The Evolution of "Boutique" Guitar Pedals
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- Boutique Guitar Pedals are often a topic that can mean many different things to people depending on their perspective and of course opinion. While "Boutique" Guitar Pedals have been around for several years, the meaning of "boutique" has arguably changed quite drastically. Reeves Electro is one of the small companies that epitomizes what Boutique is, in my personal opinion. In this video I'll demo one of my favorite new "boutique" pedals, the 2n2 Face (a wonderful fuzzface variant).
I'd love to hear your comments -
What does Boutique Guitar Pedals mean to you?
Are boutique guitar pedals dead?
My opinion is that they aren't going anywhere, they are just morphing and changing. And yes, to those that may be itching to get their fingers typing away... yes, I understand the irony completely. It's all due to the market changing, just like it always has and always will.
Check out Reeves: reeveselectro....
This particular pedal (well, not MINE, but one just like this) can be purchased here: reeveselectro....
Wampler Bravado Amps:
www.wamplerped...
Shaw Amps:
www.shawaudio.com/
My DIY Pedal books available here:
modyourownpeda...
I'd love to hear your comments -
What does Boutique Guitar Pedals mean to you?
Are boutique guitar pedals dead?
Only Fuzz pedals are really alive. The simplicity of the circuits and Germanium Transistors.. I'm building s9018-s9018/GT320a Sziklai Fuzz Faces with dual biasing and a variable resistor for the Sziklai shut off..
I tagged Reeves so hopefully they comment soon.
No. Like Punk, they're only sleeping. Unlike Punk they don't smell bad...
I actually think of them as the future.
The quality is unbeatable, and every day they become more affordable as well as inspiring for many people around the world. I live in Chile and many, many guys are building pedals now... clones of yours sometimes, everything.
And boss doesn't sell now as much variety as they did.
@@the_nondrive_side For yourself only or are you getting into the made-to-order DIY thing?
That's probably a good working definition of boutique: made to order, customized, one-off or limited edition pedals. HW, not necessarily point-to-point.
@@mattgilbert7347 mostly just for friends. Gifts. Hobbycraft that you literally need to get rid of.. Silicon-Germanium complimentary darlington buzzes exclusively for me.. Since you can adjust the HFE between the pair.
I love the JHS shirt call out since Josh constantly calls out Wampler. Love this community! Never disappear!
While you speak of community: Josh from JHS is a well known circuit thief, even with his church backing he stole from Devi Ever and then slandered her name because she is transgender. It’s well know and he’s never apologized for it. He also used to be backed by huge homophonic/gay conversion churches so maybe research your precious JHS a bit more.
@@winstonsmith8236 isn't everyone who makes a Fuzz Face, for example, technically a thief? I don't know Devi Ever and the whole slandering thing (though homophonic churches seem hilarious), but honestly - 95% of green overdrives on the market are literally Tubescreamers and nobody calls their sellers thieves... if the circuit wasn't digital and there was no programming involved, how is that thievery?
I agree, Josh and Brian both seem like awesome cool people.
@@BananaManPL Well if you are copying circuits they will be homophonic (sound the same).
It's disappointing that a positive comment about this fantastic community so quickly devolved into politicized garbage.
I’d love to work with a boutique company to get some one of a kind pedals made that I’ve been wanting for years.
Yes, that is Art, Brian. The modern "boutique" guys have all sold out in the name of profit.... Keeley, JHS and Wampler included. Selling mass produced SMD pedals at double their value... In my opinion even most Boss pedals are better quality, and the value is undeniable. There are many true boutique builders still going and I would much rather give them my money. I vastly prefer a true handmade pedal, w full size parts that I can fix if anything goes down. Today, I think Analogman and Barber are the kings of boutique.
It’s not selling out at all, it’s how businesses function and operate. Businesses are either growing or shrinking, they can’t stay the same. There’s also a different aspect to it as well- intention. If you want to make a larger dent on the world you have to be a larger entity, and do business on a larger scale. I would completely disagree on SMD having less value though. I can get way better part quality and much more variety from smd than I can through hole. It’s much easier to repair as well, you just have to change your soldering technique.
