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Why the hate on EHX?

#61
Vinny_G said:
Nobody saw what we did here, I'm disappointed :(
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#64
I know Juan from pedals and effects doesn't like modern ehx, he doesn't ever seem to say why though.
My only gripe with them is that dumb dual purpose switch they have been using, awesome sounding effects but I can't tell you how many times I've sent the canyon into tremolo-ville by accidently tapping the switch more than once causing it to change the delay time to split second repeat.
 
#66
There are always haters of brands for whatever reason. Here on talkbass Ive seen a lot of darkglass hate lately. I chalk it up to the company being more innovative than the demographics here on talkbass, which I mean no disrespect by saying is mainly an older cover band crowd so darkglass pedals which other than the vintage series are mainly products made for modern music aren’t going to a great fit for someone playing 70s and 80s top 40 covers.

I do like some EHX stuff. Particularly the pog family. My only real complaints about EHX were from a bad experience with a certain product, some newer versions of products actually being worse than older versions and not being cool with how they conduct some of their business.

The bad experience for example was the deluxe bass big muff. Imo that pedal is a “bedroom” effect. In other words I was able to get some cool sounds out of it at home by myself but in the band mix it was actually difficult to tell that it was even on because so much of the effect was lost in the mix of the band. I’m very against what I refer to as bedroom effects because in my opinion they fuel the anti effect mentality which all of us who are into pedals see, hell talkbass had to create rules to keep the no pedals crowd from trolling in the effects section. The folks who say “why use pedals, just sounds like bass either way”

As far as newer versions of products getting worse. It’s not always the case but with some of EHXs pedals it’s difficult to argue against. Look at how some of their older pedals used prices have skyrocketed while the newer versions of those same pedals can be a fraction of the price but people still want the old version. A couple examples of this are the older bass micro synth and the big muff family.

As for how they conduct business. I’m not a big fan technology companies suing other companies. Just be more creative. Sell a better product at a better price. EHX isn’t the only gear brand like that. Fender and Gibson do the same thing. I do own two fender basses so obviously I won’t say “I’m absolutely not buying a product from that company” just for that reason. But it’s a reason that’s somewhat important to me personally because of my job as a surgical technologist and in my line of work the patent bullying stuff slows innovation and drives up prices. For example say grandpa needs a hip or knee replacement. I make like $20-$30 on that surgery(before taxes)and I am actually there with the patient, I’m the one at risk of getting all kinds of stuff from HIV to hepatitis or if something goes south losing my certification that I put a lot of time, money, and work into . The engineer who owns the patent for that total joint system makes $800,000 a MONTH a never touches the patient. But patients think I’m the one who’s overpaid.
 
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#67
Never had any issues with EHX pedals - neither with the Nano line, of which I own and love a muff, nor with their shoebox sized pedals like the Qtron+. Built like tanks, okay some fringe finnickiness happening sometimes but overall, very happy.

I feel this kind of thread is like people complaining about other posters deriding six string basses for example - it does happen but no one of the offenders ever speaks up in those threads and its all rainbows and unicorns. Suddenly everyone is so tolerant of each other where they weren't before. Funny stuff.
 
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#70
I like EHX. They are not afraid to design weird one trick pedals. I always get GAS when they release new pedals. Plus they've got classics like the various Muffs.

However...

Build quality used to be HORRIBLE. These days they are mostly ok but I've gotten bad ones recently too. The Deluxe Bass Muff was a disaster for me. Two defect units in a row. The way they squeezed a ribbon cable into the space where the battery should sit is surely an accident waiting to happen, very poor design IMO.

Some of their pedals have been extremely noisy or even had serious design flaws. Like the 12AY7 micpre. Wonderful sound and tubes at full voltage but some revisions were horribly noisy and completely useless. EHX denied the existence of the problem even though it was thoroughly documented at various forums online.

Some of the filter pedals never worked for me. Levels dropped and/or very narrow range of sounds that were usable.

Older pedals had weird power supplies. But some of those pedals were AMAZING. Like the tube Wiggler. Noisy as #¤% but mojo in spades! Still, filling up my pedalboard with HUGE boxes and wall warts is not gonna happen so my older EHX pedals are now for studio use only.

