SFX Sound Pedals - 3 quick reviews - ace's ten!

[SpankyPants]

its the exchange rate that makes them a little expensive....but i just checked out the samples for the micro fuzz and might pull the trigger. that sounds really good. about $165 shipped here in the US.

Compared to what? They are very competitively priced in the UK when you look at direct competitor pedals. It may be the currency exchnage that makes it more expensive in the US but, for example the Micro RD is about 30% less than an SFT here.

Fair enough. I guess I've just spent so long without having any money that my position may be a bit skewed. That being said, I'd definitely LIKE to try some of these pedals. Fitz: If you could shoot me a link for those clips, I'd appreciate it.

In my head it just seems like I'd rather buy a minibooster from This1smyne for half the price of the SFX minibooster. The fuzz isn't particularly overpriced at $165, but I've also not heard it. Maybe it sounds just like the El Grande which is, again, a bit more than half the price. Maybe it sounds like the coolest f'n fuzz ever, and it's just $165.

That's the thing... It's a gambit as far as I'm concerned. For now anyway. The main thing keeping me from trying it out is the price being slightly out of my "gamble-able" range.

Something else to factor into the price: the internal build quality of these is first-rate, far better than the typical DIY stompbox. That may not matter to some people, but for those of us that geek out on quality, it's worth it.

I'll take that into consideration.

 

[SpankyPants]

Fitz: If you could shoot me a link for those clips, I'd appreciate it.

Scratch that - Just saw them on the site. I guess I missed 'em before, or they hadn't been posted yet.

 

[karter2000]

As it has been said, I think the exchange rate plays a part in this. As I am sure everybody appreciates, it is something I can’t control.

More in general terms, what SpankyPants and karter2000 say makes a lot of sense. I believe in the free market and if they feel that some other company can produce comparatively better pedals (sound, functionalities, quality, customer service) at lower prices they are absolutely right in buying them instead of buying [sfx] pedals.

I should probably apologize to Max, as I didn't intend to say that his pedals are "overpriced" as they are not. In fact, I think they are fairly priced given the thought and overall quality. Like I said to you previously, I'm very close to pulling the trigger on a X&M. I'm just in the process of juggling some other pedals and gear. I just hope it can do what I need it to do (which is why I derailed the thread to get any reviews on it).

Ironically, the Canadian to pound exchange rate a few months ago was only about 1.2ish! Unfortunately, the X&M wasn't available yet, the exchange now is hovering around 1.6.

Max is a great guy who makes great stuff, and I will be definitely buying something from him in the near future (regardless of exchange).

 

[ryansalmond]

Firstly, before I get to the pedals, I have to give huge props to Max for being one of the nicest guys I have interacted with! He is very friendly and accommodating of all my stupid questions about tone shaping and effects. He also helped my by modding my WMD Geiger Counter (Civilian Issue) to make it more bass friendly. He let me borrow a couple of pedals to test out as well. Basically a top bloke who I would encourage everyone to support. He really knows his stuff when it comes to electronics and effects and would have no hesitation in ordering more pedals from him.
...

I will jsut finish by saying that I can't recommend Max and the SFX pedals highly enough. He really does understand what makes a great bass pedal (ie no low end loss) and tailors his pedals to fit the bill. He doesn't compromise on quality and is very receptive to feedback. I am lucky that we live quite close so I can pop down to his "laboratory" and see what new stuff is on the horizon, but even without doing that, I would encourage you to give his pedals a try.

Just by way of disclosure, I paid full retail price for all the pedals so I am not an endorsee or anything, I just found his pedals to be worth the plug!

+1
Also, I find him, even with the exchange rate, very reasonably priced. Perhaps the use of small enclosures gives some the illusion that they should cost less?

 

[darkstorm]

Nice review. Kewl looking and named pedals too.

 

[Marlat]

In my head it just seems like I'd rather buy a minibooster from This1smyne for half the price of the SFX minibooster. The fuzz isn't particularly overpriced at $165, but I've also not heard it. Maybe it sounds just like the El Grande which is, again, a bit more than half the price. Maybe it sounds like the coolest f'n fuzz ever, and it's just $165.