@@wampler_pedals totally understand business has to keep moving. I encourage that completely. Where I struggle is that as scale and efficiency increase, the consumer should see benefit in price and reliability/consistency. The big 3 pedal mfg I listed charge over $200 for an overdrive! The new methods of manufacturing are not built to last... These products are literally stompboxes but have board mounted jacks, power supply, knobs/switches and it literally cause anxiety for me lol.. I switch my pedals built like this with my hand or give them a fist bump lol. The products look and feel like a commodity vs a piece of rugged gear that will be around in 20yrs of use. The art gets sucked out of them and they all look the same and then we play the marketing, cute logo/name game. That being said, business is business... Where do you go from here? If you want to be bigger and have an impact, what's the next step?
I think "boutique" is what I would refer to any business operation that would fail if the owner quit.
Isn't "Boutique " something with a unique selling point?
I'd consider that work of art wiring to be just that,
There's a market for it, albeit a small one, I say good luck to the fellow/Lady
Technically all product and service marketing refers to a USP of some sort as a differentiator and driver to buying behaviors.
HOLY S++T!!!!!
Reeves Electro Guitar Pedals Killer pedal!! Well done.
Nice work Sir that solder work looks ISO9000 certifiable for excellence 🤘🏽
Man, it sounds fantastic and that wiring is just bonkers! 😮😳🤩 Kudos!👍
The inside of that pedal made me want to throw my solder gun away forever. Truly beautiful.
Dam y'all, you made it! Cheers from... some fuzz fb group lol
First thing that crossed my mind was “how does he solder that so cleanly?” I then go to his TH-cam page and guess what the second video down is titled! “My 3 top tips for soldering” jackpot lol.
link?
Maxon Mendel th-cam.com/video/DJSYlEsnaJI/w-d-xo.html hopefully that works lol never tried before.
Thanks for that link! Soldering consistently well is both science and craft.
@@chipsterb4946 you’re welcome and you are right on that one. After watching that video I spent a little extra and got a higher end soldering station and it has helped me tremendously. I’m still not as good as him though lol.
I've been thinking that there need to be extra levels beyond just "big guys" and "boutique", to include "cottage" and the unrespected "OEM" builders. In the old days, there was just the "big guys" and "OEM" builders, then small groups and individuals created "boutique", but I"d argue it was originally "cottage" builds. These days, most of the "boutique" pedal builders have redefined their niche from "we hand build stuff" to "we take advantage of technology so we don't have to hand build it, but it's really still a one-man-show or small group running this pedal building business". With that shift in the meaning of "boutique", we now have an opening for "cottage" to be used for the one-person hand built companies.
Hey Brian, I know you trust random strangers on TH-cam to guide your company next steps, right? :D So hear me out: Terraform Mini - regular sized, one footswitch, not necessarily all effects, not necessarily all knobs (e.g. no "variable), a wee bee more affordable.
Sincerely, random stranger on TH-cam.
Time to get a Reeves before it turns into the King of Tone waitlist, such are boutique pedals! Seeing the same person do the wiring, the design, the testing and even the acid etching is about as boutique as you can get apart from obtaining germanium from the earth itself! Lol
Sounds great LOUD! Also liked the vol cleanup, treble bleed on that LP or 50s wiring?
'TPS Mick' went into meltdown about what it did to his super reverb ...at 105db
Marcus is basically flawing the whole world right now. He is a beast.
To me, "boutique" means you are a home-based company, only a small handful of builders, and everything is still being built in your garage. As such, you are only able to build a very limited number, so customers might be waiting for a while. However, if you build spectacular stuff, the stuff is well-worth the wait. My favourite examples are Spaceman, and Effectrode. I also have a VERY EARLY Matthews Effects Astronomer, from when Ricky was still building everything himself, long before he sold the company.
