The psychology of box

[Jefe]

My priorities are
1. Has to sound good
2. Has to be rugged and reliable
3. Looks.. I guess. I don't really care.

Of course, I've never sold a pedal, they're all for my own personal use. I've been kicking around the idea of selling a pedal or two, so now I find myself thinking more about appearance.

I actually haven't built many pedals. I always breadboard first, and if I don't care for the sound, I don't even bother soldering up a perf of the circuit. I've breadboarded waaay more circuits than I've finished.

[nzCdog]

but I can't help but wonder how much I'm susceptible to "pretty box syndrome" even though I know what's what inside these things.

Oh man, I'm a sucker for the wrapper. If it looks good, I'm far more forgiving of average tones.

[pickdropper]

I certainly dig good aesthetics on a build.  If it's a box I've spent a lot of time making look good, I definitely have a stronger desire for it to sound equally as good.

In the end, if it doesn't work for me (or I can't tweak it to my liking) then it won't get used much, regardless of what it looks like.  I kind of look at pedals like cars:

1.)  It's totally reasonable to have a pretty car that drives well.  All things being equal, this is my preference.

2.)  It's also totally reasonable to have a really ugly car that drives well.

3.)  It doesn't make much sense to have a pretty car that doesn't run well.

[Stomptown]

Aesthetic appeal is a bonafide factor in appreciating things. Distinguishing between most overdrive pedals in a mix is almost impossible, but I play with the ones I like the best and the way they look has an impact on the way I feel about them and that has an impact on the way I play - thus, I play better and SOUND better because of the appearance of my overdrives.

Jacob

+1

+2!

[alanp]

It's the same principle as a newly washed car always seems to drive better than a dirty one...

Really? I always found that a serviced car with petrol in the tank and tyre air pressure checked (this makes a huge difference) drives better than one that gets a brief glance once every five years.

The box appearance has never really made an impact on me. My old Doppelganger 1.4 looked like crap, but I loved it to pieces (until I got the 2.1 done.)

[jimilee]

The outside, to me, is just as therapeutic as building the inside. Really that's all it is to me, therapeutic. I can focus on white I'm soldering and nothin else for a little while.

[Clayford]

The outside, to me, is just as therapeutic as building the inside. Really that's all it is to me, therapeutic. I can focus on white I'm soldering and nothin else for a little while.

This. I've told my wife on several occasions pedal building has saved me tons of therapy. I might be repressing issues still, but I'm not thinking about them! 

[jimilee]

The outside, to me, is just as therapeutic as building the inside. Really that's all it is to me, therapeutic. I can focus on white I'm soldering and nothin else for a little while.

This. I've told my wife on several occasions pedal building has saved me tons of therapy. I might be repressing issues still, but I'm not thinking about them!;)

Eeeexactly!!!

[alanp]

I'll add that the only complete and total turn-off for me for box art/graphics is when people do NOTHING.

Just a powdercoated/painted box, knobs, LED, and stomp. You know the type, where it's a complete guessing game as to what the knobs do, or what the bloody effect is at all.

[billstein]

I go in and out with this. I get really excited about the outside and pour a lot of energy into it and kind of burn myself out. At that point I'll build just to have the pedal to use. My favorite at the moment is a Klone that is so plain I would never dream of doing a build report, but that thing always seems to be on. So, right now I don't care that much about aesthetics but I know that will change.

[juansolo]

I certainly dig good aesthetics on a build.  If it's a box I've spent a lot of time making look good, I definitely have a stronger desire for it to sound equally as good.

In the end, if it doesn't work for me (or I can't tweak it to my liking) then it won't get used much, regardless of what it looks like.  I kind of look at pedals like cars:

1.)  It's totally reasonable to have a pretty car that drives well.  All things being equal, this is my preference.

2.)  It's also totally reasonable to have a really ugly car that drives well.

3.)  It doesn't make much sense to have a pretty car that doesn't run well.

Good analogy. Though Lotus ruins it. Then it's possible to have a pretty car that drives incredibly, sounds like an angry sewing machine and breaks just about every time you use it.

I think of it like a woman. Find one that you really get on with and just seems to click with you and the wrapper becomes all the more attractive to you regardless. Find one that's pretty and more often than not the contents are batshit f**king crazy. Before long the gorgeous packaging becomes tainted by the contents...

Ok that doesn't really work either.

[Jefe]

One thing I've noticed is that the girls dancing in front of the stage couldn't care less what my pedals look like. They don't even know what a pedal is.

[Willybomb]

This is a weird topic for me.

On one hand, when I'm buying a commercial product, things have to be completely functional and as long as the basics are there - labels, effect type, probably a painted box, then I'm happy.  When I first started this pedal thing I couldn't really understand some of the finishes people were doing with their fancy artworks et al - yet when I build my own, I do more than a the basics - normally I try and design a graphic that relates to the "name" of the circuit as opposed to the effect type.  I don't think I go over the top, but it's not a single solid color either.

I suppose I try to keep with the colour associations I have with certain effects - and we can thank Boss for that - because I don't want to be deciphering what does what under stage lighting.

I don't think I think my pedals sound better if they look good, but I don't want my DIY efforts to look like shite either.  That's probably a matter of pride more than anything.

[pickdropper]

I certainly dig good aesthetics on a build.  If it's a box I've spent a lot of time making look good, I definitely have a stronger desire for it to sound equally as good.

In the end, if it doesn't work for me (or I can't tweak it to my liking) then it won't get used much, regardless of what it looks like.  I kind of look at pedals like cars:

1.)  It's totally reasonable to have a pretty car that drives well.  All things being equal, this is my preference.

2.)  It's also totally reasonable to have a really ugly car that drives well.

3.)  It doesn't make much sense to have a pretty car that doesn't run well.

Good analogy. Though Lotus ruins it. Then it's possible to have a pretty car that drives incredibly, sounds like an angry sewing machine and breaks just about every time you use it.

I think of it like a woman. Find one that you really get on with and just seems to click with you and the wrapper becomes all the more attractive to you regardless. Find one that's pretty and more often than not the contents are batshit f**king crazy. Before long the gorgeous packaging becomes tainted by the contents...

Ok that doesn't really work either.

Well, there are always exceptions, no matter how illogical.  :-)

I had a friend growing up whose dream car was a Pontiac Fiero, which was a righteous piece of junk of a car.  He finally got one and absolutely loved it.  It burst into open flames on multiple occasions and he still loved it.  I remember him getting stuck somewhere in the middle of winter and working on it when it was so cold that he needed thicker gloves to feel his fingers.  Yet, he still loved it.

I would've cubed it, then set it on fire, then cubed it again, then buried it at sea.

On second thought, I probably wouldn't have needed to set it on fire.  It probably would've done that itself while being cubed.

[Leevibe]

If aesthetic weren't important to us we wouldn't be bothering with trivial things like tone, or music for that matter. So graphics are a visual art, tone is aural. They both affect us and when they are combined in the right way they can be more than the sum of their parts. I'm a sucker for good looking gear. And I will say that sometimes even "ugly" is its own cool aesthetic. Like a ratty old tweed deluxe. You just look at it and you know it sounds amazing.