I was shopping at reverb pedals for my organ and was really hoping that something super-cheap would work for me, mostly because that's fun for me, rather than because of budget constraints. Subjective preferences aside, I could not use the bargain pedal because it could not handle the dense bandwidth of the organ. The sound turned into non-reverb digital artifacts when I played big chords. I tried a very popular, more pricey pedal, but even the clean sounds had some modulation that did not sound like the ambiance of an organ playing in a real space. Emily's comment about "achieve what you want" is spot on - it's easy to get distracted by how cool a pedal looks/sounds, how comprehensive the features are, or how popular something is and end up with a pedal that does not do the job you need it to do. Shop with a purpose in mind and you'll get a better result.
@@jessereyna7408 I tried one of the newer Boss pedals. (RV6?) The plain reverb sounds had a touch of modulation that did not sound like a real space to me. I may be behind the times but I associate Line6 with guitars exclusively. My mxr reverb seems to do the job well enough. Its on the subtle side but keeps me from overdoing the effect.
@@emilyharpist you really do get what you pay for. Some people are so obsessed with saving a buck they’ll buy the cheap product over and over again after constantly fails never realizing they’re spending more money than they would have if they sprung for the quality item in the first place. Then you also have to factor in ethical worker standards in the country of origin. And no, the US worker laws are not worse than they are in China. It’s not even close.
It's pretty common for guitar players that are playing stereo rigs with 2 amps to add a 50ms - 70ms delay to one of the amps to get a thicker sound. The ability to control the right and left delay amount becomes useful in those scenarios.
After pondering a bunch, I ended up with the Empress a few weeks back and it is indeed fantastic. The others in this video sound great, but when the empress comes on I notice the presence of the harp is much more realistic sounding and forward - maybe that's just me. You don't always need fancy pedals for sure, a pile of these donner ones on a pedal board would be AWESOME, but man is that empress lush.
Dudette, if the folks at Guitar Center had your sales skills, apartment would be full of soooo much gear. For flanger, see if you can get ahold of an old Ibanez FL9 pedal to try. You might like that one.
You do get a few flavours usually with the clones, especially if you go for the Pack Rat. I saw on JHS the build quality is poor on some of the modern rats. I have the Dark Mouse and with the two circuits and three knobs it fulfills my Rat sound needs.
I think the Donne wah worked better in that scenario too!!! The Rossie is really incredible though, it really shines in the auto-wah and step filter category!
Cheap pedals are great for giving people a sense of how an effect sounds, so they can decide if they want to explore further. Of course, they'll have fewer features than the more expensive pedals but it doesn't mean they all sound bad for what they do. The Mooer Trelicopter is a great tremolo pedal if you just want the basics. I have a Keeley Compressor, but the Donner Ultimate Comp does a great job with fewer options. Then there's my Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz. I bought it for $19 earlier this year (now it's up to a whopping $35) and I'll put it up there with my JHS Bender and Keeley Fuzz Bender. Cheaper pedals can be great, but you have to be discerning and realistic.
@@brymills Yes and no. If you like some effects you can go down the rabbit hole but if you don't like others (for example I don't care for flanger sounds) you can save time and money not going any further.
This is so true!!! I forgot to mention this in the video - budget pedals really help you start to understand what effects work best for you and sometimes it’s the most important small investment to make!!! Thank you all for this thread ❤️
Yes and no - I started learning the guitar back when effects pedals werent very popular and multi-effects units arent where they are today. Manufacturers have spent a lot of money in R&D to give you multi-effects units that can actually sound really good for a decent price. Boss, Line 6, Mooer, Nux etc etc. a lot of these brands have very affordable mult-effects units that even have amp/CAB modelling. Boutique pedals will always be boutique pedals though and thats one of the reasons why they cost as much as they do. I still see people record and gig with old BOSS ME-25s, ME-50s & Line 6 PODs effects units. If i was new or returning musician with not a lot of gear or money, my money would definitely go on a Mooer GE 150 or a NUX around that same level or beyond if i had the budget and was more experienced. Maybe later on down the line i might look at building my own pedal board or maybe just upgrading to a better multi-effects pedal. My first effects unit was a Zoom GFX-4. Its been gigged to hell and back, Its mostly held together with sticky tape. It sounds terrible compared to more modern multi-effects units but it still has a place in my collection because of the amount of shows I played with it. Otherwise a lot of my stuff has been played through and recorded through an old Korg AX3000G which sounds a little better than the Zoom.
Thanks for taking the time to show the differences between these pedals, some of the cheaper pedals sound fine until you switch to the expensive one and it feels like so much space and depth open up.
actually having seperate controls for different sides of the stereo delay is something that is very useful for creating spatial effects especially in using delay in mixing...cool to know that has that....not very common unfortunately...
Don’t a lot of people running stereo use wet/dry setups? I’d like to hear it in a wet/dry/wet setup. Probably would be perfect for something like that.
When I started music period like 12 years ago I started with cheap pedals and I made music with what I had. You learn what good cheap and bad cheap is and you do what you feel you wanna do and when you get better pedals you appreciate them. And my favorite pedal of alllll time is exactly $20.😁 My Behringher Super Fuzz never leaves the table. 😂😂😂 Cheap fuzz meannnnn boost setting lol.
@@emilyharpist Is it a great fuzz eh kinda has two modes and a boost, mode 1 is my fav but the boost into distortion is gain nasty. Plus it does play well with other fuzz pedals weird as that sounds it and my DOD Carcosa are def buddies. 😁
I have the SF300 on my bass, tuned to A. Once it gets a bit of a volume boost from a sansamp after the SF300 it gets a bit feedbacky so I have an Iron Curtain at the end.
