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Boutique owners....your dirty secret?

M

MGR

Inactive
Jan 18, 2015
1,797
1,325
Bronx, NY
#1
Ok, this has probably been asked a million times, but hey, what the hell, why not get an updated version?

My question is to high end, boutique effect users. With all that artisinally made gear, is there still an old, dirty, potentially (god forbid) chinese made pedal that you actually use more?

For the spirit of getting the thread started, out of all my pedald (Lovetone, Frostwave, Infanem, Mr. Black, Idiotbox), the one pedal that gets love all the time and never gets turned off and never leaves my board is a.................................

DOD 250 Overdrive/Preamp Chinese made reissue. It just has a sound that really thickens up my tone and widens my bass's sonic footprint. In fact, right now, it's the only pedal on my board!
 
#2
I've got a few Boss pedals that I tend to prefer over anything. The BF-2 Flanger and CE-5 Chorus Ensemble are both excellent IMO. I have a bunch of "better" chori but I still prefer the tone of the CE-5. I've tried a bunch of flangers but the BF-2 does exactly what I want.

I have a Vortex Flanger and a Corona Chorus so my next stunt is to try and attempt to make a tone print that sounds like the BF-2 and CE-5 for them. I'm skeptical but with the amount of control you have in the tone print it should theoretically be possible.

I also like the DD-3, DD-7, OBD-3 (gasp!), the TU-3, and a bunch of others. Not better than others, but they're still good pedals.

In fact, I threw together a board with only Boss pedals on it just for fun and to show that you don't have to spend a ton of money to have good effects that a lot of pros use. TU-3 > OBD-3 > BF-2 > DD-3 > CE-5
 
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#3
I find it hard to pick an octave pedal that I like more than the OC-2. And I just picked up a MIJ CE-3 that actually has a better chorus sound than most of the posh stuff I have tried. Very lush, cool sound. Subtle but very cool.

And then the ultimate classic, the MXR Phase 90. There are many other phase pedals I love, but it's an absolute classic.
 
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#4
Dave W said:
I've got a few Boss pedals that I tend to prefer over anything. The BF-2 Flanger and CE-5 Chorus Ensemble are both excellent IMO. I have a bunch of "better" chori but I still prefer the tone of the CE-5. I've tried a bunch of flangers but the BF-2 does exactly what I want.

I have a Vortex Flanger and a Corona Chorus so my next stunt is to try and attempt to make a tone print that sounds like the BF-2 and CE-5 for them. I'm skeptical but with the amount of control you have in the tone print it should theoretically be possible.

I also like the DD-3, DD-7, OBD-3 (gasp!), the TU-3, and a bunch of others. Not better than others, but they're still good pedals.

In fact, I threw together a board with only Boss pedals on it just for fun and to show that you don't have to spend a ton of money to have good effects that a lot of pros use. TU-3 > OBD-3 > BF-2 > DD-3 > CE-5
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Interesting......

I notice a lot of "big name" players actually have Boss pedals too. I always wonder if it's because they are simply just great pedals, or if they just grew up with that being the major brand and they stuck with them. I, for one, have an old Boss DM-3 that's been with me for over 25 years. To my ears, there is no better analog delay pedal.
 
#6
Mosfed said:
And then the ultimate classic, the MXR Phase 90. There are many other phase pedals I love, but it's an absolute classic.
Click to expand...
Great point! I see so many people (and I'm guilty too) or trying to find the most expensive and awesomely painted Phasers, and then run circles trying to convince themselves (and myself when I do it) that it is a million times better than a $70 box with one knob. But at the end of the day, it's the $70 box with one knob everyone is trying to emulate.
 
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#7
bcoomes said:
Digitech Digidelay - I don't currently have one, but I've owned 3 or 4 of them over the years. I'd pick up another one for a good price.
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an old guitarist of mine, who is very wealthy now and can afford any pedal he wants, still plays his old Digitech digital delay pedal as his main delay. It sits next to some really expensive pedals on his board too.
 
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#9
Dave W said:
I have a Vortex Flanger and a Corona Chorus so my next stunt is to try and attempt to make a tone print that sounds like the BF-2 and CE-5 for them. I'm skeptical but with the amount of control you have in the tone print it should theoretically be possible.
Click to expand...

Let me know how that works out. I found the Vortex and Corona completely unusable even with the TonePrint editor, except for a few very mild settings.
 
#12
I don't (/can't) use it more than my boutique stuff, but it deserves a special mention as I don't have any boutique pedals that could ever replicate what it does: A broken DOD FX92 Bass Grunge. It completely ruins the signal even when it's turned off, so I don't keep it on my board, but the sound it makes when it's in use is something special; the more it breaks, the harder it squeals! :D I also like using it as a stand-alone noise box by running it in an infinite loop.
 
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#13
Hypocrite said:
Let me know how that works out. I found the Vortex and Corona completely unusable even with the TonePrint editor, except for a few very mild settings.
Click to expand...

Dang I was able to make the Vortex do anything and evreything with the Toneprint editor. Did you notice the drop down box with all the different flanger modes? I didn't at first.
 
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#15
MXR has great pedals. Way Huge Pedals (also under the Dunlop umbrella) has great relatively cheap pedals: Swollen Pickle, Pork Loin, almost their entire range is awesome.

SouthAMPton is boutique I guess but super cheap. Their Fifth Gear and All things Equal are great little pedals.

Then, you have Joyo. Their UD is better than any OCD or OCD clone I have ever tried.

Source Audio is not boutique and their pedals are hard to beat when you consider all you get for their price.
 
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#16
I don't consider it a dirty secret, but I love the Line 6 DL4. There are other main stream pedals I like too, but that is probably the most consistent one.

I think that lots of those brands remain successful because they make some great gear.
 
#19
Not sure if I fit the demographic the OP requested as I don't really have boutique pedals.
But I use what many consider to be higher end pedals and I almost always have the infamous Ibanez PD7 on my board.
I just like the way it colors my tone slightly on the "clean" setting and the attack switch is occasionally used.
 
#20
My best limiter (I use one at the end of my chain as a brick wall volume) is a Boss LM-2B! (paid 20.00 for it and I've tried ones more than 10x that price but this one works for me!). All my pedals end up gouing through it and it just adds something to my tone that I like (as long as ENHANCE is never on (getting rid of it altogether)
Love it so much I'm getting it re-housed and etched!

Also own a Behringer BSY-600 Bass Synth that I love so much I had it rehoused,etched and it gets used A LOT (great for electronica/techno/house type music)
 

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