Why use pedals?

digitalscream

I use as little from pedals as I can, because I like amp distortion. I only use a boost (as transparently as possible) to get "more" of the amp sound when the amp doesn't quite have enough gain in it.

Aside from that, it's just a phaser (sparingly) and delay (to smooth out the sound a bit and add atmosphere).

Keep it simple. Mainly because I'm not capable of dealing with much more than that on stage.

Blueingreen

I used to be a real pedals minimalist and played straight into an amp albeit one with master volume and reverb.

I changed when back problems meant I had to look for lighter weight solutions.  Possibly unfairly, I was wary of amp dirt on SS amps so I experimented with SS as clean pedal platform.  I was very happy with the results and started using multi-FX. 

Fez

I sometimes do gigs with out pedals usually for a short set on a multi band gig. I also use a pedal board but not a huge one. Pedals are not just for chasing someone else's sound as others have mentioned they are inspiring and can be part of a system where the guitar can be considered to be the controller. 

tone1

I suppose it’s trying to recreate that Distortion sound without turning up to a deafening sound early days...Someone designed a box that could do that or mimic the sound of the horn section maybe, which led to people making boxes that recreated real tape delays or plate Reverb etc ..Guitarists like the Edge would sound a bit bland without his Memory man....I’m pretty basic in that I only have a few Distortion pedals and 1Tremolo Pedal....but I also like straight in with amp reverb too... ‘tis all good 

TTBZ

Why's everyone obsessed with sounding "like themselves" anyway? I'd rather sound like Slash, Schenker or Paul Gilbert than how it actually sounds when I play

I don't really use many pedals. I just think the drive from a real amp (or a digital model of it) sounds so much better and more complex than a pedal trying to emulate it which I always find a bit flat and boxy.

Philtre

Rocker said:

I don't want to sound like someone else so I prefer the sound of a guitar/bass plugged straight into an amp.  So why do you use a pedal or pedals and have you ever tried playing without the crutch of a pedalboard stuffed with pedals?

I don't want to sound like someone else so I no longer play the guitar.

NorthernStomps

I like the way he dropped his original post and then dipped. 

Like what was the point of that?

Barnezy

This is the oddest post I've seen.

RobertW

NorthernStomps said:

I like the way he dropped his original post and then dipped. 

Like what was the point of that?

I believe he was trying to validate his misplaced superiority complex by implying he was a better guitar player than those who chose to use effect pedals.

When we all didn't prostrate ourselves at the alter of his unique and unattainable guitar to amp epicness he probably went back to masturbating infront of his bedroom mirror.

EricTheWeary

I'd struggle to think of many unadulterated recorded guitar sounds. Even in the rocknroll era there would be reverb or slapback. The classic electric blues players would have a lot of reverb and or tremolo or vibrato. The blues rockers would use treble boosters. The OP loves a bit of Rory Gallagher and he would have nearly always had at least one pedal on, treble booster or tube screamer, lot of modulation later on. The OP likes modern country and a lot of those sounds are sculpted with compression and delay. 
So those are the sounds in our head. Pedals and multi FX take us nearer to them ( wether to copy them or create versions of our own). 
When I was gigging that was as a limited player. So if I use chorus on one song and delay on another that might have been a crutch but in practice I would play the same notes regardless and if it helps give a song a bit of a signature, gives your ears a refresh that seems like a good thing. 
And wether we want to sound like someone else or not relatively few people ever establish a signature style or sound. 
And I'd refer the OP to the concurrent Discussion about Ed O'Brien, someone who established a very successful music career having been turned on to the guitar through the modulation and delay sound Andy Summers was using. Presumably most of us have found guitar sounds to be exciting long before we knew what was actually going on. And many of those sounds will have been a long way from guitar->amp.

drofluf

RobertW said:

NorthernStomps said:

I like the way he dropped his original post and then dipped. 

Like what was the point of that?

I believe he was trying to validate his misplaced superiority complex by implying he was a better guitar player than those who chose to use effect pedals.

When we all didn't prostrate ourselves at the alter of his unique and unattainable guitar to amp epicness he probably went back to masturbating infront of his bedroom mirror.

Or perhaps just got better things to do with his Saturday than hang out on the internet

Roland

Rocker said:

... why do you use a pedal or pedals and have you ever tried playing without the crutch of a pedalboard stuffed with pedals?

That sounds like “When did you stop beating your wife?”. 