The moment you have someone else building your stuff, you are not boutique. All you did was sell your company to someone who will mass-produce. The moment something is mass-produced, you are not boutique.
Well reeves is boutique then
I completely agree. Reeves seems to take pride in being a one-man company.
Yeah like he said in the video it is art very cool
Marcus Reeves literally makes these in a shed in his back garden. Outstanding.
I just hope Markus Reeves never sells his company.
In my original comment, I mentioned Matthews Effects originally being built by Rick Matthews himself. Some years ago, I actually cut ties with Matthews Effects BECAUSE Rick sold his company to Boutique Amplifiers. Boutique Amplifiers is NOT boutique. It is a corporation who mass-produces their products in factories.
I have bought pedals based on the artwork, not ashamed to admit it. On at least three occasions they turned out to be superb sounding pedals as well, but a couple are kinda crappy - but I kept em anyway.
#1 The good:
-Dazatronyx Big Fuzz
-Keeley Return of the Son of Fuzz Head
-Solid Gold FX If 6 Was 9 BC 183 Fuzz
#2 The bad:
Like Grammy said "If you don't have anything nice to say.."
#3 The ugly:
See #2 (I'll make an exception for the Moen Shaky Jimi. Sounds good, fugly pedal and it's not even close to "boutique" - it's at the Walmart level).
Cool video, Uncle B.
You're Uncle B. now. Robert Keeley is "Sir. Robert of the Keeley", Josh JHS Scott is "The Box God", and the guys from EQD are simply "The Dudes".
I'm trying to think of one for Blake (Tone Mob/Chasing Tone) but all I gots is "The Other Weiland"
Don't even know if that's how he spells his name...I would assume so.
I knew from the thumbnail it was a Reeve's
Question.. Parallel setting? I ALWAYS run my fuzz in Parallel on a Humbucker. Series sucks thru Fuzz
Hmmmmm, i never really considered Any pedal "boutique".....
Some cost more for certain reasons, some cost less for certain reasons.....
As players, its up to us to choose.... ask Neil Young and Jack White, or Prince and Jeff Beck.....
0:41 it looks cool but does nothing apart from making it expensive to build. It's just electricity. No magic vodoo.
That is a wonderful sounding pedal....oh you should never take a back seat....I’ve purchased a few of yours ...great reliable tone monsters...good day👍👍...as far as boutique pedals today there are so so many....it’s a tough market I’m sure...however, you more or less have been around as an innovator...Mark I’ve played a long time not patronizing...tryin not to...but yr stuff I always consider on my top lists love pedals I liked...purple plexi,,..yr tweed pedal is best I’ve ever used hands down still own.....keep it going...
yeah - think I need one !!
Awesome peace of pedal building skills and art.
I was one week late to the TumnusGE-Party. So I found it was sold out.
Well ....almost.
But after seeing a few demos i started to really dig the internet and found one left in Australia and had it shipped all the way to my home in Germany. It sounds absolutely amazing. Absolutely worth the extramile (well 10 000 extramiles to be correct)
;)
Got my 2n2FACE on 9/1/2020. Wow was I amazed at how it works with my amps. But this demo didn’t do it justice. I consider testing how well a Face cleans up as a true testament to its greatness. This pedal cleans up spectacularly well. Get you one!
Ssshhhh!!!! 🙏🏻🎸👍📺
I really need a Tumnus into a Euphoria 2 in 1 pedal like the Dual Fusion (which I love)…a Klon into a Dumble? That’s "boutique!” Also those are some very metal looking goats you got there, very Slipknot Iowa lol
Im from facebook group,, seiing this..
So awesome
U too brian
I've just acquired the Reeve's Black Hat Orange Sparkle guts etc...work of art indeed.
Im not fuzz person, but this into theat Bravado sounded mega. I dont like much the sound into Shaw amp.
PS: waiting for milions comments about topwraping your Les Paul ...
