Failed Pedal Lines and Companies

[coldbrightsunlight]

L

O

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[BetterOffShred]

I'd say Devi's strongest influence was showing people that you could sell a pedal with a really sloppy board wrapped in electrical tape for $100. Around 10 years ago it seemed every other "cool new pedal" that showed up from a trade from one of the new small Devi-esque builders was an insane mess on the inside that I had to rebuild before it worked properly.

Gut shots of Original Schumann PLL units are cray.. literally looks like a wire scrap bin.

[goroth]

I don't have a perfect timeline of all the companies who came out between 1994 & 2003...

Why not?

Well if I published an authoritative history on effects, then I'd just be putting a conclusive stamp on what a jackass Goroth is and I certainly don't want to do that.

I’m going to go high five myself to make me feel better.

And you’re still wrong.

[crochambeau]

I'd be curious to see how correlation between the condition of internals relates to longevity. I understand a lot of people improve with practice, so that would have to be factored in as well.

Returning to the actual thread topic: Sirkut seems to have dropped off the map, though I have no idea if Sirkut made much of a splash here, or if that was deeper into the old noise caves (most of which have long since collapsed).

[Chankgeez]

I don't think you're a jackass, goroth.

Besides, who said anything about an "authoritative history on effects" from echorec? All I would've expected was a "perfect timeline".

[goroth]

Zing!

[Jwar]

Matt is the furthest thing from a jackass we have on this board. I respect and love the man.


I WAS buying pedals in the late 90's but I did not know of any boutique anything before Talkbass and then this site really opened it up for me. In the 90's, I didn't see any Zvex anything anywhere in my area and there were a ton of places here back then. It wasn't something a lot of people were into back then. They were happy with Boss, EHX, Dano and Digitech. Shit, I never met any guitar player with a Zvex on their board in the 90's. Not once and I knew a FUCK ton of players.

That's not to say Zach didn't influence Devi (I mean, duh) or any other builder. Of course he did.

Devi however influenced a lot of builders, DIY'ers and the internet forums which is where a lot of sales came from for boutique builders. So, to say the contrary is just to be argumentative and I refuse to further engage in arguments that are fruitless.

Never in my life did I think I'd be defending Devi's legacy, but for fucks sake, she did do a lot of really cool stuff and she still deserves to be recognized for it. We've talked the negative aspects to DEATH on this site. There's literally no point in talking about it anymore.

[coldbrightsunlight]

There's literally no point in talking about it anymore.

The beginning point of any good internet argument.

[Ugly Nora]

jwar, this would be a good topic for your next vlog.

[Jwar]

jwar, this would be a good topic for your next vlog.

Sigh. I know, I know! I dropped the ball completely on that.

I'm going to restart the whole thing.

[codetocontra]

How can someone argue that Devi didn't matter when she started this forum that continues to help small builders reach an audience with similar eclectic and odd tastes? If nothing else, this is at least something positive that she started and Tom has awesomely continued. I don't even mean to suggest this site is important to the gear world (it is) but just on a personal level being involved here has been important to my life beyond just gear talk.

Of course we could argue about alternative timelines and parallel universes in which Devi was never Devi Ever FX and we could debate ad nauseum if someone else would have stared a site like this, or if Aen/Wife would have found help and inspiration from another willing builder, or if some other person would have started selling cheap fuzz pedals, or if we are just in a simulation already. But that would be pointless because TIME IS A FLAT CIRCLE.

[D.o.S.]

Without Devi the industry itself would probably have been drastically different.

This seems like a bit of a reach to me.

She's not exactly Bob Moog, Roger Mayer, or Zachary Vex. Nor is she Mike Matthews, Glenn Snoddy, or David Cockerel. Nature abhors a vacuum, and I imagine without her, we'd still have plenty of DBAs, Frantones, Fairfields, & Red Pandas.

Devi was the first builder to really gain notoriety for building boutique pedals at a price point that was lower than, say, Boss or Digitech while being broadly available. That's her main legacy in the pedal universe. Her influence is on smaller level builders than the ones you're mentioning in the above (and your favorites are decidedly all horses of a different colour, save EQD who definitely felt more akin to the Devi thing early on).

The first brands that spring to mind are now mostly defunct or very low key, but builders like Mellowtone, Infanem, McSpunkle, Copilot, Holowon, etc. are or were more closely aligned with the Devi universe of pedals than Frantone or DBA.

So she didn't influence the builders with the most advanced current designs...

&

she deserves credit for influencing builders that are "mostly defunct"?

It seems like you're agreeing with my counterpoint, that the industry really wouldn't be much different today without her offerings.

I think you might want to reexamine what I wrote a little more closely. That said, the heft of your post amounts to something like "The Stooges aren't influential -- I can't hear them in Keane and James Blunt." The evidence is there, ostensibly, but it's in support of a conclusion that seems like a bit of a false corollary in the context of this very niche subtopic of gear history.

[echorec]

I'd say Devi's strongest influence was showing people that you could sell a pedal with a really sloppy board wrapped in electrical tape for $100. Around 10 years ago it seemed every other "cool new pedal" that showed up from a trade from one of the new small Devi-esque builders was an insane mess on the inside that I had to rebuild before it worked properly.

If ILF is one thing it's a model of consistency.

Someone suggests that her influence may not be as drastic as some people believe it to be. = manufactured controversy accompanies the typical ILF circle jerk

Someone says her work was sloppy and unprofessional, seemingly implying it was overpriced. (*cough, cough* her legacy is overrated) = crickets

I don't see anything wrong with whoismarykelly's take on this, just like I don't see any controversy in suggesting that maybe Devi's reach wasn't as significant as the ILF sandbox would like to believe.

[Chankgeez]

I'd say Devi's strongest influence was showing people that you could sell a pedal with a really sloppy board wrapped in electrical tape for $100. Around 10 years ago it seemed every other "cool new pedal" that showed up from a trade from one of the new small Devi-esque builders was an insane mess on the inside that I had to rebuild before it worked properly.

If ILF is one thing it's a model of consistency.

Someone suggests that her influence may not be as drastic as some people believe it to be. = manufactured controversy accompanies the typical ILF circle jerk

Someone says her work was sloppy and unprofessional, seemingly implying it was overpriced. (*cough, cough* her legacy is overrated) = crickets

I don't see anything wrong with whoismarykelly's take on this, just like I don't see any controversy in suggesting that maybe Devi's reach wasn't as significant as the ILF sandbox would like to believe.

Don't know what you expected considering this used to be her forum.

While ILF's prone to circle jerks, IMO, this ain't one of 'em just because almost everybody disagrees with you.

[D.o.S.]

Yeah surely it couldn't be because wimk's post is uncontroversial because it has a basis in reality.

Of course not. Couldn't be that.