"It's good, but not for me"

[Bassist4Eris]

The single best pedal I ever got rid of simply because I didn't need it for my style of playing was the MXR Bass Distortion. If you need a distortion that will really cut through the mix, this is a really good one!

 

[DJ Bebop]

A few times I've heard pedal demos, where I'd think "that's it! - that's the tone!, but alas, then they'd turn the pedal on, and it'd be all bees and fizz.

 

[johnk_10]

Terraformer.

 

[HolmeBass]

Diamond comp. Most pedal comps.

MXR BOD. Most muffs.

 

[ofguilt]

EHX Bass Big Muff Pi
I’ve bought 3 of these over the years... every time I’ve tried, it’s just not for me.

EHX Bass Preacher
Just couldn’t find a happy medium for the squash I wanted without taking away my low end.

Too be honest I’ve never had much luck with a compressor and the tone I like.

STUFF THAT WORKS FOR ME

Korg Pitchblack
I feel like it picks up and tracks better than the Boss TU2 & TU3

Sansamp BDDI
it’s the staple in the hardcore genre. Made famous by NYHC legends like.. Craig Setari, Hoya Roc, Mike Gallo

 

[rocu]

Yeah - same here. If I turned one of those on at a gig, I'd get someone talking in my ears, asking me what happened to my sound. Then again, over 90 percent of overdrive pedals fit into that category for me, but I still persist in finding that one that produces the sound in my head. A few times I've heard pedal demos, where I'd think "that's it! - that's the tone!, but alas, then they'd turn the pedal on, and it'd be all bees and fizz.

Bees & Fizz is a good name for a band.

 

[Real Soon]

EHX Q-Tron+. I like drippy funk envelopes, but that pedal's settings all sat right in between the settings I was hearing in my head, and never quite did the thing I needed as a result.

With even just one more parameter control, the DigiTech Bass Synth Wah would be a lifelong winner for me, but again, it could only get about 80% to what I needed. They're certainly fun, though.

And ultimately, after working with it for years, I decided I'd never really been 100% happy with my Swollen Pickle's layout. Sounded phenomenal, but it literally stressed me worrying about if a tiny knob nudge would make it destroy my amp, or suddenly go from a bear's intestinal rumble to a hive of bees on an LSD-infused dandelion trip. But I couldn't just pop off the knobs since it interacted with other pedals enough to need occasional tweaks.

There's more but I wanna give someone else a chance

 

[Ric5]

What are pedals (up to 3) that you recognize as being of good quality, or where you in some way understand why it appeals to others, but you don't like to use yourself (or just plain don't like)? Like how someone might enjoy how a Stingray looks or sounds, but when they play it something just doesn't work them

The Sansamp does not work for me … the lack of a mid control ruins it for me … I can't get a useful tone out of it

 

[Ric5]

pretty much any octave pedal …

and pretty much any phasor

 

[Basvarken]

The Catalinbread SFT is supposedly very good. But when I use it all it does is blowing out farty drive.
Not even close to a real SVT.

 

[cnltb]

Aguilar amps, cabs and pickups.
Not for me.
Same goes for mesa.

I don't mind Aguilar effect pedals but don't like them enough to actually buy any of them.

 

[dannybuoy]

All it needs is a second volume control to balance the dirt channel with the clean channel I think - I finally made peace with its flavor of dirt which initially threw me for a loop =0)

That's what the Chunk knob is for, sets the volume of the dirt channel. Use that to get the right balance of low/high channels then adjust the master volume from there.

Time for a 3rd?

 

[dannybuoy]

3Leaf Audio Groove Regulator, GR2, and Proton v3.

All sound great, none can make a bad sound, all are quality-built. They just don't go far enough for me; they just don't have the grit and grease that I need.

I found those too clean for my liking also. But I found peace with the Fwonkbeta and Discumbobulator. More grease than a bucket of KFC.

 

[And I]

Mad Professor Blueberry OD. Sounds great for what it is, but is advertised as "light to medium OD" and it's actually quite high gain.

 

[MtManiac]

Catalinbread SFT... I read tons of reviews, I thought it was everything I was looking for, I plugged in, fiddled with the knobs for a while, then put it back in its box and put it up for sale.

Same with the Ampeg Classic pedal. Different sound, for sure, but equally disappointing.

Same with the Scrambler circuit in the SCR-DI. Too fizzy.

Settled on a VT Bass DI that *is* everything I was looking for.

Everybody has different fingers (or picks), different gear, and definitely different ears, and each pedal has different knobs and circuits.

 

[lbbc]

Chorus & Synth pedals...so now I only use a Radial Tonebone Bassbone for additional EQ'ing and volume boost.

 

[HolmeBass]

Fairfield Barbershop and Sansamp BDDI!

 

[Rib 13]

any Boss multi-fx processor....great effects; always too noisy/hiss

 

[smo]

Blower Box - freakin genius on guitar, just couldn't get it to work on bass (for me)
Woolly Mammoth - don't have a use for it, but it IS fun to play with at home.
Boss OC-2. I just don't really like it much & the tracking bugs me. I've owned 3 of them, sold every one.

 

[BBQV]

EBS Billy Sheehan. I've had two but they never really stuck with me...