Soul Food, part deux

[JB_From_Hell]

Last year, I got an EHX Soul Food to jump into the Klone game on the cheap. Lots of reports say it's not all that Kloney. Got rid of most of my pedals, tried a processor, and have since gone back to pedals.

Just re-aquired a Soul Food, and I've decided I really love it. Great clean boost, great always-on with the gain cranked and clean up with your volume knob... switchable TB/buffer... I don't care how Kloney it is, it's a killer cheap pedal to toss in the middle of a bunch of others.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

I like the pedal too, despite it not sounding a lot like my BYOC clone. For what it does do, it is great.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

The difference with the two is the SoulFood uses silicon clipping diodes. So it’s a bit more defined sounding.


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[Blille]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

I’m a fan as well. At lower gain to push something else I still think it’s kloney. I did swap the diodes for germanium after a while. Worth the 5 minutes IMHO.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

I’ve heard lots of people say it’s a very subtle difference.

What diodes did you use? I’d like to give it a shot.

 

[Blille]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

I think 1N34A. To be honest, I could only tell the difference with gain cranked. So if you just use it to push a bit or for light gain, you may not notice. Although your ears can be better than mine, obviously

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

Thanks. I do use it with the gain cranked a lot, so I’ll give it a shot.

 

[Diego]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

The SF is wonderful.
If you can't get a fat thick and dynamic tone out of it, it's your fault.

 

[Liam1963]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

Not interested in modding my Soul Food, I love the pedal just the way it is, also a big fan of the East River drive....

 

[NoOnesFang13]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

I love my Soul POG (soul food/micro pog) and i use it as a clean boost if i need something with a bit more mids or clearity. I run my amps on the edge of breakup most of the time so the little bit of push is great. It replaced the need for a TS in front of a gained amp as well. I never really got along with the TS and the Soul Food allows me to tighten things up without having to lose a ton of lows. Great pedal

 

[blueman335]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

I’m a fan as well. At lower gain to push something else I still think it’s kloney. I did swap the diodes for germanium after a while. Worth the 5 minutes IMHO.

So does the tone change as the germanium warms up?

 

[Blille]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

So does the tone change as the germanium warms up?

I would say that the diodes make the most difference at higher gain. At lower levels it was hard to tell the difference. Germanium was just smoother.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

So does the tone change as the germanium warms up?

Germanium diodes aren't as picky about temperature as germanium transistors are. At least not in my experience with them. Definitely a smoother sound than silicon diodes.

There's a used Soul Food at a local shop. Kinda tempted to snag it to give it a try. And I don't even like Klons....LOL

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

There's a used Soul Food at a local shop. Kinda tempted to snag it to give it a try. And I don't even like Klons....LOL

Ignore the bit about it being Klon-inspired and treat it like any other OD pedal.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

Ignore the bit about it being Klon-inspired and treat it like any other OD pedal.

So, I picked up the used one at a local shop for $50. Got it home and it doesn't work. 2 fresh batteries and nothing. I verified the switch works by switching it to true bypass mode so I know it is going back and forth engaging but nothing to the LED which tells one of 2 things, either the battery clip is bad or the reverse polarity protection diode is toast. Should be a simple fix as long as it's not one of the SMT components in it. Used as-is.

 

[Hsb]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

Thats kinda crappy that the shop didnt disclose that there was a malfunction with the pedal before you bought it. They could of told you about the issue and you could of still had the option to buy it or not.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

Thats kinda crappy that the shop didnt disclose that there was a malfunction with the pedal before you bought it. They could of told you about the issue and you could of still had the option to buy it or not.

It's a good shop. I buy from there often. Very possible that they tested it with a power adapter and it works fine. Unfortunately, I don't have a pedal power adapter...lol.

 

[Hsb]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

Gotcha, maybe quicker and easier to go buy a pedal adapter instead of trying to figure out what part is bad.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

Gotcha, maybe quicker and easier to go buy a pedal adapter instead of trying to figure out what part is bad.

True. I sold all my pedal adapters a few years ago when I sold all my pedals. These days I use batteries and with just the Boss OD-3 and Crybaby, I see no need for an adapter. If need be I'll pick one up to check this one out. I've built pedals in the past and having fixed a few in similar situations so with my DMM I should be able to find the problem pretty quick.

 

[Hsb]

Re: Soul Food, part deux

Cool deal, good luck figuring out the issue.