Boutique Gear & Soft forums
- Thread starter edgie
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EugeneSmasher
New member
At least overrated/underrated is a discussion, it's just too bad that it always evolves into war. Still better than "what guitar should I buy" threads. In fact, there's a new one in the Guitar Rookie section. =.=
dudelove
New member
Well, not trying to boast, but I've played and owned quite a number of those analog and digital pedals both boutique and non boutique.. There are some fantastic boutique pedals that are digital as well you know.. And they do exactly what they say. Digital does not mean mass produced or cheap. Take the whole Eventide line for example.
Anyway, lets not go out of topic. This isn't a thread on boutique effects vs non boutique pedals.
EugeneSmasher
New member
I thought it's normal for delay pedals to be digital (boutique or not) unless it's specifically stated as an analogue delay...
Whitestrat
New member
Actually, it IS linked. I think that other than the difference in people posting, back then there was this huge wave of boutique hype flying around. It was the buzzword. If you didn't go boutique, you had bad tone.
I think today, many of us are also wiser now. Good tone is good tone. If you can get good tone using standard off the shelf stuff, then more power to you. Boutique usually just represents a deviation of the norm, providing what you can't get from the usual suspects. But today, boutique pedals are almost the norm now. That's why Ibanez and Digitech came out with "boutique" versions of their pedals, and basically upped the quality of their production pieces. the TS808HW is a huge departure of the standard run-of-the-mill TS808.
Even the multi-efx range has progressed. Zoom put a tube into their board. Line 6 went to heavy duty DPDT switches for their M13.
Basically what you're witnessing is an evolution of the market. That's why I guess today (even on other boards) no one really raises an eyebrow when a new boutique pedal is launched. the same is also happening for guitars. Suhrs are now so common, and are not really considered boutique anymore. Just high-end. Tylers are limited by their maker. Andersons have been around for eons. Collings is becoming a retail brand in Europe. People are rarely comparing boutique gear vs non-boutique gear now, and the prime example is PRS. If PRS began 20 years later than he did, he would have been considered boutique. Today? High-end production.
Times change. People change. Forums change.
But GAS remains.
EugeneSmasher
New member
^ I really like this explanation!
Hi Greg, I forgot to clarify most of the gigs we get invited to are the ones where you have to play with several bands(at least 10 bands in one night) where the sets are quite short so ease of set-up and teardown is really important. I bought the Flexi-50 3 years ago hoping that we could get an outdoor gig but so far no opportunity has come. Maybe I can start lugging my Flexi when I get to buy a Palmer Direct Box. I also have a THD attenuator so I'm not worried about the volume.
Btw, a bit OT, do you bring a power regulator with you when you gig to protect your amps? What would be a good brand?
penta-tonic
New member
i prefer to think of PRS as the beginnings of the whole boutique movement with all that amazing finishes and all the stuff that he included in his line of guitars. like the whole private stock stash of woods, 10 tops and decorative bird inlay options. bridging the gap between 25.5 inch fender and 24.75 inch gibson scale. and i kinda like it that their QC is still so high. go to any store and pick up a PRS and little adjustments and setups are required.
only that in todays market boutique also equates to having control over every single detail of the guitar which is something PRS wont do. but back in the day they sure were the boutique guys, just that somehow even with their higher end stuff like modern eagle they still arent budging when it comes to allowing the customer to decide over the nitty gritties.
loldude333
New member
I like whitestrat's explanation too, especially the part about 'GAS remains'. Maybe as we get older and more mature (i hope), we perhaps begin to see our hobby (guitar playing) as less important, maybe due to moving up the corporate ladder or starting a family or NS or exams, each person has a different reason. Hence, the GAS becomes less of a problem because we either don't think about it as often, or we relegate it to a less important sublevel of our brain, because it isn't THE most pressing thing, as opposed to the times when we were freer, had more disposable income and were less concerned with saving for the future.
PatheinRaindropMoe
New member
heh, this thread will end up like the many other "geetar" related threads in here, which eventually will be boring and one dimensional(according to individual's dimension)
superpotato_30
New member
hehe you're quick to issue the ultimatum :X
No offense to the overlords but apparently many users also have left because of certain rules they were fed up about hehe.
Hmm my other thread got deleted.. for too big pictures?
