LeftyBassist.com

It'll be interesting to see how people respond to this question.

Have you ever selected a pedal largely based on how cool it looked?

Are aesthetics as important as sound to you?

Have you ever decided to not purchase a pedal because you didn't like how it looked?

I've definitely given pedals a try because their looks caught my eye. I think the look of a pedal is important.

I have also tried pedals that I was on the fence about the sound of and the ugliness of the pedal dissuaded me to buy it.

Aesthetics aren't as important as sound to me. Ultimately if a pedal sounds amazing I'll grudgingly overlook it's hideous appearance to add that sound to my set up, but there's no doubt that they're important to me.

My inspiration for this post came from a few of those "ugly" but "amazing-sounding" pedals that have been mentioned on other forums. Some people aren't too fond of the "amateur" look of DHA pedals, for example, but their VT1 Standard Bass overdrive sounds great.

As a personal example... I don't like the look of Ibanez and Maxon pedals. Many of them don't sound good enough to even justify their price tags. But after trying out a Maxon AD-9 Analog Delay a while back, I wouldn't mind having that ugly pink thing on my board, even if it is a little pricey.

I'll admit I purchased a volume pedal based on its looks - the foot pad was significantly larger than the other one I was looking at, and it was just a natural that it would therefore fit my size 13 that much better

outside of this experience, I refuse to buy any pedal (or guitar for that matter) if it's purple, pink, light green, or magenta ... really, any kind of bright and/or pastel color that clashes with natural colored wood finishes has no place in my gig bag IMO.

I also refuse to buy black or very dark colored stomp boxes as they somehow always caught the edge of my foot on stage, leaving me and my bass heading on a collision course with the no so nicely padded floor

all the best,

R

Then what DO you buy, Rodent? Effects housed in raw, unfinished steel boxes?

nostalgia lane anyone?

from my personal collection -



Felix Pappalardi eat your heart out


an occasional pedal, but I'm mostly a rack-mount type guy

all the best,

R

I guess I'm not too far off from the mark.

A bit OT, but how does the Muff Fuzz sound on bass? Is it anything like its current incarnation (the Nano Muff)?

never done an A/B, so I wouldn't know what to say. I can say that this sounds best with either a 15" or 18" speaker - too much shizzle for 10's IMO

best way I can describe the tone is that it compares to what I was able to get by turning up the pre on my Mesa/Boogie D-180 ... o how I dearly miss that amp


for other effects I rely on my trusty TC Electronics M-One. I made a load of use from the dual processor and various small delay settings. I definitely prefer this to utilizing a chorus stomp box, as I can subtly dial in the effect vs simply saturating the entire signal chain. and when used in a bi-amped configuration, I can leave the bottom end clean while coloring up the top - perfect for keeping a solid low end when coloring the highs

all the best,

R

I have an old EHX LPB that looks like that! It's buried in a box in storage somewhere maybe I'll come across it some day.

For me aesthetics is a secondary consideration. Weird colors and paintschemes are cool but for me the first issue is sound and the second is construction.

Having said that, I am less inclined to be interested in a pedal that is beaten and abused or cheaply constructed (the Danelectro "food" line of pedals come to mind).

I collect the original Danelectro line of pedals 'cause I really dig em'! The 18v Cool Cat is my favorite chorus pedal. The only downside is the plastic jacks used in their construction. I'm currently having my Cat re-housed with metal jacks for my board. I'll keep my eye out for another one in primo shape for the collection. I only need a few more to complete the set!