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Post by Lefty on Mar 10, 2006 6:55:53 GMT -7
How many times have you bought a pedal without hearing it? Just bought it on the hype (good/bad) that you heard on the net?
For me, pretty much EVERY single pedal I own I bought without hearing it or trying it out for myself. Hit or miss. Seems to be more misses than hits. The internet is a baaaaaad, baaaaaaaad thing.
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Post by zdogma on Mar 10, 2006 7:24:58 GMT -7
Yeah. There sure is a lot of c**p out there. Before the internet, a product had to be pretty famous before the manufacturer would be able to afford to get it out there. Now, anyone can make any old junk sell, usually for two or three times what you used to pay for a pedal.
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Post by iggs on Mar 10, 2006 9:46:30 GMT -7
I at least try and find some sound clips for a general idea of whether it will work for me or not. Don't think I bought anything just based on "hype". I already spend insane amounts of $$$ when I want something new ... whether is hyped or not.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 10, 2006 10:08:50 GMT -7
How many times have you bought a pedal without hearing it? Just bought it on the hype (good/bad) that you heard on the net? For me, pretty much EVERY single pedal I own I bought without hearing it or trying it out for myself. Hit or miss. Seems to be more misses than hits. The internet is a baaaaaad, baaaaaaaad thing. I just did. Bought the Xotic BB Preamp last night without ever seeing one in person. Also bought my Mazerati based on the clips, 'cause there sure wasn't one around here. It's getting more and more so you have no choice - locals don't seem to want to carry any inventory at all. See my gigantic rant on this over at www.blog.strayca.com/index.php?itemid=51. I wish it weren't so, but it seems it is inevitable that we'll soon buy everything online and have only groceries available locally - and who knows how long that may last?
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Post by Beckanon on Mar 10, 2006 10:47:08 GMT -7
I don't buy pedals as often as most it seems, so when I do I try to weigh my options/wants/needs as much as possible. I will stalk a purchase for quite awhile before pulling the trigger. Only a few times have I had the chance to try before I bought a pedal. The BJF Little Green Wonder is an example -- I got to try a prototype through a tourbox, back then the pedal was referred to as the Tri-Color OD. I just picked up a Menatone Red Snapper after trying it out through another tour box. I never heard the Eternity before getting that through a trade. Great pedal, no problems with it. And recently I picked up a ZVex Super Duper 2-in-1 without trying it out...it's another keeper.
I never got to hear my Rt.66 amp though, so I was a bit nervous before it arrived. It's been a perfect fit for me, luckily.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 10, 2006 10:52:57 GMT -7
Well if it's any consolation, getting to try them out doesn't necessarily mean you'll end up liking it. For example, someone was telling me how great the Line6 reverb is - the Verbzilla. So I drove down to Guitar Center to try one. After about a 20 minute wait, the guy finally digs one out (it wasn't in their display lineup) and hooks in to this nasty sounding Behringer amp, and he hands me this terrible sounding Taiwanese guitar. After about ten minutes trying to get both of those tamed so I could do a proper demo, the power light on the Verbzilla starts to pulse and the sound goes away. I never did get to the point of actually being able to try the stupid thing. And if I had, I would have been competing with some acidic music coming from the overhead speakers at about 99 db....
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Post by billyguitar on Mar 10, 2006 11:49:37 GMT -7
Bought on hype; Bad cat 2 tone, Tonebone classic, Blackstone appliance overdrive. Sent them all back. My Reverend Drivetrain shot 'em all out of the saddle. To be fair the Bad Cat was about equal but not worth the extra money, the Tonebone had a mid thing that wouldn't go away and the Blackstone just stunk bad. Return went well with all of them.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 10, 2006 14:22:23 GMT -7
Bought on hype; Bad cat 2 tone, Tonebone classic, Blackstone appliance overdrive. Sent them all back. My Reverend Drivetrain shot 'em all out of the saddle. To be fair the Bad Cat was about equal but not worth the extra money, the Tonebone had a mid thing that wouldn't go away and the Blackstone just stunk bad. Return went well with all of them. Oh man, I liked the Tonebone classic so well I bought a second, and the Hot British too. But then I changed amps. They were never the same with the Flexi. They all sounded fantastic on my Rivera Knucklehead and my Rivera Fandango. I think that's part of what's happening here with the hype. Someone gets a pedal and hypes it, and someone else tries it and can't figure out why they liked it. But the two are using entirely different amps, entirely different guitars, totally different speakers... the list goes on. Remember, "Everything Matters."
