Ugly Guitar Truth: Danelectro Billionaire Pedals

First off, sorry for the extended hiatus. NAMM nearly killed me. Ok, it didn't kill me as much as it burnt me out. I wrote about as much as I did the entire year in the span of a few weeks. Honestly, its hard to find interesting things to talk about all the time anyway. So now that I've given you a few excuses, we will talk about the one thing that I've actually had an opinion on in the last couple of months. Daneletro Billionaire Pedals...

I Hate Them

From the moment I saw them, I did not like a single thing about them. Not that I could avoid seeing them. Obviously, I follow the major guitar manufacturers... and Danelectro. So, I saw these pedals on the daily after their announcement. However, I started seeing them everywhere. In the Blues, 60 Cycle, and today (the day I'm writing this) Andertons all posted videos on Youtube. Others are posting on Twitter and Instagram. Daneletro already looks like they are trying to hard, then they push these pedal via online-influencers. Gag me with a spoon (actually, please don't). Everything from the look, to the names (SRV much?), to the oversaturation of social media, these pedal are just annoying and I hate them.

I Don't Actually Hate Them

I do. That is, I did until I tried them. I sat down with the Big Spender, Pride of Texas, Billionaire Boost, and Filthy Rich. I played a Fender Stratocaster through the previously mentioned pedals into a Peavy Bandit. As much as I wanted to confirm all the dislike I had for these pedals, I was completely corrected. The Pride of Texas overdrive is extremely usable. It invokes its namesake. It performs extremely well in an amp that is less than perfectly clean. The big spender is a super-solid Leslie simulator with a ramp function that adds a ton to this effect. The ramp function isn't adjustable that I'm aware of, but this pedal performs just as well or better than its peers. The Boost and Tremolo are pretty par for the course, but I can't find anything wrong with them.

Conclusion

So, I've gone from actively hating these pedals just based on the marketing and promotion of these pedals to admitting these are perfectly fine. I wouldn't mind owning the Pride of Texas or Big Spender pedals if I needed those effects. I'd only be slightly embarrassed by the way they look.