Which Pedals Have Given You Option Paralysis ?

[Dave Lewis]

Have you bought any that have so many options that you haven’t used it ?
The last one I bought because it looked interesting was the JHS pack rat .

Great pedal but just ended up using my original RAT.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

When I started building pedals I used to put every mod I could fit onto them to make them as versatile as possible. Ultimately I realised that once I'd found my favourite clipping/voltage/eq options I hardly changed them again after that. These days I work out my preferred options on breadboard or vero before hand and then just build them like that. I often leave off stock options like clipping switches etc that I know I won't use now.

 

[gearJunkie]

It's an excellent device, but by the time I've dialed it in for whatever I thought I needed, my ear fatigue leaves me second guessing my settings. If I take a break and come back to it 20 minutes later, I usually revert to my original tone and wonder why I wasted so much time on sound.

I use it now more as a problem solver than a tone shaper.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

It's an excellent device, but by the time I've dialed it in for whatever I thought I needed, my ear fatigue leaves me second guessing my settings. If I take a break and come back to it 20 minutes later, I usually revert to my original tone and wonder why I wasted so much time on sound.

I use it now more as a problem solver than a tone shaper.

View attachment 42132

I get intimidated just looking at that pedal.

 

[the swede]

For it was the Helix stuff... drove me crazy.
Going back to pedals, even if they had modes, was a relief.
But i do tend to prefer pedals without a bunch of modes now, even though i have a few.

Three knobs, one switch, mono! This is the way!

 

[slip]

Multi-fx in general.

 

[metropolis_4]

Fractal fm3

 

[newpedals]

1. Pedals with external dip switches, just like power supplies (voltage mode selectors).

2. Pedals with a screen

3. Pedals with too many knobs

Example: Dirt pedals with more than 5 knobs (More knobs than Volume + Gain + 3 band EQ)

4. Amp sim pedals with some extra controls not available on an actual amp

5. Multi fx in general

 

[FuzzyAce]

Option paralysis may be the wrong word for me, but modelers/multi-effect modelers give more options than I'll probably use or need. It's nice having options though... but yes, often times a simple approach is refreshing. Though l'll still use the complicated stuff because there's a lot of great tones in those units.

 

[newpedals]

Side note: Please be very careful if you have a (multi port) power supply with external dip switches to change between 9v and higher volatge modes.

My friend had one, and a stage "snake" accidentally touched this power supply before a show while setting up. It was not noticed by her immediately.

Result: A 200$ delay pedal was fried just after she powered on her board.

 

[laxu]

The worst are pedals that have a lot of options...but the options sound only marginally different.

 

[the swede]

The worst are pedals that have a lot of options...but the options sound only marginally different.

luxury overdrive pedal maker slowly backs out of the thread

 

[BahamaDada]

Sadly ANYTHING can give me option paralysis.

For it was the Helix stuff... drove me crazy.
Going back to pedals, even if they had modes, was a relief.
But i do tend to prefer pedals without a bunch of modes now, even though i have a few.

Three knobs, one switch, mono! This is the way!

Funny enough with my Helix it's ok. Maybe the Helix has so much option in it it gets full horseshoe.

Yet I am kinda with you: I have the weird OCD, that my Helix chains can't be much different than "real life". Noise Gate - OD - Amp(s) - Delay - Chorus - Speaker. All Mono. Like one would have in real life. No Stereo Delay or after speaker (stereo) FX (of course they exist in RL, but I never had any).

Tbh that keeps it quite tidy in my head and I can enjoy my Helix deep dives most of the time.

4. Amp sim pedals with some extra controls not available on an actual amp

Even reading that got me mad. When I had the Katana every built in (digital) pedal had SO. MANY. KNOBS. Especially the BOSS pedals, that BOSS themselves modeled. Their own pedals. Why should a DS1, a SD1 or a CH1 have more knobs than in real life? Who needs that? Why should a Tubescreamer have a MIX? Isn't the brilliance of a TS, that it only needs 3 knobs and you cannot fuck it up (as long as you don't overdo it)?

The worst are pedals that have a lot of options...but the options sound only marginally different.

I recently bought this Donner Morpher pedal, which is a Suhr Riot clone. It has a tiny 3way switch. It drives me crazy, bc the differences I can sometimes hear, sometimes not. So I already spent a good amount of time switchflicking without verdict. Give me ONE good sound. 1!

 

[maguchi]

Keeley Super Mod Workstation. Great sounds, but I just wanna plug and play. Maybe a tweak or two here and there, but I don't wanna think about all that.

 

[Blix]

I don't I ever have had option paralysis with any gear really, even with my Fractal


But my Treble Booster is up there!

 

[the swede]

I don't I ever have had option paralysis with any gear really, even with my Fractal


But my Treble Booster is up there!

View attachment 42166

Well, i dont see the one knob as a problem.

The real problem is all the letters and stickers that somehow seem to tell us more than the one knob. After all... that ONE knob hides a "TB-83 EXTRA" and its team. Was there another team before them, that wasnt so EXTRA? What happened to them? What did they do wrong that replaced them with the EXTRA team? Another team is calling themselves Pete.... the Pete team... what are the Pete team, are they like.... a bunch of agent Smith´s. The serial number is very elaborate! The next pedal in the production must surely be something different yet the same.
What is a Amund Aaeng? A person, a transistor, a secret capacitor? All this gives me the creeps.

I say they should remove the knob..... and the switch... and just let it be like that!

 

[Orvillain]

For me it does tend to be multi's but they're not all equal even then.

Things like Plethora or VP4 are better than Helix/QC/AxeIII type experiences for me, because they're very clearly tailored for a "use with an amp" experience, in a way that the others are not.

But I think when it is all said and done, most pedals with modes give me this to some degree. But also I give myself this regardless of the gear, simply by wanting too much stuff. Like, one delay isn't enough.... I want to sometimes use digital, sometimes analog, sometimes tape, sometimes reverse.... and that's really where the option paralysis starts.

 

[woody]

My Digitech RP5, back in the day...

 

[Dave Lewis]

I don't I ever have had option paralysis with any gear really, even with my Fractal


But my Treble Booster is up there!

View attachment 42166

That made me laugh

 

[laxu]

For me it does tend to be multi's but they're not all equal even then.

Things like Plethora or VP4 are better than Helix/QC/AxeIII type experiences for me, because they're very clearly tailored for a "use with an amp" experience, in a way that the others are not.

But I think when it is all said and done, most pedals with modes give me this to some degree. But also I give myself this regardless of the gear, simply by wanting too much stuff. Like, one delay isn't enough.... I want to sometimes use digital, sometimes analog, sometimes tape, sometimes reverse.... and that's really where the option paralysis starts.

Totally agree.

I've got several multi-mode delays, and there's usually only a few of them that I actually use. The rest is "cool to have if I get bored and want to try something different" but ultimately I like something that has a couple of really good modes without trying to be everything under the sun.

So unsurprisingly the Strymon Volante and El Cap V2 are my GOATs, even though it's certainly easy to end up with option paralysis on those too.

The Boss Waza Craft pedals are pretty good at being "ok, there's a few modes, but you probably like one better than the other so you just park it there".