it's fun) and will give you an idea of what's what.

BUT

Like amps and like guitars, there are only so many variations of pedals out there. So complaining that most pedals are Tube Screamers at heart is like complaining most amps are Fenders/Marshals or most guitars are essentially Les Pauls or Strats/Teles...

Yeah absolutely. The things that made me suspicious about the Jan Ray were the price and the stuff written about it on its website- it almost sounded like a parody of a boutique pedal.

And yeah that's true about the strat/tele thing, but at least people selling slightly tweaked strats and teles aren't pretending they're something else- it's the pretending they've reinvented the wheel and charging $400 or $600 for a very slightly tweaked tubescreamer (or bluesbreaker, or whatever) that I have a problem with. If someone wants to spend $600 on a "better" tubescreamer, that's their prerogative- as long as the company making it is up-front that it's essentially a tweaked TS. The problem arises when the manufacturer pretends it's something else which you can't get elsewhere- in my opinion, that involves an element of deception or fraud.

And yeah the build quality thing can go either way- with the good guys, you're paying for better quality (hopefully). But not always, with the chancers.

[bucketshred]

Saying that... Watch this space new year time. I'm planning a small run of pedals that'll hopefully buy us some powder coating gear.

PLEASE BE SPACE RITUALS!!


Paddy

LOL, no. They're quite intensive to say the least! That's not to say that I couldn't do another. All the boards that go into it are currently available and I've even got a large enclosure spare and a 4th decal as I was on a run when I was doing those... See who gets this one:



Appologies for completely derailing this thread by the way... *blushes*

No the only pedals that I seem to be able to shift with relative ease are Klones. We've got a good relationship with a bloke in Canada and we're going to have a few boards coming from them that we've had a say in how they'll turn out (they'll be commercial pedals over there). Essentially we were discussing (from a builders perspective) how to make the perfect Klone. Electronically it's still identical to the usual Klones. But we've got it so it's going to be compact, robust and easy to assemble. Looking forward to getting our hands on the prototype board for that one to see how it goes.

The theory is that it'll finally get us into the black on the pedal building (not sure that's ever happened) and pay for some powder coating gear so we can coat our own enclosures rather than having to buy them in. That's the idea anyhow.

Holy sheet you are killing me

[juansolo]

Yeah absolutely. The things that made me suspicious about the Jan Ray were the price and the stuff written about it on its website- it almost sounded like a parody of a boutique pedal.

And yeah that's true about the strat/tele thing, but at least people selling slightly tweaked strats and teles aren't pretending they're something else- it's the pretending they've reinvented the wheel and charging $400 or $600 for a very slightly tweaked tubescreamer (or bluesbreaker, or whatever) that I have a problem with. If someone wants to spend $600 on a "better" tubescreamer, that's their prerogative- as long as the company making it is up-front that it's essentially a tweaked TS. The problem arises when the manufacturer pretends it's something else which you can't get elsewhere- in my opinion, that involves an element of deception or fraud.

And yeah the build quality thing can go either way- with the good guys, you're paying for better quality (hopefully). But not always, with the chancers.

Nail on the head. The sad fact is that there are unscrupulous peeps out there looking to make a quick buck along with enough people out there that believe the hype to throw money at them. As long as there is, this will continue.

[dave_mc]

Yeah :(

[jpfamps]

For my money I really like the ElectroHarmoniX range of pedals. Was sold on them when someone here posted a video clip of the Doctor Who theme reproduced using their pedals. Whether or not they are clones of this or that , I don't have the tech knowledge to say and to be honest , I don't care if they are or not because they keep pumping out really interesting sounding gear at wallet friendly prices , so I've never felt ripped off in any sense or disappointed with the build quality and durability, and no , there's no cheque in the post to me for saying this  8)

EH have been consistently one of the most innovative companies when it comes to pedal design going right back to the late 60s.

Back in the 70s their pedal were also much cheaper than other manufacturers.

Build quality was generally not that special though......

[jpfamps]

There is no guarantee that Booteek is better quality than Joyo - For example I have an HBE Power Screamer - the pot has gone south and a resistor has burnt out due to poor wiring on the 9v input (which was somewhat frightening).  The diode selector switch works 7 times out of 10.  On the other hand, the problem I have had no problems with the cheap as shiteee Joyo.

I've seen that burnt resistor problem in a load of HBE pedals.

Build quality pretty average to be honest.

[jpfamps]

Saying that... Watch this space new year time. I'm planning a small run of pedals that'll hopefully buy us some powder coating gear.

How much does the powder coating gear cost?

We get stuff powder coated for about £1-2 per unit, and given the aggravation associated with doing the coating I would be surprised if it's worth buying the gear.

Not, of course, that I am discouraging anyone from buying some new tools.....

[juansolo]

Saying that... Watch this space new year time. I'm planning a small run of pedals that'll hopefully buy us some powder coating gear.

How much does the powder coating gear cost?

We get stuff powder coated for about £1-2 per unit, and given the aggravation associated with doing the coating I would be surprised if it's worth buying the gear.

Not, of course, that I am discouraging anyone from buying some new tools.....

Already got a compressor so about £200 for the gear and a toaster oven. Helpfully Cleggy is quite good a spraying also.

Cost isn't really the issue. Getting stuff when we need it is. Had some big delays of late and it's becoming a problem. Plus it'd be handy to be able to do them when we need them and just have a stash of raw enclosures to dip into.

[jpfamps]

Saying that... Watch this space new year time. I'm planning a small run of pedals that'll hopefully buy us some powder coating gear.

How much does the powder coating gear cost?

We get stuff powder coated for about £1-2 per unit, and given the aggravation associated with doing the coating I would be surprised if it's worth buying the gear.

Not, of course, that I am discouraging anyone from buying some new tools.....

Already got a compressor so about £200 for the gear and a toaster oven. Helpfully Cleggy is quite good a spraying also.

Cost isn't really the issue. Getting stuff when we need it is. Had some big delays of late and it's becoming a problem. Plus it'd be handy to be able to do them when we need them and just have a stash of raw enclosures to dip into.

I can fully understand that; and more tools is good.

We got a flat bed engraver for exactly the same reasons (although it has now paid for itself).