Jump to content
Hamer Fan Club Message Center

Underrated "Name Brand" Pedals


LucSulla

Recommended Posts

Thoughts?

Aside from a tuner pedal, which is apparently underrated because I feel like half the guitarist I play with have to use mine, what do you think?  I know there are a lot of great pedals that fly under the radar, but I think this has less to do with being underrated and more to do with there being so damned many people making pedals these days.  

But I'm thinking of stuff from the big producers like MXR, Boss, etc.  To make a booze comparison, a lot of the big name stuff really ain't that great, but you have some stuff out there like Beefeater Gin that gets overlooked because it's cheap and widely available, but it's honestly still a great gin, even if it isn't hand crafted in a pot still.  

Those kinds of things.  

One for me is just an off the shelf MXR Phase 90.  I've used one for over 20 years now, and it, along with either a Vox or Dunlop Wah, just never seems to come off my board.  The Boss GE-7 EQ is a close second.  That thing is just a Swiss army knife.  I'm not using one now.  but I've used them for everything from a solo boost to weird stuff like EQing a Les Paul to sound more like a Tele in a country band or making a Bogner Shiva chunk on up in a death/prog metal band situation. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are dead-on with the GE-7 - it’s magic. 

You can fix anything. Pissy weak pickups - mush - levels everything.

 

I’ve mentioned before that the Boss OD-3 was cited to me by Justin Derrico as the best fucking pedal ever made. He can play a bit and has done the odd tour 😛 -I bought one straight away for maybe £50  and it there as a ‘more juice’ pedal in any scenario.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me the Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster hangs with any boost you want to compare it to. The Garage Tone Trem (Pink One) is a bad ass trem that sounds kiler. Both pedals can be had for less than $50. 

OD11, rarely do I see them in shootouts with other pedals or getting shoutouts when talking about other "Transparent" Overdrives. That Pedal Show had it Amp11 in a shoot out with the likes of the King of Tone. They brag on the KOT all the time, and when they stepped on the Amp11 they had to go back and reset the KOT internal switches and adjust the pedal to sound better. Or as I see it, more like the Amp11. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While I haven't kept up w/ the evolution of the modern Danelectro items, their original mid-'90s mainline pedals were a good value and were heavy enough to where they stayed stable onstage (at least, for me). Still got a Dan-Echo, Cool Cat chorus, Fab Tone distortion, a Daddy-O overdrive (I prefer the Fab Tone) and a Dan-O-Matic tuner. Steve Howe actually used one of the pedals on the preceding list on the 2000 Yes "Masterworks" tour but I couldn't get close enough to his pedalboard to tell which one it was.

The cheaper and smaller devices that soon followed weren't inspiring. IMO the "Corned Beef" reverb sounded as bad as the reverb in the old Silvertone Twin Twelve amp from back in the '60s.

The more-modern Danelectro co. also made that weird Back Talk  "backwards" gizmo, which I understand has recently been reissued.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I gotta +1 the old faithful Dunlop Crybaby. I'm not a big wah guy, so when I do break it out, it holds up.

 

To be honest I'm not really a pedal guy in general, but this summer I was lured in by the Digitech FreqOut. The thought of natural sounding feedback on tap without rattling the house was waaay tempting. Overall, it is a pretty fun toy and can be used as a pseudo sustainer. BUT, I was within a hair of taking it back when I realized there is a 4 second limit on it. This something they sure don't advertise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Barber! Launch Pad boost, Tone Press and every dirt pedal he’s ever made. I fell in love with his LTD Silver a long time ago! Still on my board as well as his Direct Drive(green) and newest tone press. They’re  quiet and just sound good. The LTD Silver is a minimum gain peddle that just add’s fairy dust!! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Digitech synth wha is cool if you need an envelope filter or quasi synth sounds. 

Digitech bad monkey was a decent OD w/ bass & treble controls.

