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.