I would in no way suggest that a 40 dollar Donner pedal sounds objectively better than some 200 dollar "boutique" pedal, but you can mostly achieve what you want to achieve with inexpensive gear. Take it from someone who has spent way too much on gear over the years.
I see what you’re saying - it really depends on the $200 pedal though. If it’s the donner reverb vs the OBNE sunlight or dark star, there’s no way you could capture the personality of those pedals. But some other $200 pedals, sure!!!
Wow so cool thanks for making this!!! I know how long a video like this can take to make. Your work is appreciated so much in the harp community and beyond!!
I absolutely love this channel! You guys cover very interesting, fun, and educational content🤗 more artists should use pedals for their respective instruments.
What a wonderful video! You didn't spend time ragging on the weaker pedal performances, you let them speak for themselves. I was surprised that I really loved the vowel on harp.
I was blessed to have an electrical engineer that was my grandfather I had pedals that no one else or has today I have many one of a kind gizmos from my pawpaw
The "oceans 12" by electro harmonix is nice. It has a spring reverb, too. Love the RC-30 looper. It is very confusing. I got my girlfriend the nicer looper from Donner with the build in drum machine and she loves it. For a hundred bucks you can't beat it.
I have a sheeiitload of pedals from old/vintage to brand new expensive and cheap pedals. I use ‘em all, except the broken ones. (I gotta get ‘em fixed!🤣🤣🤣) I’ve been a pedal junkie since the early 80s!🤪🤪🤪🤪😂😂😂😂
That Donner delay sounds great. It's a great feature that you can set the left and right channels to different subdivisions. I'm very tempted by that one
@@emilyharpist It's a rare feature I wish more stereo delays had. Often they only feature the stereo field in the ping-pong delay mode, with the other modes operating in mono with the dual outputs functioning merely as a channel splitter.
@@binface9 you’re right!! I personally don’t have a use for the function but it’s really cool knowing that others do! I personally prefer the ping pong type stuff!
I've totally been thinking about snagging that thing for a little while now. I feel like it has a great tape delay sound and especially for the price! The stereo function basically makes it like two delays in one, right?
@@emilyharpist I don’t have experience with pedals, but the feature is in most delay plugins I’ve used. Great for generating syncopated beats when you vary the timing between the two channels.
Reverb, delay and uni vibe are the only effects I spend real money on. Fuzz and drive circuits are simple and cheap to produce. "Boutique" builders are just taking the piss when they ask for more than $100 or $125 for a slightly modified version of a cheap fuzz/bluesbreaker/rat circuit.
Nice! But for really informative review effcts with the same functionality should be used. I know a world of effect pedals quite a bit, and I know that ofthen the same functionality and the same schematics is used in many different pedals, but the price can differ several times. And in blind tests it is often revealed that people are often paying for the name and "made in" tag.
It is really fascinating to me, as a not so musical person, to see all these pedals. Terribly interesting machines, they are, I'm a student of comp sci, so I often visualize the universe as series of functions that you can use to construct a program, so it's really mesmerizing seeing all these bits of "universe code" being displayed together.
1. Thank you for posting about being intimidated by some of that first looper - I think there's a lot of pretending that we have gear we "won't sell but don't like" and don't like often stands in for "I got intimidated by having no clue what the knobs were really doing and I'm ashamed when I try to sell it someone will ask how they work" 2. I really love effect comparisons just in general, it's always useful to see awesome people demo great gear at every price point. The comparison of the hall reverbs was interesting, showed not just the change in quality but the distinct character that some brands are bringing that goes far beyond any pedal just being a basic effect. I do voice over as a hobby/side gig, way to show why people pay a lot for a good mic in seconds! Lots of cheap mics are fine for lots of things... but there is a difference in consumer vs. professional quality precisely because a creator like you is in a very different category of quality needs. Thanks for another excellent video :)
Thank you so much! I’m definitely not afraid to say that I’m intimidated by that looper hahah YOU HAVE TO USE BOTH FEET ON IT SOMETIMES!! 😂 I’m so glad everyone has responded well to this video, I really would love to do more gear comparison videos!!!
i think youre the best youtuber in the whole planet i cant believe that i have 22 and ive been browsing the internet searching for music creators and gear reviewers for like what, 10 years?? and i just knew you LIKE ONE MOTH ago wtf whyyyyyyy YOURE THE BESTTTTTT
There are hundreds if not thousands of cheap pedals that sound actually good, i think price is something that shouldn't matter when you pick a pedal as long as you like it and the sound is good, josh scott has many videos talking about cheap pedals and how much he likes them, i'm not a pedal expert but he is and i trust the man i mean c'mon he doesn't have eye brows how can't you trust a man that looks like a fuzz face pedal
The differences , to me dont seem to be a matter of quality vs not, but more so seem just like different choices of "colors" for me to work with That said, the differences in overall sound do not really seem worth the extra zero on the prices for me, for what these pedals do
Hahaha sometimes it’s hard or impossible to do a bend on harp!! But I actually have a device on the way that will make it possible (hopefully) - stay tuned!!
Blooper is pretty cool. The more pricier pedals definitely give more depth and options, cheaper pedals do let you dip your toes..and that might be fine for some stuff, or the tone just fits. Check out the Strymon Big Sky reverb..nice one.
