Pedal companies you irrationally dislike

[dronerstone]

Chase Bliss. Everything is so hipster.

I feel like if I had to buy one of their pedals, I'd have to first stop at Starbucks for a café-latte, then go buy the pedal at a small shop, then go celebrate at a local brewery with a crafted IPA.

Spot-on.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Chase Bliss. Everything is so hipster.

I feel like if I had to buy one of their pedals, I'd have to first stop at Starbucks for a café-latte, then go buy the pedal at a small shop, then go celebrate at a local brewery with a crafted IPA.

I stay away from Chase Bliss because I'm intimidated by all the options. Those micro switches on the back of some of them are my worst nightmare.

 

[László]

Chase Bliss. Everything is so hipster.

I feel like if I had to buy one of their pedals, I'd have to first stop at Starbucks for a café-latte, then go buy the pedal at a small shop, then go celebrate at a local brewery with a crafted IPA.

Gee, that all sounds pretty good - pick me up on the way!

 

[sashimi]

Everyone knows hipsters don’t drink starbucks, that’s like the electro harmonix of coffee

Hipsters drink that cold brew, pour over, beans already digested by monkeys in the rainforest stuff that costs $200 a bag. Thats chase bliss coffee

 

[dronerstone]

starbucks [...] the electro harmonix of coffee

I laughed so hard I pooped.

 

[László]

I laughed so hard I pooped.

Maybe it's a good thing my jokes aren't funny!

 

[ChordInversion]

I laughed so hard I pooped.

Admit it. You just read TGF on the toilet.

 

[dronerstone]

Admit it. You just read TGF on the toilet.

No over ever does that. Right? RIGHT???

 

[bukowski]

Boss---Love/hate relationship, I swear they suck tone, the minute I add them in my chain..

I only use 2-3 pedals at a time, I really notice the buffer and don't need one.

 

[bukowski]

I stay away from Chase Bliss because I'm intimidated by all the options. Those micro switches on the back of some of them are my worst nightmare.

I''m with you here----option paralysis with all those little switches ...

 

[László]

Boss---Love/hate relationship, I swear they suck tone, the minute I add them in my chain..

I only use 2-3 pedals at a time, I really notice the buffer and don't need one.

You probably know this, but I'll mention it for grins: There are great sounding, absolutely transparent buffers on the market. The Boss pedals have pretty cheap buffers and suck out enough signal that they have a 'sound' when switched off - some like it, some don't.

I have a great buffer from John Suhr and another from Pettyjohn. Even without a lot of pedals, it's nice to be able to drive the cable through the pedalboard to the amps and not lose top end caused by impedance issues.

Probably only matters if you have cable runs > 10 feet or so, but it might be useful. In any case, it's why I don't care for Boss' compact pedals (I have little experience with their larger units and don't know much about them).

 

[Richard_G]

So - in your experience - what happens if you put one of those great buffers in front of pedals like, say, Boss pedals?

 

[László]

So - in your experience - what happens if you put one of those great buffers in front of pedals like, say, Boss pedals?

I don't actually know!

My guess is the Boss pedals would retain their characteristic sound since their buffers couldn't be switched off. I haven't put a Boss pedal on the board in a very long time. Probably since the '90s, around the time I started using true bypass pedals and good buffers.

If I needed a Boss or similar pedal, I'd use a true bypass loop switcher, Put each of the pedals in a loop, and bypass them completely when I don't need them to be on.

I have two of these bypass loop switchers. They're here just in case.

 

[sashimi]

I can’t stand boss buffers. Feels like they suck dynamics, dull the top end, then try to make up for it with a hard and cold treble boost. That’s how my old tu-2 feels anyway.

 

[László]

I can’t stand boss buffers. Feels like they suck dynamics, dull the top end, then try to make up for it with a hard and cold treble boost. That’s how my old tu-2 feels anyway.

Yeah, the dynamics feel and sound different, as well as the frequency response.

Still, there are those who love them. The guitarist in Radiohead recently did a That Pedal Show episode where they built him a new board, and said he loves Roland/Boss gear.

I don't get it, but then, he's using his with a loop switcher (G3) that takes everything out of the signal path when the pedals aren't on. I suppose that makes them palatable.