Your prettiest and ugliest pedals (show pics!)

[OffYourFace]

i had an ugly white label RAT too. I wish I kept it but i think member slowpop got it.

[OffYourFace]

my current "prettiest" pedal is probably my Moollon Delay with the etching. It's kind of cheesy but it's well done.

my current "ugliest" pedal is probably my vintage MXR Flanger. It's missing most of the labeling and has a broken knob but it sounds perfect.

[dropthebeat]

To get the full effect, the pedal really needs to be plugged in - the word "BYPASS" helpfully flashes by one letter at a time on the little LCD when it's off.

[i love sharin foo]

It has occurred to me that I am quite vain. I never buy pedals that I think are ugly. Even if the consensus is that they sound good, I stay clear BUT, there is a chance that if they sound great, that it influences my visual perspective. Quite the conundrum or paradox.

[Jaguar018]

It has occurred to me that I am quite vain. I never buy pedals that I think are ugly. Even if the consensus is that they sound good, I stay clear BUT, there is a chance that if they sound great, that it influences my visual perspective. Quite the conundrum or paradox.

I am the same way re: pedals and ugly. Why would I want a pedal I don't like the look of when there are twenty different pedals that will sound the same and look better?

I would argue that any and all vanity has been part of music for as long as it has been around. Creating music is creating art; choices of pretty and ugly are very purposeful and intentional. As far as effects, pedals and pedalboard aesthetics have become a big thing--especially post-2000.

And... it is fun. I will instantly judge a person based on their pedalboard. You can pretty much tell the P&W players, the more $ than talent types, broke players, touring pros, brand freaks, etc. . I love it. Long live pedals and all the dorks that obsess over them.

[s_mcsleazy]

It has occurred to me that I am quite vain. I never buy pedals that I think are ugly. Even if the consensus is that they sound good, I stay clear BUT, there is a chance that if they sound great, that it influences my visual perspective. Quite the conundrum or paradox.

I would argue that any and all vanity has been part of music for as long as it has been around. Creating music is creating art; choices of pretty and ugly are very purposeful and intentional. As far as effects, pedals and pedalboard aesthetics have become a big thing--especially post-2000.

agreed. go on instagram and search the hashtag pedalboard and you'll see it's a lot of unrealistically tidy/fancy pedalboards, usually owned by worship guitar players.

edit: so i wanna add something that was on my mind when i was in the shower. the instagramification of pedalboards is kinda what happened with pickup trucks in america. they went from things that do genuine work and can be fixed easily to a bloated parody of what they were designed to do.

[jorri]

oh if it were me who owned the pedals in this thread i think in a lot of cases i would swap the ugly/pretty categories exactly. Give me some battered industrial aesthetic any day over brightly coloured cartoony fonts

[JVG]

My ugliest is this one, not because it’s beaten up (it’s not), but because of the design.

It is a bloody fantastic pedal, provided you’re ok with tu** sc****** type effects - it’s on my board more often than not. And it’s made in New Zealand, so what’s not to like about that!

BUT it is in a big box, coloured baby-shit brown! And we’ll ignore the fact that one switch is called “Blues”.

Oh well, I still love it.

[Futuron]

It's all a matter of outlook. That to me is butterscotch-caramel!

[hulakatt]

Ugliest or prettiest, depending on your thoughts on color theory! I'm partial to the offensively seasick green and pink one myself.



Also hideous but strangely beautiful

[JVG]

Ugliest or prettiest, depending on your thoughts on color theory! I'm partial to the offensively seasick green and pink one myself.

I like both Colorsound boxes, especially the blue one. They are childish and playful, and i’m all for that.

But that gypsy thing….looks like someone ate crayons then spewed on it.

[hulakatt]

I have another Gypsy Face that looks less like clown vomit but both sound amazing. The blue Colorsound Fuzz just looks quite pleasing, nothing to say against it ut the green one has many horrible and bright color clashes and I love it.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

Maybe ugly is the wrong word but I've never really liked the look of my EHX Stereo Memory Man + Hazarai...



I know it has a lot going on inside but still, I find it all too busy & wordy. The blue background feels like a cheap afterthought. Hell, even the fucking name is too long!! Still, it's a keeper, purely for the reverse delay function.

[GreenKnee]

Maybe ugly is the wrong word but I've never really liked the look of my EHX Stereo Memory Man + Hazarai...



I know it has a lot going on inside but still, I find it all too busy & wordy. The blue background feels like a cheap afterthought. Hell, even the fucking name is too long!! Still, it's a keeper, purely for the reverse HALF SPEED LOOPER

Fixed that for you

[timhulio]

Here's one I make. It was on a TGP 'ugliest pedals' thread, but I still love it ;-)