I stopped buying pedals.. They are a big mess. After I got my first multifx, that was my way to go. When it comes to loopers, they are built in to multiFX, but if I want a trully smart looper I use my Digitech Band Trio + ... Trust me on that: after you get your first multiFX it will be game over for all pedals. MultiFX dont have to be expensive. I have Boss GT-100 but there are even better units and cheaper.. NUX MG-30 and NUX MG-300 are cheap and come with great sound.
Multi-FX units definitely aren’t for me! I’ve owned a few and definitely enjoy dedicated units that have a lot more character and detail than most multi-fix units, but everyone’s different!!
great comparison video! looks like you kind of get what you pay for, more salty pedals have more options and stereo. all sound nice tho and enhance well. Cheers!!
I want to hear more… distortion! Harp and distortion sounds damn good with this JHS rat pedal (Donner one is actually not bad too!). And maybe more madness with distortions delays reverbs flangers chorus pitch shift and whatever you can bring in for more noise. Total mess is good too. But distortion. Definitely.
Ooh that Thermae delay sounds great… and there you go again, getting me interested in pedal porn. Fortunately, my Saturn Timeless 3 delay on the iPad will quieten my pedal GAS (gas pedal?)…
I've always said gear is less about price and more about how it sounds to you and what you can get out of it. Way back in the 1990s my band at the time shared a rehearsal space with a major label national/international band. I'm not going to mention who because Michael Jackson once told me it wasn't cool to name drop but the leader of that band had a milk crate full of old Big Muffs and he told me to try them all out if I wanted to. So I did, I A/B'd about ten rams head, civil war, triangle knob etc vintage Big Muffs alongside the black box Russian Muff I got at a NAMM show for 30 bucks. To my ears the Russian Muff sounded the best for what I was looking for. Was it because it actually did sound better or because it was what I was used to playing through and hearing? Who knows but I think it saved me the time and money of going down the vintage/boutique Big Muff rabbit hole searching for the Holy Grail.
Uuuuu... That reminds me everlasting debate in cycling. Between Fettlers and Riders. LSC, HSC, LSR, HSR, volume spacers, ISP pressure, oil viscosity, pressure within 1PSI... Yeah... I can be massively overwhelming... I have feeling that it is the same in any given field. On top of real needs, experience and understanding of the Craft there is loads and loads of so called Gear W@nkery :D I have The Latest and Greatest and I ride sod-all. But I can "feel" every click and every PSI change :p Don't get me wrong. Gear expands your Field. Expensive Gear offers more options and possibilities. Also, in general, better quality and better output. ... with a caveat... You really need to know what to do with it, how to operate it and how to capitalize on the vast pool it offers. Otherwise you are left frustrated with loads of knobs that you don't have the faintest idea how to use. And what you actually use, you will be much better served with simple, quite often much cheaper bit of Gear. Cheep is not synonymous with Cr@p... At least not always xD Cheers! I.
Delay and loopers are the only pedals where I feel like it's okay to go cheap on. Because you're not using them to "shape" your tone, all they're doing is repeating what you're putting into them.
Quite neat...I love what you're doing with coupling harp with electronics. But as for the Chinese pedals, one thing I've found is that they're great building-blocks for adding to FX chains...so I might follow something like my Chase Bliss Mood with a Cuvave or Sonicake or Rowin delay, as those can add a degree of "character" to the outputs of other, more expensive pedals. But one way to REALLY push what's possible with cheap effects is to use them in a parallel arrangement. Some time ago, I got a stomper that does exactly that: the Electro-Harmonix Tri-Parallel Mixer. It's deceptively simple...but it allows you to stack up three parallel effects paths, and that sort of "doubling" really kicks the Chinese pedal capabilities into wholly new timbral turf. I thought it worked so well that I put together a similar but much more elaborate system in my studio, which uses a stereo distro amp for the eight stereo "sends" and employs a Rane SM 26B to mix the "returns" into a single stereo signal. That pair of devices can easily be interfaced with AUX send/returns on the desk, too, allowing for the potential of many rack effects and stompboxes to be controlled by a single stereo AUX send and a single stereo return.
Loving this demonstration, really, this shows off a ton of these effects so much better than guitar videos I’ve seen made to show these. That Blooper pedal just was fantastic goodness! Thanks for the showcase!
Now that you have a Zzombee it would be nice to see that pedal's wah function compared to the other two. It might be nice to see these pedals compared to itb effects also like Guitar Rig. I always thought it would be good to have you record something and then apply a bunch of different effects chains to it in the computer to see how interesting that can be.
I think in some cases it boils down to getting what one pays for. Not always, of course. More features, better components, level of craftsmanship, quality, and innovation/ design all factor into the higher end gear. Not saying the inexpensive pedals are bad- they do their thing, and it works as intended. Also, a good place to start. Thank you, Emily (and Russ!) 🙏
Thank you Thank you always ahead of everyone is it ok if you’re my wing lady for pedals as a friend bc I am a lower level musician need more information Your awesome on it plus harps And music help out thank you Peace ☮️
I think it depends on application to some extent too. As someone who plays through a very loud amp, the quality of the electronics in the effects can be really important. Things like noise floor, switching silence, digital audio quality, transparency/tone suck, etc tend (in my experience) to be superior from more expensive pedals. That's not to say you can't get that on cheaper pedals. One of my favourite pedals is the TC Electronic Hall of Fame 2 and that's about a 100 quid. I also find the Fender range of pedals great value-for-money.
I mean most Donner pedals are not too bad for their price but i usually consider "quality effects pedals" to be around the 150-200€ range, maybe more depending on what it should deliver. Drive pedals can be cheaper since they often have smaller circuits.
