SD Pedals

[Inflames626]

Anyone notice the variety of pedals on site has fallen off lately?

[ItsaBass]

Re: SD Pedals

I don't know any details, but I'm thinking that their previous pedals probably didn't work out too well for them. Every one that I had sounded very cool, but was built like complete garbage. When they worked as intended, they sounded great. But I had nothing but problems with them. They screwed me up during gigs several times. This is really unfortunate, as I was hoping for them to be great, and I bought the Pickup Booster as soon as it was released. But in the end, I think they were very expensive for the level of quality to which they were built, and over all unworthy of wearing the S.D. badge. And they must not have sold very well, as they were being blown out very cheaply in the last year or so. This new line appears to be made in house, so perhaps S.D. has decided to start from scratch and do it right this time.

[Luke Duke]

Re: SD Pedals

I don't know any details, but I'm thinking that their previous pedals probably didn't work out too well for them. Every one that I had sounded very cool, but was built like complete garbage. When they worked as intended, they sounded great. But I had nothing but problems with them. They screwed me up during gigs several times. This is really unfortunate, as I was hoping for them to be great, and I bought the Pickup Booster as soon as it was released. But in the end, I think they were very expensive for the level of quality to which they were built, and over all unworthy of wearing the S.D. badge. And they must not have sold very well, as they were being blown out very cheaply in the last year or so.

I didn't have any that let me down at a gig because I didn't have one that stayed on the board. I had very high hopes for the pup booster, but the Spanish radio stations were a major turn off...not to mention the loud click.

The premise was good for most of them, but the execution just wasn't there.

This new line appears to be made in house, so perhaps S.D. has decided to start from scratch and do it right this time.

Assembled in Santa Barbara is the phrase I think you're looking for...

An old maxim about bodily fluids and telling me it's raining applies here.

[DreX]

Re: SD Pedals

I don't understand why there are so many companies producing the same types of pedals. There are some with unique features, that's fine, but many pedals all have the same basic controls. How is the delay pedal market, for example, still accepting new entrants for pedals with the same controls and functionality after all these decades?

I buy lots of overdrives and fuzzes because I enjoy the variety of tonal color, but for all the other pedals like modulations and delays, once I have one that works well enough, I'm done looking any further.

Also, from a purely baseless and judgmental perspective, I wouldn't think to trust Seymour Duncan with effects pedals. It's entirely not their area of experience. I'd much sooner trust Marshall or Fender's amp building experience to give them an edge in pedal making, even though Fender's pedals don't seem too popular either.

[PFDarkside]

Re: SD Pedals

In my mind Duncan was pretty creative and innovative in their designs, especially in the era in which they were released.

The tap control on the Shape Shifter was very innovative and useful, the high voltage tube preamp pedals were innovative (as opposed to the low voltage usage of tubes in 95% of tube pedals at the time), the tweak fuzz's tone shape control was innovative, the double back's stacking was innovative. All of these pedals were filling a market niche that didn't exist. What I don't understand is the multitude of TS-9 knockoffs. I guess every company needs one, but man is that a tough market to be best of breed in.

Just me though.