Query failed: connection to localhost:9312 failed (errno=111, msg=Connection refused). Is it still a pedal if there's no on/off switch? - FX Discussions on The Fretboard
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UNPLANNED DOWNTIME: 12th Oct 23:45

Is it still a pedal if there's no on/off switch?

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Paul_CPaul_C Frets: 7086
in FX

Much to my surprise I won an ebay auction today (I only bid the start price and fully expected to be outbid).

It's a DSM Humboldt Simplifier MK1 like this one:


httpsimagesreverbcomimageuploads--GOj1YiL0--t_card-squarev1638647192pjctom2tmcy3yzitk24kjpg

I'm hoping it'll provide a lightly over-driven sound for my Katana, though the Poly Beebo is adding modelled amp sounds to its portfolio which sound pretty good too.

"I'll probably be in the bins at Newport Pagnell services."  fretmeister
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  • CarbonCopyCarbonCopy Frets: 161
    I don't think it's the on off switch that determines if something is a pedal. It is whether it is operated by foot. I don't consider the Simplifier as a pedal for that reason.

    I had the Simplifier deluxe (which incidentally comes with a 2 button footswitch/pedal) and loved the sound of it and how responsive it was to playing. It was ironically just a bit too complicated for me and I could never get my head around where each switch needed to go to get it to work with how I was using it.
    I've recently ordered the mkii Simplifier as it seems simpler and also has the built in reverb like the deluxe.

    I hope you enjoy it when it arrives.
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  • TheBigDipperTheBigDipper Frets: 4501
    edited October 2023
    I don't think it's the on off switch that determines if something is a pedal. It is whether it is operated by foot. I don't consider the Simplifier as a pedal for that reason.

    I had the Simplifier deluxe (which incidentally comes with a 2 button footswitch/pedal) and loved the sound of it and how responsive it was to playing. It was ironically just a bit too complicated for me and I could never get my head around where each switch needed to go to get it to work with how I was using it.
    I've recently ordered the mkii Simplifier as it seems simpler and also has the built in reverb like the deluxe.

    I hope you enjoy it when it arrives.
    It is. I've never owned an original Simplifier, but I owned a DLX for a while, but never got to like it enough because of the workflow and general fiddlyness. It wasn't the "go direct" twin channel amp I was hoping for. The Mk II is the "go direct" box on my pedalboard and fixes everything I didn't like about the DLX. I've dialled in a nice Fender clean sound into two cabs and use pedals for the rest. The headphone amp is a bit meh but everything else is great. If you have a mixer, bypassing the headphone out on the Mk II and using the headphone out on the mixer is absolutely fine. 

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  • SassafrasSassafras Frets: 30022
    My old MXR EQ pedal hasn't got an on/off switch.
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  • KeefyKeefy Frets: 2064
    I don't think it's the on off switch that determines if something is a pedal. It is whether it is operated by foot. I don't consider the Simplifier as a pedal for that reason.

    I had the Simplifier deluxe (which incidentally comes with a 2 button footswitch/pedal) and loved the sound of it and how responsive it was to playing. It was ironically just a bit too complicated for me and I could never get my head around where each switch needed to go to get it to work with how I was using it.
    I've recently ordered the mkii Simplifier as it seems simpler and also has the built in reverb like the deluxe.

    I hope you enjoy it when it arrives.
    It is. I've never owned an original Simplifier, but I owned a DLX for a while, but never got to like it enough because of the workflow and general fiddlyness. It wasn't the "go direct" twin channel amp I was hoping for. The Mk II is the "go direct" box on my pedalboard and fixes everything I didn't like about the DLX. I've dialled in a nice Fender clean sound into two cabs and use pedals for the rest. The headphone amp is a bit meh but everything else is great. If you have a mixer, bypassing the headphone out on the Mk II and using the headphone out on the mixer is absolutely fine. 

