Your worst bit of kit !

[Dr_simon]

OK gang, time for a giggle, what has been the worst bit of guitar/ bass related kit you have ever had the misfortune to buy ?

I can start the ball rolling with:

Boss OD-20
Boss GP-20

Toneless nosey misery !!!!!

 

[fonts]

...hmm...had pretty good luck all right...

...there must be something...

 

[mekkab]

It doesn't help that most of my gear has devolved to some point of barely working (amp inputs, bass 1/4" output, pedals breaking or getting "static-y").

Although the pick-ups on my BC RICH nj series guitar SUCK. HARD. No one I have ever met likes playing it. Ibanez guitars that are half the price are more fun to play and sound better. But it has that heavy metal glam look, which I guess I worth something ($.02).

OTher than that- my PPS-1. It stripes SMPTE fine, and plays back fine- but if you are laying anything else down on that tape- the time code gets corrupted on play back (due to sound bleed). Maybe that's why the quickly released the PPS-2.
But maybe I just don't know how to use it.

ALso my cassette 4 , a fostex X-12? That thing bites the donkey. But I think thats the case with most low-end cassette trackers- after time they just don't stand up to the punishment.

 

[Deen]

O.K. here's mine

ZOOM 505 pedal.

If you want balls to the wall tone this
isn't your ticket. You'll get an insectlike
hissy sound. I'll bet a POD's better!


Hi Dr. Simon.

 

[Treeline]

A chrome, hummy, ridiculous DeArmond magnetic pickup that scraped its way into the soundhole of an otherwise cherry '59 Gibson LG2 when I was in high school.

 

[Aaron Cheney]

I guess "worst" is a relative term. I'm not sure I could name the "worst" piece of gear I've ever had, but here is the most disappointing: a Don Grosh Retro Classic. I played several and finally went for one off Ebay. When I got it, it was one of the worst sounding and playing guitars I have ever owned. I wanted to like it but I just couldn't. I guess I got a lemon. It did give me the chance to take a Grosh apart and really examine it, and having done so I won't ever buy another. The bathtub route is terrible, and it really blew the mystique for me.
I sold it on Ebay a couple weeks later and got all my money back out of it, thank goodness. Later I ended up getting a Melancon and had the exact opposite experience: what a fabulous guitar!
Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com

 

[King Elvis]

One of those Zoom effects units that was gray and looked like a doorstop. Remember that POS!!! Sounded like...I didnt know any better.

 

[maestro_dmc]

I have one of those Zoom doorstops. . .the 508 delay.
Mine sounds really, really good though. Maybe it's because it only tries to do one thing: delay?

It's real quiet too, no hum, hiss or other junk like that.

Oh yeah, and I only paid $25 bucks for it on ebay.

Anyone else have one (Zoom 508) that they think sucks?

Maybe I just got lucky?

Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm. . .

 

[Aaron Cheney]

I had the gray wedge-shaped all-in-one model. I can't even remember the model number anymore. It was the one that came out right after the original ZOOM processor, way back in the day when that's all ZOOM was.



It sounded like butt.


Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com

 

[FalseRevRG]

i used to have a crate g10xl amp and a roadkill distortion pedal for a while...at the same time!

and mekkab, about the bc rich....pickups are real easy to change....i see you're in the dc suburbs, as am i. if you have something better you'd like put in, i could do the installation for you for only a little more than the cost of parts.

 

[lesterpaul]

well ibanez ....

made PT 5 it sucked pretty bad and i got some real good deals on those tone lok pedals they make also ,they locked out my tone alright

 

[jake-owa]

Boss ME30...jet flanger was the only near cool thing on it. All the sounds had a very...uh..boss sound to them. Talk about digital sounding effects...."is that noise supposed to be there?"
That was before the huge modeller boom. I got a Pod and traded it toward a Boss sampler. I shoulda stayed away from Boss alltogether. When I got my new amp I gave the Pod away for free.

 

[c7sus]

Worst setup was trying to record a Martin D-35 through a Shure PE-15 into a circa 1983 Portastudio.

"waaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrbbbbbbbllllllllleeeeeeeee

waaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrbbbbbbbllllllllleeeeeeeee

waaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrbbbbbbbllllllllleeeeeeeee"

Yuck.

 

[philboyd studge]

Elka.

They're Italian and make one man band stuff with pedalboards and controlers and keyboard controlers for accordian players and guitarists. I bought two rigs from them.

Because it's such a limited market, and there's no r & d so they take the crappiest parts they can find from around the world and piece them together like a village Fiat mechanic and there you have it.........CRAPPINI.

Did I mention I have and Elka OMB-5 for sale? C'mon, explore the wonders of Yamaha FM technology mated to Italiam pop logic. Even the country presets sound like a Fellini movie.

 

[King Elvis]

I had the gray wedge-shaped all-in-one model. I can't even remember the model number anymore. It was the one that came out right after the original ZOOM processor, way back in the day when that's all ZOOM was.



It sounded like butt.


Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com

YES!!!
That is the one I am talking about.

 

[scottboyher]

A chrome, hummy, ridiculous DeArmond magnetic pickup that scraped its way into the soundhole of an otherwise cherry '59 Gibson LG2 when I was in high school.

Holy shit, man, that brings back a baaaaddd memory.. When I was in High School I decided it would be a great idea to put one of those Dean Markley wood pickups in my Martin.. No problem it went in without scratching or causing any damage..

That wasn't good enough. I didn't like that cord sticking out of the tone hole so I drilled a hole by the strap lock on the right side and fit a jack in there. Now I have a 1/4-inch hole in my Martin.

I am a freak..

 

[Dr_simon]

Ha Haaarrr, here are some more gems reveled by regression therapy !!

Maxx flanger (dreadful !!!)
Maxx analogue delay (didn’t work)
Ibanez tone lock distortion tube driver thing (it sounds as gray as it looks !)
STAudio (AKA Hoontech) Digital patch bay (also didn’t work)
Early 80s Laney Mighty 50 (worked for about 5 min)
Peavey Bandit (good for death metal, very little else)

I think I need a sit down and a strong cup of tea now or maybe a bottle of gin !

 

[HevyD47Ca]

off topic

I just got to say Doc, that I listen to your song about climbin the mountain, with all the slide work lots.
It's my kinda tune!!!

 

[DeadPoet]

(bass player) My first two effects were made by 'Arion' ... a chorus and a disto .... yikes² !


Herwig

 

[badassmak]

My El Degas guitar is right at the top of a list of crap I have aquired over time. Although for some reason I stuck it out for two years and actually learned to play stuff on it. I still have it. SentiMENTAL I guess. My upgrade was (is) a BC Rich Warlock, with a custom neck jobbie. No grief from that one, just thought I'd give it props. (It's that one <---). The pickups aren't the best, but in my mind thats mostly what makes an electric tic anyhow.

I also had a Rocktek distortion pedal for awhile, it worked OK, until I stepped on it for the tenth time and it broke (one of the 1/4 jacks).

There's also this ultimate POS Dixon Wah pedal I bought years ago. The fucking thing wasn't even assembled properly. The moment I stepped on it the damn pot fell out!!! So I put it back together as best I could, but somewhere I screwed up and now the pot has some bad scratches in it, and it always comes loose eventually.




Oh, and, my Behringer amp. I do NOT like the tone in it . (for real heavy kinda stuff).