"If you've had some problems with pedals, put em out there." Yeah, that's the way to get service... I'm sorry, but if that guy owns a shop and that's how he operates...no thank you. I don't know, my experience with Voodoo customer service has been stellar. They do things and answer questions that most places wouldn't be bothered with.
Are boutique pedals a scam?
- Thread starter CoreyT
- Start date
This video is a perfect example of "laundry day."
Check the PRS Forum lexicon for a definition.
Check the PRS Forum lexicon for a definition.
I looked it up.
Unfortunately, I had to re-read all of the embarrassingly overblown posts in that thread posted by a guy with the same name as me to find the definition!
Whoever that "other" LSchefman is, the dude Is seriously in need of a strait jacket and a rubber room!
CoreyT
PRS Addiction
Smash it, drown it, run it over. A real pedal review
Well, it looks like he found a pedal with a decent switch in it.
How many pedals out there could take this kind of abuse?
Well, it looks like he found a pedal with a decent switch in it.
How many pedals out there could take this kind of abuse?
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Probably most of them, since it's in a bog-standard metal box and uses a standard, commercially available footswitch.
I still think this guy is an insufferable doofus.
The Fight
Long Hair Demigod
I'd rather go with the more expensive boutique pedal's than even with saying guitar center, simply bcs with guitar center you need to buy some sort of insurance. If I ever had a problem with any of my say Keeley pedal's, they would get replaced immediately. That's called a good business relationship ship. Plus Robert Keeley follows me on instagram, I like to think of myself as a really.. really..big deal. 
Parralax view
New Member
Indeed. I decided to try out a Hotone Wally Looper. Man it was simple and nice looking and all flashy, but it worked a total of 22 minutes before a white noise came out that if cranked would have fried my speaker. Sent it back got another one, and got 30 minutes out of it and the same result. I gave up on their mini pedals. People are raving about them but not me. I will not trust a company that just isn't supportive of it's customers. If I had not bought it on Amazon, I would have a cute paperweight. They are virtually unreachable.
There's no question that there are fly by night companies out there, at all levels of the market. Plenty of cheap, mass market pedals are junk, too.
That doesn't mean, however, that the good companies that make excellent products are a scam, as the title of this thread might imply.
It simply means, as with all kinds of products, at all price points, that there is good and bad out there, and caveat emptor.
Mixstar
Just too tired . . .
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2015
- Messages
- 690
That's two of us then.
I don't think he hit it very hard with his hammer, smash the knobs and see how they survive. I have a man who can break just about anything just by looking at things, he does it at work all the time. I don't think the pedal would last more than one round with him.
Stephen Rudnick
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2016
- Messages
- 135
No, I haven't seen the video, but concerning "boutique" pedals; I started out with Boss pedals and used them for a long time. I became tired of some of the sounds and started looking around and listening to various different pedals.
I have never had a problem with any pedals I ever bought, including the boutique ones.
Besides, is anyone going to believe this guy when he is not playing a PRS?! Come on y'all!
I have never had a problem with any pedals I ever bought, including the boutique ones.
Besides, is anyone going to believe this guy when he is not playing a PRS?! Come on y'all!
GTinSpanishFort
G.G.
I had one of the bogner harlow boosts that he mentioned in the video. I also, found that the switch was very stiff and had to be pressed down very hard. I kinda liked how it pushed a cooking amp into a zztop like distortion but, grew tired of the switch and the fact that it was noisy. I sold it for a loss of about $50. The guy does have a point about pedals that are quite pricey. There have been some other pedals I tried that I thought would be great but, they just didn't impress me very much. A few examples, the Zendrive 2(tube) by Hermida Audio, the analogman king of tone, and the buffalo fx evolution. I won't go into the specifics. However, I will say maybe it's just me. Maybe overdrive/distortion pedals just don't suit me. Maybe I'm like Paul-A straight into the amp kind of guy. I really enjoy the sound of the PRS H 50 watt combo with no pedals at all or maybe a little compression, same with the Two Rock sensor. Well, then why bother with pedals? Well, see I still have a dream of playing gigs one day and 1) the H is too heavy to be lugging around and 2) the Two rock - I just would be worried about this amp getting beer spilled on it as it was quite pricey.
Danerada
Goatee Practitioner
I guess it would depend on the pedal maker. I played some boutique delays that had ridiculous clock noise and some Boss delays that were great. In my searching, I have not found a pedal better than Wampler pedals. I have their boost/buffer, Euphoria, HotWired, and Latitude Deluxe. Each of them are fantastic!