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Post by guitarman1 on Mar 10, 2006 14:49:02 GMT -7
I have no stores within a six hour drive that carry any boutique stuff, including Fulltone, so I have bought many pedals on forum recommendations & sound file clips. I've had about a 50% success rate. I usually buy on-line from musictoyz.com or pedalgeek.com. They allow me to return them and I only have to eat the shipping fees.
This is way cheaper than me driving six hours. I think the Internet is a great thing. I would never had purchased a Dr. Z amp without the homework I did surfing the net.
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Post by Greg G. on Mar 10, 2006 15:27:58 GMT -7
Lefty,
That's been the name of the game for me and pedals. There's just nobody locally that stocks anything other than the typical Boss pedals, definitely no local shops with "boutique" pedals.
Unless you can demo a pedal with your own guitar, effects and amp, its going to be hit or miss everytime. Of course sound clips on the web are going to sound good to showcase the high points of a pedal, but until you can physically tweek it to blend with a specific guitar and amp setup, you'll never know.
But, like benttop says, trying it out doesn't always mean a whole lot. That's sort of what I like about trying out different gear, you get to see what works for your playing situation and what doesn't, and you usually learn something new everytime. I try not to buy too much into hype and instead really research a piece of gear through reviews, that's why this forum is such a valuable resource, none of us here are going to bullsh!t eachother about the quality of the stuff we buy.
-Greg
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Post by terryg on Mar 10, 2006 17:15:00 GMT -7
ditto! For me the internet has been a real good thing for buying gear. Upon reflection I think even though I've bought online without true tests, the information available in the ether has so far been sufficient enough for me to feel like I'm making a reasonably intelligent decision.
Take pedals, for instance. It's nice having Z amps, which are really awesome at handling pedals. If you can feel assured of the quality of the pedal, it's a pretty safe bet it'll be usable.
Now, having said all that, I don't have any problem at all going over to a store to buy the same thing...I'd prefer that, in fact, simply to support and encourage the store. But where in the world can I test an MI Audio Blues Pro?
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Post by terryg on Mar 10, 2006 17:17:25 GMT -7
I also agree with you, Lefty. The internet is a baaaaad thing ..... I'm completely overexposed to all this (at the very least) interesting stuff. Internet==BAD because it encourages GAS.
I wish I could buy some skill.....nononononono...the best part is the road travelled, not the destination....
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Post by adamross on Mar 11, 2006 6:36:33 GMT -7
Pedals I've bought without trying...
G2D Morpheus - Best quality sound I've ever heard from a pedal, unbelievable distortion, just like the sound clip on the site through a Super Reverb.
Foxrox ZIM - The site clips don't really represent it that well. The H9 card it came fitted with is awful, but the VT side is wonderful, the cardSWAP function is good though. I would say it's overrated.
Baja Tech DA Moaf - Excellent big muff triangle/green clone, sounds much better than any muff I've played and very chaep on ebay, get one!
Red Witch Moonphaser - Good, but it IS a little thin sounding sometimes, I found the Moog Phaser to be better sounding, but then changed to a Sobbat Phasebreaker, which can do the Moonphaser sounds but with Moog sounds as well.
Moog pedals - all of them including the control processor! The control processor was hard to use, ring mod was very good, as was the phaser and envelope filter, if I had to save one I would get the phaser. If you want to make some strange but beautiful sounds, buy these!
Visual Sound H20 - good delay sounds, but the chorus was abit weak. Changed to an Analogman Clone Chorus and a Maxon Analog Delay AD999 and combined with the Ghia they sound super!
Catalinbread SCOD - not great compared to others I've had, difficult to get a smooth sound with the Ghia.
