Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

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DinoTrousers

New member
What pedals have you been so excited for, only to try them out and find them kind of meh?

I've had several. I ordered a nice Ross Compressor copy. Got it in, and just meh. I ended up flipping it a month later.

The Ibanez Jet Driver is another one for me. I really, really liked it in the store, but when I got it home and tried it through my rig, it just didn't cut it.

Then I had one of the black Russian Big Muffs. It damn near tripled in value while I had it, but it never sounded as good as any of the various other muff clones I had (many based on the green Russian Muffs).
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

Side note: This is not meant to disparage anyone who likes these pedals! They didn't work with my rig and playing style. They might be perfect for you.
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

Boss OS-2 Overdrive/Distortion - my first overdrive, basically everything since has sounded better
Toadworks Mad Dog Fuzz - I remember being super hyped for it, then it sort of underwhelmed. It's been 10 years so I don't remember why.
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

Earthquaker Talons. But it was the footswitch that was the disappointment. It was bad. I just got it to work enough to know the pedal wasn't my cup of tea anyway. I like Earthquaker pedals, but I don't think they use the best switches.

Another disappointment was the Rockett Archer Ikon. The pedal itself I really liked but I didn't like the buffer, which is strange because I have liked different clones of the simple Klon buffer (which I thought the Archer employed). I have a different one on the board now. But I guess it could have been an interaction with something else in the chain at the time. Who knows.

Other than those two which are fairly recent, probably been disappointed or grew tired of too many to name over the years. Which is probably why I don't own many pedals, and only have a couple older ones still around. Thank the Lord that I never got rid of a Klon :omg: I've seen photos of forum members pedal collections and some guys here have more pedals right now than I have probably owned in total over my lifetime. And, I'm not exactly young.
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

I don't think that I have ever felt thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal for the simple reason that I never had especially high expectations of any pedal to begin with.
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

Darg1911 said:
Earthquaker Talons. But it was the footswitch that was the disappointment. It was bad. I just got it to work enough to know the pedal wasn't my cup of tea anyway. I like Earthquaker pedals, but I don't think they use the best switches.
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There are no more "good stomp switches" available. They are all cheapies now that have a pretty unpredictable failure mode curve. (Some will fail at 10 stomps, some at 100 and some at 10,000, so even by actuating them a bunch, you can't find the ones that will fail sooner) IMO, it's how a company responds to the failed stomp switch. Wampler had my Pinnacle back to me in just over a week for no charge, and I wasn't even the original buyer.
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

PFDarkside said:
There are no more "good stomp switches" available. They are all cheapies now that have a pretty unpredictable failure mode curve. (Some will fail at 10 stomps, some at 100 and some at 10,000, so even by actuating them a bunch, you can't find the ones that will fail sooner) IMO, it's how a company responds to the failed stomp switch. Wampler had my Pinnacle back to me in just over a week for no charge, and I wasn't even the original buyer.
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I don't doubt what you say but I own two Earthquaker pedals now, aside from the Talons that went back. The switches are the hardest and roughest feeling of any other pedals I have. One is worse than the other but neither is confidence inspiring. Personally, if one failed at this point, I'd probably just replace it myself.
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

I felt that way about the Boss BD-2 and TR-2 that I owned. I never gelled with either of them. I know a lot of people who like them, but they just weren't for me.
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

I have that right now with a TC Hall of Fame Mini I just bought. I need to try some different prints.
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

oh lots and lots. the first pedal i was underwhelmed with was a boss dd2, then an old fuzz face. i wish i had them back now but at the time i was happier with my arion distortion. theres plenty of things that ive owned that were cool but i wasnt in a place musically that i could use them or didnt spend the time with them that they needed. there are plenty of turds out there too
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

Compressors and Chorus Pedals always disappointed me
They sound so much better in someone else's rig
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

MXR Analog Chorus, wasn't my cup of tea, liked the tri-chorus mode in my TC Corona much better.
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

HiFiRebel said:
I have that right now with a TC Hall of Fame Mini I just bought. I need to try some different prints.
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Plug it in to your computer and use the editor. I've come up with an awesome Toneprint. Starts with subtle plate, ups the mix as the know goes to 50%, then from there to 100% the delay time increases, modulation is added and mix is increased even more. I now have a 1 knob, rock to ambient reverb that takes no pedalboard space.
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

Mooer Re-Echo

Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret MK3

Wampler Pinnacle and Plexi-Drive
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

MXR Distortion +. Bought it in the 90's because I learned Randy Rhoads had one.

Mind you, at the time I hadn't realized it was designed for pushing a tube amp. I may revisit this classic now that I have a tube amp and see if I feel differently.
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

PFDarkside said:
Plug it in to your computer and use the editor. I've come up with an awesome Toneprint. Starts with subtle plate, ups the mix as the know goes to 50%, then from there to 100% the delay time increases, modulation is added and mix is increased even more. I now have a 1 knob, rock to ambient reverb that takes no pedalboard space.
Click to expand...

That's the plan. I was just a little underwhelmed at first. Once I tweak it right I will likly be happier with it.
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

We need to start an "Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by an amp?", thread, so I don't hijack this one.
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

Boss SD1. Oh my God. To my ears it makes everything sound congested and constipated. Easily the worst OD I've ever dealt with. The Blues Driver is IMO way better, even in stock form and lightyears ahead if modified properly.

Metal Muff + Top Boost. A glorified Metal Zone with no transparency and the worst boost circuit ever placed in a dirt box. Acceptable only if you play mediocre Swedish Death Metal.

Boss DD5. Inmensely tweakable but how can anyone like the 8-bit like quality of the sound repeats is beyond me.

Joyo WannabeaPitchblack Tuner pedal. Will only read notes quickly if you roll your tonepot to zero. Otherwise you can just wait... And wait... And wait.
 
Re: Ever been thoroughly underwhelmed by a pedal?

Diego said:
Boss SD1. Oh my God. To my ears it makes everything sound congested and constipated. Easily the worst OD I've ever dealt with. The Blues Driver is IMO way better, even in stock form and lightyears ahead if modified properly.
Click to expand...

That's not really a fair assessment. The SD-1 is equally cool if "modified properly." ;)
 
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