If you are the type to take guitar gear forums literally, you’d end up spending a small fortune on pedals of certain makes, because “originals” are “the best.” Fortunately for those of us that aren’t self-made millionaires, these forum opinions are more of a suggestion than an axiom. As it turns out, not only are older pedals prone to a host of maladies such as inconsistent production and tone-suck, there are modern offerings that are just as good, if not better, rendering these original pedals grossly overvalued. Here are the five worst offenders.
Klon
You knew this would be on here, and you knew it would be the first entry—sorry to come up so predictable. However, the hype on the Klon is simply too gargantuan to ignore. There are two separate iterations of the Klon—silver and gold—both with centaurs and without, and both are silly expensive. The mystique of the Klon has persevered in light of several hitches that have incrementally set the pedal community, and thus, en masse cloning, back.
Let’s look at some Klon facts: Nothing in the circuit is a rare, obsolete part. There are two TL072 op-amps—an extremely common part—and the “magical” diodes identity didn’t last very long. The identity of the circuit was quickly discovered when DIY-ers systematically removed the epoxy from an original and traced. Recently, someone discovered that this schematic (known in DIY circles as the Chittum schematic, named after the original tracer) had one or two incorrect part values. This is the schematic most Klones are based upon, and it was promptly rectified. Most “v2” versions of Klon-type pedals use the updated schematic.
That said, it’s only a matter time until exact-replica Klons are produced by the thousands, and we’re perhaps already there with pedals like the Rockett Archer Ikon, Bondi Sick As and Wampler Tumnus. These pedals are routinely sold, even brand new, for fractions of the price of an original, and—especially in the case of the Tumnus—are all far smaller than an original Klon.
Dallas Rangemaster
There’s something to be said about a $4,000 effect with nine parts inside, for a total of about 400 bucks per part. However, that’s precisely what the Rangemaster is, and this is a pedal whose value has been entirely built on the backs of the players who used it. Players like Claption, May, Iommi, Blackmore and others credit the Rangemaster for their tones back before pedals were really “a thing.”
So, what exactly are you paying for when you fork over four grand for a Rangemaster? Let’s start about talking about the pedal’s practicality. It’s not actually a pedal in the traditional sense, instead, it’s an inconvenient box that’s designed to sit atop the amp, and the switch is a slide switch. If you’re planning on turning it on for solos, forget about it—it’s always on or it’s never on. On top of that, the Rangemaster has a hardwired instrument cable, which is rarely a good thing. As far as the actual internals, you’re paying for four capacitors (two film, two electrolytic), three resistors, one potentiometer and one transistor.
To those in the know, the transistor is largely known as the most expensive part—mostly because the transistors in these old birds are hard to come by in this day and age. But the fact remains: the originals are still out there. While they’re relatively expensive, the fact is that the originals—OC44, OC71 and to a lesser extent, NKT275—are still available to purchase on eBay in limited quantities for the DIY enthusiast. And that may be the best route for an authentic Rangemaster, as any amount of oddball resistors and capacitors are still available on eBay as well. I even wrote a dead-simple guide on how to build your own Rangemaster in issue 101. If DIY isn’t your style, several companies offer Rangemaster-alikes such as Keeley and Analogman.
Cornish TES
Cornish Kool-Aid sippers often treat ownership of these pedals like some kind of nerdy yacht club with an unofficial mantra akin to “if you can’t afford them, you wouldn’t understand.” Of course, this is fundamentally bollocks, and there is perhaps no greater pedal that espouses this bollockshood than the TES, or “Tape Echo Simulator.”
At one time, and perhaps even to this day, paying for a TES required a hefty up-front payment, plus a Boss DD-2 of your own. Yes, that is correct. And the early versions made no bones about this fact, as the DD-2 control panel was plainly visible atop the enclosure. Of course, newer versions don’t feature the visible control panel, but the guts are still there, with the Boss potentiometers desoldered from the main board and mounted on the face of the unit.
Cornish pedals feature the distinct ability to be powered by an AC plug, which means there’s a transformer inside. This could potentially make quite a difference in sound on any analog unit, but if the digital brain needs to see a certain specific voltage lest it fail, a transformer array is wholly unnecessary. And because most of the auxiliary knobs and switches on the TES are simple mods to swap out resistors and capacitors and such (remember, this is a digital pedal with uneditable code), what’s left to pay for is a genuine head-scratcher.
Vintage Tube Screamers
There may be no worse “mojo offender” in the used pedal marketplace than the statement “an authentic JRC4558 chip” in regards to a vintage Tube Screamer. Why? Because the Japan Radio Corporation is still making them. In fact, the JRC part is just a manufacturer prefix; there are several “4558” types made by NJM (New Japan Radio), LM (National Semiconductor) and others.
The original 4558 in vintage Tube Screamers was actually a Texas Instruments brand (RC4558) with a few variants here and there (TL4558P). However, these are all integrated circuits (ICs), so each 4558 must adhere to a block diagram—or schematic of an array of semiconductors and passive parts—or it’s not a 4558. That said, original Tube Screamers used more or less the exact same parts as are available today, right down to the carbon resistors and cheap green capacitors that cost pennies.
It’s time to face facts about Tube Screamers; so many companies make Screamer copies with the above knowledge that originals just aren’t worth upwards of a thousand dollars unless you have some sort of Stevie Ray Vaughan shrine built in your rumpus room. We’ve seen companies like EarthQuaker roll out Screamer war machines like the Palisades, and even Ibanez has a handwired Tube Screamer out there with absolute boutique construction for a third of the price.
Boss Slow Gear
The coveted onyx-colored SG-1 is the crown jewel of any Boss collection (right next to the SP-1), but for those players who have heard its name thrown around in the utility realm, heed my warning: As far as functionality-to- ratio is concerned, the SG-1 is about as low as they come. What’s more, its price is derived only from rarity, and its practicality is minimal at best.
The Slow Gear’s actual function is for a controlled volume swell, so that users can dink around with whatever else without having to worry about where the swells are coming from. This is a curious effect until one realizes that there’s not much complex interplay between using a pedal like the Slow Gear and just fiddling with the guitar’s volume knob. That is to say, there’s rarely, if ever, a time when the Slow Gear will be running while the right (or left) hand is totally preoccupied with something else.
A player convinced that he or she needs both swell effects and full use of the volume-knob-hand has options that don’t command the hefty price of the Slow Gear. Pigtronix released a highly-upgraded version called the Attack Sustain (discontinued, but readily available), and Malekko issued a micro-sized version known as the A[ttack] D[ecay]. Even DOD released a pedal like this, the FX15 Swell. And although this pedal is one of the scarcest of all DOD boxes, it’s still cheaper than a Slow Gear and adds a helpful Cut/Boost knob.
We live in an age of “mojo for sale,” and it’s easy to get swept into the mojo maelstrom surrounding these old boxes. Like most technology, older doesn’t necessarily mean better; even then, there’s no shortage of companies recreating these old boxes with the exact same components as the originals. With the advent of the Internet and DIY thinktanks scattered throughout, it’s gotten even easier to “know a guy” capable of building one-offs of many long-discontinued boxes using period correct parts.
Honorable mentions:
- Maestro Brassmaster (Malekko’s Assmaster was developed specifically to replicate the Brassmaster owned by Ministry’s Paul Barker)
- Hornby-Skewes Shatterbox (a combination Zonk Machine and treble booster in one box, goes for close to five grand)
- Dallas-Arbiter Silicon Fuzz Face (almost all silicon transistors are readily available as NOS pieces)
- Sam Ash Astrotone (Analogman’s copy is better than the original)