so why are those little boxes that apply distortions to audio signals called "guitar pedals" anyway? they don't usually involve pedals, do they?
@Dex yeah but we've seen some of these, they always seem to have knobs if anything at all
@Felthry Pedal means 'thing you use with your foot', and most of them have bits and bobs that you are supposed to step on to use it.
@fibonacci_reminder our idea of them, at least previous to this conversation, was "a box with like one knob on it" because I could swear we've seen some like that and i don't think we'd seen anything actually pedal-like before
@Felthry Some of them have knobs, but those are usually for adjusting the exact parameters of the distortion, and are usually adjusted with the hands. But they also usually have a sturdy 'button' in the middle that's meant to be pressed with the foot, which you might be mistaking for a knob because of the similar shape?
@Felthry if you're performing with a guitar live on stage with just the two hands, your options are limited for applying effects live - either you'd need something head mounted (which can be clearly seen by the audience), or you'd need something that uses your legs like a pedal