• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

weirdest and less common pedals you've heard

F

farewelltowords

Jul 22, 2006
125
1
#1
That is the question:
What are the weirdest pedals you had the chance to play, own or, at least, hear? It doesn't have to be boutique ones.

Have you already played with the rare "Random Tone Generator" from EHX? What does it do?
What about the blue box, the octaves seem to be very random as well.

I also heard about some kind of fuzz pedal that you can control it's intensity by changing the foot position near it, kind of like a theremin does. Do you know what pedal is that?

Post about less common pedals like these!

Also, do you use another forums just effects related? I realized that i'm a pedal nerd, so i'd love to know more about effects!
 
#6
Weirdest pedal I currently own is the Electro-Harmonix Talking Pedal. It's a very high-Q wah-wah pedal with an incredibly idiosyncratic distortion circuit; imparts a very "vocal" quality to my bass, with lots of Yowling and Eeeewwww-ing.

I used to have several stompboxes from Sloth Systems and Energy Systems Dynamics (both of which were one-man shops in the NYC area circa late 1970s) and they were freakin' ridiculously weird. Had one that was an 8-channel octave box (similar to Frank Zappa's Wagnerian Emancipator) that would allow you to set individual levels for up to 8 different octaves (3 down & 5 up). Several others that would just turn your tone to bizarre synthetic farty synth-fuzz sounds. No idea what I did with those pedals, or whether those guys are still in business.
 
#8
MXR Bluebox is insanely weird sounding, but not much use to me. My freakiest pedal is a Menatone MailBomb. Synthiest Filter I've ever heard, and absolutely fantastic with some distortion in front of it. If you wiggle the string on a ringing note, it "waves" along with the wiggle. Very cool.
 
#11
I have an Arion distortion pedal from about 84 that imparts a sound not unlike crinkling plastic and fingernails on a chalkboard after my brother toyed with the trim pots inside years ago. It sounds terrible on bass... :D
 
#13
The weirdest pedal I've ever used is the Mid-Fi Glitch Computer. Completely unpredictable pedal

The EHX Flanger Hoax is also a very weird pedal. The amount of modulation possibilities with that pedal is ridonkulous, but I have a hard time getting "normal" phaser/flanger sounds with it, and I think it's somewhat wasted with bass. I think it shines through best in the higher registers, I've mostly used it with synth recently.
 
#15
well.. let's see. I have owned and do own a lot of weird boxes.

Effector 13 Torns Peaker (a high gain fuzz which can do both feedback madness and gated with lots of harmonics and overtones.. also picks up every radio station you want haha :smug:)

DBA Octave Clang (some sort of octave up/ ring modulator thing that can sound completely atonal if you're playing the wrong chords through it)

both of them are totally fussy what is in front of them. If you put non true bypass boxes in front of them the knobs react in a different way and generally everything sounds different. This is also the case with different basses..

then there are..

DOD Buzz Box
Electro harmonix Tube Zipper
Digitech Space Station ( a collection of all kind of weirdness.. from backward delays to sequencers and bitcrushing...)
 
#19
I have a Copilot Orbit that gets pretty weird. I also have a Gnomeratron that can get very strange. The Zoom Ultra fuzz can make a lot of strange feedback. I used to have a blue box and that could be unpredictable. There are lot of fun sounds to be had with the weirder effects in the zoom B3 - pitch-shifting delay, ringmod, bitcrush, etc.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back