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| ALUMINUM BUTTONS ON LEFT, PLASTIC BUTTONS ON RIGHT |
BAREFOOT STOMPBOX PERFORMANCE ACCESSORY
When I'm playing guitar in my studio I like to play in my socks without shoes. I like the connection to the Earth that I feel without footwear. The problem is switching my gadgets on and off. The buttons hurt my feet a little and sometimes the small size of the buttons are difficult to hit quickly.
My first encounter with button toppers was watching some Rig Rundown videos by Premier Guitar. I thought they looked very cool and eventually I found out the brand name and the price. At $10-12 each "Barefoot Buttons" looked interesting but the price was high. I kept telling myself I would get $100-worth for my most important buttons but I kept avoiding it due to the price.
One day while shopping on Amazon I was pushed one of those magical "maybe you'll like this too" items, it was button toppers that were reasonably priced. There were a couple of brands, one used Allen wrenches and screws like the Barefoot Button brand and the other style was plastic snap-on. I immediately ordered a bag of plastic snap-on type and aluminum buttons in Red and Silver for testing. Would these imitations be as good as the real thing? I still have not spent the money on any Barefoot Buttons due to their high cost each but I liked the imitations so much I ordered 40 more of them in silver aluminum and 32 of the plastic type.
PLASTIC SNAP-ON BIG BUTTONS
These buttons come in a clear plastic bag in a variety of fruity colors. These were easy to install and they've held up very well. None have come loose or broken.
While the aluminum buttons look cool and function well they can visually block the LED on a stomp box that tells you if the effect is on or off. The plastic buttons let the light from the LED come through the button which is nice.
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| STOMP BOX EFFECTS WITH PLASTIC BUTTON TOPPERS |
Overall I have no complaints with the plastic snap-on buttons. They feel good under my foot and they make buttons much more comfortable and easier to press when I'm not wearing shoes. I've tried them for on-off and tap-tempo functions, no problem in either application.
ALUMINUM BIG BUTTONS FOR BAREFOOT PLAYING
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| ALUMINUM BUTTON TOPPERS IN RED AND NATURAL ALUMINUM COLORS |
I initially purchased a bag of six red and 10 plain aluminum buttons. I deployed these on my Voodoo Lab switchers to give the buttons easier access and a bigger target for my foot when I'm switching things up.
These buttons look great on the pedal board and definitely make it much easier to hit the button I'm reaching for. The metal buttons have a rubber grommet-like interior to grip the switch head. There are three Allen head screws for each button. A bag of buttons includes the uninstalled screws and two Allen wrenches (one is a spare).
If you're going to deploy a lot of these on your pedal board you might want to pour the buttons into a bowl and install the screws in them before installing the buttons on the pedals. It's a little bit tedious installing the screws, my antique eyeballs (without glasses) were barely able to make out the Allen wrench end of each screw.
I was glad to find spare screws and a spare Allen wrench in each bag of metal buttons. I did not lose any of the screws during installation but it would be easy to drop a screw and lose it while fiddling about installing the screws in the buttons initially.
After I installed the metal buttons I jammed on my guitar rig for a couple of hours and it was a real joy every time I reached out and tapped a button.
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| ALUMINUM BUTTON HEADS UP CLOSE |
EPILOGUE
I've been using these buttons every day for the last three weeks and I have found nothing to criticize. They have not come loose or malfunctioned in any way. I love them. Many of the effects on my big pedal board are brought in and out of my signal path by Voodoo Lab switchers. This meant I did not need a button for every effect pedal, only the ones I switch live.
Tap Tempo is a lot nicer with a big button on top.
I'm sure the Barefoot Buttons are high quality but I prefer the price on these and so far I can find no reason to spend 5x as much per button.
I'm sure you'll find them on Amazon if you do a little creative searching.
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Thank you for reading, good music to you!
