Worse pedal you bought in 2024

[Boodang]

So, in response to ‘the best pedal of 2024’, here’s a spot for the worst! Not necessarily the worst made or designed (although they’re not excluded), just not right for you. 
I’ll start with the Line 6 pod express bass. I think it’s a great pedal but… not for me. The amp modelling is good but all the effects I can do better with my analogue pedal board (although considerably more expensive). Also, can’t update the pedal without having a line 6 account… can’t download the editor without an account. What a faff! Although the editor is cool. Will I be using it in future… hell no and I’ve sold it to a mate already. 
More of a disappointment is the Earthquarker Blumes… because I had higher expectations I guess. I’m sure for some it’s great, just couldn’t get a good setting for me.  

 

[MrDinsdale]

Tough one, I haven't really got any bad pedals but if I had to pick, there's two that don't get much use.

 

First up is the Walrus Canvas tuner, looks great and very accurate but got it just before the Quad Cortex which rendered it somewhat useless. 

 

Second would be a vintage EAE Longsword v2. Great character and delivers some excellent filth on guitar but lacks headroom compared with the v4.5 I had previously. I do need to spend a little more time getting to know it but can't see it becoming a permanent fixture on my board.

[spyder]

Noisy unusable c**p.

 

Edited December 24, 2024 by spyder

[tayste_2000]

Walrus Audio Slo, over anticipated my use for weird fx, played with it once and then it sat in the box for the rest of the year.

 

To confirm, not a bad pedal, just didn’t use it so didn’t need it

[Boodang]

1 hour ago, tayste_2000 said:

Walrus Audio Slo, over anticipated my use for weird fx, played with it once and then it sat in the box for the rest of the year.

 

To confirm, not a bad pedal, just didn’t use it so didn’t need it

Same here! Am currently using it as a bizzaro reverb but I’ll be selling it on to a guitarist soon. 

[Gank Bass]

Sonicake B factory - started smoking the second I plugged it in then died. They were kind enough to refund though 

 

Pigtronix 2nr - love the look but the needle always comes from the left so adds noticeable time required to tune up - terrible decision on what should have been a great product 

 

 

 

 

[MrDinsdale]

3 hours ago, tayste_2000 said:

Walrus Audio Slo, over anticipated my use for weird fx, played with it once and then it sat in the box for the rest of the year.

 

To confirm, not a bad pedal, just didn’t use it so didn’t need it

 

I keep eying them up but I know that I'd do the same. I like the idea more than the reality!

[tauzero]

42 minutes ago, Gank Bass said:

Pigtronix 2nr - love the look but the needle always comes from the left so adds noticeable time required to tune up - terrible decision on what should have been a great product 

 

So if it's left of centre it could be either sharp or flat, rather than flat on the left and sharp on the right?

[Gank Bass]

1 minute ago, tauzero said:

 

So if it's left of centre it could be either sharp or flat, rather than flat on the left and sharp on the right?

The dial needle always starts from the bottom left so if it's flat it moves the short distance, but if sharp it goes all the way from bottom left, over the centre then to the right, it's a minor inconvenience but if it's between songs in a live situation where time is critical it was a huge pita

[ProjeKtWEREWOLF]

Holy Island Audio 'Mountain Mover'.

 

I bought it after hearing a guitar demo, and being told it sounded great on bass... but just couldn't get on with it. I legitimately thought it was broken; contacted the maker and found out it was fine. I sent it back for a refund. It was just *too much* and impossible to dial in for my tastes. 

[Gank Bass]

25 minutes ago, ProjeKtWEREWOLF said:

Holy Island Audio 'Mountain Mover'.

 

I bought it after hearing a guitar demo, and being told it sounded great on bass... but just couldn't get on with it. I legitimately thought it was broken; contacted the maker and found out it was fine. I sent it back for a refund. It was just *too much* and impossible to dial in for my tastes. 

Had the same issue with the jptr warlow, I realised that all the bass demos were blending it in, really frustrating!

[Sibob]

The DG B7K Ultra v2 I had for a short while, really didn’t think much of that at all (in my use-case), was very short-lived.

 

Si

[Baloney Balderdash]

Danelectro Cool Cat Metal (V.1), without competition.

