Best pedal graphics?

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Ursa Minor
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Re: Best pedal graphics?

Post by Ursa Minor » Tue Apr 16, 2019 6:37 pm

MXR - simple, functional, consistent design language. Probably my favorite in a standard style enclosure. The old ones get extra points for having the untextured paint.

Boss - for all the reasons mentioned above. The design standard by which all others will be measured.

Fairfield - Stripped down beauty married with hand-stamped labels. Another favorite. No need to even bother painting them. It helps to keep the focus on the device and the sound. And I LOVE that.

Parry - Who can't appreciate the thought that's gone into his designs? Stripped down but with a nod to classic typefaces and modernism. I feel like that's what Fairfield would do if they wanted to dress theirs up a bit but retain that certain elegance.

Hall of Shame goes to Earthquaker and similar. Can't stand the mall punk / hot-topics / t-shirt graphics. Just no. Pedal companies. PLEASE stop doing this! I'll give Fulltone a pass because despite the horrendous typefaces. Their pedals are so well made and sound amazing - and they go to the trouble of making their own enclosures. (but still I haven't seen Papyrus on their pedals. :whistle: )

I'd love to see more builders getting into custom enclosures. The Hammond box is way over done.

Honorable mentions to the older EHX stuff. Some of them leave you wanting more, but pedals like the DMM, PolyChorus and even the various Big Muffs are perfect they way they are. Classics. Mu-tron and Moog and great examples too.
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Re: Best pedal graphics?

Post by shadowplay » Tue Apr 16, 2019 9:27 pm

mackerelmint wrote:
Tue Apr 16, 2019 3:51 pm
p

I'll add that the ugliest pedal I've ever seen is that polara reverb. Not only is it ugly as ugly can be, the design makes it hard to read the settings. It's the exact opposite of what's supposed to happen.
The Obscura is worse. The taste police have rendered the 'designer' to a dark hole and everyone who bought is is on a watch list.

D
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Re: Best pedal graphics?

Post by PorkyPrimeCut » Tue Apr 16, 2019 10:28 pm

kosmonautmayhem wrote:
Tue Apr 16, 2019 6:37 pm
...Fairfield...
Good call. I'd happily have a pedal board made up of just Fairfield stuff.

I love many of the classic EHX pedals but I'm not a fan of their more recent output like, say, the Cathedral. I find that whole line of pedals, SMM+H include, to look cheap & tacky.
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MayTheFuzzBeWithYou
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Re: Best pedal graphics?

Post by MayTheFuzzBeWithYou » Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:27 pm

Good morning!
I second the „always the same hammond boxes are boring“-tenor.
Being a big-box enthusiast and really liking their designs I have to speak out for Death By Audio and JPTR FX (some of their boxes are really crazy and not so useful as I‘d like them to be - but damn, black on metal just looks damn good!
Here is a pick that has 3 of them on it:
Image

I also really like the old EHX boxes, their wedged boxes are both useful and cool - with the mirroresque surface underneath the print.
They also were partial influence for my most recent diy-project, alongside with the old Maestro Brassmaster:

The Dynamic Duo! Batarang Spring Reverb & The Boy Wonder Tremolo (aka Surfy Bear & Surfy Trem) in a self bent aluminium enclosure.

After 3 failed attempts I managed to fix it with the last one I had at home! A few layers of clear lacquer (got to practice that a little too) - but super happy with the result!
Image
EDIT: sorry for the mess in the background I finished this yesterday after midnight and this was the only picture to also show the sloped enclosure.

Dr. No Fx also does some really weird & cool stuff (The two Troy van Leeuwen boxes and the Mother Brain for instance)

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Re: Best pedal graphics?

Post by MechaBulletBill » Wed Apr 17, 2019 2:37 am


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Re: Best pedal graphics?

Post by somanytoys » Wed Apr 17, 2019 5:52 am

Singlebladepickup wrote:
Tue Apr 16, 2019 4:17 pm
mackerelmint wrote:
Tue Apr 16, 2019 3:51 pm
I'll add that the ugliest pedal I've ever seen is that polara reverb. Not only is it ugly as ugly can be, the design makes it hard to read the settings. It's the exact opposite of what's supposed to happen.
Those DigiTech pedals are the ugliest I've ever seen, also.
Yeah, Digitech went through some crazy times with their pedals. The X-Series weren't too bad, at least graphically (I loved their Digiverb, still have a couple), but after that, it seems they went kind of nuts on the graphics.

I do have to say that I like the design on their Freqout, very almost old west style, and while it's basically a one-trick pony with quite a few variables on that trick, in the right situations it can be very usable and cool. I like it.

The Frantones - yes, I almost forgot about that, especially after she closed shop for years. The Sweet is only one I've had of hers, and her pedals are very well built. I've had that pedal for a long time, it's a little bit of history. But as much as I'd rather not, it's now up for sale because I have so much other fuzz. But if it doesn't sell, I guess it wasn't meant to be, and I'll just continue to hold on to it.

It's amazing how pricing works, some things are absolutely ridiculously expensive, and other things - good things, even in nice condition - sell for 1/4 of what they cost. <Sigh> C'est la vie
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Re: Best pedal graphics?