The mini booster isn't quite the same thing as the Micro RD, the mini-booster is more like the Micro Blue Dragon clean booster.

There's no doubt that you can get similar pedals for less money. Hell, you can probably buy similar pedals for more money. I guess the question is where its worth it to you taking into account build quality, sound, function, form customer service etc. Expensive is all relative. Max's pedals are very reasonably priced for the European market. They may be expensive when compared to comparable boutique builds in the US, but I have yet to see a builder in the US that I would say is comparable to SFX (taking into account the things noted above) which is significantly cheaper than SFX.

 

[Silent Fly]

I should probably apologize to Max, (...)

No reason to apologise karter2000 - what you said makes perfect sense.

 

[billphreets]

just for the record : the x&m is an incredible piece of equipment!!
i keep meaning to post a review but am too busy re-arranging my board

 

[Silent Fly]

(&#8230 In my head it just seems like I'd rather buy a minibooster from This1smyne for half the price of the SFX minibooster.(&#8230

I take your point but my brain works differently – not necessarily better though.

I would agree with you if price was the only thing that I take into account. If two pedals are exactly the same (this includes everything from exchange rate to customer service) the cheaper wins – easy.

But the Micro-Booster and the other unit you mentioned are not the same. Even if it was a perfect clone of the [sfx] Micro-Boost there are other factors like customer service.

I am not saying that one of the two units sounds better – it is not for me to judge. But there has to be something that justifies the price difference. If this wasn’t the case, [sfx] would be totally suicidal in placing on the market a product that simply costs more without any reason.

I could have design a booster pedal that costs less. It is easy. 25% of the parts, ultra-simple design, simpler graphics, no brushed box. It would still be a booster. Would it sound like the Micro-Booster? No. Would it have 30V peak-peak output with no distortion? No. Would it drive capacitive loads without breaking a sweat? No. Would it be so small? No. Would I be able to offer a good customer service? No.

In the end it is all down to choices. This is what I decided to do: produce the best I can. For me, price is not the most important factor.

If other people around the world share my vision and decide to support [sfx], [sfx] will be a success. Otherwise, I will close [sfx] with the warm feeling that around the world there are musicians making great music with the best tools I could make for them.

 

[Silent Fly]

I understand that there is in interest in the inside of the pedals and their performace.

Micro-boost

Micro-boost frequency response

 

[karter2000]

On the basschat forum, you mentioned that you were thinking of a pedal with a more aggressive distortion. I believe you said it would be "a micro pedal with a Rat/DS1 distortion perhaps with a frequency-based clipping". That would be something that I'd be interested in as well, maybe more so than the X&M.

 

[Silent Fly]

On the basschat forum, you mentioned that you were thinking of a pedal with a more aggressive distortion. I believe you said it would be "a micro pedal with a Rat/DS1 distortion perhaps with a frequency-based clipping". That would be something that I'd be interested in as well, maybe more so than the X&M.

Thanks for the feedback karter2000.

I already have the 99% of the design in my head. The tricky part is balancing size with functionality. It shouldn't be a problem build it in micro-pedal but I can't put distortion and a two band EQ in the micro pedal (i.e. 4 knobs). I would also like to add a switch to select the type of clipping...

What do you think: micro-size but basic functionalities or standard size with more controls?

 

[karter2000]

Hmm...that's a tough one. I love the small size of the micro pedals, as I never have enough room available on my pedalboard or gigbag. However, I can see that you wouldn't want to give up the functionality. I would probably vote for standard size with more controls. If it fits in a 1590B type enclosure, that's pretty small.

When you say frequency-based clipping, do you mean that only the high/mids are clipped, with the bottom end clear? That's something I've been looking for, which is why the X&M was on my radar. I don't necessarily like the sound of the "low" being clipped for a couple reasons. The first (obviously) is the loss of punch and bottom end. The other reason is that some (not all, I know) distortions sound buzzy, farty, fuzzy, etc when the full frequency is clipped.

 

[savinggrace]

Thanks for the feedback karter2000.

