The False Grail?

[Rob Fossil]

You lusted after it, you watched every demo, you couldn't live without it. But, when you finally got the pedal of your dreams, it just doesn't live up to your expectations. For me, it was the BAT Pharaoh. it was just too noisy and didn't work with my setup. Have any of you ever had this happen? This thread is not intended to bag on any pedal or builder. just to share experiences.

[skullservant]

Yep, I've had plenty of those.

Strymon TimeLine: It was cool, but I let it do most of the playing. TimeFactor is so much easier to use.
BAT Sarcophagus: I compared it to my Tall Font and the Tall Font always wins.
Koma BD101: Cool for what it does, just not for me. Looked awesome though.
Snazzy FX Wow and Flutter: Clarinot honestly is more usable.
Infanem Faye Sing: It had some quirks to it I couldn't get over. Although that chrome was sexy. I really liked the expression sweep but the quirks were too much.

[Casavettes]

^ could you elaborate on quirks of the infanem? like the decay of the phased sound was too much? always curious about that guy just never got to try it out.

i'm probably going to be crucified for saying this
but for whatever reason i didn't go crazy over the elements
it has a great sound
i guess i was a looking for something more unique? or i suck?

[Rob Fossil]

^ could you elaborate on quirks of the infanem? like the decay of the phased sound was too much? always curious about that guy just never got to try it out.

Yeah, I'm interested in this also. I've been gassing for a Faye Sing but have heard mixed reviews.

[ryan summit]

everythings been good to me so far
and i aint been in the pedal game too long
but the tonewicker muff was a dissapointment
when i first plugged it in i was wet pantsed
but when i realized that only one setting worked for my setup
and couldnt really dial in what i wanted
i was bummed
inexperience may have had something to do with it
but bummed nonetheless

[DarkAxel]

Boss RV-3

[MEC]

Don't hate the pedal....Hate the game.

[Chankgeez]

i'm probably going to be crucified for saying this
but for whatever reason i didn't go crazy over the elements
it has a great sound
i guess i was a looking for something more unique? or i suck?

Oh, snap.

Don't hate the pedal....Hate the game.

There are no false grails, only false prophets.

[Casavettes]

[skullservant]

^ could you elaborate on quirks of the infanem? like the decay of the phased sound was too much? always curious about that guy just never got to try it out.

Yeah, I'm interested in this also. I've been gassing for a Faye Sing but have heard mixed reviews.

The clickless bypass had a short cut/pop of the signal when engaging and disengaging. Kind of defeated the purpose.
It was nice and gooey, but it was sort of metallic sounding in a clangy way.
I traded it off and it arrived DOA to the dude I traded it to. He said it was perfectly fine on the outside but it wouldn't work at all when he tried it out. He shipped it out to Ken who fixed it but I can't remember how much it cost, and that's not the first story I've heard about them needing a little work.

Not bashing Ken's work at all because it was a really interesting and different sounding phaser, which I actually miss the sound of a bit, but those little quirks are what did it in for me

[Casavettes]

thats interesting
i've noticed lately with my sibling phaser there's a popping sound when it's engaged
but it doesn't happen all the time

[Achtane]

The Supa-Chan looked a lot cooler than it sounded, plus all that drama killed Mellowtone for me.
Didn't like the Wolf Computer either, except in a feedback loop...even when it's doing sub-octave wackiness or farting, I still can't get into the general fuzz toan.
Out of the SM/TP/VFM/DB/Ruiner I haven't yet found anything that I like enough on bass to keep. I love the craziness of Devi's pedals, just gotta find the right combo of circuits. People keep saying the SM is super bassy, I don't get it...and the DB, like, kills all of yr highs. There's gotta be a sweet in-between.

[Gone Fission]

Muffs haven't worked for me in the past. I like when other people use them, often quite a bit, but I've never been happy with them. I ditched a 70's red & black (I think an opamp) in the mid 90s at the height of grunge. I just picked up the Akai Muff clone for uber cheap and it's got all the characteristics I remember, good and bad. Maybe I'm a different enough player all these years later that it'll work, but I'm leaning towards it not being a primary pedal for me.

[coldbrightsunlight]

^ could you elaborate on quirks of the infanem? like the decay of the phased sound was too much? always curious about that guy just never got to try it out.

Yeah, I'm interested in this also. I've been gassing for a Faye Sing but have heard mixed reviews.

The clickless bypass had a short cut/pop of the signal when engaging and disengaging. Kind of defeated the purpose.
It was nice and gooey, but it was sort of metallic sounding in a clangy way.
I traded it off and it arrived DOA to the dude I traded it to. He said it was perfectly fine on the outside but it wouldn't work at all when he tried it out. He shipped it out to Ken who fixed it but I can't remember how much it cost, and that's not the first story I've heard about them needing a little work.

Not bashing Ken's work at all because it was a really interesting and different sounding phaser, which I actually miss the sound of a bit, but those little quirks are what did it in for me

That's funny, I never heard any popping when it was engaged, the thing that did it for me was that the sweep is just a little weird because there's a bit of a wobble when it gets to the lowest point and it kind of annoyed me. Great phaser though, I'd say it's well worth checking out to anyone on the fence because it does sound pretty different. That said, although I never had any power/engaging problems at all, I've heard that a lot of people have.

The ss/bs year 4545 was a bit of a disappointment for me. I'd wanted to try one for ages because it looked and sounded super cool, but when I had one on loan it just didn't really fit somehow? Could have been how weird the controls are, but I just couldn't get what I was looking for out of it.

Oh, plus my copicat tape echo. I was so psyched to have a real tape echo and it did sound great but for me at least, they're too annoying to be worth it when there are pedals that do a really good job of emulating 'that' sound.

[sonidero]

I don't elevate pedals to Grail Status in my own mind... I know what sounds I like and what NOT to buy either by a review, a demo, or even just esthetics... No pedal has ever disappointed me because they're all good for something or some one and I don't try to make them do something that they weren't invented to do or force them into MY way of playing or thinking... They are a utility and should be used as such...