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Thu Apr 18, 2019 12:15 am

For me, there are a number of things. Sometimes I like simple designs, like one color for the enclosure and something different yet complimentary for knob type or color. Retro styling, and with a Sci-Fi vibe most of all, always win for me. Mu-Tron wins. For actual graphics EQD and Death By Audio are hands-down the coolest looking pedals in my opinion. I think Death By Audio and Mu-Tron get everything right almost every time, but there are some one-off pedal graphics that I dig too. I don't love a lot of the Catalinbread stuff, but the Echorec and the black-graphics Naga Viper are my all-time favorite graphics. Spaceman are also really classy looking.
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Re: Best pedal graphics?

Post by soggy mittens » Thu Apr 18, 2019 1:46 am

Image

Image

also EHX cathedral is one of my all time favorites, the choice of colors alone are win.

basically EHX, EQD, and Death By Audio for me. :-*
If OSG has tort me anything...

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Re: Best pedal graphics?

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Thu Apr 18, 2019 2:38 am

soggy mittens wrote:
Thu Apr 18, 2019 1:46 am
Image
That is fantastic!

I remember seeing a demonic/satanic styled pedal a few years ago, where they had 2 LED's for when the pedal was engaged, and they were under a graphic of a goat, with the LEDs being its eyes. I can't find the exact one I saw years ago, but I love stuff like that.
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Re: Best pedal graphics?

Post by Jaguar018 » Thu Apr 18, 2019 7:41 am

I like Moog, ProCo, ADA, MuTron, Boss, MXR, vintage DOD, Maxon, and a few others.

Deeper dive, I like Glou-Glou's stuff. I mean, anything that looks like some sort of 50 or 60s spaceship control panel:
Image

Discontinued other one:
Image

Snazzy FX:
Image

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Re: Best pedal graphics?

Post by parry » Thu Apr 18, 2019 9:14 am

shadowplay wrote:
Mon Apr 15, 2019 11:49 am
OSG DIYI like Parry's pedal graphics which aren't like any of the things listed above, having more of a specialist gentlemans grooming product sort of aesthetic
StevenO wrote:
Mon Apr 15, 2019 12:03 pm
Parry
kosmonautmayhem wrote:
Tue Apr 16, 2019 6:37 pm
Parry - Who can't appreciate the thought that's gone into his designs? Stripped down but with a nod to classic typefaces and modernism. I feel like that's what Fairfield would do if they wanted to dress theirs up a bit but retain that certain elegance.
:o

You guys!
Geez. :blush:

I couldn't begin to tell you how much that means to me. Thank you, so much!


For me... I think a lot of (now) mid-sized builders hit on some very good, creative designs before they're able to get away with printed builds. I'm always inspired by what builders come up with early-on, where their designs are often dictated by the restrictions and availability of materials. There are some seriously cool things that just can't be mass-produced with a printer. Those tools put you very middle of the road.

I took (and take) inspiration from old industrial machines - where things are labeled out of necessity and function. Those big, worked, roughed machines with their aluminum + one colour metal plates riveted-on get my inner nerd pretty hot!
:D

I love the old black faced amp-top Binson effects with the outlined type. And the simplicity of Tone Czar pedals (despite not being fond of the name). Hats off to Fairfield - he's created, grown and maintained one of the most simple and effective (yet restrictively creative) brands out there. That's not an easy thing to do! Not at all unlike hand-hammering aluminum enclosures, hahahaha
Last edited by parry on Thu Apr 18, 2019 11:33 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Best pedal graphics?

Post by SadFuzz » Thu Apr 18, 2019 10:04 am

Boo effects and EHX, MXR look really nice to me.
And yes, Boo effects, not boss. Look them up, they're cool.
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Re: Best pedal graphics?

Post by MechaBulletBill » Thu Apr 18, 2019 10:23 am

parry wrote:
Thu Apr 18, 2019 9:14 am
snip
I'm ashamed to admit that I don't know what your stuff looks like off the top of my head :fp: is there a thread/gallery somewhere?

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Re: Best pedal graphics?

Post by parry » Thu Apr 18, 2019 11:00 am

MechaBulletBill wrote:
Thu Apr 18, 2019 10:23 am
parry wrote:
Thu Apr 18, 2019 9:14 am
snip
I'm ashamed to admit that I don't know what your stuff looks like off the top of my head :fp: is there a thread/gallery somewhere?
Nono... all good. I haven't really been pushing them or anything. Thanks for asking :)
Here's a link to my IG. All of the "AUX" stuff is mine: https://www.instagram.com/sounds_like_broken/

And that said.. I should probably think about doing some updates. It's been a while.
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Re: Best pedal graphics?

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Thu Apr 18, 2019 9:37 pm

parry wrote:
Thu Apr 18, 2019 11:00 am
MechaBulletBill wrote:
Thu Apr 18, 2019 10:23 am
parry wrote:
Thu Apr 18, 2019 9:14 am
snip
I'm ashamed to admit that I don't know what your stuff looks like off the top of my head :fp: is there a thread/gallery somewhere?
Nono... all good. I haven't really been pushing them or anything. Thanks for asking :)
Here's a link to my IG. All of the "AUX" stuff is mine: https://www.instagram.com/sounds_like_broken/

And that said.. I should probably think about doing some updates. It's been a while.
I forgot about DIY stuff. Parry, your stuff is amazing looking. I know I've said that before, but how you were able to hit a Sci-Fi kind of vibe from a minimalistic approach, is just the coolest :? :-*
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