I have a Zoom G2 that has lotsa good sounds (except the ODs), I use it mostly for delays & tuner on duo gigs direct into the PA.  

I had a Zoom BFX707 (?) cheapo bass pedal years ago that had a buncha great noisy envelope filter or quasi synth sounds, you could assign the ring modulator to the rocker pedal for crazy theramin sounds.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pretty under radar - or better: nearly completely -  are probably the two HAOs I run into lately:

- HAO Rust Booster (Clean boost)

- HAO Rust Driver (Marshall in a Box)

and then of course, the swiss knife of tone, the Lemon Aid (Rockett).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to have a Boss CE-2 (some number, I think it was 2) and it sounded terrific. And an RV-5, also worked great. I never use more than six pedals including tuner so my experience with effects if limited but I liked them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, polara said:

I used to have a Boss CE-2 (some number, I think it was 2) and it sounded terrific. And an RV-5, also worked great. I never use more than six pedals including tuner so my experience with effects if limited but I liked them.

a CE-2 or CE-2w is my next pedal :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What's a pedal?

Ooh, you mean that thingee on the floor I use to control my Axe FX3? 😜

Seriously, other than my Dunlop Wah, I don't really use pedals.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Brooks said:

Digitech synth wha is cool if you need an envelope filter or quasi synth sounds. 

Digitech bad monkey was a decent OD w/ bass & treble controls.

I have a Zoom G2 that has lotsa good sounds (except the ODs), I use it mostly for delays & tuner on duo gigs direct into the PA.  

I had a Zoom BFX707 (?) cheapo bass pedal years ago that had a buncha great noisy envelope filter or quasi synth sounds, you could assign the ring modulator to the rocker pedal for crazy theramin sounds.

 

I was a fan of that zoom g2 for the delays, quite a bit of nice sounds in there. I liked the physical layout as well, stompox style.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only pedal on my board that approaches booteek status is my Xotic BB Preamp.  Everything else is “name brand” and gets the job done for bargain prices compared to the upscale pedals that are so trendy these days.

MXR:  The Phase 90 has already been mentioned, but the Phase 95 is even better.  Four phasers for the price of one.  On the rare occasions I need a compressor, I grab my battered Custom Comp, a tweaked, modded Dyna Comp that I found in a bargain bin for $40.  Sorry, Keeley, I’m good.

EHX: Huge number of pedals to do normal stuff and bizarro effects like the booteek guys do.  I have a Grand Canyon on my board, it does great digital, analog, and tape delays and has several of the nice-to-have oddities, too, at about 1/3 the price of the trendy delays.  I’m not a Klon user, but if I was, I’d use a Soul Food.

Boss: My chorus, flanger, and tremolo are all Boss.  If my BB stopped working, my SD-1 would get me by with no problems.  DD-3 and DS-1 are standbys for small boards or other flavors.

If you can’t get it done with those three brands, you’re doing sumpin wrong.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, Rich_S said:

The only pedal on my board that approaches booteek status is my Xotic BB Preamp.  Everything else is “name brand” and gets the job done for bargain prices compared to the upscale pedals that are so trendy these days.

MXR:  The Phase 90 has already been mentioned, but the Phase 95 is even better.  Four phasers for the price of one.  On the rare occasions I need a compressor, I grab my battered Custom Comp, a tweaked, modded Dyna Comp that I found in a bargain bin for $40.  Sorry, Keeley, I’m good.

EHX: Huge number of pedals to do normal stuff and bizarro effects like the booteek guys do.  I have a Grand Canyon on my board, it does great digital, analog, and tape delays and has several of the nice-to-have oddities, too, at about 1/3 the price of the trendy delays.  I’m not a Klon user, but if I was, I’d use a Soul Food.

Boss: My chorus, flanger, and tremolo are all Boss.  If my BB stopped working, my SD-1 would get me by with no problems.  DD-3 and DS-1 are standbys for small boards or other flavors.

