
Braids’ Raphaelle Standell-Preston and Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast are among the musicians who have openly criticized Danish company TC Electronic for the use of sexist language surrounding their “Pussy Melter” guitar products.
The guitar pedal is a collaboration with Satchel, the guitarist for comedy metal band, Steel Panther (who have songs with titles including “Gloryhole,” “Fat Girl,” and “It Won’t Suck Itself”).
“When we met up with Steel Panther’s oh-so-humble guitarist, he had only one condition: that the tone is as wet as the ladies on the front row,” reads the company’s website.
Guitarist Jessica Fennelly has started a petition to have TC Electronic remove the effect name and description, writing “Not only is this description extremely vulgar and unnecessary, but TC Electronic went out of their way to actually pay someone to write a marketing description for this.”
Montreal trio Braids shared the petition via Twitter, adding “As a female guitarist and just a female, in general, this makes me super disappointed!”
Other artists who have called out the company include Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner who wrote, “This is f****** disgusting,” Ted Leo, who tweeted, “HIRE WOMEN and consider that YOUR MARKET SHOULD ALSO BE WOMEN. Ya f****** troglodytes,” and Emily Reo who wrote, ” ew what the f***, I thought making pedals that break all the time was bad enough.”
What f*cking year is this ???
Pls sign my friends petition to EDIT/REMOVE @tcelectronic disgusting write up for their “pussy melter” guitar effect pedal. As a female guitarist and just a female in general this makes me super disappointed ! https://t.co/LK2YZJt70d pic.twitter.com/EILfX9lQhh— Braids (@braidsmusic) July 9, 2018
ew what the fuck, i thought making pedals that break all the time was bad enough
— ———- ——– (@emilyreo) July 9, 2018
This is fucking disgusting
— Japanese Breakfast (@Jbrekkie) July 9, 2018
Guitar pedal world is disgusting. Count how many “balls”/“ballz” names there are, too. Bros marketing for bros. HIRE WOMEN and consider that YOUR MARKET SHOULD ALSO BE WOMEN. Ya fucking troglodytes. (h/t @mattlemay) https://t.co/x32ksT9gwH
— Ted Leo (@tedleo) July 10, 2018
TC Electronic could not be reached for comment at press time.