Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

[Diego]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

Compression saved my ass as a bassist so many times. It just makes things sound smooth.

I used to own a MXR Dynacomp for guitar and I didn't really like it most of the time. It behaved too much like an effect and not as a tool.
Damn thing had a mind of it's own when it came to release and attack. But with a Strat in the 2 and 4 positions it was terrific, sometimes.

I don't know, I'm really on the fence with compression to be honest.

 

[LLL]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

I can't think of any stomp that is over-rated; more the usage of a stomp being over-rated (how it's being utilized) than the stomp itself.

Like slapping a distortion box in front of an amp (that has dist) that is running at .5 volume and stating it sounds as good as running the amp wide-open...
that's over-rated.

And there's under-rated stomps definitely - EQ comes to mind. Compressor is another.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

View attachment 97458

Does that do anything? Is it like a talent pedal?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

From Boss:
The BOSS SP-1 Spectrum was an effect that boosted a select band of frequencies, so that instruments with a tendency to be “muddy”—such as electric bass—could be brought out in the mix.

Essentially a parametric EQ, but not as good. And originals go for an absurd amount of money.

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

I loathe:

*Any Flanger
*Heavy Soaked Vibrato unless used satirically like Ween would -And to be clear I'm not referring to Tremelo -which is amazing.
*Heavy Chorus (Apparently I'm ok with light Chorus as this forum proved)
*Wah Wah -ugggghhhh

 

[Aceman]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

I can't think of any stomp that is over-rated; more the usage of a stomp being over-rated (how it's being utilized) than the stomp itself.

Like slapping a distortion box in front of an amp (that has dist) that is running at .5 volume and stating it sounds as good as running the amp wide-open...
that's over-rated.

And there's under-rated stomps definitely - EQ comes to mind. Compressor is another.

Point. Missed. Completely.

 

[LLL]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

Point. Missed. Completely.

Then you need to up your reading comprehension skills, or get more experienced with gear to grasp my statements... what I was saying was on target and easy reading.

 

[Coma]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

I never cared much for chorus. I don't know how much of that comes from me not having much use for it in my arsenal, or how much people have over and misused it in the past, but I certainly don't have a space for it on my board. It just seems that everyone and their brother was doing the whole "clean picked high output bridge humbucker drenched in chorus" thing over arpeggiated chords way too much back in the day.

If I do need a chorus like effect, I use a Univibe. I find them much more pleasing to the ears.

Anytime I hear a flanger, I always think a good phaser would sound better.

Yeah, so here's the funny thing about that: I can definitely see why you'd think a phaser can be a better fit for where a flanger is being used.

The flanger can be better used as a - wait for it - chorus!

I bought a flanger and a chorus, kept the chorus on my board for a day, and then sent it packing... over to my bass player's board, who liked it quite a bit. Then I finally took it off of him and sold it, so he went on the prowl for a replacement chorus aaaaaaand... ended up buying a flanger [emoji16]

 

[Demanic]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

I'm going out on a limb here, because I've never used one, but I'll say: the Klon.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?334715-Most-overrated-pedal-or-type-of-pedal&p=4320114&viewfull=1#post4320114

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

The question was most overrated, and I am going to say something unpopular: OVERDRIVE PEDALS! Yup, ODs.

Not because they suck or aren't useful, but simply because SO many companies sell SO many of them and SO many players buy so many of them and almost all of them are a variation of maybe three circuits.

I like them. I use a couple (although I think at least one is technically a distortion), but in general I think people put way too much time, thought, and money into them when any one of dozens work fine and sound pretty much indistinguishable from one another.

And of course I will probably buy yet another sometime soon...

*Edit: I already DID buy another one! The day after this post I remembered that I ordered a Mosferatu during the last Lovepedal sale thingy - it just hasn't arrived yet!! But I am 97% certain THIS one will be The One...

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

View attachment 97458

This would be a lot more effective if it had a gain and Q control, a la the Stone Deaf FX PDF-2.

 

[Diego]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

The question was most overrated, and I am going to say something unpopular: OVERDRIVE PEDALS! Yup, ODs.

Not because they suck or aren't useful, but simply because SO many companies sell SO many of them and SO many players buy so many of them and almost all of them are a variation of maybe three circuits.

Yup. I'm 99% sure I could, and will happily make it through life with a DS1/SD1/BD2 or a TS808 or something basic among those lines as a drive unit, plus a distortion of sorts.

 

[LLL]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

Alright, so thought some more.

There is one (just one) that comes to mind:

Fulltone OCD.

Boring. Boring. Boring. (where's the "zzzZZZzzz" emoticon?)

It's so boring, that when I was trying to think of an overrated pedal, I forgot about it (I owned one).

Now that's boring.

 

[Van Noord]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

Anytime I hear a flanger, I always think a good phaser would sound better.

A flanger is what happens when a phaser and a chorus have a baby...

 

[Mincer]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

This would be a lot more effective if it had a gain and Q control, a la the Stone Deaf FX PDF-2.

View attachment 97468

Right? The Spectrum, for all of its hype, doesn't do much. It fails like many Boss ideas as they never have any outside people actually test these things before market.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

Right? The Spectrum, for all of its hype, doesn't do much. It fails like many Boss ideas as they never have any outside people actually test these things before market.

Well, it WAS one of the first three BOSS compact pedals and quickly discontinued.

 

[Jacew]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

Let’s keep this lighthearted.
Zero points for mentioning any Bill Finnegan pedal.

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To me the most overrated type of pedal is the clean boost. In my brief experience, they do nothing apart from make it louder and slightly more opaque. I’d rather boost with an overdrive and get some interesting coloration, or just use higher output pickups. I find when I use a clean boost with lower output pickups, I don’t get the benefits of a lower output pickup... or a higher output pickup. How many of these things are just glorified buffers with level controls? What’s a clean boost that might change my mind?

If you don't get overdrive with clean boost you're using it wrong It adds gain stage with extra control: I always use one to hammer the first tube into saturation when needed. Just perfect.

I never liked any those that add thickness. Ones you can dial in for extra mids and highs are better by far.

 

[Jacew]

Re: Most overrated pedal or type of pedal

Try a Zvex SHO. Into a dirty amp, since they don't compress as much, you can have raging overdrive or perfectly clean sounds from your picking strength.
And that's a common cliché but I've never had it as good with any overdrive or distortion pedal. They limit the dynamic range too much.
With a SHO it's like the guitar could go up to 25 instead of 10 on it's volume knob, and that kicks ass. No experience with other boosts here.

My vote for most overrated pedal? All wahs or chorus.
Both effects have been overdone beyond belief and they're a staple on guitarists I don't care about in 99% of occasions.
If anything, they're a sad reflection on how endogamic most guitar players are.

+1 for wahs and choruses