The Death of Boutique Pedals: Is Boutique Over?
Is the boutique pedal world feeling the pinch of global factors out of their control?


The Death of Boutique Pedals? A bold statement, but does the recent news of Fulltone Pedals closing herald the end of the boutique pedal world? Are rising international costs, and an oversaturated marketplace the death knell for boutique effects? When Josh Scott of JHS Pedals releases a video entitled “Is Boutique Over?” should we listen?
The Death of Boutique Pedals?
Is “The Death of Boutique Pedals?” something we should expect to see on the horizon? Is Josh Scott on to something when he says” Is Boutique Over?”

Read more @:
https://www.gearnews.com/the-death-of-boutique-pedals-is-boutique-over/

 

Boutique ware never dies out, because boutique ware is aimed at a specific client, and these clients are looking for something special and are ready to dig deep into their pockets for it. of course, some manufactories will always go bankrupt and new ones will be created in their place, but these will probably never die out.

will gourmet locals die out ? the same can be applied to boutique ware

 

I just bought 2 hand made pedals this year .. Not because they're "boutique"or hand made but I like their sound, as well as I like some digital pedals... I dont think that "boutique" pedals are at their end.
What is maybe finish, is the time of pedal snobism ??
Hopefully now musicians buy pedal for their sound, not to impress the gallery.

 

Hello Olymoon and thanks for your opinion.

once you've played with really good gear and experienced this feeling and communication, you won't/can't go back! and that is exactly where boutique goods have their rightful existence.

 

Something like McDSP's APB for guitars would be so damn awesome.
Imagine a rack unit that comes bundled with wireless MIDI controllers in the shape of guitar pedals, with an LCD screen for optimal parameter control.
Hybrid is the future my friends.

 

What is funny is when ppl speak about something "falling down" in a certain domain ... whereas world WHOLE economy is falling down.
If we start in this direction, it is going to be one thread every hour.

As a photographer, i can already speak about Olympus cameras going into a dead end consortium.
Nikon on the verge of closing doors ... and more to come.

We could speak about Presonus/Fender and more in music domain.

When money is tight, it is for mainstream AND "boutique".

 

Interesting. I was a commercial photogtapher mostly during the film era. I've been out of even engaging in personal photography for quite a while so I'm not up on the industry and gear. I'm assuming it's because phones have more or less taken over from people wanting a DSLR... except from the pro/semi-pro market maybe?

 

Last edited: Sep 10, 2022

Yes exactly : market is shrinking like never before
Less entry level, more middle and high ... very difficult for companies

 

Right. Wondering though... except for the under a thousand (at least the last time I looked) dslr market that amateur photogs would buy, the more expensive camera's were always geared towards the semi-pro/pro market anyway, no? Are phone cameras that good that they eat into that demographic? Was watching one or two photography contest shows out of the UK iirc a while back where they exclusively used latest samsung phone cameras... of course though, one I saw was of course sponsored by samsung.

Hows Canon doing, being a user myself? They seemed a more diversified company to me besides cameras. More so than Nikon maybe?

 

Smartphone really killed "compact" market. Even if i prefer my XZ2 to any smartphone.
Companies still have entry segment but it is very difficult, because they need to push features in them ... supposed to be reserved to high end.

Here is an idea of the mess :
https://photorumors.com/2022/01/13/...t-time-in-the-japanese-digital-camera-market/

 

The availability and access to good sounding guitar effects has been increasingly progressing in recent years and its getting to the point where many of the cheaper options really sound as good as the boutique stuff. Although there's been an increasing plethora of cheap pedals popping up, the biggest jump in quality has probably been in the digital multi-fx units which have really become very good in the last few years. To the point where even a good amount of pro musicians have given up their traditional pedal boards in favor of the multi-fx units. Look at Billy Corgan for example, known for being extremely obsessive about tons of guitar pedals and he has switched to only using the Line6 Helix for everything now.

Companies like Donner and even cheaper ones continue to pop up and make very great sounding units. Its been established that a company like Behringer is literally producing the same quality of pedals as the higher priced pedals they knocked off, except in a plastic casing, etc. The only people who still argue otherwise are stuck in this mindset of more expensive = more better, which is total nonsense. Even JHS Pedals regularly admits this point and has even made entire videos about it.