If you can’t get it done with those three brands, you’re doing sumpin wrong.

You already broke your own rule with the Xotic! 😆

Link to comment
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, sonic1974 said:

You already broke your own rule with the Xotic! 😆

Yeah, but that’s the only one, so I cut myself some slack.  I could live with my SD-1 if I had to, but I reluctantly admit that the BB is a lot better.

In my defense, I bought my BB used, so it was under $100.  Guilt assuaged.
 

While I’m confessing, I’ll admit that I looked up the price of a Strymon Timeline last week (The That Pedal Show guys made me do it!) but once I saw the price, I went back to being happy with my Grand Canyon.  Anti-booteek cred restored.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Rich_S said:

Yeah, but that’s the only one, so I cut myself some slack.  I could live with my SD-1 if I had to, but I reluctantly admit that the BB is a lot better.

Yeah, I don't know, I play what I want. :)

I have a mix of a bit more expensive stuff and boss stuff and as long as it sounds good I don't worry about any rules. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a lot of Fulltone stuff for whatever reason, which I feel, at this point, is name brand.  Sticking with my booze metaphors, I feel like Fulltone is Maker's Mark at this point - better than well whiskey and Jim Beam, but definitely not small batch stuff.  

I'm thinking about branching out a little though and maybe picking up some JHS stuff to replace the Fulltone stuff.  Smaller footprint than the Deja Vibe and SupaTrem, plus Josh is kind of a local boy done good.  I have some stories about the owner of that place in Jackson where he got started, lol.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

56 minutes ago, Bennyboy-UK said:

Here’s a cheapo one which I like.

Mooer E-Lady flanger.

it was 30 quid, and has a cool static flange selection which i really like to make everything 3D-ey.

Agreed.  In the early 80's I bought a real honest-to-gosh Electric Mistress, used.  You know, the one that's worth all kinds of cash now?

electric_mistress.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

It was instant Alex Lifeson!  Noisy, ate batteries (two at a time), but I could sound like Lerxst (not really, but I thought so at the time)!  When I got out of the second-year-at-community-college-for-constant-partying-first-year-at-university-penalty-box and went back to university, flangers had pretty much gotten out of fashion and I was on to other things.  I tried to get my $80 back but had to settle for $60 (current Reverb Price Guide is $395 to $665).

About five years ago I was really missing having a good flanger ("Why," you ask? 🧐) and looked them up.  Wasn't about to buy an original again.  I read a review of the Electric Lady (now "E-Lady" after some likely legal wrangling).  It was cheap so I bit - this (tiny by comparison) thing is IT.  It IS the Electric Mistress in a tiny box.  Nails it completely.

I got their orange phaser, as well.  Does a fine job.

 

Oh, and another vote for the Bad Monkey - bought one for I think $35 and sold my JRC4558D TS-10 for quite a nice sum.  I actually thought the Bad Monkey was the better pedal - the separate bass and treble controls were very helpful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm mostly on Helix or GT-1000 at this point, but one that was awesome, though harder to find now is the MXR distortion II.  Same size as the flanger and you had to plug it in, but it was a great tone, beefy even with the low control turned all the way down.  Made my crappy first amp sound like it was much bigger.  The other one I loved was the DOD FX55, not the B or C, but the original with just Volume and Distortion knobs.  Sounded cool.  And anything Boss will serve you well.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/22/2020 at 6:05 PM, Biz Prof said:

TC Electronics Mojo Mojo

TC Electronics Spark boost 

 

These two may never leave the pedalboard.  I've recommended them to several people working in widely varying genres and the response has been a uniform "you were right".

Oh, and a +1 for the Bad Monkey

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, velorush said:

Oh, and another vote for the Bad Monkey - the separate bass and treble controls were very helpful.

Yeah, if your neck humbucker sounds too muddy w/ your regular OD, you can tweak the monkey for just that pup, brilliant. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...