I just read the post about the Danelectro Chicken Salad pedal. I had no idea it was a sort of UniVibe clone - now I'm thinking I'll probably buy one (they're cheap!). But I wouldn't know that if I hadn't read the post.
Where do I begin (steaming mad... can you tell yet)? I mean, sure, technically it's called Chicken Salad Vibrato, but the "Chicken Salad" graphic is much bigger than the tiny "Vibrato". And it's not strictly a vibrato!
I vaguely remember passing over this and other similarly not-indicative-of-what-they-do pedals at the local music/pawn shop and possibly missed a great bargain. And the manufacturer potentially lost a sale.
How about names that actually hint at what the stinkin' thing does? Vibee, Mr. Vibee, Dr. Vibe, Chicken Vibee - I don't care but at least the "vib" part gives me a clue! (I have not trademarked any of these clever names - feel free to use them. :wink: )
And don't even get me started on controls labeled 'guts', 'pain', & 'rip'! No wonder DOD didn't make that GP top 50 list!
Hmmm... after a few moments' reflection I think I should clarify my point just a bit. I don't mean to offend anyone or stifle creativity in naming your stompbox designs. I mean I love stuff like "Fuxxface","Tube Reamer", etc. I even bought a "Deathmetal" pedal just because I thought the whole concept was amusing.
Acutally I'm throwing this out as a 'data point' to anyone considering marketing a pedal. I mean you're in a music store, or glancing at a gear roundup and each item is striving for your attention. If the name in bold print tells me nothing about the function, I'm likely to move on.
These Danelectro pedals look really cheap (EVERYTHING costs an arm and a leg in the UK). Cant find any schematics though ... anyone know where I could check out a schem for the Chicken Salad ? Just want to compare it to an EasyVibe ... 8)
Yeah, imagine how many more sales Electroharmonics would have made if they hadn't used undescriptive names like Big Muff Pi, Electric Mistress and Small Stone. :wink:
or anything with numbers in it like old DOD pedals.
c'mon guys why numbers.... also sequel pedals are lame too. fulldrive 2. meh!!!
While I agree that a stupid name is a stupid name. A Univibe pedal called a Chicken Salad is just plain stupid, and all those 90's DOD pedals with controls labelled with terms only Beavis or Butthead could understand, but naming a pedal something that has nothing to do with what it is can be a really cool thing, if you ask me.
Obviously, E-H skirted the lines between cool names and bad taste for many years, but my favorites are things like the Crowther Prunes and Custard or the Hot Cake. Hot Cake might make you think of an overdrive, but P&C is a mystery. I like that effect. The effect when someone looks on your pedalboard and says "dude, what's a Woolly Mammoth?"
Roger
but then again, it opens up the whole new market of 12 year old kids who want to "collect all the danelectro food named sb's!"
Kinda like pokemon :-D
Quote from: cb
And don't even get me started on controls labeled 'guts', 'pain', & 'rip'! No wonder DOD didn't make that GP top 50 list!
What about no labels at all?
(http://4mspedals.com/atoner/telefunk.jpg)
-Colin[/list]
The whole danelectro mini-pedal line was named after food - french toast fuzz, pepperoni phaser, fish n chips EQ, etc. Some of their other names are equally strange - Shift Daddy comes to mind. The "Fab Tone" distortion is supposedly a great heavy distortion pedal, but I would think it would be milder with the whole 50's theme going on.
Some, or many actually, of them are actually pretty good at what they do. The EQ seems to have a pretty good resale value, the fuzz is a clone of some expensive fuzz (Foxx?), and the Phaser is a clone of either the Phase45 or P90. I have the phaser and it actually was pretty good when I still used it.
I also have a Psycho Flange pedal, which is one of the bigger ones. Way too extreme for my tastes I think (not a flange guy), but it's ok at being a crazy flanger.
The no label thing is ok if you built the pedal. I've got a few that are literally a switch and some pots sticking out of the top of a BB enclosure.
Hal wrote:Quotebut then again, it opens up the whole new market of 12 year old kids who want to "collect all the danelectro food named sb's!"
Hey, I resemble that remark! :D
I happen to love the Dano mini pedals, and yes, I have at least one of each of them, except the chromatic tuner (and I'll get one of those too when I can find a used one). I agree that the names are hokey but at least they didn't use DOD's stupid control names.