D
Deleted member 5962
Guest
drdoom8793
THAT guy at Chick-fil-A
I'll say this. I've had great expensive pedals. I've had great cheap pedals. I've had crappy pedals of all prices as well. There are plenty of boutique pedals that are great and plenty of inexpensive pedals that are great too. It's all about different flavors. Not everything is a better or worse kind of thing.
Even when...you know...you were 13 and you discovered...you know...certain pictures in magazines...and uh...how to...you know?
Brad737
This space for rent...
I'm almost always a "straight to the amp" kind of player. Having said that, I do own some cool (to me!) pedals. Even though I may not use them often, I do like having them for when I do want to get my stomp on. So to answer the video dude's hypothesis (I didnt watch the video), I don't think boutique pedals are a ripoff.
For example, I got a batch of pedals from Alf Hermida many years ago. I loved them all, but I fell in love with the Zendrive 2. Yeah, it was booteek, but the care that went into the circuit, and the tone was unbelievable. If you aren't familiar, the Zen2 is an updated version of his amazing Zendrive. The Zen2 uses a 12AX7 tube for a warmer distortion sound. The tube that Alf used WAS A MULLARD 12AX7!!!
Likewise, I have an Analogman King of Tone that I waited over 2 years to get. Once I figured out how to dial it in, the KoT KILLS! Yeah, it's boutique, but I don't know of another pedal that does what the KoT does as well.
My last example brushes up against what the video bitcher was complaining about. As some of you may know, I'm really quite a hack guitar player. But when I'm able, I like to attend open blues jams. Standard protocol is that you have to plug into the house band's amp, although some will allow you to bring a pedal. There's NO WAY I'd bring my Klon Centaur to plug into, because I don't take my good gear out where it can get damaged or stolen. So after reading a lot of reviews, I bought an Electro Harmonix Soul Food. If you aren't familiar, it's a $60 Klon clone from a very mainstream pedal maker. I just got it from my local GC. I took it out of the box, and it was DOA. While I now realize I should have taped myself ranting about how awful EHX and GC are, I simply drove back to GC and swapped it for another.
Moral of my story is that boutique pedals can certainly be "worth it"...though I'd have trouble spending $2000 for a Klon at today's prices. But jackwagons like the video "reviewer" need to grow up and give a company a chance to stand behind their product. My guess is that he got it secondhand from eBay or TGP, and didn't qualify for a warranty.
For example, I got a batch of pedals from Alf Hermida many years ago. I loved them all, but I fell in love with the Zendrive 2. Yeah, it was booteek, but the care that went into the circuit, and the tone was unbelievable. If you aren't familiar, the Zen2 is an updated version of his amazing Zendrive. The Zen2 uses a 12AX7 tube for a warmer distortion sound. The tube that Alf used WAS A MULLARD 12AX7!!!
Likewise, I have an Analogman King of Tone that I waited over 2 years to get. Once I figured out how to dial it in, the KoT KILLS! Yeah, it's boutique, but I don't know of another pedal that does what the KoT does as well.
My last example brushes up against what the video bitcher was complaining about. As some of you may know, I'm really quite a hack guitar player. But when I'm able, I like to attend open blues jams. Standard protocol is that you have to plug into the house band's amp, although some will allow you to bring a pedal. There's NO WAY I'd bring my Klon Centaur to plug into, because I don't take my good gear out where it can get damaged or stolen. So after reading a lot of reviews, I bought an Electro Harmonix Soul Food. If you aren't familiar, it's a $60 Klon clone from a very mainstream pedal maker. I just got it from my local GC. I took it out of the box, and it was DOA. While I now realize I should have taped myself ranting about how awful EHX and GC are, I simply drove back to GC and swapped it for another.
Moral of my story is that boutique pedals can certainly be "worth it"...though I'd have trouble spending $2000 for a Klon at today's prices. But jackwagons like the video "reviewer" need to grow up and give a company a chance to stand behind their product. My guess is that he got it secondhand from eBay or TGP, and didn't qualify for a warranty.
Parralax view
New Member
He is unwise in his approach. I wouldn't call them a scam, but I would call them repetitive and losing imagination. How many clones of a Tube Screamer do you need before you realize that the new green monster is no better than the old green monster?? Then again, you do have some companies making pedals that far exceed the original intent of the original pedal, dual pedals, triple pedal all in one box? That's pretty cool. But in it all, the market is saturated with basically the same circuits in different colored boxes and were constantly told that "My circuit board is better than XYZ when it's probably the same thing. As to the guy, yeah, it seems lame instead of dealing directly with the companies he whines.
andy474x
Knows the Drill
He was 13, and it was a PRS catalog.
