Boutique Gear: When did you fall for them?
- Thread starter ShredCow
- Start date
jony
New member
ShredCow said:brundisium said:most of the time, the not so well known product are only in here, but not other forums.
just an observation. No hard feeling
Eh... I don't really get you... rephrase?
Well.. i think he means that i other forums people know alot about boutique pedal makers more than we do.
Thus my point about the factors contributing towards this phenomena he is observing.
theblueark
New member
The same reason why Britney Spears is more famous than Steve Vai. And why Steve Vai is more famous than Shawn Lane.
1. Marketing people sell whatever makes the most profit, not whatever is the best.
2. People are dumb.
3. People are cheap.
Boutique, by it's very name, implies that it is custom manufactured in small amounts to supply a niche market. These are small companies or 1 man shows, and do not want to hire huge marketing firms, put up gigantic adverts, or pay so-and-so artist to say: "This pedal is the BEST IN DA WORLD"
The only reason why we "see" the common brands like BOSS and IBANEZ to be more popular is because we see them more often in magazines and big guitar shops. Just head down to a couple of gear forums with people who have played for 20-30 years and lurk around and listen to what they say. You'll find that for the well versed, these "boutique" pedals are 10-100 times more popular than the commercial ones.
BOSS is NOT more popular than these little known boutique pedals. It is merely more well known.
1. Marketing people sell whatever makes the most profit, not whatever is the best.
2. People are dumb.
3. People are cheap.
Boutique, by it's very name, implies that it is custom manufactured in small amounts to supply a niche market. These are small companies or 1 man shows, and do not want to hire huge marketing firms, put up gigantic adverts, or pay so-and-so artist to say: "This pedal is the BEST IN DA WORLD"
The only reason why we "see" the common brands like BOSS and IBANEZ to be more popular is because we see them more often in magazines and big guitar shops. Just head down to a couple of gear forums with people who have played for 20-30 years and lurk around and listen to what they say. You'll find that for the well versed, these "boutique" pedals are 10-100 times more popular than the commercial ones.
BOSS is NOT more popular than these little known boutique pedals. It is merely more well known.
jony said:ShredCow said:brundisium said:most of the time, the not so well known product are only in here, but not other forums.
just an observation. No hard feeling
Eh... I don't really get you... rephrase?
Well.. i think he means that i other forums people know alot about boutique pedal makers more than we do.
Thus my point about the factors contributing towards this phenomena he is observing.
Well, thats mainly because SOFT consists of more young (age) players... I mean, you are young, first of all you don't have the spending power and you don't have the "experience" for those things...
Speaking of spending power. I'm broke. :lol:
you got it right Blueark... good points!
I wonder. If it would make sense to have some sort of a boutique gear showcase...
I mean, when you get nice stuff, you'll want to share right? Thats why I started this thread... so yeah...
Would another gear convention work out? I mean, using this thread as a platform to stir up interest.
I wonder. If it would make sense to have some sort of a boutique gear showcase...
I mean, when you get nice stuff, you'll want to share right? Thats why I started this thread... so yeah...
Would another gear convention work out? I mean, using this thread as a platform to stir up interest.
:lol:Initially when the whole boutique thing came about, I was slightly put off by it because it kind of catered to the more vintage end of the market rather than modern players. But it has proved me wrong. I'm a guilty boutique slut.
The reason...
The tone I get from the pedals comes just about as close to the tone I hear in my head.
I'm not saying I steer away from conventional producers like boss/ibanez/mxr/etc, I'm actually right now on the look out for a ibanez DE7
. But the tones I've found with higher end pedal companies just amaze me.
I do definately agree with Blueark, if boutique turned mainstream it just wouldn't be boutique anymore.
The reason...
The tone I get from the pedals comes just about as close to the tone I hear in my head.
I'm not saying I steer away from conventional producers like boss/ibanez/mxr/etc, I'm actually right now on the look out for a ibanez DE7
. But the tones I've found with higher end pedal companies just amaze me. I do definately agree with Blueark, if boutique turned mainstream it just wouldn't be boutique anymore.
back to the topic..
i am an admirer of booteek pedals, but have yet to take the plunge into this expensive offshoot affliction of GAS.
