Joe Bonamassa is a good friend of ours, and when he graciously invited us to take a tour of his gear collection last year, it ended up being one of the coolest things we've ever done on Reverb. You can see the full video and virtual tour here.

But in addition to being a world-class gearhead and a torchbearer of modern electric blues stylings, Joe is also known for his, at times, outspoken opinions on various guitar topics. Today, for instance, MusicRadar posted an interview with Joe and Black Country Communion collaborator Glenn Hughes in which Joe takes pedalheads to task as being "f**king lazy."

Here's the relevant section:

"I’ve really gotten over pedals. 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!"

While certainly the use of pedals alone doesn't really make you a better player—and we can all agree that guitarists should play their instrument as much as possible—the sentiment does come off as a bit overly dismissive. So, pedalheads of the world, what's your retort? Let us know in the comments.