Pedals that exceeded your expectations

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Pedals that exceeded your expectations

Post by JVG » Sat Apr 09, 2022 3:32 am

Have you ever bought a pedal that you perhaps weren’t sure about, or didn’t have huge expectations from, and then it blew you away?

For me it’s been the Boss Waza Chorus. I didn’t think I liked chorus, as I’d dabbled with a few over the years and generally found them cold and unsatisfying. I bought the Waza a couple of years ago as a final attempt to enjoy chorus, and it’s stayed on my board ever since. To my ears it sounds great in any setting, and I love the simplicity of the controls. :?

What pedal have you enjoyed more than you expected? …preferably something you’ve had for a while, to make sure you’re not just caught up in the emotions of the honeymoon period!

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Re: Pedals that exceeded your expectations

Post by zhivago » Sat Apr 09, 2022 3:51 am

The Rat is probably the greatest cheap and available pedal out there.

I bought mine with a bunch of amazon gift vouchers a while ago and it blew me away.
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Re: Pedals that exceeded your expectations

Post by stevejamsecono » Sat Apr 09, 2022 4:28 am

Nobel ODR-1 Mini has been the latest of these for me. Totally different overdrive sound than I am used to hearing and gives a hell of a kick in the bottom that few others do.
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Re: Pedals that exceeded your expectations

Post by marqueemoon » Sat Apr 09, 2022 9:37 am

Boss RV-6

I’ve just become addicted to the sound of this pedal, and the shimmer mode in particular of all things.

Demeter Tremulator

Bought on Craigslist on a whim. It just has a great tone to it. I use it as a subtle boost when not using it for its intended purpose.

J. Rockett Tranquilizer

One of the best sounding and most versatile modulation pedals I’ve ever played.

EQD Plumes

Can’t say I would have bought this if not for a good deal from a friend. I’ve never liked Tube Screamers that much. It’s really good. A little bright, but I think it would be a great first dirt pedal.

TC Polytune 3 Mini

Might be the perfect tuner. Small, bright, has a strobe mode, good sounding buffer, display always on option.
Last edited by marqueemoon on Sat Apr 09, 2022 4:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Pedals that exceeded your expectations

Post by Ruttiger » Sat Apr 09, 2022 10:44 am

Boss Waza Chorus is one that also exceeded my expectations-and the DM-2W. I would also say the Red Panda Tensor-I expected to like it, but it ended up being a perfect fit for the kind of music I like to do, and really inspirational.

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Re: Pedals that exceeded your expectations

Post by fuzzjunkie » Sat Apr 09, 2022 12:53 pm

I usually get to try before I buy, so I know what to expect. The two I didn’t have exceeded expectations mostly because my expectations were low.

Throbak Overdrive/Boost - I wanted a pedal that wasn’t a Tubescreamer or Klon and versatile enough to work with several different styles of guitar. I wasn’t expecting it to take the place of my Rat as my foundation dirt pedal, a Rangemaster, a Fuzz Face, and could work with humbucker and single coil pickups.

Fairfield Four Eyes - I picked it up because filtering 3 EQ bands and distorting them sounded interesting. I didn’t expect it to replace my Vox wah and Big Muff.

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Re: Pedals that exceeded your expectations

Post by Plumerai » Sat Apr 09, 2022 2:11 pm

Moog Bassmurf was more fun to play with than expected. One day I'll rebuy it.

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Re: Pedals that exceeded your expectations

Post by soggy mittens » Sat Apr 09, 2022 3:21 pm

EHX Deluxe Big Muff Pi
EHX Pitchfork
EHX Oceans 11 (better than 12)
EHX Cathedral
BOSS DD-7
BOSS MT-2 (og circuit)
BOSS DD-200 (better than DD-500)
MOOER Orange Ninety
MOOER Yellow Comp
MOOER Blues Mood
MOOER Pure Boost
If OSG has tort me anything...

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Re: Pedals that exceeded your expectations

Post by stevejamsecono » Sat Apr 09, 2022 3:52 pm

fuzzjunkie wrote:
Sat Apr 09, 2022 12:53 pm

Throbak Overdrive/Boost - I wanted a pedal that wasn’t a Tubescreamer or Klon and versatile enough to work with several different styles of guitar. I wasn’t expecting it to take the place of my Rat as my foundation dirt pedal, a Rangemaster, a Fuzz Face, and could work with humbucker and single coil pickups.
I've been interested in the Throbak stuff for awhile and have always wanted to try one of these as well as their Strangemaster.
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Re: Pedals that exceeded your expectations

Post by Whiny Minotaur » Sat Apr 09, 2022 10:10 pm

MS70CDR - It's almost cliche at this point, but it really is a fantastic pedal. These days I keep it on the end of my chain, just before my delays and use the stereo delay and chorus for a wider and thicker sound. The reverbs aren't half bad either.

