I’ve pretty much written off the entire pedal industry other than Broughton at this point.
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Ever write off an entire brand?
- Thread starter Rolling Thunder
- Start date
This! Even the very best companies don't have a 100% success rate. I can't imagine writing off an entire brand based on a sample of one unless the resulting CS was terrible.
I suppose an exception would be if I took a chance on an unknown company and the product turned out to be a cheap POS that wasn't as advertised -- but I can't imagine ever doing that. The only time I'm ever an early adopter is with a well-established brand, and even then I usually buy from vendors that have liberal return policies. Aside from that, I always do advance research -- I take in lots of reviews and demos, especially user comments here at Talkbass -- before pulling the trigger.
For me, buying new gear that disappoints in some way is pretty much unforgivable. Because I've usually spent a lot of time researching, trying things out, etc. It's only happened once, but when it did (for quality reasons), that was that.
I'm not going to mention names, but one of the boutique pedal makers popular on TB is on my no longer purchase list. I've probably owned 10 of their pedals and had problems with 4 or 5 of them. I had a couple that I bought and didn't get around to using for a long time and when I finally plugged them in, one didn't work, and one of the buttons on the other one didn't work. I've sold as many of the ones that work as I could, I'll probably have the other ones fixed at some point and sell them too.
With the exception of the T-40/T-60, it would have to be Peavey...My dad owned a music store in the mid-80's to mid-90's, and i made a lot of money fixing them. Maybe I should be thankful for them instead...the repairs did help pay for my college education after all.
What is sad (for me) it that I recently bought a Trace Elliott Elf. Pulled it out of the box, and there on the back is a big "Made by Peavey" sticker.
What is sad (for me) it that I recently bought a Trace Elliott Elf. Pulled it out of the box, and there on the back is a big "Made by Peavey" sticker.
As far as pedals, the effects don’t really work for bass. Sound processing is different.
But for FX the only ones that really work is chorus,octaver,and envelop filters.
Overdrive is decent if you go solid state, the rest of it just cheapens your signal.
But for FX the only ones that really work is chorus,octaver,and envelop filters.
Overdrive is decent if you go solid state, the rest of it just cheapens your signal.
Yeah, I have a personal boycott going against several companies, probably the most notable being Demeter. Demeter earned my ire some years ago after I bought a Compulator pedal and the footswitch stopped working. When I contacted Demeter, the guy who replied to my repair inquiry was really snarky about it and effectively wanted to re-charge me the original price of the pedal for shipping and repair. So I told him to pack sand, sold the pedal on TB as a fixer-upper, and I will never touch another Demeter product ever again.
Yes, but rarely do. When it comes to musical gear, I don’t think is so much that I’ve written them off, it more like they don’t offer anything that I want, especially when they sell something that they know is going to have problems. Like I said it's rare, as I give a firm every chance to make things right. The vast majority do.
My take on that--either you shouldn't have bought them, and should have been more careful in buying them.
and if it's same day you didn't give them enough time.
If the dislike is immediate it makes me wonder why you bought them in the first place.
Of course you are entitled to like or dislike any pedals for any reason.
Gibson basses.
I have really tried hard to like them to the point of ownership. I mean, c'mon... I'm a huge Peter Cetera fan.
Just glorious. But even he switched over to Fender in the early 70's... there's probably a lesson in that.
Like someone mentioned before... every last Gibson bass I've ever put my hands on has simply been a disappointing boat anchor... just heavy, muddy, and no life. It's to the point now that when I think of basses that I might consider buying, Gibson doesn't even pop into my mind as an idea anymore. When I come across one in real life I always give it a try, hoping that I'll find that amazing exception.
I have really tried hard to like them to the point of ownership. I mean, c'mon... I'm a huge Peter Cetera fan.
Just glorious. But even he switched over to Fender in the early 70's... there's probably a lesson in that.
Like someone mentioned before... every last Gibson bass I've ever put my hands on has simply been a disappointing boat anchor... just heavy, muddy, and no life. It's to the point now that when I think of basses that I might consider buying, Gibson doesn't even pop into my mind as an idea anymore. When I come across one in real life I always give it a try, hoping that I'll find that amazing exception.
I’ve played Gibson basses (among others) for 35+ years.
But like any bass, they work for different things. Personally, I use them for ‘blend in’ basses.
If I’m playing something with twin guitars, where we’re playing unison notes together
going for that ‘big guitar’ sound, you want the bass to blend in, to sound like one big guitar.
The Gibson’s work perfectly because they don’t have much definition.
They also work if you want a more ‘upright’ sound.
They are also good to overdrive, especially live.
But if you’re not going for that, then you won’t like them.
That’s any bass.
But like any bass, they work for different things. Personally, I use them for ‘blend in’ basses.
If I’m playing something with twin guitars, where we’re playing unison notes together
going for that ‘big guitar’ sound, you want the bass to blend in, to sound like one big guitar.
The Gibson’s work perfectly because they don’t have much definition.
They also work if you want a more ‘upright’ sound.
They are also good to overdrive, especially live.
But if you’re not going for that, then you won’t like them.
That’s any bass.
Fender overpriced? Maybe you’d like to look at some Smith basses, or Alembic.
I get to use a line here- Have you tried the Brown Acid? Try it. For an over the top fuzz in the muff category, I've found it to be very good with tons of low. Into a Melekko Downer it's apocalyptic. Maybe that's not your cup o tea. I also have the Phase 95 aboard due to it's size and their history (the phase 90, what a gorgeous sounding and looking pedal that was). An old MXR comp and yellow overdrive Drove the late 70s and 80s, into the 90s. The new Thump however failed due to ridiculously low headroom in the preamp. that so called I bring a whole echo-plex just to use the preamp argument doesn't make sense on bass when it sounds like bat droppings.
It's not worth it to write off effects companies. Other things don't get written off they just get displaced by what seems better.
It's not worth it to write off effects companies. Other things don't get written off they just get displaced by what seems better.
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I would like to write off Monster Cables too, but the ones I have just won't break down so I keep using them.
McDonalds I can easily do without.
I had a “write off” similar to yours. Sometime in the mid 70’s I had completely written off Peavey. They were thought of a second class (the entire line), sharp, hissy sounding (amps), and boat anchors (guitars and basses). That was a widely held opinion. Then, in the early 80’s, they responded to the criticism and fixed all those complaints. I don’t write them off anymore.
But, I’ve always loved Gibson basses, especially vintage Thunderbirds.
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Yes, a bass company located overseas. I had a problem with the neck/fretboard on a bass (2nd I ordered from him as a custom build) and through emails with me and my local luthier (a very respected guy w/ 40 years experience) he was condescending and outright rude. Shipped the bass back to him and he insisted it was strings. It wasn’t. My luthier wound up doing extensive fret work to fix the problem. This was on a few month old bass. I’ll never touch one again, even if someone wanted to give it to me.
edit: My first build from him, great. I have a friend who has one of his basses for a few years and loves it.
edit: My first build from him, great. I have a friend who has one of his basses for a few years and loves it.
Never any interest in things from that company with the aluminum cones.
Im sure there are plenty of fanboys though. Just my problem, as it usually is.
Im sure there are plenty of fanboys though. Just my problem, as it usually is.
Sure there are some brands where after a few bad experiences I’ve been turned off. Reading the thread and finding out the brand you were referring to I can see how you feel that way because when it comes to that particular brand they are very hit or miss imo. So I can understand why some people love them and some people don’t. Because imo about half their pedals are good and the other half are kinda meh. Dig the octaves, the “bass distortion,” analog delay and wah but don’t care for their overdrive, fuzz, chorus or compressor for example.