The main appeal of expensive boutique pedals is how they are marketed, how cool the designs look, etc. Sure, they often do sound excellent, but in reality they aren't doing anything you can't achieve with other FX units. People are realizing this more and more, and combined with the lower priced alternatives, I can see people being less and less willing to spend over $100 on a single guitar pedal when you can get a high quality multi fx unit for a few hundred

Its the same kinda crap that keeps the VST plugin market alive - people who don't spend enough time learning how to write good music and instead always thinking the next plugin will be the magic ticket. But with guitar dudes its always obsessing about the next pedal or the next guitar

 

thanks

 

I went with Digital FX nowadays, it just a matter of simplicity for me .. I own 11R, PODs, GT10, TC Nova, NUX MG30, and other small boutique stompboxes, but I went to NUX MG30 mostly nowadays because it is just simple and because i don't wanna be a tap dancer anymore.
Even Guthrie Govan go digital nowadays .. Boutique will still be around but with really limited market.

 

Yeah, cost aside, a single digital multi-fx unit is much easier to deal with than a bunch of pedals. Having to rig up a pedalboard with all the cables/power supply and then potentially having to switch them out as needed is a big pain in the ass. Pedals are fun and they will always have the novelty factor, but ultimately its just so much more practical to go digital

While I'm sure there will still be plenty of people who will stick with pedals, boutique companies will have to consider the changing market in both their product lines and the pricing... pedals are going to have be both more unique and more affordable

 

indeed .. just like when i go with S Gear plugin by Mike Scuffham, it feels different with other amp sim plugin .. I just feel like I am playing on a real amp .. because it is based on boutique amps. And Mike really went different with his design etc. I absolutely love the thing.

 

Nah... literally millions of enthusiasts out there and plenty of bored guitar players, synth owners.. sound nerds with cash to buy them...
JHS? well, you only have to look on the Chinese sites to see how many cheap clones are available.. besides "boutique" is a BS term Like "Craft" & "Bespoke"

 

That is not an expensive pedal. Boutique pedals, that op is speaking about cost around 300 + .

 

Oh I know. My reference to 100+ is the fact that a company like JHS releases a plain white "budget" line that still costs more than the cheapo $30-50 pedals you can find commonly now which sound just as good. Like if I want to buy a no frills budget pedal, then why would I spend that much when there are better budget options? Just for the JHS logo?

I mean sure there are plenty of older players around now that are locked into this mindset of spending lots of money on pedals and gear, but I only see that number going down as they age out of the market. Younger people are also more broke in general, and more willing to go digital

 

Not only this, but there is also a digital market that is getting cheaper and better.
I know that many people will say that digital will never be like analog, but even if it's true (not so sure), digital vs cheap analog wins. And I'm not talking about Kemper and so, just look at Hotone Ampero, how much good analog pedal will you have for the same price? 339€ today. 3 mid range analog or 1 so called "boutique" pedal. But each effect in this little thing sound as good as an average analog pedal.
And with digital, you can save your presets, call them back on the scene instead of spending the pause between songs squatting and moving knobs. lol.

 

Even with analog pedals, you can build AN AMAZING pedalboard for the price of ONE boutique pedal.
On aliexpress, i even seen Friedman disto clones ... even KSR Ceres !!!

So the question is NOT digital vs analog.
It is
pre China VS post China capitalism.

Companies gave their plans and business model to China ... now they are back selling their own versions.
It is logical, especially in music/audio domain where supposed "inventions" are mostly a JOKE.

Most pedals are build the same way for decades, like tube amps and more.
Innovation still there ... until a China clone emerge.

It is not a matter of pro/anti China : it is a matter of FACTS
When western countries gave their technologies to China, it was OBVIOUS it was going to end like this.

You want another proof ?
Here is Kemper (2000 bucks) VS GE200 (200 bucks)

Yes, GE200 is NOT Kemper high quality ... but for gig, NO ONE will tell the difference