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Pedals you wanted ...until you tried them.

I was obsessed with the Tech 21 VT Bass after reading reviews, watching demos. I purchased it and really doesn't seem as necessary, just sitting on my shelf. I'd sell it or trade it, it's in mint condition still have the tin box and all the extras but not sure if I'd get the value. It was over $200 bucks when I bought it.
 
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fwonkbeta don't feel its for bass if you want to keep your speakers. Jams Ripple bass version, sounds good but only a 2 stage phase which is nice but the mxr 45 (which is similar) was not a big seller for bass. The proton 2 version. A fan here on TB but I feel it never opened up enough.
 
Envelope filters, always: I used to have EHX Q-Tron+, Dr. Q, Micro Q-Tron and DOD FX25B.
They were fun, but I ultimately sold every one of them.

Also Digitech Bass Driver and EHX Bass Blogger - didn't like the drive characters at all.
 
Darkglass B3K - Too much mid scooped and processed/compressed for my taste, just couldn't get a sound that I really liked out of it;
Tech 21 Bass Fly Rig - Only liked the preamp section and the chorus (and it has a great tuner), but the rest is useless IMHO;
OCD based pedals - It simply lost too much low end for my taste.
Almost every digital octave that I've tried (Mooer Tender Octave 1st version, Sub n' Up normal and Mini) - I once wanted to get a guitar sound out of my bass (like Royal Blood) but it always sounded wrong and artificial. I've recently tried to get a 8 strings tone or semi-organ sounds of some of these pedals but still can't get them to sound exactly how I like it. The best upper octave sound that I've found is with my Source Audio Multiwave Bass Distortion, in the multiband octave settings.
 
B3K comes to mind first. Too scooped and compressed/modern sounding. Loved the demos, wanted it badly, borrowed one from a fellow bass player for a few days and realized it wasn't my thing tonally at all.

VMT on the other hand, is staying with me for good. Love that one, love it to bits.

Nothing else really comes to mind as me wanting it badly and then it not delivering. Most of the stuff I sold and replaced with other stuff were either placeholders, experiments or effects/pedals I have no real use for.
 
I was obsessed with the Tech 21 VT Bass after reading reviews, watching demos. I purchased it and really doesn't seem as necessary, just sitting on my shelf. I'd sell it or trade it, it's in mint condition still have the tin box and all the extras but not sure if I'd get the value. It was over $200 bucks when I bought it.
Not for nothing it'll definitely fetch more value if sold at any price compared to remaining unused and unwanted on your shelf. ;)
 
There were several pedals mentioned here just once that are among my favorite pedals, and I oen a ton of pedals:
Creation Audio Labs Grizzly Bass
Smallsound/Bigsound TAFM
EHX Bassballs (mine is modded with trimpots in the outside. I run parallel with dry signal)

It’s always different stokes for different folks, and that is why choice is great!
 
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i did not care for this pedal , to me it was terrible. did not care for the octave and fuzz together at all after 3 days with it i send it back
SubOctaveBassF-large.jpg
 
EHX Big Muff PI deluxe - it is capable of some decent tones it's like it has too many options for what it's trying to do, and only certain settings sounded ok in a mix for me. The crossover switch just kind of seemed to add to the confusion. Also my mxr m82 envelope filter - I just never really could dial in a sound I liked with it either. I've replaced both with Source Audio pedals and feel like they're miles ahead..
 
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Some funny stuff, and even tho tastes are different, a few that surprised me a little on here.
Such as:

Meris- I love the Polymoon, the Mercury 7 and the Ottobit Jr, but I only really use them on guitar.
Struggling hard with the Enzo, it’s cool in its way, but I wasn’t liking it much on guitar, and it’s not much better on bass (I like the Infinite Jets better for guitar). Probably will sell it, just doesn’t seem to be for me, and it wasn’t cheap.

Tech 21 - first, I get that not everybody is going to like the Geddy sound or the SVT sound. I also had read a lot about how the regular VT and VT deluxe aren’t nearly as good as the VTDI, which I why I bought the VTDI, and I think it’s great.
I also like my dUg Pinnick, but I wish it had the ability to split the clean & dirty signals apart like my 2112 preamp. But it will go from just fattening your sound to a nice edge, all the way to totally sick and thick distortion when you kick in the 2nd mode.