AnalogMan Bi-comp - The ross side didn't sound that good to me, almost like it wasn't doing anything but a tiny extra sustain. The Orange Squeezer side is killer with the Ghia, I strongly recommend an OS as a boost.
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Mar 11, 2006 6:40:07 GMT -7
I'll second the Orange Squeezer/Ghia combo. It is killer. It sounds pretty good with the Stingray, too.
PDW
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Post by jzguitar on Mar 11, 2006 10:00:10 GMT -7
I almost caved in to the great OCD hype of '05. Came close to pre-ordering a couple of times but then I actually got to try one and it wasn't for me. I bought my Timmy and Zendrive without ever trying them and they are great pedals (especially the Timmy - still my favorite OD). Just got my Crunchbox this week, too. I ordered that one on the basis of the positive reviews on the forums. So far it's pretty cool - haven't gigged with it yet. Pedal mods are the same, too. No way to really try the modded versions unless you know someone who has one (a store here in Nashville has some Keeley modded stuff, though. Usually a good selection of Z's too I've had a lot of trial and error with mods - mostly between Keeley and Analogman. I would up selling most of my Keeley modded pedals and keeping my Analogman ones - just more natural sounding. (Sorry I sort of wandered off into review mode!) I'd love to have a huge tonefest somewhere with all the Z forum members. It would be a great chance to try all of these pedals out.
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auratnik
New Member
Brain busting and darkly seductive.
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Post by auratnik on Mar 11, 2006 11:46:24 GMT -7
I bought two pedals, one is MXR Stereo Chorus and the other one was Homebrew UFO, that I didn't like at all. UFO went for exchange for Okko Diablo and I'm happy now. Probably I wouldn't buy ither of them if I had a chance to try them before but o.k. MXR is really HQ chorus that's why it's going to stay. I'm often more into curiosity feeling but I bought my Keeley Compressor on hype and I'm glad I did.
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Post by guitarboy02451 on Mar 11, 2006 13:09:33 GMT -7
The only pedal I bought w/out trying was the Zendrive. I'm still pretty happy with it. It met my expectations. I think the sound clips were dead on. What made it easy was one of the sound clips on alf's site was done by a guy with a Maz Sr and Zbest... which took all the variables out for me.
Hype: I bought a Fulltone 69. I did try it in the store, so I shouldn't complain. But after about two weeks I just couldn't dig it. Returned it and bought my Z-Brake. Which was another purchase without trying it. But the Z-brake worked out perfectly and I'm still happy w/ it.
So, I guess it's hit / miss / hype. The net sort of helps cause you get sound clips. Without clips it would be very hard to purchase.
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Post by foxx on Mar 11, 2006 18:12:22 GMT -7
I have bought most of my pedals, currently on my board, off the internet and without trying them first. I heard about Dr. Z amps from a friend, used the internet to investigate, and went to my Z dealer to fall in love with the Mazerati. I have also spent way too much time exploring reviews on Harmony central about pedals and amps. Some, very few, actually helped, and many were misleading. Yet, where would we be without Analogman, or Diamond Pedals, or Keely, or so many other great pedal manufactures that don't have a local dealer? I have bought at least one pedal online, Tophat Wonderboy, based on info from their site and HC reviews. True bypass I disagree!
I have, on more than one occasion, taken my whole rig to a store to try some pedals, just to compete with loud headbangers, and or a loud stereo. How can anyone get into the right frame of mind to even relax and play like you normaly do so you can hear what the effect does mixed with one's rig?
I say let's benifit from the internet pedal sources, especially when you can pay for shipping and have a test period at home. Diamond pedals gives a whole week for you to decide, Analogman gives 48 hours. Many others must give some time as well. I will never, never even try another pedal in a loud store, unless it's 1/2 price and they have a real amp and a real guitar to try the pedal out. Then again, I'm pretty happy with what I have right now. Maybe a King of Tone someday in the far, far future.
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Post by taswegian on Mar 12, 2006 6:31:33 GMT -7
I've bought all my pedals unplayed. No misses yet but the Rt 66 is pretty forgiving!
