Is it me or do pedals come in circles? For every new pedal that is released, a similar one was done 20 years ago. Have pedals really improved that much or are they just using the same circuits time and time again?
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Haven't we been here before?
- Thread starter Stan_da_man
- Start date
The issue comes from players more than from makers. You don't need more than a handful of fuzzes to run circles around every possible tone but it you get into it you will easily try dozens.
Pedal makers build what sells. There are a lot of paths recently explored that were neglicted before but innovation isn't what sells the best.
Pedal makers build what sells. There are a lot of paths recently explored that were neglicted before but innovation isn't what sells the best.
Pedals specific to bass have greatly improved, considering they used to not exist at all.
Originally, the Entwistle/Squire technique of clean lows and dirty highs had to be done with dual amp rigs, often a guitar rig for highs and a bass rig for lows. Then it could be simulated with a stereo rack rig. Within the past decade or so, there are multiband distortion pedals that make a single small amp sound like a monster dual rig.
Vintage stuff will always keep coming around, but there are now plenty of bass-specific versions of those classics. More imporantly there are brand new ideas: multiband distortion being just one of many. It's great to be a bassist these days.
Vintage stuff will always keep coming around, but there are now plenty of bass-specific versions of those classics. More imporantly there are brand new ideas: multiband distortion being just one of many. It's great to be a bassist these days.
I just keep rocking my Fulltone BassDrive and SansAmp BDDI hoping I'll be cool again soon. #crickets
Technically, many of them aren't the same circuits at all.
Show me the same circuit as an MBD-1 in an old pedal. How about an Alpha-Omega? Or any of the crossover distortions?
Or even the now not-so-new Tech21 Character Series?
Which old pedals had those circuits?
Show me the same circuit as an MBD-1 in an old pedal. How about an Alpha-Omega? Or any of the crossover distortions?
Or even the now not-so-new Tech21 Character Series?
Which old pedals had those circuits?
The pedalboard enthusiasts are among the easiest customers one could imagine.
Buying, playing and selling pedals is a journey and once you started down that slippery slope,
you might find yourself in trouble of putting food on the table - and with a rather large collection of boutique versions of the big muff that sound the same to your bandmates but make a world of difference to you.
It's not that hard to convince these people that the new batch of pedals does something different and might just end your search for THAT pedal. These people want to believe. They want to be convinced. It's like shooting fish in a barrel.
Buying, playing and selling pedals is a journey and once you started down that slippery slope,
you might find yourself in trouble of putting food on the table - and with a rather large collection of boutique versions of the big muff that sound the same to your bandmates but make a world of difference to you.
It's not that hard to convince these people that the new batch of pedals does something different and might just end your search for THAT pedal. These people want to believe. They want to be convinced. It's like shooting fish in a barrel.
You must be so me how missing a bunch of pedals. Iron Ether (FMERon), EH (Superego, Mel9), Strymon, Red Panda, Walrus audio, so many others even new DOD before corporate moves destroyed it. I got my compressor settings online from TC's toneprint website. Lots of new classic fuzzes use new routing and tone control filters as well as controlled starving and waveform shape controls, gate, for cool sounds, and that's new combined with better bypass than you could got 20y ago...
Bryan R. Tyler
TalkBass: Usurping My Practice Time Since 2002
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Oh thank goodness you said that. I took from time from licking the nearest window to read your post, and feel so much more logical now.
Please. That is ridiculous high and mighty attitude.
I can't wait until I'm good enough to need a pedal.
Or two.
Or two.
Just to clarify: I count myself among those who spent a month's salary on boutique pedals in the last two weeks alone.
Who cares that my unreliable old car is in the shop again? When I want to go places, I step on my new Walrus Audio Fathom and zone out.
Ric5
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^This. It's more about new usable features than totally new sounds nowadays, although there are boutique companies making very unique-sounding pedals.
I went through a ton of envelope filters with mixed results, until I settled on the EHX Q-Balls. Of all the modern pedals, it's the closest to the sound of the original Mu-Tron III I've tried, though I haven't had the pleasure of trying the Mu-FX Tru-Tron 3X. The difference (and it's a HUGE difference for me) is that I get to tailor the sweep as much as I want with the Attack/Decay/Start/Stop controls. I can get anything from a quick "bow" to a long, drawn-out "mmmwwwooowww." I can also get fixed filter (no sweep) tones in several different frequencies. I don't have to rely on someone's else idea of where the various ranges should be. I feel like EHX made the Q-Balls just for me, and I think that's the whole point of having so many choices out there. There's a much better chance of finding the pedal that's just right for you now than there's ever been, IMO.
Try telling someone who uses a Darkglass B7K Ultra that they only need a Tube Screamer, and see how that works out.
Funny. I own three bass overdrive pedals and am thinking of selling one. It takes a while to convince me a pedal is worth it. Even Darkglass pedals which I will buy quicker, are followed by a skeptical testing period. The reason they stayed is because I heard something really good that I couldn't achieve before.
I trust my ears. If I don't hear what I want the pedal is gone very fast. I owned many pedals for less time than it took to repack them and ship it back. And many stayed a week and then got sold.
If it appears I have brand loyalty it is because that brand exceeded my expectations more than a few times.
I guess my point is it's a hobby for me, and it only becomes a sickness and hype-purchase if you let it.
It sure beats buying whole amps. That will make you go broke much faster!
