Boutique  –adjective
of, designating, or characteristic of a small, exclusive producer or business: one of California’s best boutique wineries.^[1]

Like in so many other arenas of life, the dawn and maturation of Internet has reshaped the landscape of guitar audio effects.  Before the spice started to flow all that seemed to exist were larger companies that had established themselves, and the regional mad scientist audioscapers that occasionally got launched into the limelight (such as it was).  A simplistic view to be sure, but one I feel captures the general situation in the early 90’s.   From this period burst a few hard-nosed types that would create a market for boutique pedals using innovative designs and pioneering the use of new types of components for the arena. It was an age of naivety that would soon be awash in marketing-speak, psychological tomfoolery, and the pains of nostalgia.

Here at the dawn of 2010 parts that were previously impossible to obtain are so common that pedals costing less than $50 brag on including them. The large bulk of ‘holy grail’ pedals from the golden age of rock and roll have been broken down on work-benches and oscilloscopes hundreds of times over leaving a trail of ready-to-solder schematics, layouts, and part lists all over the internet.

This is a golden age; there are a monstrous amount of documented effects builders.^[2] Where there was a paucity of information, now there are reviews, demonstrations, and interactive conversations of nearly every effect released.  The dark side of this is, as the volume of this information increases, filtering and classifying that information becomes far more difficult than finding it in the first place. In a landscape filled with shill reviews, undercover marketing, and forum astroturfing[3] only the savviest consumer can even pretend to wade through all of it unaffected.

What does this all mean?  That which was once boutique is no longer, and a large segment of pedal builders claiming the moniker are rehashing proven designs with a pretty new paint-job on the front.  The word “boutique” is dead in this market, the core torn out of it by businesses looking to make a buck. 

The following list sums up what I consider current state of the market.  I thought about placing names beside each group, but feared that some people would be offended, and that some businesses could be seen as rejected or endorsed.  This is not intended to be all-inclusive, but rather to capture largest swath possible.

Mass Produced:  Mostly manufactured overseas, made from commodity parts.  Can be well engineered, durable, easily replaced, and sound great.  Accounting & marketing groups have a large input into what products are offered.

Hackers:  Individuals who cut their teeth building kits and schematics from the Internet.  Pedals in their line-ups are not so much engineered as evolved variations of classic effects. These classic pedals are often given a nod in the marketing literature, naming, or graphic design, but not always.   Advanced members of this group often sell refined nostalgia and “mojo” as much as pedals, mostly aimed at the most liquid of music toy-buyers, middle-aged men.

Free-Range: A free-spirited version of a hacker, who moves past building other people’s designs and attempts to craft new sounds and ideas through experimentation, experience, and innovative use of new and old materials on the market.   They often have no formal audio electronics training and believe that an interesting sounding product supersedes build quality.

Designers:  Highly organized individuals who have a set of strong ideas and move toward realizing them. They may have an engineering background, but if not will find an engineer (or many) to work with them. This group is very concerned with quality control, and the ability to reproduce a product in large enough numbers to fulfill as many orders as possible. The idea of “mojo” is dismissed for consistency and usability.

Artisan:  These people are often Hackers who took it to the next level.  Moving past the easy and available clones they research classic equipment, consider design improvements, and create collectible grade pedals that are marked by attention to detail in as many stages of the process as they can.   

These individuals and businesses aren’t going to self-identify for the convenience of the pedal-buying public.  It is the responsibility of journalists and enthusiasts to evaluate effects with a trained ear and eye, and not just prop up the latest craze flying down the pipe.   Sadly the bulk of review journalism provided by national outlets barely pretends to be objective for fear of undermining their advertising buck (and very existence). Demonstrations provided by builders, distributors, or zealous fans should be looked upon with a skeptical eye.  The first two are trying to sell you something and the last is trying to affirm their own choices in the eyes of the world… so be wary!

I personally have waffled on unleashing unkind words about a product, and have even decided against writing any review at all after trying something out.  This ends today.  My relationships with people aside, what I want to do more than anything is to share my experiences with products.  This may be for positive or negative, but the kid gloves need to come off if I am to move forward.  I’ve been far too concerned with being nice, and not concerned enough with being fair.  Looking inward and exploring this fairness doctrine, I find there has been a direct correlation between the size of the builder and my willingness to write a negative review.  I can dig into a big corporation pedal and not think twice, while I would labor over every word while examining on the exact same pedal crafted by a one-man shop. This boutique central bias should be phased out along with the use of the word. With the above framework as a foundation and a renewed sense of purpose I’m excited to moving forward once again.  

With the above framework as a foundation and a renewed sense of purpose I’m excited to move forward once again.