Not for every pedal in every application...but the expensive ones are usually priced knowing that they offer more. Sometimes "too much" more. I was lucky enough to win an Empress Echosystem, and it's absolutely amazing, but I don't use it as much as my EHX Grand Canyon because The Echosystem Is A Whole Lot. Though I'm now inspired by your playing to plop down on the basement floor and take another stab at programming it properly.
I was shopping at reverb pedals for my organ and was really hoping that something super-cheap would work for me, mostly because that's fun for me, rather than because of budget constraints. Subjective preferences aside, I could not use the bargain pedal because it could not handle the dense bandwidth of the organ. The sound turned into non-reverb digital artifacts when I played big chords. I tried a very popular, more pricey pedal, but even the clean sounds had some modulation that did not sound like the ambiance of an organ playing in a real space. Emily's comment about "achieve what you want" is spot on - it's easy to get distracted by how cool a pedal looks/sounds, how comprehensive the features are, or how popular something is and end up with a pedal that does not do the job you need it to do. Shop with a purpose in mind and you'll get a better result.
YESSS this is exactly it!!! also I would LOVE to hear an organ through pedals!!! If you ever publish anything, send it my way!!
Did you try Boss and Line 6 affects?
@@jessereyna7408 I tried one of the newer Boss pedals. (RV6?) The plain reverb sounds had a touch of modulation that did not sound like a real space to me. I may be behind the times but I associate Line6 with guitars exclusively. My mxr reverb seems to do the job well enough. Its on the subtle side but keeps me from overdoing the effect.
@@billgrabbe9992 I recommend the neunaber Immerse (first one) or the Strymon Big Sky
Have you considered a second-hand Lexicon unit? My $40 MPX 100 compliments the Ferrofish b4000+
Whoever invented the harp:
- this instrument will make sweet innocent sounds
Rat equipped Emily:
-Hold my beer
Lmaooo that’s what my channel’s all about!!! I love a good rat with harp :)
It seems like every hobby or profession has this "cheap vs expensive" rabbit hole to dive down lol! Very interesting video :)
Haha they really do!! I actually did one for harps too!! It’s so interesting but most of the time you really do get what you pay for!
And theeeeeen there is D.I.Y.... its like a amusement park of rabbit holes xD !
I’m too poor to buy cheap tools.
@@emilyharpist you really do get what you pay for. Some people are so obsessed with saving a buck they’ll buy the cheap product over and over again after constantly fails never realizing they’re spending more money than they would have if they sprung for the quality item in the first place. Then you also have to factor in ethical worker standards in the country of origin. And no, the US worker laws are not worse than they are in China. It’s not even close.
It's pretty common for guitar players that are playing stereo rigs with 2 amps to add a 50ms - 70ms delay to one of the amps to get a thicker sound. The ability to control the right and left delay amount becomes useful in those scenarios.
I’m presently building a wet/dry pedalboard. It’s gonna be pretty damn huge.😳😯😧😲😁
Dope
and then they stick me on the left side of the stage
I mean for $450 the empress sounds absolutely AMAZING. Expensive yes but so very very good compared to the rest.
I love Empress Reverb so much!!! It’s honestly like the ultimate reverb!!! Haha
After pondering a bunch, I ended up with the Empress a few weeks back and it is indeed fantastic. The others in this video sound great, but when the empress comes on I notice the presence of the harp is much more realistic sounding and forward - maybe that's just me.
You don't always need fancy pedals for sure, a pile of these donner ones on a pedal board would be AWESOME, but man is that empress lush.
DEMOS IN THE DARK you tube channel is live with Emily & Russ tonight at 9 pm eastern, 6 pacific.
The reverb comparison reminded me why my Empress Reverb is one of my mostly prized possessions haha. Great video!
I LOVE EMPRESS REVERB!!!
The Empress Reverb is clearly the superior option. It has a beer setting.
Hahah RIGHT?! 😂🍺
As a bassist, you're the best harpist in the world.
*47 strings upright bassist*
Hahaha thank you so much!!!!
Like my neighbor's friend's Mom's Sister's Pastor used to say... "Mo Knobs = Mo Money"
LMAO that’s what my cousin’s best friend’s neighbor’s cat used to say as well!
Dudette, if the folks at Guitar Center had your sales skills, apartment would be full of soooo much gear.
For flanger, see if you can get ahold of an old Ibanez FL9 pedal to try. You might like that one.
Hahaha thank you so much Tim!!! I gotta check out that flanger!! Thank you :)
The Blooper sounds absolutely gorgeous. The instabiliy/modulation combo gives off major Moon Shaped Pool vibes.
Amazing video!
Omg yes I LOVE moon shaped pool. And blooper! Hahha
It should be noted that the RAT pedal itself is a cheap pedal. Even now, it sells for about $70 brand new.
This is true!!!! I actually didn’t know this until I looked it up after reading your comment!! Thank you :)
You do get a few flavours usually with the clones, especially if you go for the Pack Rat. I saw on JHS the build quality is poor on some of the modern rats. I have the Dark Mouse and with the two circuits and three knobs it fulfills my Rat sound needs.
@@stuartchapman5171 I also have the Dark Mouse and I like it a lot.
The donner wah sounded way nicer than the expensive wah
I think the Donne wah worked better in that scenario too!!! The Rossie is really incredible though, it really shines in the auto-wah and step filter category!
Cheap pedals are great for giving people a sense of how an effect sounds, so they can decide if they want to explore further. Of course, they'll have fewer features than the more expensive pedals but it doesn't mean they all sound bad for what they do.