The commerical posting thread is another hoo haa. oh well. How many guys with sweet stuff to sell will disappear too ~_~
No offense to the overlords but apparently many users also have left because of certain rules they were fed up about hehe.
Hmm my other thread got deleted.. for too big pictures?
The commerical posting thread is another hoo haa. oh well. How many guys with sweet stuff to sell will disappear too ~_~
PatheinRaindropMoe
New member
mwahahahaha, crazy days of geetar and effect!
the couple of the misse forum folks, including misse himself, we are still as crazy and making music together or each other side projects. Only thing is that we are prolly tweaking more knobs on synth/midi controller and playing with mouse to make music more then geetaring and effect.
ah ok. if its 10 bands in a night, then setup time must be very very very limited lol.
nah, i don't use a power regulator. nothing's happened (yet) (fingers crossed...!)
only thing i insist on is to place the amp mike off-axis and a little away from the speaker. it gets less of a dry sound and makes it more ambient
Whitestrat
New member
Yup... exactly my thoughts! PRS basically gave the big 2 (Fender and Gibson) a run for their money, and began to show the market that there's hope other than those 2. And furthermore, back then, when PRS was still small you could do customised stuff before the private stock range was created. That was probably the beginning of the boutique thing, except I think he was 20 years ahead of his time.
Yeah, you can ask Norman about it. His band and mine usually play together in gigs. Sometimes, there are gigs with no soundchecks at all. Plug, volume balanced? Go!! hehe.
Is Mr Misse still active in dealing with boutique pedals? Haven't heard about his business for a long time now. Last time I dealt with him was when I bought my RMC 6 WOF when it first came out. He's a very good guy to deal with.. Been wanting to ask him this, so if you see himj, please ask for me, why did he change the pedal selection menu on his site? It's quite annoying to scroll on that black screen and see brand names zooming past you without being able to read them properly and it's hard to land the cursor to the brand you're interested in. Not trying to bash him for that(as I've said, he's a nice person to deal with), but I just want to satiate my 3-year old curiosity. : )
PatheinRaindropMoe
New member
last time i ask, he still is, but pretty much slow down/lazier and putting the stuff he is carrying, thru shops round penin to sell.
heh, the website, is prolly one of his crazy ideas..
oh, if need to ask him bout the pedal stuff, best to sms him to check out.
heh, the website, is prolly one of his crazy ideas..
oh, if need to ask him bout the pedal stuff, best to sms him to check out.
LOL wtf. haha, in that case, i salute u man. talk about raw.
MadWerewolfBoy
New member
very important questions indeed. here, we discover that boutiques are not meant for everybody (else they won't be boutiques anyway right? >.<)dodgethis said:
at the two extremes, there are people who's very practical and people who feel like going all out to achieve perfection. both have different expectations and both seek out to satisfy themselves
practical people will ask themselves the 1st question, answer it, and stop there.
"i am a performer, i showcase my craft to people at live venues. i can get a tone i want by only using a mass produced $100 pedal as compared to a boutique $300 pedal. on a live venue setting, slight differences in tone matters not because the audience will not be able to differentiate. thus i will go for the more practical option"
perfectionist and romantics will ask themselves the 2nd question.
"i am a performer, i showcase my craft to people at live venues. though i can get a tone near what i want by using a mass produced $100 pedal, it is not comparable to this boutique $300 pedal. whether on a live venue setting, or a studio recording session, i must use this particular pedal because it is the exact tone i am looking for."
this is just comparison of two extreme factors, excluding everything else such as wealth, market awareness and stuff. most of us are people in between and thus, we usually end up with some compromises.
for me, personally, i can be an unreasonable control freak at times. i need to get the exact tone i want, where ever i go. due to budget reasons, i cannot yet try the hundreds of boutiques out there, though i would like to. being the practical person i am, i have to find the best way to work within these limitations. i settle for the next best thing within tight budget, pod x3 live. i gotta admit it doesn't exactly respond (i can't say the same for sound, because sometimes i can't tell) like the real thing, but with enough tweaking, i will be happy with what i get. i can spend over an hour tweaking one tone on it just to get what i want. this is how i still get to be a control freak within my own limitations.. =D
put some money in my bank and i'm pretty sure boutique stuff will start appearing in my home studio! nobody escapes from gas! haha :twisted:
