5 ms·
> This makes sense, right? Guitar pedals are, after all, a technology that you are supposed to step on. And not in some gentle, delicate manner! I remember get
by squeaky-clean 4y ago
> This makes sense, right? Guitar pedals are, after all, a technology that you are supposed to step on. And not in some gentle, delicate manner!
I remember getting a guitar pedal for Christmas when I was like 16 or so. My dad did not believe me that you were supposed to step on them, and was angry at me for mistreating his gift, lol. I showed him footage of real bands doing that and he told me "Yeah and Hendrix used to light his guitar on fire on stage, but you're not doing that either." He thought it was a stage trick.
A well made pedal does feel great though. I still have a Boss pedal from 1988 that works with no repairs. Wish all of them were that durable, the DL4 is notable for having connections come apart internally after about a year. Easy fix, but sucks if it happens on stage.
Point #3 is a big deal, especially being easily readable on stage in no light or lights in your face. I have the Lillian Phaser pictured in #5 and had to put tape over the blue LEDs because they are so bright they blind you when you look down. This isn't an issue specific to the Lillian either. From what I understand, blue LEDs are much brighter than the rest, and most designers don't take any steps to dim them.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- unwind 4y agoUh, I'm not anything with regards to music (and sometimes, I guess, I'm a cranky dad) but isn't it kind of obvious that you're not going to be using your hands to manipulate something, if you're playing guitar at the same time? Also, the product is called a _pedal_, isn't that kind of a clue-stick? Not to talk down you dad, obviously, but it seems like such a strange thing to not "get". :( I guess I'm sorry for your sake, that you didn't get to enjoy the gift fully.
- leetcrew 4y agoit is an interesting phenomenon that people can have such strong opinions about things they have no interest in actually learning about. reminds me of when I was planning my first gaming PC build as a teenager. my dad kept going on about how "it's great that you're planning something that can run all these games, but have you made sure it will be able to run ms word for school?" I tried to explain many times that 3D games require (by a large margin) a superset of the resources needed to run word, but all he heard was that I didn't care much about school.
- ksaj 4y agoThey're even called foot pedals, so the hint is in there twice.
- dwringer 4y agoI have definitely broken a couple by stepping on them a bit aggressively in my youth, but that's all part of the rock and roll process.
- ksaj 4y agoYes, for example the FAB line is probably the anti-stomp box. They're mostly plastic, so you would definitely break them after a few good gigs. Some wah pedals are notorious for breaking down from even "standard" use. Especially the kind that have a plastic "zip tie" mechanism.
- tshaddox 4y ago> They're even called foot pedals Which is actually weird and redundant, since foot operation is literally the definition of "pedal." Foot operation is the defining and only characteristic of a pedal. It's even plainly obvious in the etymology of the word.
- lovecg 4y agoSee also: “advance warning” “past experience”
- rebolek 4y agoSome of the foot pedals have LCD display.
- ksaj 4y agoSome foot pedals are digital, some are analog, and some are hybrids. Likewise some LCD displays are run by analog circuits. Simple LCD screens are nearly always analog. Advanced LCD screens are nearly always digital. But even then, there is a lot of overlap. So there is a whole lot of overlapping variation on this subject alone.
- squeaky-clean 4y agoOn the box it usually doesn't call it a pedal, just something like Boss DS-1 distortion. Don't worry I stomped on it while jamming with a band. But at home it was on the desk :p
- JohnBooty 4y agoif you're playing guitar at the same time? Pretty common for folks on stage to reach down and futz with them manually between the songs, or even during the songs. That happens all the time. How else are you going to adjust the knobs on the dials? You know that songs aren't 100% uninterrupted consecutive guitar notes right? lol So, parent poster's dad's mistake is a little more understandable than you're giving him credit for. In fact, if you're not watching the guitarists closely, you might not even notice them stomping on the pedals. You might only notice them bending over to fiddle with the pedals manually.
- Raidion 4y agoIt's not common to adjust dials, especially during songs. Between songs is less rare but still uncommon. A significant number of bands do have a rhythm guitar that's going almost non-stop. I take a picture of every pedal board I see at every concert I go to, so I'm actively looking for this stuff. Some people even tape the dials so they aren't bumped during shows.
- bigiain 4y agoI wonder how his dad thinks a wah wah pedal is supposed to be used? :-)
- JohnBooty 4y agoWith one's forehead! ...have I been doing it wrong? Whatever, happy to have sacrificed those brain cells to rock and roll.
- ksaj 4y agoIt probably doesn't matter now, but all LED's have a resistor connected to them so they don't just burn out. You can desolder it and put a different one in. Since it isn't a critical piece, you can touch contact a few different ones until you get the level of dimness you want.
- cronix 4y agoI wonder why there just isn't a variable resistor on the side or something for that purpose like all of the other knobs on the things? Or an off/on knob that doubles as a brightness control. Could even be tactile with 5 positions or something.
- ksaj 4y agoI'd consider that to be over-engineering. It would make sense for someone who sometimes wants it bright, sometimes doesn't. But that's pretty rare. You either see that it is engaged, or not. Laser brightness is easy to tame by using a stronger resistor. It doesn't even cost more to do that.
- CyberDildonics 4y agoThis seems more like a jogged memory than anything relevant to link.