Come on, that point to point wiring been on guitar amps before Fender use eyelets, way more complicated circuits were made with that technique and now is sell very expensive like a novelty, I would understand if at least this pedals sound good but nah, don’t worth the hype…
Do you stretch your strings after changing a set? And/or the inherit design of a Les Paul headstock with the tuner pegs at various angles coming off the Nut towards the peg means extra care is required to make a Nut for a Les Paul instead of the typical "half assed" I hear so much about how Gibson does it these days haha. `Making a good guitar Nut, you gotta go "whole ass" for that.
When I tune I make sure I am tuning up not down only up and it tightens the strings around the nut. And then I do a big bend around the 12 fret and tune up again. I repeat bending and tuning until the bends wont effect the tuning anymore. Usually it only takes one or two bends.
Lol the circuit without PCB in that Reeves pedal, how great is this!
Maybe the word "boutique" has been co-opted so inconsistently for marketing that its meaning is muddy now, but I do think positively of tinkerers and experimenters who try things that are unabashedly not for everyone and may be a little weird but push sound and music forward with new inspiration for at least a small audience of creators, as opposed to just slightly varying tubescreamers or emulating existing well-known pedals of the past. Chase Bliss is a good example.
Wow. Beautiful...
0:46 I basically know ZERO about electronics and schematics but looks like someone could literally build this from what we see here and how neat it is :)
To me, a boutique pedal means something, thats not mass produced (Klon Centaur, Timmy...). And for example Boss or Maxon arent boutique, because they are mass produced. But of course boutique doesnt mean better.
My board is 90% Wampler. My kind of pedals! Tele through Matchless with your pedals, I love my tone.
I really don't care how my pedals look on the inside , as long as they're reliable and sound good 🤷🏼
Boutique pedal means "here's a way to charge customers extortionate amounts of money for old pedal designs tarted up and put in fancy graphics enclosures."
That’s the whole point, you can buy socks online for the cheapest price made in a factory, or find the person that makes socks with knitting needles and hand spun yarn. At least you have socks. Art is worth the money, sound is worth the money. Go buy some socks!
0:50 Wow, that is just beautiful. That is some real skill to make that look so good.
Hi Brian, I think your Les Paul goes out of tune because of the nut, it might need to be filled.
Those naked wires should stay in history i don't understand how anyone sirus can do such thing. No matter that is metal housing that is destroying signal.
What’s the difference in sound between this set up vs putting it on a PCB?
Yeah I saw that in a pedal builders forum.. that thing is beautiful inside and out. you just know that took a while to build to get it looking nice like that.
How do you play a Soldano at vol 8 in a tiny studio? Your ears must be bleeding?!
Love the vid and love the pedal. Time for locking tuners on the LP?
Mr. Wampler- what pickups in your LP?
Sound is great. The art of this build is really attractive. Thanks Brian for this video. Reeves Electro owes you since I just put in an order for one of these. i don't know why, but the package presentation and the sound examples you provided here just spoke to me. Thanks!
I have really been looking at these - I feel like I need one, Fuzz Face being my favorite fuzz and all. I just have to get through another big gear purchase first!
Glad you’re still doing videos Brian. I know you have sort of talked about whether you still want to do these. I’m glad you’re still around. Your way of looking at this stuff is very different and a welcome change to the usual industry stuff out there.
Single notes sound ok but chords are total mush. Not a fuzz fan.
your goat makes me happy :)
Inspiring pedal. Thanks for sharing.
Les Pauls always sucks on keeping the tuning. It is not you, it is the design
I want to pet your goats
What are those connectors between components. They look like tubes
Brian AND Reeves? How can I like this more than once!?
Brain speak of boutique effects pedals can you explain, How/why/ did Tsakalis AudioWorks in their OD pedal “6” removed all the capacitors from the audio path (coupling capacitors) so it begs the question why are they used in the first place??
