$400 for a clone with a lot of extra features is reasonable IMO. It's much better than $300 for the same pedal from Analogman without those features, if we are going there. The only reason people buy the original is hype - this one actually has a lot of extras compared to most clones.
I didn't intend to insult you personally and I can see how it reads like that, and I apologize for that. But I feel like the argument I meant to convey is still pretty valid.
The assumption that it's overpriced and overhyped because the features are unnecessary (and thus the buyer is overpaying) hinges on people not using those features - and you literally said that you wouldn't use them. But that doesn't mean other people don't use them, and assuming they wouldn't in my opinion comes from a self centered place. So if you assume other people don't use them because you don't use them, then that is in my opinion self-centered.
Thank you for explaining that you meant your post in a different way.
There are two points of my argument. First, the pedal has features that are going to be unused by most of the people who purchase the pedal. Second, Chase Bliss has hyped the pedal up such that people believe it's going to have a better sound than any of the other clones available for half the price. It's important not to conflate these two.
When I said I don't care about midi because I'm playing ac/dc, that is a metaphor for the greater collective of guitar players whose boards I've seen, most of which do not utilize midi. It just so happens that I do not either. I am a sample representative of the majority of guitar players in this sense, and I used myself in the metaphor because when writing it is best to speak from one's own voice.
In your post you justify one overpriced pedal by comparing it to another, saying $400 isn't so bad compared to $300. This is a false comparison because the Analogman pedal isn't $300, it's $335 and a 6 year waiting list, or double to triple that on ebay. This is the main appeal of the Bros AM - it's a "legit" clone you can buy now for less than the effective price of the original.
But what makes something legit? Is it the fact that you know Chase Bliss engineered it correctly? But wait, we all build pedals on this forum, so don't you trust your own building prowess enough to know you can build a pedal just as good as the Analogman for $45?
Ok, but how about the regular guitar player who can't build pedals?
Well first, they aren't my intended audience, so we are really talking about two different points of view: How we view affordability of pedals, and how the average guitar play views the affordability of pedals. Or in other words, practice vs theory, respectively, considering the setting.
We know as much as anyone that the non-pedal-builder guitar player can go with any of the more affordable clones out there and still get a good sound; we're not using special diodes and magical capacitors and still our pedals sound great! But how does the non-builder know it's really going to be a good sound, or that the pedal is made correctly? They have to rely on branding. Branding is - at its heart - someone assuring you their product is good because their overall reputation is good. But it's very important to recognize that this exists because the buyer does not possess specialized knowledge about the product - and as such is in a vulnerable position.
This is the crux of my original post - regular people are being preyed on by companies that use hype to sell pedals to people who don't know any better. It's sales 101. I don't believe the pedal itself is bad, but CB is exploiting people who don't know any better by hyping their pedal, which is very bad.
If you have a setup where you use MIDI and want a KoT, then it makes sense to buy one. But if you don't, then it's a waste of money. But that's not the point I was making. My overall take is that companies are by their nature going to pursue their own self interest of selling their product and increasing their bottom line, rather than taking the more ethical position of teaching people to use their own ears and try things out for themselves. This is generally accepted and we deal with it because in the big picture it means we can have nice things. But the CB Bros AM was just a very obvious cash grab and it's hard to respect it.
