If you’re one of those guitarists who is forever fretting over whether you’ve gone too far down the rabbit hole with pedals, that you’re too reliant on them for crafting your sound, Joe Bonamassa is about to make you feel a whole lot worse.
In a recent interview with fellow Black Country Communion songwriter, Glenn Hughes, published by Music Radar, the iconic guitarist called out pedalheads as being, in his words, “fucking lazy”.
Iconic guitarist and bluesman Joe Bonamassa called out pedalheads as being “f**king lazy” in new interview.
Throughout the interview, Bonamassa talks through a range of topics, including the new Black Country Communion album BCCIV, and the gear that shaped it. Apparently, stompboxes didn’t play a huge role. In fact, the blues legend seems to have moved on from pedals altogether.
“I’ve really gotten over pedals,” he said. “I can’t keep up with this craze of boutique pedals that make you sound like everything but your guitar. I can’t get my head around it. So you don’t want to play a guitar [properly] so you buy a box that makes it sound like an algorithm, like you just fired up your computer and you can spend the night staring at your fuckin’ shoes? C’mon man…
I know I’ll get shit for saying this, but it’s fucking lazy. It’s insulting to people who spent 35 years playing and learning, like a lot of players. And we continue to work at it! These guys can barely play a chord but call themselves soundscapists. Get the fuck outta here! It’s bullshit. There’s so much masking and spin going on there. Can we get real for a minute? What do you actually play? Pick up an acoustic guitar… try that!”
Tell it how it is, Joe.
Read the full interview here.
