Darling TGP pedals that you don't like

This is why unless you know the amp, guitar, speaker, and tone objectives - reading a review is pretty baseless.

I could love a Timmy as a clean boost into a Plexi. Someone else could HATE the Timmy into a clean Fender. Apples to oranges!

 

Without getting into specifics, I've flipped a number of TGP "grail" pedals. Not that they were necessarily bad, they just weren't for me. That simple. If folks are following their own muse and trusting their own ears, there will be very few - if any - "one size fits all" pieces of gear.

 

Zendrive or any Dumble in a box

 

The Bondi Sick As seems to get a lot of love, but didn't work at all for me...

Also the Strymon Timeline was a flop for me

 

Anything Strymon
Echorec
Hardwire Reverb
Ibanez DE7
And Wampler's & JHS's stuff never did anything for me.
Barber's stuff also seemed flat to me too.

 

I'll be vague and say anything that doesn't add anything new to a classic effect. I just don't have the ears to hear enough differences between an expensive boutique flanger and something mass produced that is a fraction of the price.

 

Timmy... Though that's a bit passé these days. I had v1 and v2. V2 lasted a bit longer, but I didn't care for the grit of it... Very identifiable in what was for me a bit of an undesirable way.

I think the VMSD kinda falls in that category as well. I didn't find it user-friendly, and the sounds didnt excite me. I have a timeline now, and I'm open to another mega delay unit coming out that can replace it... Though I've not seen anything lately...

I'm an old user who's only just now getting back in the swing of things here, so forgive me if my references are a bit dated... Ha!

 

RAT - nice sound, just not the sound I was after

 

Strymon Flint (cold) and Wet Reverb (meh) for me.
Also Carbon copy.

 

Only had one Strymon, Timeline, and I hated it. sent it back after 3 days. I am really restraining myself from buying a bigsky at the moment. Looks awesome, but know I will hate it once I get it.

 

Maybe this was the problem I had with mine. I never played it at gig/loud rehearsal volumes and I always wondered how it managed to sound muddy with no note definition on chords and bright and thin on individual notes. I also hated the filter, made everything sound muffled to me. Maybe one day I'll try one at high volumes.

 

Klon. Had a gold horsie back when you could only get them by ordering out of the back of Vintage Guitar (I think...). It was ok, but I've never understood the big fuss.

 

It's the backlash thread!

This site isn't annoying to me at all -- really, I'm grateful for all the info. You guys know everything about guitar pedals.

But I take it all with a grain of salt. As should you.

- megatron Optimus prime mainframe computer delay pedals. For years I yearned for The One to come out and take the place of the dl4. But none of these $400 delays (you know who you are) do enough to justify the cost/power/size. I prefer my non-preset delays for guitar work.

- expensive overdrives. They don't really do anything! Boosts and gain devices are fine and all, but they aren't very different from one another. They ALL disappoint me unless the gain is on '0' (most of the time).

- digital things like the möbius (sorry to name names) that emulate analog devices but don't quite get there but that's ok because presets. That takes the fun out of stomp boxes. I do not play in a cover band or in church.

- ambient. I'm a huge eno fan, but I'm thinking this word you are saying you might not know what it means.

- boutique big muffs. I foolishly followed this rabbit hole for a couple months too long. Found there was no relationship between $$ and the sound.

Ok. But I'm not a brat. I appreciate u-all. Because of TGP, I've discovered:

- cb echorec. So cool! Great execution on this. It sounds very old-school once I dialed down the canned modulation.

- basic audio spooky tooth. It's the classic fuzz that never was. Totally weird, but easy to apply to a wide range of music.

- fuzz in general. I didn't understand. Until I did. Thanks guys!

 

I'm not sure if a Timeline is a 'darling' but that thing was a whipping. Ridiculous menu banks and a tone that sounded completely digital. Meh. Double meh.

 

Tim
Timmy
Anything Barber

 

WHAT?! How dare you!

 

This x1000. I think the word most people are looking for is "atmospheric" not "ambient".

I cringe when someone asks, "I'm looking for an ambient delay/reverb".

 

I didn't bond with the Ethos. For me, the controls were a bit too interactive for making quick adjustments on the fly. It's capable of some great sounds but I spent entirely too much time futzing with it.

 

What do you like?

 

A lot of the pedals mentioned in this thread were actually pretty good in their heyday.
It's just that new pedals keep coming in to play very rapidly that upstage what you have been using.
And the fine tuning on a specific sound is becoming amazingly accurate.