 

Allegedly based on some Fender amp's preamp section.

 

Doesn't sound metal at all, and overall just absolutely horrible and utterly useless.

 

Never tried any pedal that sounds as abominably and unequivocally bad.

 

Kind of like playing your bass through a small crappy heavily overdriven guitar combo, and the speaker not being able to handle the pressure (not a broken speaker, just a speaker that can't handle the sound pressure).

 

I am pondering if it might be broken, it sounds broken, and not in any possible good way.

 

The Cool Cat Metal II, which I also bought, is a completely different circuit, as far as I gathered a heavily modded Metal Zone circuit, much tighter than a Boss Metal Zone, and completely fizz free, and sounds genuinely great.

 

Edited December 27, 2024 by Baloney Balderdash

[stewblack]

Steel Singer Supreme. I imagine this is a guitar only pedal. But it's one of those you turn on and off and twiddle knobs back and forth in the fading hope it will alter the tone in any way.

[JPJ]

Darkglass Harmonic Booster, bought on a whim to add some secret sauce to my fretless sound but never actually made it onto my board as it didn’t.

[pantherairsoft]

The Lusithand Ground ‘n’ Pound. On paper, everything about it was perfect for me, but the pedal was really disappointing. Nailed the tone is set out to nail in isolation, but couldn’t cut through a mix with other instruments no matter how I tried, and importantly to me, just didn’t play well with other pedals at all. Stacking it with other dirt was mess, it hated every filter I put it through and just turned to mud after an octave.

 

Long story short. It wasn’t for me.

Edited December 27, 2024 by pantherairsoft

[bigbottomend]

Blumes ...bluming useless tones. Returned via the next post.

[Gank Bass]

13 minutes ago, bigbottomend said:

Blumes ...bluming useless tones. Returned via the next post.

I've seen so many people say this! How on earth can the bass version of a guitar pedal loved by bassists flop so hard??

[dannybuoy]

And I just snagged a Blumes on eBay!

I could tell you what my worst pedals of 2024 are, but maybe I should wait until I’ve sold them to you lot! 😆

[bassist_lewis]

On 31/12/2024 at 18:00, Gank Bass said:

I've seen so many people say this! How on earth can the bass version of a guitar pedal loved by bassists flop so hard??

I tried it in a shop and I couldn't get on with it either! I was expecting a tubescreamer sound, one of my favourite sounds on bass, but it just felt really compressed and lacking in dynamics and the tone of the bass was completely lost. In fairness I'm comparing it to my Origin Effects Halcyon Green, which is about double the price. Would recommend if you have the cash and want a chanky overdrive with a clean blend.

[DaleASmith]

On 24/12/2024 at 17:57, Gank Bass said:

Had the same issue with the jptr warlow, I realised that all the bass demos were blending it in, really frustrating!

The Warlow has a clean blend internally doesn’t it?

[MrDinsdale]

On 27/12/2024 at 23:24, pantherairsoft said:

The Lusithand Ground ‘n’ Pound. On paper, everything about it was perfect for me, but the pedal was really disappointing. Nailed the tone is set out to nail in isolation, but couldn’t cut through a mix with other instruments no matter how I tried, and importantly to me, just didn’t play well with other pedals at all. Stacking it with other dirt was mess, it hated every filter I put it through and just turned to mud after an octave.

 

Long story short. It wasn’t for me.

Yeah I had similar feelings. Only tried it once in a band context but really dropped out of the mix. Also really struggled with stacking on anything except a tuner. I've heard other people make it sound great though, I think it probably just depends how your using it and how your bass is voiced. 

[Boodang]

On 31/12/2024 at 23:00, Gank Bass said:

I've seen so many people say this! How on earth can the bass version of a guitar pedal loved by bassists flop so hard??

Bass the World raved about it so I got on that basis but I just don’t think the concept transfers to bass that well. I couldn’t get a good clean sound out of it and that with a passive jazz (the supposedly boost only clean channel wasn’t that clean), and, to my ears, the breakup was more like a tear in a speaker than an overdriven amp. 

[Gank Bass]

5 hours ago, DaleASmith said:

The Warlow has a clean blend internally doesn’t it?

Could well do but I didn't delve into it!