In my time on various musician and guitar gear forums I've come across people who say something along the lines of this:
Don't hide behind distortion or various effects, the best players are those who plug their straight into an amp and play.
While many guitarists can do that and sound quite good, how boring would it be if
everyone plugged their guitar straight into their Twin Reverb? I feel effects pedals are an essential part of many guitarists sounds and that's perfectly okay!
Effects pedals can bring an even bigger impact to pivotal moments of songs or even entire albums. Hell, they even can define the sound of a genre like spring reverb for surf-rock. In a lot of music I listen to I find the same exact sounds recurring over and over again and the album feels drawn out and far from dynamic. I think musicians, especially in those in various metal bands should experiment more with effects to accentuate certain moments in their songs or just make their guitar sound like some other instrument completely. Guitar pedals can bring life to your sound and even compel you to play in styles you would never have imagined.
So to all you guitarists, bassists and any other musicians, if you don't already, experiment liberally with all kinds of effects! It's entertaining and inspiring, it could even lead to a new genre of music, you never know. So let all the haters play blues licks through their Fenders all day (no offense meant if you do), use all the effects you want and create music you love. Don't let anyone tell you the 'right' way to play guitar, you're unique way is the best way.