Totally depends on the circuit. Coupling capacitors are not inherently “bad”, it just depends on circuitry around it and what you are trying to achieve in the design
Wow the sound is beautiful as it’s guts
You gotta lube the nut on those LP’s Brian! Lol
Les Paul continuous improvement
Is that pedal boutique, or is that artisan?
Very cool... btw curious about the black wampler amp I saw in the background... new?
No, it's an old one... we only made 5 of those around 2010 or 2011.
2:34 Les Pauls in a nutshell
Video talking about the evolution of boutique pedals or demo of specific fuzz pedal with no discussion?
Answered in other comments
check out the wiring on pro tone pedals
This was just about that one pedal...
You know the saying G is for gibson
I have an Analogman Sunface which I guess you could consider a boutique fuzz face. It sounds great, totally happy with the purchase. But sometimes it seems like a one trick pony. I just bought one of your Fuzztration pedals and it's so unique and versatile that I think my fuzz itch has been scratched for good. Really reminds me of the Death By Audio Fuzz War with the tones it can get. But even more versatile with the eq and movable octave.
You're a smart man Brian :)
BTW I saw the article about naming it, and the Valkyrie art looked killer. I almost wish I had that one, but I have to say the final artwork on it looks really good (and maybe ended up being better branding for a nasty fuzz circuit, but I digress)
Analogman's pedals are wonderful :-)
Dude you just triggered my GAS.
I have the mighty Velvet Fuzz (V.2 I think) but the Fuzzstration seems to cover similar Fuzzy tones but with extra. It goes to 8 - because octave. Right? Eh? C'maahn laugh it up Covid has driven me insane and ruined my standup chops
Did I miss something? Where did he talk about the evolution of boutique pedals?
Yes.
This pedal IS what boutique is now. It’s about having a USP rather than just making some sort of kit build and flipping it on reverb.
2n2Face is such a great name for a silicon transistor fuzz!
2n2222a for the win 👍👍
@@reeveselectro lol, definitely! Great looking pedal inside and out. A real work of art, well done.
I truly don't understand you guys with your LP Tuning stability problems, I have had mine for 35 years, been setup once back then, came from factory w/ Grover Machines, never had that problem. I feel your pain though.
Not sure. Perhaps I just bend and fret more aggressively than others.
@@wampler_pedals It's probably a combination of the string break angle behind the nut and the nut slots themselves. Have your guitar guy fix the G and B slots.
I saw a Tumnus at your back yard.
Hey Brian, check out the String Butler for Les Pauls :) They say it helps tuning stability. I've just ordered one
it is a very neat product.
Is "boutique" when a builder takes a already built pedal and mods it? I got a board full of modded pedals like a Tube Driver with bias knob by Frommel, a 10 band EQ modded with silent mod, a Soul Food Meat and 3 mod done by an individual home guy. Not the JHS version. I think of these as "boutique". Have about 4-5 others on my board. I'm lucky with all this strange stuff that I can power 13-16 pedals off 1 pwr unit.
Good to see you mr wampler
I've been using zero glide nuts; basically a thin bone nut w/hardened nickel zero fret on Strats for a while. I've recently put a couple on 335 and Les Paul, and the tuning stability has improved quite a bit. This isn't a bone nut &zero fret, as in 2 different things, the bone nut is just to keep the strings from moving side to side, the zero fret sets there height.
If that isn't your thing, I found years ago that using pure nickel wound strings not only sound better IMO, but the tuning stability increased a HUGE amount. It's not like "yeah, I find the tuning stays in a little better," it's stayed in a LOT better.
I use locking tuners for my Strats. When I restring them, I stretch them out. Normally I can keep stretch them, they go flat, I tune up and repeat for literally dozens of times before they finally stop. Pure nickel; 3 times, and it's n done. I can play for an hour, and it will stay in tune.
Not sure what this has to do with the evolution of boutique pedals??
because this *is* the evolution of boutique pedals. The market is changing - it's not enough to just build a kit and try to sell it on reverb.
