What is the piece of gear you have been most disappointed in trying or purchasing?

I

itsgoodnow

Well-known member
I was going through my head of all the stuff I have owned and was thinking about stuff I was hyped about for years, got a chance to try, and was instantly just disappointed as it either sucked, or, was not what I thought it was going to be. Thought I would poll the audience.
 
Strymon El Capistan - on paper it's the perfect analog delay for me with how warm, ambient, and out-of-the-way it can get. But when you use it with high gain, you can really hear that there's some kind of weird tape saturation filter (that's not as apparent with lower gain tones) that you can't dial out, no matter how you set the Bias. Basically the pedal put a very strange sounding, distracting layer of hissy saturation over the repeats that just did something to the sound I couldn't deal with. Sucks, I really wanted to like it. The treble filtering and modulation was basically perfect but that tape saturation effect was just too pronounced and exaggerated, and it killed the pedal for me.

Strymon DIG - again, on paper it's the perfect digital delay, and I really thought it would succeed where the El Cap had failed for me, but the Tone control DOES NOT IMPACT THE FIRST REPEAT. I realize that this sounds so stupid that some of you might think I am mistaken, but no. The first repeat is just as pristine. and therefore just as demanding of your attention, as the dry signal, no matter where you set the Tone. And because you can't darken the first repeat, there's no real way to move it out of the way of your playing and into the background other than turning down the Mix so low that the delay is basically off. Strymon placing the Tone control where they did in the circuit was just so dumb, especially considering all the'd need to to is slightly rearrange the way the Tone works in the circuit that would have allowed the "compounding Tone knob effect with each repeat" to happen while ALSO influencing the first repeat. This really was a truly disappointing pedal for me, because otherwise it basically did everything I ever wanted out of any delay. But nope, the Tone control thing took the whole pedal off the table for me.
 
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TheGreatGreen said:
Strymon El Capistan - on paper it's the perfect analog delay for me with how warm, ambient, and out-of-the-way it can get. But when you use it with high gain, there's some kind of weird tape saturation filter you can't dial out, no matter how you set the Bias, that puts a very strange sounding, distracting layer over the repeats that just did something to the sound I couldn't deal with. Sucks, I really wanted to like it. The treble filtering and modulation was basically perfect but that tape saturation effect was just too pronounced and exaggerated, and it killed the pedal for me.
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Agreed. Some aspects of it are very good but more deal breakers for me were:
1) thinned out the tone in true bypass mode in front of the amp
2) thinned out the tone even more with it's buffer activated in front of the amp. Many other pedals out there with superior buffers.
3) Mix knob did not achieve 100% wet signal when used in parallel loop, causing washy phase issues
4) Weighs almost nothing. Too easy to accidentally move it around with a heavy stomp or cables pulling on it (if it's the first in line).

I guess it did suck after all!
 
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I'll add mine which will get me burned alive by the forum members:

  1. Amp: Bogner 101b MM transformers. I definitely thought this was going to sound and feel a lot different. I know people swear by this amp. It felt too loose, sounded too compressed and dark, and the red channel was almost unusable for me. Gotta say though, with the metal faceplates they are some of the best looking amps of all time.
  2. Guitar: PRS Private Stock. I used to lust after these guitars and stare at photos in highschool of all these badass amazing looking guitars. Bought some, played them, and it didn't do it for me like other stuff. That had the most hype of anything I've ever wanted since it went on for 15 years basically. The gear equivalent of never meet your heroes.
  3. Pedal: Origin Cali76. I use compressors a lot. I own rack 1176s. Love them. Couldn't have been more amped. And I just did not like this pedal in my chain. My empress comp just seemed to give me the goods over this one.
 
Fulltone OCD. 1st version. I had bought the Joyo Ultimate Drive for 25$, liked it so much I figured the original would be that much better. Not even close. Couldn't return it fast enough. This was way back in 2008.
 
Racerxrated said:
Fulltone OCD. 1st version. I had bought the Joyo Ultimate Drive for 25$, liked it so much I figured the original would be that much better. Not even close. Couldn't return it fast enough. This was way back in 2008.
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That's super interesting. I have always been curious about those 2 compared and thats unexpected.
 
i remember when the first Axe fx came out, and everyone was acting like it was the second coming of Christ. I got one, and it was just another digital modeler to me. i had tried the kemper first, and the first ax fx was no where near as good imo. i haven't tried the ones after the ultra.
 
turtlefingers said:
Marshall Silver Jubilee.

Both are too thin, no bottom end.
Maybe a razor in the mix, but not my cup of tea.
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Forgot about that. I bought a Silver Jubilee 2555 reissue a few years ago when they sold for cheap brand new. No matter what boosts I tried using, I could never jive with it. Like you said, thin with no bottom end. My TSL 122 combo blew it out of the water.
 
So many, but these are what stick out to me at the top of my head:

Amps: Fortin Natas: it was so hyped at the time. I played just a few powerchords and notes and was immediately disappointed in the quality of tone. Also, almost all the “high end boutique” EL84 amps I’ve tried other than my Alessandro English &1963 Vox AC30 Top Boost

Guitars: Suhr’s, Tom Anderson’s, PRS’s. They all sounded like poly choked sterile city to me

Pedals: Anything Empress, Strymon or Wampler, Black Arts Pharoah Fuzz, Revv G8, Lone Wolf Endless Blockade, KMA Pylon (how could Fluff make that review with a straight face)
 
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