Truckstop Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 (edited) Just a small curio. Wondering whether vintage pedals sound as good as their re-booted counterparts? There appear to be plenty of old-skool EHX pedals out there (well on eBay at least) and I was wondering whether it's worth nabbing them or not. I mean, if the new versions are just rehoused in more modern livery, then an older one should sound the same albeit 'vintage' and therefore better! Anyone got any thoughts on vintage pedals are good enough to put on a modern pedalboard? Cheers Alex Edited August 4, 2012 by Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bottomfeed Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I used to own a Colorsound tonebender which I bought new in 1979 (ish) A techy friend modded it for me to be a bit more bass friendly & it was such a great 'singing' fuzz... Dirty but VERY musical....I loved it. ...........it cost me £26!! I then stupidly gave it away to a kid who was learning guitar, when I was taking a break from the music game.... When I got back in the bass saddle, I started collecting lil boxes again (...as you do!) & whatever fuzzes, distortions I ended up with... I always missed that Colorsound sweet tone... So I eventually bit the bullet & bought a modern Colorsound Bass Fuzz.... for £129! ...& it 'reminds' me of what I had before... but it's not quite there, close though.... maybe it needs a mod to let more bottom end through.... I would like to try a SFX micro fuzz... (similar vibe, I believe...) But I somehow feel that the original pedal won't really be matched... especially for price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle psychosis Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 [quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1344041442' post='1759183'] Anyone got any thoughts on vintage pedals are good enough to put on a modern pedalboard? [/quote] As with many things, the answer is "depends on the pedal". Some vintage pedals sound better than the modern ones (slightly different circuits, slightly different components), some sound just the same, some probably sound worse. I wouldn't buy a pedal just because it was "vintage"---I'd buy it 'cos I liked the sound, regardless of age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethFlatlands Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 [quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1344041442' post='1759183'] There appear to be plenty of old-skool EHX pedals out there (well on eBay at least) and I was wondering whether it's worth nabbing them or not. I mean, if the new versions are just rehoused in more modern livery, then an older one should sound the same albeit 'vintage' and therefore better! [/quote] I seem to remember reading somewhere that EHX were pretty inconsistent when it came to component values, (although I can't find where I read it now) so it might be a bit of pot luck what you get. Likewise, transistors ideally need matching depending on their characteristics so you might get a great old fuzz or one made from whatever was left in the box. If the price is right and the right name is on the front, it should hold its value so I'd say go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 [quote name='GarethFlatlands' timestamp='1344087408' post='1759601'] I seem to remember reading somewhere that EHX were pretty inconsistent when it came to component values, [/quote] Yup, tried 2 or 3 Russian muffs in the shop when I bought my first one (roughly ten years ago) and one was definitely better than the others. I've recently bought another and A/B'ed them to discover they sounded quite different. Turns out they had different clipping diodes which accounted for the tonal variation - made at the same factory, same case and should, in theory, have been identical. It's a funny old world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badgerific Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Vintage EHX are definitely inconsistent from my experience but some of them are still super cool. Also the vintage memory man (not deluxe) I had didn't use a compander IC in it so was really noisy so a modern analog delay pedal would of been a much better choice. It's basically a case of trial and error, especially with EHX stuff. I think part of the reason there's currently a lot of boutique builders doing well with vintage style effects is because they've realised what you have to do to consistently get the "good" sounding pedals. IE transistor matching, proper biasing etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 I've tried several old EHX Worms which were all too noisy to be useful. I bought one of the new ones and it's fine. I doubt that's indicative of a general trend though, I would guess it's kind of pot luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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