Currently - HPF - The Truest King of OverHype.
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Overhyped Effects
- Thread starter BaltBass5
- Start date
Alone into a clean channel is totally pointless. My experience with this type of pedal is that is they only shine in the intended use case, which is putting a bit more pressure on a 'close to the edge' input stage of an all-tube preamp. In that, the overall performance depends a lot on the nature of preamp and how nicely the preamp and pedal play together. My hands-on comes from using a Klon clone (EHX Soul-Food) into a Dumble ODS clone (KittyHawk Quattro) for the treble side of my Chapman Stick - the results are outstanding. The Quattro is also very happy being fed by a Digitech Bad Monkey which in contrast to the Klon was, until recently, amongst the most under-rated TS-style pedals out there. Of course the Quattro, being an ODS clone, is already more than capable of going from super-clean jingle-jangle to 'burn down the universe' distortion without any external support, so there is that.
To me overhyped means that there are certain pedals on TB that get love NON-STOP (Like the few I mentioned). Not that these are necessarily bad pedals but IMO they just don't live up to the constant attention they get and they seem to be polarizing.
For example the Barbershop....For every person saying this is the greatest pedal ever made there is at least one person that can't figure out what is so magical. I couldn't get a good, single, useable tone out of the Barbershop and there are hundreds of people like me but then there are the constant threads where the #1 suggestions for the holy grail of drive is....Barbershop. LOL.
It's all subjective but, there are the same 5-10 pedals that people swear by constantly like they are some sort of unicorn or magical beast and the other half of the world just doesn't get it.
The Klon is a great pedal, but yeah, an original is MASSIVELY stratospherically overpriced. I use an Earth Quaker Westwood (a kind of Klon clone, but with the Earthquaker signature weirdness built in) on a Mesa Mark 2C+ to sweeten the tone up a little (it's already so mid-rangey that a Tubescreamer is counter-productive) when I play guitar. Sounds amazing for ERGs too.
Nah, that is not what overhyped means nor the implications here in the thread. There could be legitimate redeeming qualities to the gear in question. A good quality piece. Overhyping it refers to the deluded practice of assigning near mythical properties, a near spiritual uplifting and tone nirvana, an introduction to the holy grail of all tones...to a piece of gear. It happens. It's often a placebo.
I heard about the Noble on TB, but I've seen it all over the place. I saw one pop up in the classifieds and it turned out that he was looking for a bass that I was thinking about listing for sale. I figured that if I didn't like it, I could sell it pretty quickly. I was expecting to be immediately blown away. When I first started auditioning it, I wasn't. I played through it for 30-45 minutes and was thinking that it might not stick around. I took it out of the chain to finish my practice session without being distracted from listening to new gear. As soon as I started playing without it, I said 'nope' it doesn't sound nearly as good without it. So, for me, it was more about missing it when it's not there than being blown away when it is. I kept it, and have been using it on gigs. I really like it.
Is it overhyped? I don't know. It doesn't really matter because, to me, it works very very well. A new piece of gear might come along to replace it, but I think that's always the case. I figure that I have to use the gear that is available instead of waiting for the next big thing, because I'd always be waiting. The Noble works for me, right now, and that is all I care about.
As far as some of the other pedals mentioned, I haven't really tried a lot of them. I bought a bunch of pedals from some of the popular builders years ago, when they were first starting out. They were nice pedals, but most didn't work for my style, so the high pricing and rarity doesn't affect me much. I do wish that the Broughton Subsonic was readily available, but, I've always loved the OC2 type octaves.
Is it overhyped? I don't know. It doesn't really matter because, to me, it works very very well. A new piece of gear might come along to replace it, but I think that's always the case. I figure that I have to use the gear that is available instead of waiting for the next big thing, because I'd always be waiting. The Noble works for me, right now, and that is all I care about.