The Mooer Trelicopter is a great tremolo pedal if you just want the basics. I have a Keeley Compressor, but the Donner Ultimate Comp does a great job with fewer options. Then there's my Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz. I bought it for $19 earlier this year (now it's up to a whopping $35) and I'll put it up there with my JHS Bender and Keeley Fuzz Bender.
Cheaper pedals can be great, but you have to be discerning and realistic.
You mean cheap pedals are like a gateway drug to the rabbit hole of effects pedals?
@@brymills Yes and no. If you like some effects you can go down the rabbit hole but if you don't like others (for example I don't care for flanger sounds) you can save time and money not going any further.
The MS50G is the best cheap pedal ,especially as an introduction to all kinds of effects
This is so true!!! I forgot to mention this in the video - budget pedals really help you start to understand what effects work best for you and sometimes it’s the most important small investment to make!!! Thank you all for this thread ❤️
Yes and no - I started learning the guitar back when effects pedals werent very popular and multi-effects units arent where they are today. Manufacturers have spent a lot of money in R&D to give you multi-effects units that can actually sound really good for a decent price. Boss, Line 6, Mooer, Nux etc etc. a lot of these brands have very affordable mult-effects units that even have amp/CAB modelling.
Boutique pedals will always be boutique pedals though and thats one of the reasons why they cost as much as they do.
I still see people record and gig with old BOSS ME-25s, ME-50s & Line 6 PODs effects units.
If i was new or returning musician with not a lot of gear or money, my money would definitely go on a Mooer GE 150 or a NUX around that same level or beyond if i had the budget and was more experienced. Maybe later on down the line i might look at building my own pedal board or maybe just upgrading to a better multi-effects pedal.
My first effects unit was a Zoom GFX-4. Its been gigged to hell and back, Its mostly held together with sticky tape. It sounds terrible compared to more modern multi-effects units but it still has a place in my collection because of the amount of shows I played with it.
Otherwise a lot of my stuff has been played through and recorded through an old Korg AX3000G which sounds a little better than the Zoom.
Thank you kindly... Youre my fave pedal review
Thank you Barry!!!
Thanks for taking the time to show the differences between these pedals, some of the cheaper pedals sound fine until you switch to the expensive one and it feels like so much space and depth open up.
No problem!! Thanks so much for being here ♥️
actually having seperate controls for different sides of the stereo delay is something that is very useful for creating spatial effects especially in using delay in mixing...cool to know that has that....not very common unfortunately...
You’re so right!!!
Don’t a lot of people running stereo use wet/dry setups? I’d like to hear it in a wet/dry/wet setup. Probably would be perfect for something like that.
When I started music period like 12 years ago I started with cheap pedals and I made music with what I had. You learn what good cheap and bad cheap is and you do what you feel you wanna do and when you get better pedals you appreciate them. And my favorite pedal of alllll time is exactly $20.😁 My Behringher Super Fuzz never leaves the table. 😂😂😂 Cheap fuzz meannnnn boost setting lol.
Super Fuzz for the win.
I gotta try that Super Fuzz!
@@emilyharpist Is it a great fuzz eh kinda has two modes and a boost, mode 1 is my fav but the boost into distortion is gain nasty. Plus it does play well with other fuzz pedals weird as that sounds it and my DOD Carcosa are def buddies. 😁
@@flux1968 All day best $20 I ever spent
I have the SF300 on my bass, tuned to A. Once it gets a bit of a volume boost from a sansamp after the SF300 it gets a bit feedbacky so I have an Iron Curtain at the end.
I would in no way suggest that a 40 dollar Donner pedal sounds objectively better than some 200 dollar "boutique" pedal, but you can mostly achieve what you want to achieve with inexpensive gear. Take it from someone who has spent way too much on gear over the years.
I see what you’re saying - it really depends on the $200 pedal though. If it’s the donner reverb vs the OBNE sunlight or dark star, there’s no way you could capture the personality of those pedals. But some other $200 pedals, sure!!!
"it's the pedal I dipped in sauce" was my favorite part of the video
Lmaoooo I’m so glad I dipped it in sauce!
This was fantastic from start to finish! Thank you Emma
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!
When it comes to looper pedals, simplicity of controls is often a good thing, especially when used in live performance situations.
I agree!! Loopers can be the most intimidating sometimes!!
Wow so cool thanks for making this!!! I know how long a video like this can take to make. Your work is appreciated so much in the harp community and beyond!!
thank you so much, Adrienne!!! that means so much to me coming from you!!! 🥰❤️
I absolutely love this channel! You guys cover very interesting, fun, and educational content🤗 more artists should use pedals for their respective instruments.
What a wonderful video! You didn't spend time ragging on the weaker pedal performances, you let them speak for themselves. I was surprised that I really loved the vowel on harp.
Thanks David!!! I loved the vowel too honestly!!!
Surprised by how much I enjoyed that $25 flanger!!
I was blessed to have an electrical engineer that was my grandfather I had pedals that no one else or has today I have many one of a kind gizmos from my pawpaw
I’m so jealous!!! That sounds amazing!! I’d love some one-of-a-kind devices like that! :)
The "oceans 12" by electro harmonix is nice. It has a spring reverb, too.
Love the RC-30 looper. It is very confusing. I got my girlfriend the nicer looper from Donner with the build in drum machine and she loves it. For a hundred bucks you can't beat it.
I have a sheeiitload of pedals from old/vintage to brand new expensive and cheap pedals. I use ‘em all, except the broken ones. (I gotta get ‘em fixed!🤣🤣🤣) I’ve been a pedal junkie since the early 80s!🤪🤪🤪🤪😂😂😂😂
That Donner delay sounds great. It's a great feature that you can set the left and right channels to different subdivisions. I'm very tempted by that one
I’ve never seen that function in a pedal before! It’s very different haha but it sounds good!! Ryan from 60 Cycle Hum did some cool stuff with it!!!
