The only way anyone could have figured out how to get good sounds out of these was by some accidental necessity.
The pedal’s sound into a clean amp is an audio invitation for you to throw it directly into the bin.
It was also the original home of Gibson guitars since their founding at the turn of the century, where Gibson remained until the 1980's when they moved to Nashville.
IOW the famous Les Pauls of the classic rock '70's were being manufactured concurrently across town.