    I’m GASing hard for a Simplifier MkII - it would take the place of both a RevivalDrive Compact borrowed from my small R’n’R pedalboard, and a Two Notes Torpedo CAB that I use in my home studio.

    According to wordreference.dictionary.com, ‘pedal’ means: ‘a foot-operated lever used to control certain mechanisms, as automobiles, or to play or modify the sounds of certain musical instruments, as pianos, organs, or harps.’ There has to be some foot operation involved, so anything without a foot-switch, treadle, or foot-operable pressure pad or proximity sensor, is not actually a pedal.
    GRAEME SCOTT - Guitar & Bass dep | Keefy's Feedback | FS: Bose PA
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  • SporkySporky Frets: 23802
    I believe this to be a preamp rather than a pedal.

    It looks amusingly complimacated. 
    "[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33263
    edited October 2023
    I would argue that a pedal is a foot operated device (effects pedal, bicycle pedal, sewing machine pedal).
    It can be a switch, lever or treadle.

    An effects unit without a switch would be ... an effects unit?

    #pedantscorner
    James Richmond

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  • YorkieYorkie Frets: 934
    Not a pedal. Still kickable. 
    Adopted northerner with Asperger syndrome. I sometimes struggle with empathy and sarcasm – please bear with me.   
    My trading feedback: https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/210335/yorkie

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 69426
    It's the foot-operation thing, as CarbonCopy said. A volume pedal is still a pedal because you use it with your foot, even though they don't usually have a switch.

    An MXR 6-band EQ isn't really a pedal, even though it's in a pedal-sized casing. I always used to put mine on top of the amp anyway, connected to the FX loop with patch cables.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • SassafrasSassafras Frets: 30022
    The Dallas Rangemaster never had a footswitch.
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  • YorkieYorkie Frets: 934
    And the Orange Squeezer didn't even lie on the floor/board!
    Adopted northerner with Asperger syndrome. I sometimes struggle with empathy and sarcasm – please bear with me.   
    My trading feedback: https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/210335/yorkie

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  • TheBigDipperTheBigDipper Frets: 4501
    Keefy said:
    <snip>
    I’m GASing hard for a Simplifier MkII - it would take the place of both a RevivalDrive Compact borrowed from my small R’n’R pedalboard, and a Two Notes Torpedo CAB that I use in my home studio.

    <snip>
    That's a good shout. To my ears, the speaker emulations are far nicer than the CAB - which I did buy as part of building my "go direct" kit in the hope it would be great. But I didn't like it. The RDC is a lovely thing, of course, but the Simplifier II is also very good. So, credit card at the ready, eh? :-) 
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  • KeefyKeefy Frets: 2064
    Sassafras said:
    The Dallas Rangemaster never had a footswitch.
    Yorkie said:
    And the Orange Squeezer didn't even lie on the floor/board!
    Yup, neither of those are pedals.
    GRAEME SCOTT - Guitar & Bass dep | Keefy's Feedback | FS: Bose PA
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  • JAYJOJAYJO Frets: 1470
    My line6 jm4 looper has no on off switch and 3 buttons to step on.suppose  Its a pedal and effects unit  . Pia having no off on switch though. 
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  • Paul_CPaul_C Frets: 7086

    It arrived yesterday, and so far I like it :)
    "I'll probably be in the bins at Newport Pagnell services."  fretmeister
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  • bloodandtearsbloodandtears Frets: 1591
    "Simplifier".. surely some irony in the name..
    My trading feedback

    is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards sentences saying how crazy it is?

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  • Paul_CPaul_C Frets: 7086

    It's been pretty simple to use, like almost anything else it's just a bit of twiddling until you find something you like ;)
    "I'll probably be in the bins at Newport Pagnell services."  fretmeister
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  • RockerRocker Frets: 4843
    My Line6 POD 2 has no footswitch, it sits on top of an amp.  It is not a pedal as I define pedals….
    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]

    Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

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