@@emilyharpist It's a rare feature I wish more stereo delays had. Often they only feature the stereo field in the ping-pong delay mode, with the other modes operating in mono with the dual outputs functioning merely as a channel splitter.
@@binface9 you’re right!! I personally don’t have a use for the function but it’s really cool knowing that others do! I personally prefer the ping pong type stuff!
I've totally been thinking about snagging that thing for a little while now. I feel like it has a great tape delay sound and especially for the price! The stereo function basically makes it like two delays in one, right?
@@emilyharpist I don’t have experience with pedals, but the feature is in most delay plugins I’ve used. Great for generating syncopated beats when you vary the timing between the two channels.
Reverb, delay and uni vibe are the only effects I spend real money on. Fuzz and drive circuits are simple and cheap to produce. "Boutique" builders are just taking the piss when they ask for more than $100 or $125 for a slightly modified version of a cheap fuzz/bluesbreaker/rat circuit.
Nice! But for really informative review effcts with the same functionality should be used. I know a world of effect pedals quite a bit, and I know that ofthen the same functionality and the same schematics is used in many different pedals, but the price can differ several times. And in blind tests it is often revealed that people are often paying for the name and "made in" tag.
It is really fascinating to me, as a not so musical person, to see all these pedals. Terribly interesting machines, they are, I'm a student of comp sci, so I often visualize the universe as series of functions that you can use to construct a program, so it's really mesmerizing seeing all these bits of "universe code" being displayed together.
Thanks Marcos!! I’m so happy I could help give you some insight into these machines :)
The best pedals don’t have any computers inside at all.
Seems like Chase Bliss should send you pedals. Or rebates. (BTW I love my Donner Dark Mouse)
I really would love to start working with chase bliss!!!!!
Trying to imagine what all if this would sound like in person if you had massive orange or marshall amps behind you. Possibilities are endless!
I would just be louder I think.
I like the RAT ones best, with that evil sound. bet they'd be great on my SG.
The RATs are so good!!! These were actually my first two rats ever!!
There are just some things you can't do cheap while cranking out thousands of it.
True!
You could compare some clone pedals to their originals, like behringer to boss.
I’d love to do a clone video!!! I just don’t have enough of them to make a whole video on it yet!!
1. Thank you for posting about being intimidated by some of that first looper - I think there's a lot of pretending that we have gear we "won't sell but don't like" and don't like often stands in for "I got intimidated by having no clue what the knobs were really doing and I'm ashamed when I try to sell it someone will ask how they work"
2. I really love effect comparisons just in general, it's always useful to see awesome people demo great gear at every price point.
The comparison of the hall reverbs was interesting, showed not just the change in quality but the distinct character that some brands are bringing that goes far beyond any pedal just being a basic effect.
I do voice over as a hobby/side gig, way to show why people pay a lot for a good mic in seconds! Lots of cheap mics are fine for lots of things... but there is a difference in consumer vs. professional quality precisely because a creator like you is in a very different category of quality needs.
Thanks for another excellent video :)
Thank you so much! I’m definitely not afraid to say that I’m intimidated by that looper hahah YOU HAVE TO USE BOTH FEET ON IT SOMETIMES!! 😂 I’m so glad everyone has responded well to this video, I really would love to do more gear comparison videos!!!
Really liked the demos and comparisons. I need the reverb and the chorus demo songs as songs
Thanks Eduardo!! The deep oggin and 3 series hall reverb are so good, hahaha I love them!!! Maybe I can upload these to my bandcamp soon!
@@emilyharpist please do! I just got your bandcamp the other day and now I'm looking where to invest more :p
Very cool comparisons, loved the Rat clone part! Very metal indeed!
Thank you!! I love those too 🥰
I like how you say "sauce."
I'm, like, 15% here for the accent alone
Lmaoooo thank you guys so much!!! I’ll try to say sauce in as many future videos as I can!
Chase Bliss needs to stop designing pedals intended to drain my bank account. Their blooper pedal is about as good as their Generation Loss one
I have grown
To appreciate
You and your blonde hair man
The humor is my great fun
Also skill level
i think youre the best youtuber in the whole planet i cant believe that i have 22 and ive been browsing the internet searching for music creators and gear reviewers for like what, 10 years?? and i just knew you LIKE ONE MOTH ago wtf whyyyyyyy YOURE THE BESTTTTTT
Wow the Donner and the Empress both embarrass the JHS and Walrus verbs
Phenomenal educational video! And the music is DREAMY! Like you. Always! Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks so much, Kory!!! 🥰
"Look at all these knobs!"
-- Me, visiting ********
Hahaha wait what ?!
There are hundreds if not thousands of cheap pedals that sound actually good, i think price is something that shouldn't matter when you pick a pedal as long as you like it and the sound is good, josh scott has many videos talking about cheap pedals and how much he likes them, i'm not a pedal expert but he is and i trust the man i mean c'mon he doesn't have eye brows how can't you trust a man that looks like a fuzz face pedal
The differences , to me dont seem to be a matter of quality vs not, but more so seem just like different choices of "colors" for me to work with
That said, the differences in overall sound do not really seem worth the extra zero on the prices for me, for what these pedals do
I have the white tape and I run the left side back into the right input for a double delay 😝🎶
Even though it is the most expensive I think the Empress beat them all. So full and wide.