As far as some of the other pedals mentioned, I haven't really tried a lot of them. I bought a bunch of pedals from some of the popular builders years ago, when they were first starting out. They were nice pedals, but most didn't work for my style, so the high pricing and rarity doesn't affect me much. I do wish that the Broughton Subsonic was readily available, but, I've always loved the OC2 type octaves.
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The thing is with any overdrive / dirt pedal the biggest variator is the source bass. Each one is different. Different strings, pickups, active / passive etc...there's so much variablility.
As a result one guy's perfect dirt behaves very differently when plugged in to a different bass / player / rig.
I never got on with the Sansamp BDDI, it's got a baked in EQ that to my ears sounded not quite right. It's certainly not neutral. I also don't like the DBBI's dirt either. However, I really like the Fairfield Barbershop OD. It's the most neutral analogue overdrive I've ever used. But it's a low gainer and it's it's pushed with a hot input it get farty and snarly (which can be nice if that's the sound you are looking for). The Holy Fire is great too.
But all these pale next to the versatility of a Source Audio Aftershock or the massively more complex Ultrawave.
these are my analoge dirt pedals that I still have in my drawer:
Barbershop, Titan II, Mastotron, Dam Ezekiel, Catalin SFT & a Pickled Gherkin. I'm not sure I'd ever let these go. If I was to return to analoge only dirt, I'd probably add a Rat of some kind, just to complete the options.
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The Sex Drive is useful for sure but I found that it doesn't do anything I can't do with some light compression and a volume nudge.
So, over hyped pedals...yep...
Anything by MXR. A lot of Way huge's catalogue and a lot of Strymon's bigger panels.
Anything by MXR. A lot of Way huge's catalogue and a lot of Strymon's bigger panels.
It's all bypass. It does have 2 knobs but they aren't connected to anything. But it says Broughton on it and comes in a generic box. Best $199 you'll spend this week. Unless you miss out on the limited release, then you'll have to buy it here on TB for $250.
*sets up Google alert and waits patiently ... *
overhyped: Everything Darkglass drive/distortion except for the original vintage Microtubes. The ultra and deluxe versions sound digital in comparison. I don't know how they got so popular.
Underhyped: Spaceman Saturn VI. It's the best always on drive I've tried. The drive hits the eq at just the right spot.
Underhyped: Spaceman Saturn VI. It's the best always on drive I've tried. The drive hits the eq at just the right spot.
Lol, no one on TB is "assigning near mythical properties" to any Darkglass effect, so they are not overhyped by your definition. Still, many say DG stuff is overhyped..
And I think your understanding of US slang/sarcasm might skew your interpretation of my post. So let's call it hyperbole...in ridiculous abundance. But it always has been with gear. It's neither new nor surprising.
My post,
"This popular effect does not work for me, it is over hyped!"
"This popular effect works great for me, the hype is real!"
would also maybe needed a
to indicate it is more of a joke? Internet especially in non-native language can be difficult 
.Edit: sorry for all this off topic, let's go back to paying more attention to effects that are getting too much attention
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5 pages in and I'm so relieved no one has mentioned the Pork Loin w/JonK mod. I'm validated in owning two of them. 
I stopped buying into the hyped pedals a couple years ago finally because I got tired of being disappointed or not in "shock & awe" as people would claim I would be when I plugged my bass in to this magical whimsical unit that has been hand wired by monks and blessed with holy water and made from all organic rain forrest particles..........and from your list I definitely agree with he Nobles being in this category. I will also add Aguilar to the hype list. I do play some Aguilar gear still, but have found some just as good and even better to my ears sounding units. Also, P basses with flats are not the best bass for everything or gifts from the gods.......another over hyped thing......Ok....I said it....now crucify me!!!!!!!! Haha!!!!
Oh, disagree on that. I used the heck out of my Broughton HLPF over the weekend to tame the low end in a boomy room. Worked like a charm. It's probably the most useful pedal on my board for dialing in good sound. If I only had one pedal besides a tuner, that would be the one.
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