Arteconciencias: Walter Trout: "You don't need pedals. If you get a kickass amp, why would you put it through a $100 pedal?"

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February 6, 2023

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Editor's Note

The great pedal debate rages on...

"What I use for pedals is my vintage Mesa/Boogie Mark IV. I just don't see any need for pedals. I have this theory that if you get a kickass amplifier, why would you put it through a $100 pedal?"

So said blues guitar great Walter Trout when we featured him as a guest on Guitar World, MusicRadar and Guitar Player's web series, Pedalpocalypse.

Trout is certainly not the first guitarist, especially on the bluesier side of things, to label pedals as unnecessary. Indeed, that stance is one side of a debate that's been raging for about as long as guitar pedals themselves have existed.

Personally – as an aficionado of shoegaze, grunge, dream-pop, and other guitar-rock of that ilk – I love pedals, and the dimensions they can add to a player's tone and sound.

Then again, though, that's my taste, and like so many other debates in our little corner of the world, this one does all come down to what works best for you and your sound, doesn't it?

Jackson Maxwell – Associate Editor, guitarworld.com

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