Press F for the pedals that don't get transparent backgrounds (because they're green)
If you're going to use the blues scale, surely some bends are called for... or whatever you'd call it on harp.
Hahaha sometimes it’s hard or impossible to do a bend on harp!! But I actually have a device on the way that will make it possible (hopefully) - stay tuned!!
Blooper is pretty cool. The more pricier pedals definitely give more depth and options, cheaper pedals do let you dip your toes..and that might be fine for some stuff, or the tone just fits. Check out the Strymon Big Sky reverb..nice one.
I stopped buying pedals.. They are a big mess. After I got my first multifx, that was my way to go. When it comes to loopers, they are built in to multiFX, but if I want a trully smart looper I use my Digitech Band Trio + ... Trust me on that: after you get your first multiFX it will be game over for all pedals. MultiFX dont have to be expensive. I have Boss GT-100 but there are even better units and cheaper.. NUX MG-30 and NUX MG-300 are cheap and come with great sound.
Multi-FX units definitely aren’t for me! I’ve owned a few and definitely enjoy dedicated units that have a lot more character and detail than most multi-fix units, but everyone’s different!!
please count this comment as a yes to more gearparison videos thank you
great comparison video! looks like you kind of get what you pay for, more salty pedals have more options and stereo. all sound nice tho and enhance well. Cheers!!
Sometimes you really do get what you pay for!!!
I think usually you're paying for more advanced controls.
It definitely depends on the pedals but at the very least, you’re getting more versatility most of the time when you spend more!!
You make everything sound expensive
I want to hear more… distortion! Harp and distortion sounds damn good with this JHS rat pedal (Donner one is actually not bad too!). And maybe more madness with distortions delays reverbs flangers chorus pitch shift and whatever you can bring in for more noise. Total mess is good too. But distortion. Definitely.
More distortion coming soon!!
Ooh that Thermae delay sounds great… and there you go again, getting me interested in pedal porn.
Fortunately, my Saturn Timeless 3 delay on the iPad will quieten my pedal GAS (gas pedal?)…
Hahaha thermae is TOO good!!!
I've always said gear is less about price and more about how it sounds to you and what you can get out of it. Way back in the 1990s my band at the time shared a rehearsal space with a major label national/international band. I'm not going to mention who because Michael Jackson once told me it wasn't cool to name drop but the leader of that band had a milk crate full of old Big Muffs and he told me to try them all out if I wanted to. So I did, I A/B'd about ten rams head, civil war, triangle knob etc vintage Big Muffs alongside the black box Russian Muff I got at a NAMM show for 30 bucks. To my ears the Russian Muff sounded the best for what I was looking for. Was it because it actually did sound better or because it was what I was used to playing through and hearing? Who knows but I think it saved me the time and money of going down the vintage/boutique Big Muff rabbit hole searching for the Holy Grail.
It’s always about what works best for you, and not the price!!! Thanks so much for this :)
Uuuuu... That reminds me everlasting debate in cycling. Between Fettlers and Riders. LSC, HSC, LSR, HSR, volume spacers, ISP pressure, oil viscosity, pressure within 1PSI... Yeah... I can be massively overwhelming...
I have feeling that it is the same in any given field. On top of real needs, experience and understanding of the Craft there is loads and loads of so called Gear W@nkery :D
I have The Latest and Greatest and I ride sod-all. But I can "feel" every click and every PSI change :p
Don't get me wrong. Gear expands your Field. Expensive Gear offers more options and possibilities. Also, in general, better quality and better output.
... with a caveat... You really need to know what to do with it, how to operate it and how to capitalize on the vast pool it offers.
Otherwise you are left frustrated with loads of knobs that you don't have the faintest idea how to use. And what you actually use, you will be much better served with simple, quite often much cheaper bit of Gear.
Cheep is not synonymous with Cr@p... At least not always xD
Cheers!
I.
Haha I know nothing about cycling!! Thank you so much for the insight 😊 I guess every hobby or profession has the whole “cheap vs expensive” debate!!
I have many cheap pedals from Donner on both of my pedal boards. For me, simple is better live. In the studio is a different story...
True!!!
I know I watched this entire video, but I may have been distracted by the "dropped the pedal in sauce" part. Is there a story on video somewhere?
Haha yes!! th-cam.com/video/yxzTyXWehOc/w-d-xo.html
My Donner reverb gets hot even in bypass mode, I don't use it anymore, 40€ so...
It does?! Oh wow, I don’t think I’ve had a donner pedal plugged in long enough to notice that!
Mine too. The current draw is pretty high too
Super informative vid, thank you very much for this!❤️🧐👍 And as always, Doom harp FTW🤘
P.S.- More finger guns plz👈🤠👆
Thanks!!! More doom harp and finger guns soon!!! 😊❤️🥰
Have you done any lofi pedals? Fairfield, Chase, Zvex, Cooper. Etc. If you've already, I hang my head in Google shame.
Haha I’ve done every single one you’ve mentioned!!! If you go to my channel homepage you’ll see my effects pedals playlist!!
Delay and loopers are the only pedals where I feel like it's okay to go cheap on. Because you're not using them to "shape" your tone, all they're doing is repeating what you're putting into them.
Quite neat...I love what you're doing with coupling harp with electronics. But as for the Chinese pedals, one thing I've found is that they're great building-blocks for adding to FX chains...so I might follow something like my Chase Bliss Mood with a Cuvave or Sonicake or Rowin delay, as those can add a degree of "character" to the outputs of other, more expensive pedals. But one way to REALLY push what's possible with cheap effects is to use them in a parallel arrangement. Some time ago, I got a stomper that does exactly that: the Electro-Harmonix Tri-Parallel Mixer. It's deceptively simple...but it allows you to stack up three parallel effects paths, and that sort of "doubling" really kicks the Chinese pedal capabilities into wholly new timbral turf.
