Overhyped Effects

[BaltBass5]

Yesterday I was reading a thread talking about Noble DI's here on TB. Several responses indicated that the Noble Di was an overhyped piece of gear. That got me thinking that there are a TON of Overhyped pedals here on TB. Here are some of the ones that I heard about non-stop on TB that just never lived up to the hype when I actually got my hands on them:

1. Broughton SV-PRE
2. Durham Sex Drive
3. Fairfield Barbershop
4. Sansamp BDDI
5. CAL Holy Fire

What are some of yours?

 

[foal30]

I've not heard of 2 of them
Only seen or listened to the Sans Amp

So I not only are unaware of the hype I'm oblivious to the object being hyped

 

[Lammchop93]

Noble. Overrated and overpriced.

 

[joel the bass player]

Boss TU-2.

Why would you want to be in tune to a pedal? You should be in tune with the universe, man.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

Boss TU-2.

Why would you want to be in tune to a pedal? You should be in tune with the universe, man.

The BOSS TU-2 IS the pedal for tuning to the universe. "TU" is for "Tune to Universe".

 

[richntiff]

BDDI was great at the time. Not so much overhyped as been bypassed by much better options nowadays.

Barbershop - I agree.

For me - all bass dirt. I want to love it, but I just don't.

 

[bassbrad]

I dunno about overhyped but there are far too many that are simply
OVERPRICED by several factors
or at least so I could afford them.

 

[J Posega]

One person's hype is another person's overhype.

Luckily, nobody is forcing you to buy any of these things and it's up to your ears to decide what you like, not your eyes, wallet, and general opinions on the internet.

 

[Lowendtech]

My brake pedal

 

[johnk_10]

Yesterday I was reading a thread talking about Noble DI's here on TB. Several responses indicated that the Noble Di was an overhyped piece of gear. That got me thinking that there are a TON of Overhyped pedals here on TB. Here are some of the ones that I heard about non-stop on TB that just never lived up to the hype when I actually got my hands on them:

1. Broughton SV-PRE
2. Durham Sex Drive
3. Fairfield Barbershop
4. Sansamp BDDI
5. CAL Holy Fire

What are some of yours?

i agree with two of them on your list.

 

[BEADist]

I am always trying to hype the Boss HM-2 on TB. I doubt it will make the list though. Will try harder .

 

[Ian774]

i agree with two of them on your list.

come on, tell us

 

[Killing Floor]

Of your OP list I'm happy to play without 4 of them. The Sex Drive isn't really a bass pedal AND the "drive" name is misleading because it's just a boost. But it's far and away the best boost I've ever used for bass or guitar and I've got 2, one stays on my guitar rig.

There's no "best" anything.

But if you're looking, some of those on your list are in the TB classifieds every day and some aren't.

My overhyped pedal all time is Klon Centaur and ANY of the hundreds of copies. But people love them. Go get it.

 

[kmon]

This place runs on hype. It's a never ending cycle.

 

[WG Plum]

I don't know about over-hyped, but I just don't dig the Ampeg tone, so the SVE-Pre is the only one I'm familiar with. One thing I will say about Broughton, nothing Josh offers is overpriced when bought from him.

 

[WG Plum]

My overhyped pedal all time is Klon Centaur and ANY of the hundreds of copies. But people love them. Go get it.

I'm in complete agreement with this. How such a generic-sounding pedal gets so much adoration is beyond me or my ears.

 

[johnk_10]

come on, tell us

the SV-pre
and the BDDI

 

[Dave Hill]

Agreed on the Noble and Barbershop.

 

[Ian774]

the SV-pre
and the BDDI

Boooo. The BDDI is a staple. I wouldn't call it "hyped". It's just good, at least the V2.

 

[capnjagg]

My overhyped pedal all time is Klon Centaur and ANY of the hundreds of copies. But people love them. Go get it.

I'm in complete agreement with this. How such a generic-sounding pedal gets so much adoration is beyond me or my ears.

Most Klon demos I've heard leave me somewhere between, "Is it even doing anything?" and, "I don't really care for that." Then you put it against the tone and price of something like a Tube Screamer or an SD-1, and it really becomes "not my thing."

Going back to the bass side of things, I may get some flack for this, but the Boss CE-2. It gets spoken of as if it's the holy grail of all chorus pedals for bass, and while it is a good pedal, in my opinion it's not worth the praises and prices it commands on the used market. There are plenty of other great chorus pedals that can be had for much cheaper that sound perfectly fine in the mix. To add in some perspective, Hooky's chorus tone was an EHX Clone Theory, and Robert Smith and Simon Gallup used a CH-1 and a CE-5 respectively, and I know for most folks (but not all) using chorus on bass, typically the benchmark tones they're trying to hit are Joy Division and The Cure.