Mooer Yellow Comp - Supposedly a clone of the Diamond Compressor. I use it to bring a small amount of compression to my sound after the preamp as I don't use IRs anymore.

Whammy - The octave up/down settings were disappointing and sounded way too thin on my setup, but the harmony settings I've been using for pretty much every song I've written since.

J. Rockett WTF Fuzz (Clone) - I picked up a clone of this sold on the used market, and I finally found the fuzz that I had in my head for the longest time. Most fuzzes I played had some kind of thing that I disliked about them, with Muffs sounding a little boring and the Fuzz Factory I have being too bright/fizzy for my tastes, etc. The WTF Fuzz is glitchy, dark but still manages to cut through the mix without any problems. It would have made me wanted to get a Paul Trombetta Bone Fuzz that the WTF is based on, at least if it wasn't unobtainium.
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Re: Pedals that exceeded your expectations

Post by JSett » Sun Apr 10, 2022 1:01 am

Recent one for me was the Analogman SunFace. I wasn't really sure what to expect to be sure, maybe just another fuzz that wasn't quite what I wanted. It blew everything out the water...huge, woolly, crispy on the edges. Real nice pedal.

I'd definitely like it a touch brighter, given the choice, but otherwise I can't fault it.
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Re: Pedals that exceeded your expectations

Post by andy_tchp » Sun Apr 10, 2022 1:06 am

Boss DD-3.

And the Rat is a good shout too.

Sometimes the basics are all you need.
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Re: Pedals that exceeded your expectations

Post by Dave » Sun Apr 10, 2022 3:25 am

I built a clone of a Bluesbreaker under the impression it was probably just another "I'M AN OVERDRIVE PEDAL" sounding thing, mainly I just wanted to give building a try and it seemed easy.

Turns out it was in fact exactly what I wanted in an overdrive. The range of the gan control is exactly what I was looking for. between 0 and 7 it's every subtle shade of grit under the rainbow from clean to just starting to bark, then from 7-10 it goes to mid gain amp-like drive. It isn't too trebly with my setup as is often commented on, however I keep the tone knob control below half generally. It preserves all the low frequencies which I prefer. And most importantly it doesn't have that belligerent baked-in TS EQ quality that annoys me with my 808/Green Rhino and many other drives I've used.

I'd been trying to get that "pushed" amp sound you hear on Matt Sweeney's guitar in "Make Worry for Me" and I can ape that sort of tone decently with this.
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Re: Pedals that exceeded your expectations

Post by CorporateDisguise » Sun Apr 10, 2022 4:18 am

The new EHX Nano Memory Man blew me away. I wasn’t expecting much, as I have one of the Tap Tempo units, and it was nothing like my old big box. Plugged in the new Nano, and there it was. Literally got goosebumps. I traded my big box many years ago on a guitar that is long gone now, and always meant I pickup another at some point. But shortly after they switched to the XO and TT models and the big boxes started to creep up in price.

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Re: Pedals that exceeded your expectations

Post by fuzzjunkie » Sun Apr 10, 2022 7:39 am

stevejamsecono wrote:
Sat Apr 09, 2022 3:52 pm
fuzzjunkie wrote:
Sat Apr 09, 2022 12:53 pm

Throbak Overdrive/Boost - I wanted a pedal that wasn’t a Tubescreamer or Klon and versatile enough to work with several different styles of guitar. I wasn’t expecting it to take the place of my Rat as my foundation dirt pedal, a Rangemaster, a Fuzz Face, and could work with humbucker and single coil pickups.
I've been interested in the Throbak stuff for awhile and have always wanted to try one of these as well as their Strangemaster.
They’re quality pedals if you’re after great sounds and don’t require 100% vintage correct. The tone is definitely there and I like all the modernization mods he’s done to the vintage style circuits to make them more versatile. The graphics are nice and not distracting too.

The Strange Master is definitely one of the better Rangemaster clones and offers mods that a lot of other builders have added since to make that circuit more versatile.

The Overdrive/Boost has a master volume, which is absolutely necessary in a Powerboost clone. The pre-gain switch and germanium diodes make it more versatile than the original too.

The Fuzz Haze and Stone Bender sound vintage and have been tweaked to be more usable in a modern rig, without using unobtanium transistors. They don’t appeal to the Analogman or D*A*M chasing purists though.

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