I thought it worked so well that I put together a similar but much more elaborate system in my studio, which uses a stereo distro amp for the eight stereo "sends" and employs a Rane SM 26B to mix the "returns" into a single stereo signal. That pair of devices can easily be interfaced with AUX send/returns on the desk, too, allowing for the potential of many rack effects and stompboxes to be controlled by a single stereo AUX send and a single stereo return.
Loving this demonstration, really, this shows off a ton of these effects so much better than guitar videos I’ve seen made to show these. That Blooper pedal just was fantastic goodness! Thanks for the showcase!
Wow thank you so much!! I really appreciate it :) thanks for being here!!!
Now that you have a Zzombee it would be nice to see that pedal's wah function compared to the other two. It might be nice to see these pedals compared to itb effects also like Guitar Rig. I always thought it would be good to have you record something and then apply a bunch of different effects chains to it in the computer to see how interesting that can be.
Yesss!! I’m releasing a video where I compare some features to wah pedals very soon, but I should definitely do this!
Thanks, I was on the market for a new looper
I’m so glad I could help!!! 😊
I think in some cases it boils down to getting what one pays for. Not always, of course.
More features, better components, level of craftsmanship, quality, and innovation/ design all factor into the higher end gear.
Not saying the inexpensive pedals are bad- they do their thing, and it works as intended. Also, a good place to start.
Thank you, Emily (and Russ!) 🙏
Thank you Thank you always ahead of everyone is it ok if you’re my wing lady for pedals as a friend bc I am a lower level musician need more information
Your awesome on it plus harps And music help out thank you
Peace ☮️
Thanks so much John 🥰❤️
intimidated by boss looper but owns Chase Bliss pedals they are WAY more intimidating for me :-D
😂 I think it’s the layout and two big foot switches!!! 🤷♀️
It would be cool to see you make tracks for elder scrolls or any Mid evil style dragon era type video games... You're playing is pretty Awesome...
Omg I would LOVE that!!!
Wait a second... the way you just said "sauce"... you're from LI!
HAHHAA YES I AM 😂😂😂❤️❤️❤️
TIL what "ramp" does on a delay!
hi,
so quiet and relaxing !
i think after decades of saturation, comes again the joy of clean, spaced sounds, and the right place of the voice too ?
Yes!!!!! I think so too :)
I think it depends on application to some extent too. As someone who plays through a very loud amp, the quality of the electronics in the effects can be really important. Things like noise floor, switching silence, digital audio quality, transparency/tone suck, etc tend (in my experience) to be superior from more expensive pedals. That's not to say you can't get that on cheaper pedals. One of my favourite pedals is the TC Electronic Hall of Fame 2 and that's about a 100 quid. I also find the Fender range of pedals great value-for-money.
Fortunately if a cheap pedal fails their is little risk of injury If a cheap climbing rope fails your kinda out of luck.
This is true!!! Hahaha I never thought of it like that, Brian!
'Verb Square is Mono'. is an oddly threatening phrase.
😂 😆
When you hit that first chord with Rat clone: PURE BLISS!
Thanks David!!! I think so too hahaha
ROFL... "This pedal is alot for me!"
Proceeds to play harp.
LMAO Matt this made me laugh out loud!!
Strangely informative for purchases for guitar rigs.
Hahaha thank you!!
I mean most Donner pedals are not too bad for their price but i usually consider "quality effects pedals" to be around the 150-200€ range, maybe more depending on what it should deliver. Drive pedals can be cheaper since they often have smaller circuits.
i cant hear any difference btwn the prices or quality of the pedals. it seem they differ in variety and production quality, rather than sound.
Sometimes the differences can be really subtle!!!
also spending $ on fx is cool and all but figuring out creative ways to use cheap fx is where its at (imo)
That’s such a good point!!! There’s tons of ways to do it!
so classy - i wish i had your skills and pedals ! wish we could play with you
Thanks Petey!!! ❤️ ❤️
You just NEED the Chase Bliss Thermae pedal 👍👌
Right?! It’s SO GOOD
How about some electronic instruments now? Synths....drum machines...maybe samplers.... 😁
Hahaha I definitely should get into those soon!!! 🤔 so many options!!
@@emilyharpist LOADS OF OPTIONS.... And I'll bet you'll get some great companies to sponsor you, and send instruments your way.
@@emilyharpist You'll fill the studio with REALLY IMPORTANT gear.
A bit of modulation on a harp sounds sooo good
Yes! Thankyou! Great demos!
Thanks Anthony!!!
really only noticed the difference in the reverb comparison when it got to the empress.
Same!!!
Pedals are just another sound. I like them all. Out of the hundreds of pedals i tried or have there is only 1 pedal i don't like
I agree!! Which pedal was it??
Do they do an electric harp with separate outputs for different octaves , be great to send different frequencies to different effects
They do! I did it in this video (and many more) th-cam.com/video/zGSFbSdoSfU/w-d-xo.html
Not for every pedal in every application...but the expensive ones are usually priced knowing that they offer more. Sometimes "too much" more. I was lucky enough to win an Empress Echosystem, and it's absolutely amazing, but I don't use it as much as my EHX Grand Canyon because The Echosystem Is A Whole Lot. Though I'm now inspired by your playing to plop down on the basement floor and take another stab at programming it properly.