I already have the 99% of the design in my head. The tricky part is balancing size with functionality. It shouldn't be a problem build it in micro-pedal but I can't put distortion and a two band EQ in the micro pedal (i.e. 4 knobs). I would also like to add a switch to select the type of clipping...

What do you think: micro-size but basic functionalities or standard size with more controls?

Standard size with more controls. I find these are pretty valuable/ necessary with anything distortion related (even more so than fuzz)

 

[bongomania]

I vote for more controls. The micro boxes are cool, but IMO they only suit effects that have no need of control (e.g. Thumpinator, Splitter, simple overdrive). Distortion needs more adjustability. What could be very cool though is if you sold a dozen or more of the larger ones with 4 knobs, and then after a couple weeks asked each purchaser to tell you their favorite setting(s)--then use that data to create a micro version that is pre-dialed in to settings that match the "majority of favorites".

 

[ryansalmond]

What do you think: micro-size but basic functionalities or standard size with more controls?

Your usual strategy of making multiple variations of a pedal and letting each customer decide could work well here.

 

[warwick.hoy]

I vote for more controls. The micro boxes are cool, but IMO they only suit effects that have no need of control (e.g. Thumpinator, Splitter, simple overdrive). Distortion needs more adjustability. What could be very cool though is if you sold a dozen or more of the larger ones with 4 knobs, and then after a couple weeks asked each purchaser to tell you their favorite setting(s)--then use that data to create a micro version that is pre-dialed in to settings that match the "majority of favorites".

Plus one. I always feel that any pedal with a narrow footprint has the potential to topple over when I step on it. Not that this is actually the case,...just my perception.

I've noticed the Thumpinator in the past and would love to give it a go. The theory seems logical and sound. Is it intended to help keep amps from overheating or more to the point what was the motivation from creating such a pedal? Judging from the rhetoric on the [sfx] page it seems almost like a compressor.

 

[bongomania]

No compression at all there. The point of it is that when we play, we actually generate a lot of subharmonic content by thumping the strings--and those big subharmonic spikes eat up a lot of our amp's wattage without being heard in a useful way. So a person that slaps/pops or plays aggressively will actually be getting much less volume out of their amp than they could if the thumps were eliminated.

Additionally, those big low-frequency spikes can cause speaker over-excursion, shortening the lifespan of the speaker.

It's not like everyone needs this or it's a night-and-day difference, but for anyone who's obsessed with optimizing their amp's performance, it's a very useful function.

It should be noted that many bass amp heads already contain a low-cut filter, included as a "hidden" always-on feature with no controls, and no mention in the manual. So for those amps the Thumpinator is redundant. However some do not have this, and many power amps do not.

As a bonus, the Thumpinator can convert a signal from unbalanced to balanced. Most older bass preamps, and some new ones, have one balanced output for the DI, and the line outs are unbalanced. So if you want to use the XLR for a DI, then you have to use the unbalanced output to feed your power amp. But in many cases, that results in a 6 dB drop in level! So again to maximize and optimize the connection, the Thumpinator converts it to balanced, getting you the max strength and best S/N ratio out of the power amp.

 

[Silent Fly]

Thanks bongomania.

Perfect description.

It is worth adding that the unbalanced to balanced conversion (and vice versa) is available only in the Thumpinator. The Micro-Thupinator has unbalanced in/out. It is the only difference though. The filter is exacly the same.

 

[SpankyPants]

Bongo: Do you think this would make a great deal of difference on a vintage tube amp? I played a show this weekend, and I was listening to the thump coming through the FoH during soundcheck. In a way, it kinda felt good... Just because it took such a little touch to kick you in the chest. But if it's hindering my amp's (or a PA's) performance, then it might not really be worth it.

I mean, often during a set, I'll use the different "noises" (like a thump) of the instrument rather than just playing notes with the strings, like Michael Manring or Young Widow's guitarist. I also use all my effects, including the Sub-Blaster (which has unbelievable lows) and oscillating effects that can also generate some pretty low frequencies. Would I notice a difference while using these effects in sound (and not just exertion on an amp or a farting speaker cone)?

And would the unbalanced output be more suitable for pedalboards? Or would there be an advantage in using a balanced output there as well?