Interesting that no one has mentioned Pete Cornish yet. I know it's MEGA expensive stuff but I thought there would be some tone-heads here who would have givin it up. I know Janinedoubley (Chris) has and loves it. Dave Ulbrick is the Australian Pete Cornish and makes some great stuff. I think a really good fuzz is next on my list.
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Post by billyguitar on Mar 12, 2006 8:49:35 GMT -7
I know Chris. He's a good human I and respect his opinions. I tried the Pete Cornish overdrive (SS-2?) at the store he used to work at. I can understand the appeal but it's more of a mild fuzz tone than an overdrive. He said it sounds great in a live music context as opposed to a store demo. I didn't try it like that. It really depends on what you want from a pedal. To me, the more it sounds like a classic tube amp turned up the better. If it doesn't have that sound I immediately disengage. So different strokes for different folks and it's all good. When advising someone about pedals you really have to know what sound they want. I hope someone can perfect the amp modeling preamp. Unfortunately a really good one would probably retire my Z and I'd go back to my 'king of clean', my Evans amp.
Benttop: Great rave on that blog! Sorry it took me so long to read it. This is what the world is coming to, internet purchases for everything beyond the typical and average. It's taking away local jobs but I suppose other jobs are created somewhere else. UPS and FED/EX are loving it! They're the ones who are really cashing in.
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Post by Lefty on Mar 12, 2006 9:31:43 GMT -7
I almost caved in to the great OCD hype of '05. Came close to pre-ordering a couple of times but then I actually got to try one and it wasn't for me. I bought my Timmy and Zendrive without ever trying them and they are great pedals (especially the Timmy - still my favorite OD). Just got my Crunchbox this week, too. I ordered that one on the basis of the positive reviews on the forums. So far it's pretty cool - haven't gigged with it yet. Pedal mods are the same, too. No way to really try the modded versions unless you know someone who has one (a store here in Nashville has some Keeley modded stuff, though. Usually a good selection of Z's too I've had a lot of trial and error with mods - mostly between Keeley and Analogman. I would up selling most of my Keeley modded pedals and keeping my Analogman ones - just more natural sounding. (Sorry I sort of wandered off into review mode!) I'd love to have a huge tonefest somewhere with all the Z forum members. It would be a great chance to try all of these pedals out. I'm with you re: the Keeley pedals. I've had a couple and there's just something that didn't "sit" right. As for the AM stuff, I've had a few and only sold off a couple. Currently own... NKT-275 Fuzz Mini Clone Chorus DS-1 Pro Had... Ibanez SD-9 KOT (still a great pedal) had 3 of them, not all at the same time. Only sold it because it wasn't getting used and couldn't pass up selling it for 400.00 bucks. Std. Fuzz-sold it in favor of the NKT-275 Tried the Beano-not my thing. Now for the Pro Analog stuff-Scotty must of made a deal with the Devil, it's all cool!!!
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Mar 13, 2006 6:00:47 GMT -7
I've bought almost every pedal I own "unheard". I seem to have about a 50% success rate. Some of the pedals I've bought that were good (for me):
Analogman Clone Chorus Analogman Juicer Analogman KOT Analogman Beano Boost Xotic RC Boost Fulltone Tube Tape Echo Hermida Audio Zendrive Fulltone Choralflange Zvex Wah Probe
Some of the ones I've bought on hype/guitar mag reviews that weren't so good for me:
Maxon DS-830 Distortion Master Maxon AD-900 (Got blown away by Fulltone TTE) Moogerfooger Analog Delay (also blown away by Fulltone TTE) Moogerfooger 12 Stage Phaser Blackstone MOSFET Appliance Barber Burn Unit Barber Edge Hog Fulltone Distortion Pro
I never wanted to like a pedal more than the Moogerfooger stuff. I just could never get the input level set where it was high enough but would not clip horribly on hard picking. The Maxon (the "older" AD-900) took away too many highs. PDW
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Post by greenmachine on Mar 13, 2006 17:05:37 GMT -7
The internet is really bad for GAS. I rarely buy something right away and watch ebay. If I see the gear go up on ebay enough times it may be hype but if people hold on to it then the hype is probably justified.