I'd say try the string butler for your LP. It helps with the break angle that Gibsonesque headstocks give. Sure, they kind of cover up the logo, but it keeps my guitar in tune for about an hour of bending and jammin' on the strings...even with my bigsby!!
That Pedal Show featured Reeves and made similar gushing comments about the wiring. As I know *nothing* about wiring I take your word that it's a work of art. 😎
As for 'boutique' I'd define that as small run pedal series mixed with plenty of one-off builds made to order. Might not be pedals, could be amps, guitars or anything you can buy mass produced. I suppose early PRS would be an example of a boutique guitar builder.
I enjoy your content but I spend most of the time looking at the gear behind you... You have quite a stable
Been following Reeves for a bit on IG just to see those gorgeous insides. I worry if I bought one, I'd leave it out for display more than play it, though it does sound amazing.
The enclosure graphic is cool but it could use a clear plexiglass top and turn the LED inward to show off the circuit
@@onlywhenprovoked I agree that would be very cool, but I'm also very happy to just trust MR on his aesthetic choices :)
..... I love JHS because mentions Wampler and your channel for the JHS t shirt. You rock 😎🤘 truly competitors but gentlemen
Is boutique pedals 1 that has been modded? I got a Indyguitarist modded CH-1 and wonder if it's still stereo. And what the mV's are on a modded pedal. So I thought I'd ask the builder of this pedal. I bought it used 2 yrs ago and it on my board to this day.
Always enjoy and learn from your content. I agree with your description of boutique and one of my current favs is Fuzzlord based in Eugene OR. They build some incredible low quantity pedals. I like your “high end” characterization too that really makes sense.
Love the way you have your pedals all lined up on that shelf behind you. A long time ago Premier Guitar did a Rig rundown on Steve Van in his home studio with Martha they're reviewer, Steve had his in very nice pull out drawers. Check out the video.
Interesting about your comment of the tuning of your Les Paul, I've a Les Paul Studio (2013 model) and it holds it tune like crazy, I have to retune it as often as my strat and tele - very rarely.
What I would give to see you demo my buddy from Noise Therapy FX's recent fuzz release.
Thank goodness analog audio is low frequency and there's just a handful of components here, those wires would make a microcontroller go crazy lmao
can we get pedal demos that don't involve blues rock riffs? we don't all play that.
Probably not from me. Most of my style is a a rip off of Brad paisley and brent mason but played poorly with some bluesy bits thrown in.
@@wampler_pedals not a dig at you personally, but it's just not a style of music that i'm interested in, and it seems like the default musical language of gear videos. it also doesn't really illustrate how usable a piece of gear is for other kinds of music.
i'm not really sure who any of those people are.
Nice, but the title says "evolution of boutique pedals" but was really just a review of a fuzz pedal 🧐🤔🙂
Monkey Goats!, Those lil sucker's look like Had a Bath nice-n-clean!…. Yay!… Meow
Boutique means after a video like this he can't make them fast enough and there's a waiting list.
Free enterprise yeah baby!
Dude, I've never had tuning problems with my Les Paul. Even when I do a lot of bends.
That's a cool pedal, but from the title I was expecting something more retrospective.
Maybe not the best example from a tone standpoint, sort of a vanilla sound, but yes, nice clean wiring.
I'm not really into fuzz pedals, but you make that pedal sound pretty awesome. That wiring tho!
First we need an expensive guitar for it's tone. Then we need an expensive amp for it's tone. Then we need expensive pedals for their tone... And then we need expensive...
Music, electronics, and a spacious yard with a few goats in it. You seem to be living an awesome life!
I have a question I'd love to have cleared up- why are Rat pedals always too bright or too dark? Is there a way to make the slope of the low pass filter more gradual?
Reeves says: If you solder with blobs please apply somewhere else. 😂
Chase bliss feels boutique. But I'm more interested in their warped vinyl.
Wtf i check the intonation of my guitars every week and the les paul is always g = flat and the strat is always a = flat