5 Worst Pedals Of 2017

Just as there is best of the year, there is also some pedals that didn't really seem to hit their mark. This isn't to say that they don't do the job their were meant to do, its just that sometimes the fact that they even exsist is a a head-scratcher. Let's take a look at some of the worst pedals of 2017.

EHX Blurst

I wanted to like this thing when I saw it. EHX has the habbit of bringing unexpected and fun products to market, but the Blurst was flirting with line between junk and genius and fell right over to the junk side. This is a pedal that dares you to try and use it. There is are some interesting special effects in this box, but I can't see that anyone could find use for it other than a noise maker. Some may need weird and interesting noises and this will provide, but for many of us, this is a waste of space.

DOD Rubbernecker

This pedal is actually a solid delay. It has some unexpected features and it expands of what you are capable of with analog delay. However, it suffers from timing. The Rubbernecker is now in the shadow of its big brother, Carbon Copy Deluxe. These two delay may possibly share some DNA, but given the choise between the two, most are going to go with the pedigry that the Carbon Copy brings with it.

BOSS/JHS AngeryDriver

This pedal came straight out of left field. The Angery Driver is a colaberation between JHS and BOSS. It combinds the Angery Charlie and Blues Driver. Both pedals are outstanding in their own right. So the decition to combind the two comes as a big surprise. Although, the pedal works on a technical level, it robs itself of some the best qualitiest that come with each respective pedals.

Keeley D&M Drive

What is basically a signature pedal, the D&M Drive actually works against itself. I understand why this pedal happened. These two brits that talk about pedals on the internet have the capability to sell plenty of pedals if they recomend them, so why not give them an endorment deal? Well, the whole perpuse of their show is to help guitar experience many differnent guitar product and maybe help with purchasing choices. If it turns out that they just shill for whoever is lining their pockets, then it doesn't help their credibility.

TC Electronic Rush Booster

This year we saw a whole slew of new pedals from TC Electronic. It's no coinsedence that this come after the buy out of TC by Behringer's parent company. What make the Rush booster worse than most other pedals in the same line is that TC already make a great boost for the same price. The Spark Boost is great and compact. For a one knob boost, you don't need a huge, heavy enclosure. This seems like some kind of oversight.

Ugly Guitar Truth: EHX Blurst Moddulated Filter

EHX has once again put a new and rather innovative product to market. They call it the Blurst and describe it as a Moddulated Filter. While that sounds like it makes sense, I don't recall anyone really talking about the limitations or features of their prized modulated filter. It seems like a oddity or niche type of effect. I decided to take a closer look at what this pedal does and see if there is any reason to get excited about this pedal.


You Don't Need(?) It

Yeah, this thing makes some weird noises. These noises are not what you typically think of when you imagine guitar noises. But that could be fun, right? Sure. There isn't a lot of information or demonstration out there right now. But, from what we can hear on the EHX demo video, it sounds like a synth filter. However, the interesting part of this filter is that it is time based rather that controlled by your guitar input. You can choose your wave form, tempo, and mix. I feel like there is a lot of versatility with this pedal, but the video only gives us a glimps at what it can do.


Its Strengths Are Its Subtleties

If you watch the demo then you hear a whole lot of 'bwwaaaahhhh' types sounds. To be honest, I don't see much use for these noises. I understand that there are types of players that can make some great sounds with filters, but typically don't use them or just use them in a very limited capacity. However, at the end of EHX's demo, they stick the Blurst in the effects loop of a Deluxe Memory Man and it's actually pretty epic. Plus, I have to give honorable mention to the sounds in the video made with help of EHX's 8-Step Program (stepping expression controller) which give you a step filter/seek wah/FM4 type sound. These two pedal can create lots of combinations, but seems like a lot hardware to create an effect done by a single pedal (just my 2 cents).


Conclusion

Look, I want to like this pedal. It looks... interesting. It has lots of knobs and buttons. It makes weird sounds, but maybe I'm just thinking to much like a guitar player. I want to be able to riff and jam, and this things seems like a noise maker. So let me completely contradict myself. The couple of sounds that I did like, were actually pretty cool. Plus the one thing that make this pedal different is what really makes this pedal. The tap feature allows you to sync up with the tempo of the music being played. I'm not the biggest fan of filters, but I'm not aware of many that let you do this. Can you make to sounds in the demo with other pedals? probably, but is a rather versatile pedal with expressive features.

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