The other thing is, as souljah pointed out, many booteek pedals are geared towards vintage tones. not that i dislike good OD from the past, but that's just not my thang (for now at least). so i have not been gassing hard for boutique stuff yet.
but i'm always on the lookout for affordable boutique stuff on the 2nd hand market, just to experiment with. :wink:
Here's a link to the Musictoyz forum (they are an online store that sells a wide range of boutique stuff)
http://musictoyz.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/frm/f/4066066091
i am an admirer of booteek pedals, but have yet to take the plunge into this expensive offshoot affliction of GAS.
The other thing is, as souljah pointed out, many booteek pedals are geared towards vintage tones. not that i dislike good OD from the past, but that's just not my thang (for now at least). so i have not been gassing hard for boutique stuff yet.
but i'm always on the lookout for affordable boutique stuff on the 2nd hand market, just to experiment with. :wink:
Here's a link to the Musictoyz forum (they are an online store that sells a wide range of boutique stuff)
http://musictoyz.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/frm/f/4066066091
No offense, but Music Toyz takes too long or never to my email.
My first brush with them is the Keeley Compressor when Justin (my guit instructor) used it on a Cube 30. Simply amazing.
So far I've bought quite a few. Fulltone OCD which I sold later, PedalworX Dirty Angel fuzz/dist, Budda Wah, Keeley Ibanez AD-9. Recently obtained MI Audio Crunchbox which IMO is fantastic.
Still waiting for the delivery of my Keeley Com and my waiting list on Timmy and Echoczar.
From my experience, the best thing about boutique pedals is the fact they are almost true bypass, which i place very high emphasis on. The tone is simply better, nothing you can achieve on a stock Boss. But once in awhile, a mass produced pedal like bad monkey do amaze me. 8)
My first brush with them is the Keeley Compressor when Justin (my guit instructor) used it on a Cube 30. Simply amazing.
So far I've bought quite a few. Fulltone OCD which I sold later, PedalworX Dirty Angel fuzz/dist, Budda Wah, Keeley Ibanez AD-9. Recently obtained MI Audio Crunchbox which IMO is fantastic.
Still waiting for the delivery of my Keeley Com and my waiting list on Timmy and Echoczar.
From my experience, the best thing about boutique pedals is the fact they are almost true bypass, which i place very high emphasis on. The tone is simply better, nothing you can achieve on a stock Boss. But once in awhile, a mass produced pedal like bad monkey do amaze me. 8)
Lifehouse: I've got the Blues Pro, want to try some gain stacking someday? A Crunch Box or Tubezone should be my next purchase most prob. Hats off to M.I.!
I think brundisium was just stating an observation he had, which is quite true here. For e.g. Ibanez gets the most exposure around here, do you read about Suhr, Tyler, Soloway or even Tom Anderson around here? The spending power and age range must be considered. To most, an Ibanez Prestige may be already a privilege.
For those who are going to delve into "boutique" stuffs, try to discern what u read and hear. It's 2 different things, sometimes it's just exaggeration on the maker's part. By purely putting better components into a stock pedal isn't boutique to me, it's merely mod/upgrade which costs around $10 to them and nil design which is sold to ppl for almost double of the stock pedal's price.
Great to see some active softies here now in this thread, at least know Shredcow isn't the only slut around town :lol:
I think brundisium was just stating an observation he had, which is quite true here. For e.g. Ibanez gets the most exposure around here, do you read about Suhr, Tyler, Soloway or even Tom Anderson around here? The spending power and age range must be considered. To most, an Ibanez Prestige may be already a privilege.
For those who are going to delve into "boutique" stuffs, try to discern what u read and hear. It's 2 different things, sometimes it's just exaggeration on the maker's part. By purely putting better components into a stock pedal isn't boutique to me, it's merely mod/upgrade which costs around $10 to them and nil design which is sold to ppl for almost double of the stock pedal's price.
Great to see some active softies here now in this thread, at least know Shredcow isn't the only slut around town :lol:
