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Pedals you wanted ...until you tried them.

#161
You've outlined my argument against pursuing an SV-Pre. I have easy access to an SCR-DI if I ever want it, and I reeeeeally like the tone. I was unsure if the SV-Pre could really get close enough to justify what I would have to go through to get my hands on one.

For me, it has been any OD/Distortion pedal I've tried. I took the VTDI in trade for a cab and tried, but it just sounds fake. Traded it for a Broughton Terraformer, and it also wasn't my vibe. I was always comparing them to the SCR-DI, and they've always fallen short. Yes, I know there are some apples and oranges with the Terraformer, but overall I'm just not an OD guy.

I dropped $32 for a used Joyo American Sound though, and it'll do everything I ever need it to do. Apologies to Tech21 since I know it's just a ripoff of the Blonde, but it's enough for me.

I do love my Q\Strip though, so I know it's not a Tech21 thing.


KaseOfBass said:
Broughton SV-Pre: Had it for about a week then sold it. Great pedal, very Ampeg-y, but I found I liked the tone of my SCR-DI just as much and it has more features (DI, aux in, headphone out). I thought I’d really prefer the Broughton because of the ability to adjust the mids (I’ve always wished the SCR-DI had a mid frequency adjustment similar to my SVT 7 Pro and a lot of other Ampeg amps). It was a nice feature to have, but it didn’t make the difference I thought it might vs. the SCR-DI. Last, I found I really liked the Scrambler overdrive and the blend knob over the overdriven tone of the SV-Pre.

Ampeg Opto Comp: I like the compressor in my SVT 7 Pro so I figured the Ampeg compressor would be fitting for my small pedalboard used for ampless situations. Plus I had read that while it did alter the tone slightly, it was in a very musical, almost tube-like way. I found myself always preferring my tone with the Opto Comp off, so I returned it.
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#162
I was really excited with the EHX Bass Soul Food until I tried it. I love EHX but that overdrive...nope.

The second one was the TC Corona Chorus. I thought it was amazing. However, when it was in board, I used less and less until I sold it. Then I thought that I might not like chorus pedals. Then I tried a Mooer Queen Ensemble and I like chorus pedals again.
 
#164
cnltb said:
I notice something; Most of you seem to have bought the pedals you list rather than having decided during pre-purchase try out, that the pedals weren't for you. right?
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Yes. Around here I have 3 or 4 Guitar Centers and 3 or 4 independent shops, if I am willing to drive up to 45 minutes or so. The GCs never have anything boutique or out-of-the-ordinary, and the independents are hit or miss - one has plenty of vintage pedals, and a couple boutique brands' whole lines, but very skewed toward guitar, naturally. One is more like a huge musical thrift shop where you have no idea what they'll have at any moment, and they have some gems, but really you never know until you go. And so on and so forth, a longwinded way to say that there isn't much chance to try any of the stuff we want to play with before we buy it online and take the gamble.
 
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#165
Let's see


1. Catalanbread SCOD - was very meh IMO
2. MI Audio Tube Zone - Sounded good in the bedroom, was very nasally and got lost in the mix
3. Line 6 M13 - switches were horrible, distortions were meh, though it was cool concept
4. EHX Flanger Hoax - Ok I kept this one way longer than I should have, was a fun toy, but it was not the flanger I was looking for
5. Lovepedal Eternity - Handwired version, sounded awesome but was noisy as hell, unusable in a live situation with my setup
6. MXR M-80 - sounded good, but the output was too low coming from XLR for my comfort.

There are others...
 
#166
cnltb said:
Title says it , really.
I'm interested to hear about those situations when you felt that you wanted a certain pedal, until you tried it. After trying it you no longer wanted the pedal.

I'll start;
Dwarfcraft: 'The great destroyer' - I just lacked the patience and time to find settings and sounds that would have been useful or interesting to me.

Before trying it, I nearly bought it.
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DARKGLASS...a huge disappointment.

I thought there was something wrong with my ears, the online stuff sounded sooo good, until I realized that their online vids are mixed in studio, so you don't hear what they actually sound like.

Thankfully, surprises also happen in the other direction, e.g., best thing ever:
Invalid Link Removed
 
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#171
ZVex Lo-Fi Loop Junky.

The vibrato control did literally next-to-nothing, so it wasn’t really Lo-Fi in the least. Wrote a note over to Zach Vex not even complaining, but merely asking to see if there might be an internal jumper or a mod I could do to increase the vibrato depth. Received back instead a rant on how my guitar must be effed up and outputting the wrong impedance (translation: “it’s your guitar that sucks; not my pedal”).

I hit the delete key, and simply never bought another ZVex pedal again after that email. It bites, though, that I spent two-and-a-half bills on a boutique pedal that was really no better/worse than a $50 Ditto.

_
 
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#175
Wissen said:
You've outlined my argument against pursuing an SV-Pre. I have easy access to an SCR-DI if I ever want it, and I reeeeeally like the tone. I was unsure if the SV-Pre could really get close enough to justify what I would have to go through to get my hands on one.

For me, it has been any OD/Distortion pedal I've tried. I took the VTDI in trade for a cab and tried, but it just sounds fake. Traded it for a Broughton Terraformer, and it also wasn't my vibe. I was always comparing them to the SCR-DI, and they've always fallen short. Yes, I know there are some apples and oranges with the Terraformer, but overall I'm just not an OD guy.

I dropped $32 for a used Joyo American Sound though, and it'll do everything I ever need it to do. Apologies to Tech21 since I know it's just a ripoff of the Blonde, but it's enough for me.

I do love my Q\Strip though, so I know it's not a Tech21 thing.
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong, the SV-Pre is a great sounding little box. It just wasn't leaps and bounds above the SCR-DI and for my particular application where I use light overdrive infrequently, the scrambler section works better with its blend function. I just like it to put a little hair around the edges. I still wish the SCR-DI had a mid frequency selector though and if it did, I think it'd be just about perfect for my tone goals. Add in the benefits of the aux in and headphone out, it's a great option for me to use for practice, amp-less rig, and a backup for gigs all in one.

I liked both the VT (v2) and VTDI I had (I traded the VTDI for the SCR-DI that I have now). To me, the VT pedals sound great, but can be a bit clanky and are tougher to dial when compared to the SCR-DI. I didn't have any problems with the VT series, but just liked the SCR better. I do think that the VTs have a lot more tonal options than the SCR so I can certainly see the appeal that they have.
 
#179
Back in the 2000's I always wanted to try the Bass POD and only because of all the "options". I had a few friends that played them live. Then one day i had the chance to borrow one. I plugged it in a tried every patch and each one had the same problem... they all sounded limp, weak and unresponsive. Kind of like a terribly low bitrate mp3. Probably it is why the Bass POD has disappeared all together.
Never again.
 
#180
J-Dub said:
Disclaimer, I love EQD and am sure that pedal sounds great on g**tar, but I would not recommend for bass.
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This is why I stick to only "bass-specific" pedals made for bass effects. I'm not an electronics engineer, but it seems to me you've gotta have the signal filters and whatnot optimized for the range that a bass outputs, or else something's not going to sound good. It does rule out a lot of cool guitar pedals though!

Extra points, BTW, for censoring "guitar" like it's a swear word. :roflmao:
 

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