My basic sound has no effects, apart from a small room delay. My practice room is less than 2m x 2m, so there’s no natural reverberation. Most of the time I play without any other effects. When I do use them it’s for a specific purpose. For example, Brass In Pocket is renowned for its 80s chorus. 

meltedbuzzbox

Rocker said:

I don't want to sound like someone else so I prefer the sound of a guitar/bass plugged straight into an amp.  So why do you use a pedal or pedals and have you ever tried playing without the crutch of a pedalboard stuffed with pedals?

Why are you posting in the pedal section about not playing with pedals?

Do you dance in front of kids in wheelchairs too?

Sassafras

I don't chase anyone's tone, I wouldn't know how, but I still use pedals.

Rocker

A surprising number of replies attack me personally and don't keep to the point of the OP.

As I see it, how does your guitar sound fit into the band sound?  The band should IMHO sound like a unit that has thought about how they sound together.  And not like a group of guys that each has his own idea of how he shoul sound, without considering how the band as a unit sounds.  If a pedal gives something to the band sound, great.  Go for it.

 I don't care much for the sound of heavily distorted guitar.  I listen to music that has that distortion but I don't use it myself.  I prefer slight breakup, just beyond the clean sound.  And I want my Strat to sound like a Strat.  At volume, pedals tend to make the guitar sound generic and samey.  

The posters who suggested that I sound shit on the guitar may be closer to the mark than they realise.  But I like the sound and noises I make.  Other people don't seem to dislike the sounds I make so perhaps I might not be as bad a player as I think.  

But a reply that explains something of what you are trying to achieve, and the technology that helps reach that goal, is what I hoped to read.  And not an analysis of my limited playing skills.

Jota

Rocker said:

But a reply that explains something of what you are trying to achieve, and the technology that helps reach that goal, is what I hoped to read.  And not an analysis of my limited playing skills.

If that was your goal, you completely failed at trying to get it cause your OP doesn't ask for that kind of discussion at all.

UnclePsychosis

Writes two sentence OP. First sentence could be construed as insulting. Second sentence is definitely insulting. Complains about responses he gets in return.

Your post got the respect it deserved. 

soma1975

Rocker said:

A surprising number of replies attack me personally and don't keep to the point of the OP.

As I see it, how does your guitar sound fit into the band sound?  The band should IMHO sound like a unit that has thought about how they sound together.  And not like a group of guys that each has his own idea of how he shoul sound, without considering how the band as a unit sounds.  If a pedal gives something to the band sound, great.  Go for it.

 I don't care much for the sound of heavily distorted guitar.  I listen to music that has that distortion but I don't use it myself.  I prefer slight breakup, just beyond the clean sound.  And I want my Strat to sound like a Strat.  At volume, pedals tend to make the guitar sound generic and samey.  

The posters who suggested that I sound shit on the guitar may be closer to the mark than they realise.  But I like the sound and noises I make.  Other people don't seem to dislike the sounds I make so perhaps I might not be as bad a player as I think.  

But a reply that explains something of what you are trying to achieve, and the technology that helps reach that goal, is what I hoped to read.  And not an analysis of my limited playing skills.

This is whinier than the OP to be honest. You should get some pedals, mate.

mattdavis

I don’t see how the OP is insulting. Why do so many things get construed this way? 

I use a few pedals for stuff that you just can’t produce by altering your technique - like reverb or delay - because I love the ambient sound scapes they can produce that are hard to do unless you happen to be playing in a cathedral. The odd dash of phaser or chorus is fun but I do agree that when you turn things like that on it’s hard to hear much in the sound other than the pedal m, so it can start to sound quite generic. 

Not sure I’d be that inspired never using any pedals, but I don’t like them to be the whole sound. 

Don’t quite get your point about the band context thing - surely that applies whether pedals or not?  

NorthernStomps

Rocker said:

A surprising number of replies attack me personally and don't keep to the point of the OP.

As I see it, how does your guitar sound fit into the band sound?  The band should IMHO sound like a unit that has thought about how they sound together.  And not like a group of guys that each has his own idea of how he shoul sound, without considering how the band as a unit sounds.  If a pedal gives something to the band sound, great.  Go for it.

 I don't care much for the sound of heavily distorted guitar.  I listen to music that has that distortion but I don't use it myself.  I prefer slight breakup, just beyond the clean sound.  And I want my Strat to sound like a Strat.  At volume, pedals tend to make the guitar sound generic and samey.  

The posters who suggested that I sound shit on the guitar may be closer to the mark than they realise.  But I like the sound and noises I make.  Other people don't seem to dislike the sounds I make so perhaps I might not be as bad a player as I think.  

But a reply that explains something of what you are trying to achieve, and the technology that helps reach that goal, is what I hoped to read.  And not an analysis of my limited playing skills.

What is it you actually want from this thread? 

In struggling to see what your end goal is