I love my Colourbox, it gives a very deep and thoroughly saturated distortion to bass that most others don’t, although I don’t really dime the distortion. Very versatile if you’re willing to work with it, and the 1/4”
& xlr out + level switch are nice options. There may be cheaper pedals that will do something similar, but I like it.

Never tried a Darkglass, interesting to read so many disappointments. Helps keep my gas for them at bay.

i haven’t liked any EHX pedal that I’ve ever owned. Sold them all.
Never tried a HOG or POG, tho.

Boss: I had a DD-20 and eventually sold it. l had an RC-2 looper die on me.
I bought a package of barely used Boss pedals, that included a DS-1, one of their wah pedals, an EQ-20 and a BD-2. Had both the DS-2 and the BD-2 modded. Sold everything but the BD-2.
Now I think the only Boss pedals I have left are 2 modded BD-2‘s, an old tuner that I actually forgot I had but will keep, and a new DC-2 waza (dimension) that’s badass.
 
I wanted to love these, and I know some of the following is TalkBass heresy but, for me these just didn’t work.

Iron Ether FMeron: could never get anything synthy out of it, just sounded like a disaster, maybe too much pedal for me.

Darkglass VM, B3K, B7K: the distortion sounded fizzy and unnatural to me.

Damnation MBD-1: liked the tone but it was very fussy with power, and gave me issues. Plus it’s gigantic.

Damnation Bloop: I swear I couldn’t tell that it was doing much of anything. I knew it was “working” because the phase switch changed things a bit, but cranking the knob, I just wasn’t getting much of a difference in clean bass to my ears.

SSBS Mini: I don’t get it, never cared for the dirt sounds from it with bass. I tried a few times, love the look of the pedal.

Cali76 CB: I’ve run through many compressors and this one, especially for the price was very underwhelming. I preferred the Seymour Duncan Studio Bass and the Milkbox over it.
 
Some funny stuff, and even tho tastes are different, a few that surprised me a little on here.
Such as:

Meris- I love the Polymoon, the Mercury 7 and the Ottobit Jr, but I only really use them on guitar.
Struggling hard with the Enzo, it’s cool in its way, but I wasn’t liking it much on guitar, and it’s not much better on bass (I like the Infinite Jets better for guitar). Probably will sell it, just doesn’t seem to be for me, and it wasn’t cheap.

Tech 21 - first, I get that not everybody is going to like the Geddy sound or the SVT sound. I also had read a lot about how the regular VT and VT deluxe aren’t nearly as good as the VTDI, which I why I bought the VTDI, and I think it’s great.
I also like my dUg Pinnick, but I wish it had the ability to split the clean & dirty signals apart like my 2112 preamp. But it will go from just fattening your sound to a nice edge, all the way to totally sick and thick distortion when you kick in the 2nd mode.

I love my Colourbox, it gives a very deep and thoroughly saturated distortion to bass that most others don’t, although I don’t really dime the distortion. Very versatile if you’re willing to work with it, and the 1/4”
& xlr out + level switch are nice options. There may be cheaper pedals that will do something similar, but I like it.

Never tried a Darkglass, interesting to read so many disappointments. Helps keep my gas for them at bay.

i haven’t liked any EHX pedal that I’ve ever owned. Sold them all.
Never tried a HOG or POG, tho.

Boss: I had a DD-20 and eventually sold it. l had an RC-2 looper die on me.
I bought a package of barely used Boss pedals, that included a DS-1, one of their wah pedals, an EQ-20 and a BD-2. Had both the DS-2 and the BD-2 modded. Sold everything but the BD-2.
Now I think the only Boss pedals I have left are 2 modded BD-2‘s, an old tuner that I actually forgot I had but will keep, and a new DC-2 waza (dimension) that’s badass.

do you dislike the Meris stuff on bass, or just don't find yourself pairing them with bass?
 
VT Bass - It can get bright and "clacky" but nothing like the clanky drive/fuzz i like. The overdrive sounds waterlogged rather than explosive and able to get fuzzed out(I guess I like British overdrive sounds rather than American). If you try to make it nice and bright, it then sounds way too thin -unlike the Oxford, which needs a little push in the bass dept but it always sounds thick and grunty in the mids, even when diming the treble.

Aguilar ToneHammer - pretty much the same reason I disliked the VT - the overdrive sounds like thick wet porridge to me. The Eq was nice, but I wanted drive sounds and it did not deliver for me.

Speaking of my old VT, it's been easy to track the last few years because of the led I swapped. Anyone own it?
downloadfile-4-jpeg.jpg
 
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