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Post by Tom the Guitar Guy on Mar 16, 2006 20:32:25 GMT -7
Vote me guilty!
I bought the Zendrive, RC Booster, & Hellbilly just on what was said about it on the boards - the Zendrive and RC Booster mainly because Mr. Paisley has them on his board.
But what is really important (at least to me) is that even though I bought them on the hype, they are still on my board - unlike a few other pedals that I have and even tried before I bought.
I knew the sound I was lookin' for, and through the great descriptions (and not so great ones) I was able to pretty much trust my instinct and purchase them. I'm glad they worked out so great. I think the advent of the internet has really helped in that way - I don't think I would have been able to get as much GOOD info without great discussion boards and people willing to share.
tomtheguitarguy
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Post by terryg on Mar 23, 2006 9:03:05 GMT -7
Luckily my board isn't huge, so for me to actually keep a pedal there kind of forces me to really like it. And, being able to visualize (audialize?) what I'm looking for and then being able to somewhat determine what something will sound like in my environment based on downloadable soundfiles...is pretty cool. The hype that's generated around various pedals often perks my ears, but usually not enough to go buy. usually. Sometimes.....
"Great OCD hype of '05" That's funny!
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 23, 2006 9:45:12 GMT -7
Well I just got my BB Preamp a few days ago, and I bought it based on comments here and on other forums. It took a bit of fiddling to find the sweet spot, but I think that pedal is going to stay on the board longer than any of the other overdrive type pedals I have here. So the hype was "good hype" on this one.
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Post by terryg on Mar 23, 2006 10:05:38 GMT -7
congrats! I just popped off for a Blackstone. We'll see how that goes.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2006 11:21:39 GMT -7
I bought the Xotic RC, AC, and BB pedals based on the excellent reviews. I also bought the MJM blues devil and the MJM London Fuzz II, not to mention the Chicago Iron Octavian(the most musical octavia I have played). The MJM Blues Devil really is knockin me out these days. It is a very subtle difference between it and the Analogman modded maxon OD-9. Now, I will say that the Analogman sounds like it has more bass than the MJM, which to my ears now make the Maxon sound muddy compared to the MJM. The Maxon compared to my regular TS-9 definitely sounds better but the MJM just has more. More clarity, volume, better tone. It sounds more amp like to me. It is like he took the best things about a Klon and the best things about a tube screamer and turned it into the Blues Devil. I did ask Michael Milcetic of MJM to select the best sounding units from his stock, and if he did or not I am not sure. I am not sure how each Blues Devil would sound. All I know is that the pedal knocked the Analogman Maxon OD-9/808/Silver/KWS off the board and I thought nothing was going to do that. It could also be that the pedal is hand-wired I don't now but it has some serious mojo. I have been doing repeated testing of both pedals whenever I get a chance and the MJM keeps edging out the OD-9. It also stacks much better than the OD-9, maybe because the MJM sounds more natural and open to my ears. The OD-9 with the BB always had a strange high end sound. It sounded almost like an overtone or like there was a blanket over the high end. With the BB after the MJM it sounds like a cranked Marshall! My ears are very happy. ;D
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Post by Telemanic on Mar 23, 2006 14:38:26 GMT -7
Cool, i was wondering if anyone else loved the bluesdevil as much as i. It's an amazing pedal, the best 808 type ive played! And michael is one of the coolest builders out there. Everything he makes seems to be superlative. Ive got a london fuzz that does it's thing better than any ive had before (too many!) and the 60's vibe..... forget it, it is hands down, a univibe. The closest to my original ive heard, and ive owned them all, well almost. Provibe, mayer, mojo, deja #89? etc. anyone tried MJM's RM booster??? next on my list
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Post by Greg G. on Mar 23, 2006 15:40:26 GMT -7
You know, threads like this and others on this forum really don't help keep me from buying pedals on hype. For some reason I now need to buy an MJM Blues Devil, Xotic BB, AC and RC boosters sight unseen, strictly based on hype ;D.
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