Two more pedals, to talk about, today- my Donner Yellow Fall and my Joyo Ultimate drive. Both of these are Chinese pedals, and both are probably knockoffs. The Ultimate Drive is supposedly based on the Fulltone OCD, and I can hear that. The Yellow Fall looks like it's based on nothing, but sounds quite a bit like the Mooer Echolizer, which itself has been accused of being a clone of a Maxon AD-999 analog delay.
I really like both. The Donner is a tiny micro pedal, along the lines of what Mooer does. The logos, the builds, and several other factors make me think that several of these brands are actually one and the same.- Donner, Mooer, Joyo, Caline, Nux, and Biyang, they all seem like they might be made in the same places by the same people. So, I think it's more honest to just call in a Chinese digital echo pedal that's voiced with some distortion so it sounds Analog. I have reviewed it a bit more fully elsewhere.
Then, there is the Ultimate Drive. If you read blogs, forums, news-sites etc about Guitar Effects, chances are good you've heard some of the controversies about this little bad boy.
Part of the debate is the question of the ethics involved in purchasing an object. I come from a punk rock/Hardcore background so I’m used to these strange neurotic debates about the ethics of actions most folks don’t think about twice. However, such debates are becoming more commonplace vis a vis Mp3’s and piracy. See, the question comes down to- who deserves my money? Now forgive me if I’m mischaracterizing this, but the idea gets argued something like this- one side says I should spend the money to support an American/Independent/Small Business because I’m an American/they had the original idea/they support my local economy. Another side says I should save my money, and buy the cheapest product/ the easiest product to find/ the product they’re selling because it’s my money/there are no original ideas/I should support the business model that benefits me. Confusing enough? There are those that say I should buy a Fulltone OCD pedal, and those who say I should buy a Joyo Ultimate Overdrive, and those who say I should buy another stompbox entirely- maybe an Ibanez TS9, maybe a Boss DS-1, heck maybe I should homebrew my own. Now, it should be said- I’ve done all of the above- bought the overpriced “craft” and/or “Boutique” item, and bought the knockoff, and bought the old standard from the mass marketer, and made my own. I see it as a mostly morally “Flat” decision. I don’t think there’s a more or less ‘moral” decision, here. The fact is that whatever good you might be doing by supporting the ‘craft’ choice is offset by paying too much for what amounts to “cachet”- it’s the same thing as buying for the label. Whatever copyright evils you may be committing by buying the knockoff are offset if you buy it from a decent place- either an honest, and fair online retailer, or an equally fair and honest local retailer. I think there are far too many rabbit holes to fall into, with this sort of thing, so making it yourself just breaks the decision down into the components- where did you get the materials you made it out of? So, ultimately, the ones that I’ve done the most are buying the big name, and buying the knockoff. Why that is comes down to other decisions- for example, how much I value my time, and how much I can budget. I realize that there are other ways of looking at it. But, ultimately, I can live with that more easily than I can live with spending more money on a craft item that may or may not be made by better people, and may or may not be made under better conditions, and may or may not be better made. For example- Can I verify that the OCD pedal is made by a better person than the Chinese worker who made my Joyo Ultimate drive? Better in which way? I can verify that the build quality is extremely similar, and I’ve been around a fair number of circuits. Did the Joyo folks steal the idea? Possibly, however, if so, then, the Fulltone folks stole the idea from the TS808 mod on the TS9. As far as working conditions go- I have made stuff, and I can tell you right now that you do not need to go to China to find a sweatshop. I’ve taken jobs at “Fulfillment centers” in America that are definitely sweatshops. I trust that no one has truly fair working conditions.Like I said- rabbit holes.
But, if it's all about getting an object to fulfill a specific goal, then, these debates go away, right? I don't think so. What if we were talking about Fur? If I had a dream of wearing a Baby Sealskin jacket, would all the ethical debates just go away? So, yes, I do have to look at the controversies- and I think I side more with those who say that the boutique stuff is a racket. i know I'm on dangerous ground here, but it has to be said- a lot of the "craft" renaissance going on in multiple venues- everything from Beer to Etsy to musical equipment- is a scam meant to prey upon our pretentious vanity. Is the T shirt you bought on Redbubble necessarily better than one bought at Target? Really think about this- because the T shirt, as in the material, itself, most likely came from the same place, in either case. So, you're just talking about the design on the T shirt. You might prefer the design on one or the other, but I fail to see how one or the other is necessarily a "better" decision, and can make you a "better" person- but let's face it- you want an easy way to pretend that you're a better person. So, rather than actually researching who has the best labor practices, and where your T shirt comes from, and who the Artists are that designed the picture on the Tshirt, you just assign a nonsensical value upon "craft", right? I've been to these hipster craft fairs, and I know some of the people selling "craft" items, and to get right down to it- not all of them are worth a damn. To bring it back to Effects pedals, I will say that some, not all, but some, are outright bigots and con-artists. Not to name names, but I think that some "makers" think it's OK to rip off other people, if those other people are "other" people. Like, if, say, a Japanese person designed it, it's ok to rip off that design, because it was a Japanese person. More concretely, I know of some "builders" who have a real problem with gay people, Asian people, and Latin people. So, is better to buy from a bigot who is hand-wiring his stuff, but all his designs are minor tweaks on something designed in Japan? Likewise, I know that lots of people find it ok to put down Devi Ever because of who Devi Ever is, nothing to do with the idea in her pedals. So, again, where I end up is saying that there are way too many rabbit holes to purchase anything feeling fully clean about it. It's morally, and ethically "flat" in that regard.
This already huge, and really is just an opening salvo on the topics. But, I'm hoping to give you an idea of why I find it interesting. If you found all this boring, seriously, I think it's only going to get worse from here.
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