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What's Coming and Going X: Pedalphiles Unite!

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#722
My name is Mudd said:
Report, please...that one's been on my long-distance radar for awhile now.
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Mudd thought I should share with TB, I PM'ed him this regarding the FEA Dual Band Distortion.

Only got to spend an hour or so with it through headphones so far. Initial impression is I like it, the more subtle grind parts of it sound great, I can't really tell you how much I like the more extreme end of it until I get it through my speaker. I really liked it after my Prunes and Custard also, it gave it some more natural warmth and grind, made it feel more organic. I felt the Mid and High EQ on the High-band side really interacted with the frequency center of the crossover, meaning if I changed the crossover frequency I also needed to make small adjustments to the mid or high EQ, or even the drive/gain. It's not the sort of thing you'd wanna mess with too much on stage I don't think, but maybe I'll get passed the learning curve and feel differently about it. I DO see it potentially offering a lot of sounds on the fly though if you don't play too much with the crossover and just make use of the low-end clean/wet mix (knobs) and the low/high bypass possibilities (switch).

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Spent a little more time with it and got a better handle on it, love the sound of it, it doesn't get extreme but then I've been playing flats so thats probably half of the story. Other notes: I don't like bypassing the high channel unless I roll the crossover far to the right, everything else sounds great. I also found it alot easier this go round to make adjustments quickly and end up with sounds I liked.
 
#723
fivestringgecko said:
Hey, keep us posted on that one! I had a sitar effect in an old Toneworks multi pedal that I really dug. Not something I used on a daily basis of course, but it made for some cool inspiration and new/different approaches to playing.

Looking forward to hearing what you think about it.

5sg.
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I will keep you posted. Just got a notice from MF that says they are on backorder. I may have to cancel there and find somewhere else who has them in stock.
 
#726
I guess we will find out soon. If it does hum like that, it will get returned quickly. I've had good luck with EHX stuff in the past, but haven't bought one of their products in many a year. MF had them on backorder until Jan. 27. I cancelled and got it through Amazon for the same price. It should be here next Wednesday or Thursday.
 
#728
Even though I've admitted curiosity about the Ravish, I do have to side with Behndy... although I wouldn't call myself an EHX hater. Just more of a "disliker." lol

I've tried! I've owned 7 EHX pedals now and they just don't have the quality that other pedals do, IMO. Some have been noisy, some have had volume jumps when engaged. They have cool ideas, but it just seems like the execution isn't quite there... like it's juuuuussst out of focus. The only one I still own is the POG2, because what it can do outweighs its idiosyncrasies for me.

*shrug* Individual results may vary, as with all gear.

Hope it works out for you, keep us posted!

5sg.
 
#729
I have heard a LOT of hate for shoddy QC, medicore customer service and overall pipe dreams with some of their pedals...(WTH is a Bass Blogger!?) BUT my POG2 and Russian BM will NEVER leave my board as they have a special place in my heart.
 
#733
caeman said:
Personal Opinion: Once you've bought FEA, Barber, Iron Ether and Wren & Cuff pedals, I just don't see how one could go back to Boss, BBE, MXR and EHX mass-production stuff.
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Depends on the effect. For fuzz, agreed. But I've never yet found a boutique pedal that comes anywhere near being able to replace my Flanger Hoax. The coolest modulation box on the friggin planet, if you ask me.
 
#734
yer. i think Boss is kinda... meat and potato's in their approach, MXR's actually been doing some neat stuff in their Bass Effects line but EHX...... blegh. maybe it's a more recent thing but it's like they play a game of telephone, mix the results with a Mad Libs they kept from junior high, don't test it to see if it's actually useful then mass produce a huge amount of questionable quality boxes.
 
#735
I think Caeman has a point... Once you get used to steak (boutique), it's hard to go back to McDonald's (mass production). Both will fill your stomach, but which tastes better?

behndy said:
yer. i think Boss is kinda... meat and potato's in their approach, MXR's actually been doing some neat stuff in their Bass Effects line....
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Which is probably why Boss has been around for a long long time and you see their pedals on touring boards. They're tanks, they do the job and they're easily replaceable. MXR may be mass production as well, but I agree, cool stuff for bass lately. The Bass Octave Deluxe is still my favorite octaver!

5sg.
 
#736
caeman said:
Personal Opinion: Once you've bought FEA, Barber, Iron Ether and Wren & Cuff pedals, I just don't see how one could go back to Boss, BBE, MXR and EHX mass-production stuff.
Click to expand...

bigchiefbc said:
Depends on the effect. For fuzz, agreed. But I've never yet found a boutique pedal that comes anywhere near being able to replace my Flanger Hoax. The coolest modulation box on the friggin planet, if you ask me.
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Essentially, it's the small company vs. big company business model approach. Big companies tend to have much more capitol to put into producing products for mass market testing and marketing campaigns, where small companies generally do not. Small companies are almost required to put more time and money into the initial R&D to help ensure a viable product, and they depend on word-of-mouth advertising to help increase sales.

I'm not saying that small companies will always produce better quality or more useful products, but it does make sense that they are highly motivated to do so in order to make a profit. This can be said of the business models of all industry categories, not just the music industry.

OK, enough of the off topic geeky business talk. Back to the happy gear acquisition posts! :D
 
#737
And generally...small companies are players. Take smallsouind/bigsound for example. I REALLY dig Cymbals Eat Guitars. Not just respect them but genuinely like them. And they use a ton of effects that I would love to be able to use. So he's constantly tweaking and making it better, not just for us and money, but for himself.

I don't know who the owner of Boss is.....but I just think the odds of them being as invested in the sound of their pedals as Brian is aren't that great. Conversely....when Brian gets in a situation where he has to make a decision of sacrificing quality for profit, it seems like he chooses to make a quality product every time. A big company has people hired just to keep profit up....they probably won't make that same decision.

I also want to add that when I had a small issue with a pedal recently, Brian took time to walk me through the steps to fix it WHILE his band was in the middle of a European tour. I kept telling him I could wait until he was back home and that I would be fine but he still kept contacting me. Super cool guy. Great customer service. Not that all small companies are like that. Some have HORRID service. Tom Spaulding of Planet Waves is another awesome guy who took time to help me out with an issue.

AAAAAAAAND, it's not just big company vs small company bias....because a lot of the people I know who have been "pro small company" in this thread use and love their Line 6 M stuff. So when a big company does make a legit product, they will buy it.
 
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