I think every guitar player should have one or two of them for that one verse on one song where you need a {insert effect you don't normally use}.
There was a pedal made by some japanese company in the '60s called the 'Penguin Love Tone'
now I don't know about you, but I wouldn't *want* this thing to sound like it's name might suggest it does .... :shock:
Quote from: georgeThere was a pedal made by some japanese company in the '60s called the 'Penguin Love Tone'
now I don't know about you, but I wouldn't *want* this thing to sound like it's name might suggest it does .... :shock:
hmm sure it wasn/'t the penguin love game done in the 1995 pedal shootout of guitar player???
i could understand that not wantingit to sound like penguins.. hmm funny i had never heard of the penguin pedal until after i spent the money shelling out for the vinyl decals
for my penguin love pedals
yeah ansil I think you're right it was 'Penguin Love Game' not 'Penguin Love Tone'
I didn't read the 1995 article ... what did they say about it? hot enough to melt ice caps? :lol:
they said it was very interesting sounding but built pretty crappy from what i remmbmer
"Penguins are inherently evil and they ferry malevolent spirits from Antarctica up the sewer to your pineal gland" -I can't tell you how many times I've been kicked out of the zoo.
I wrote the word FARTKNOCKER on the front ofa Maestro Brassmaster clone once, it's too bad the bassist I gave it to lived up to that distinction... he used the distortion tone full up with 10% clean mix. This is why he is not in our band anymore.
The Boss PH-2 Super Phaser is not super.
The DOD Grunge pedal is was very trend motivated in it's naming. A circuit is timeless regardless of what MTV dictates.
I happen to like names that evoke the description of the sound produced that are creatively described. Sure, Electro-Harmonix has a lot of nasty
names for their stuff, but when was the last time you acutually got pubes stuck in your teeth from a Big Muff Pi, or maybe had to bring a flashlight with you to get inside one? Let alone the painful condition known to the medical community as Bassballs. EH's products are killer for devices that you could find at a local Guitar Center.
Good puns as pedal names are hilarious at best, but the Belchfire Pink Bunny loses me for what it REALLY does. That's no cute bunny. That destroyed my mom. No mellow acoustic guitar chorusing at all.
:? :!: :arrow: :x :? :shock: :idea:
Oh, and how 'bout the Galileo "Smokin' Wet Panties" octave down-overdriving phase shifting wah with the "vibe", wet" and "lube" controls. WHOA!!, and that "How's Your Father" stomp switch---- Oh man!!! Thank you Mr. Galileo! Thank You for all of your help with the ladies!! :lol:
I like the names that act as if they're trying to describe what they do with made-up adjectives: Gonkulator, Transmorgrifier, Discombobulator, Peptobismolator, etc. O.K., I made up the last two, but you get my drift.
Puns are always good for pedal names...
For example, you could build a Zombie and call it a...
Peace Corps-us (to our non-Stateside friends: "Peace Corps")!
Get it? "Peace Chorus"?
I know, I know - I'll get me coat... :oops:
Hey, you asked...
I named my last pedal "Gumby's Revenge". I'm not sure what to think about that... maybe I should have named the controls "stretch", "color", "pokey" and "bend"!? I only called it that because it is a distortion pedal and the color of the box is sort of a "Gumby green".
I guess we all have our moments. :oops:
Boss keeps it pretty simple. it does what it says on the box ;)
this is a fun topic, as i get urked by pedal names too....mainly boutique pedal names. my opinion goes in the exact opposite direction. i'm very un-impressed by most pedal names out there, thinking they usually cater to the lowest common denominator.......you know, the "sex drive", the ego boost, ect...
i want pedals that have strange names that have nothing to do with rock-n-roll, funny tone cliches, or adolescent sex images. not meaning to offend, just throwing my two cents in. this is something i probably have spent too much time thinking about!
i deliberately name my pedals using the most whacked out names i can find, having nothing to do with rawk sounds. that's why my pedals are called....
"the late great planet earth"
or the "who's gonna fill their shoes"
how 'bout the "apocalyptic mardi gras bunker" ?
i also like bands that use names like this...."sun kil moon" is a current favorite.... "his name is alive" and "guided by voices".
some personal faves. thanks for letting me ramble. jon