Some older pedals couldn't be daisy chained. And I'm not just talking about their digital pedals that SHOULDN'T be daisy chained. They've got some weird designs over the years that just wouldn't get along with other gear.

Their tubes are utter garbage. And I absolutely detest the way they abuse old classic brands like Mullard, Tung-Sol, etc. to sell their lacklustre Russian tubes.

Oh, and most of their pedals are for GU#¤AR!!! :spit:

But I still like them! They make the funniest demo videos in the business. Mike Matthews is completely nuts! :laugh:
 
#71
Nephilymbass said:
.

As for how they conduct business. I’m not a big fan technology companies suing other companies. Just be more creative. Sell a better product at a better price. EHX isn’t the only gear brand like that. Fender and Gibson do the same thing. I do own two fender basses so obviously I won’t say “I’m absolutely not buying a product from that company” just for that reason. But it’s a reason that’s somewhat important to me personally because of my job as a surgical technologist and in my line of work the patent bullying stuff slows innovation and drives up prices. For example say grandpa needs a hip or knee replacement. I make like $20-$30 on that surgery(before taxes)and I am actually there with the patient, I’m the one at risk of getting all kinds of stuff from HIV to hepatitis or if something goes south losing my certification that I put a lot of time, money, and work into . The engineer who owns the patent for that total joint system makes $800,000 a MONTH a never touches the patient. But patients think I’m the one who’s overpaid.
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Total non-equivalence with medical machinery. EHX does Research and Design in house for the products that they have manufactured for sale, as opposed to a medical device where a manufacturer (and then hospital) licenses a patent from a designer or someone else who bought that design.
Medical innovation will always occur because of precisely what you mentioned- it is a huge-money industry and highly-regulated (unlike much of the technology industry where cloning is rampant).
The issue with EHX is exactly the kind of thing that will stifle innovation in the MI industry, because R+D and innovation are some of the main things setting the name brands apart from the plethora of cheap Chinese cloners (“innovation”, or lack thereof, puts Fender and Gibson in a different class for the most part from a company like EHX). In EHX’s case, a company literally lifted the entire digital algorithm of one of their pedals to undersell them (with the EHX signature code still intact). If another company can get away with such blatant theft of hard work and design, what possible motivation could there be to invest in future R+D? Its not like EHX has gone after any of the hundreds of pedal makers building Muff derivatives or anything- they simply saw an opportunity to draw a line in the sand and try to set a new precedent at a time when digital code is becoming their bread and butter and is much easier to copy but also to compare quantitatively in court (at their own cost, because filing and arguing a lawsuit is not cheap).
 
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#73
Just love for me.
I have switched to digital but still can't sell my EHX stuff.

Nephilymbass said:
The bad experience for example was the deluxe bass big muff. Imo that pedal is a “bedroom” effect. In other words I was able to get some cool sounds out of it at home by myself but in the band mix it was actually difficult to tell that it was even on because so much of the effect was lost in the mix of the band.
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Funny to me it was just the opposite. Great sound with the band (doom in B standard) with and without using the crossover section (which is where you can have mids back if you want them). Luckily is known that one man's trash is another man's treasure. ;)
 
#75
HelpImaRock said:
Historically, EHX had problems. Mike went bankrupt what 4 times? Customer service wasn't always there and build quality suffered at various times. But that's been a long time now.

Some pedals, like the one and two knob modulation pedals, have perceived volume drops.
Some have wide ranges, which some people feel like they have finicky controls.
Some use 24v power supplies and can't be daisy chained.
Some digital pedals whine when you daisy chain them and people think that's a QC issue when it's not

Then there's the group who says the XO pedals don't sound like their big box predecessors and boo on EHX for cashing in on a name and not making accurate reissues.

Personally, I don't fit into any of the above. That's just a bunch of stuff I've read over the years. The only EHX pedals I own these days are the Deluxe Memory Boy and SuperEgo+. The DMB's volume runs away when it oscillates. And the effects on the SE+ are mostly terrible. But the sounds I like on them are fantastic.
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I think this captures the issues nicely.

No hate here but I have seen lots with footswitch issues.

For the price point, they are pretty good overall. Especially now that they remembered how to make a decent muff for cheap.
 

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