MOST OVERRATED EQUIPMENT?

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Thursday Jun 23, 2011

I'm sure that everybody has run across some equipment that when you put it to the test, is overrated and overpriced.

I have to go with all things TC...mostly TC Helicon, but I dumped all my TC Electronic G-Forces too.

The TC stuff may sound great when you dial up a program and leave it there, but don't try sending them much more than a midi program change command or they freak out and start flashing and make clicking noises.

Anybody try using a G-Force with an expression pedal for wah?

ToonaRockGuy · Post by **ToonaRockGuy** » Thursday Jun 23, 2011

I'd have to go with most custom-shop drums. They all use Keller shells, so essentially, you're buying a Keller drum with a custom paint job. The prices on most of them are totally outrageous, and I just can't see plopping down 5-8K for a maple custom kit that I can get from Yamaha, Mapex, Pearl, or Tama for half the price.

I think Drum Workshop makes killer drums, but I also think they are way overpriced. Just my opinion, though. Same with Paiste Cymbals. They are on the average 50-70% more than Zildjian or Sabian.

kayla · Post by **kayla** » Thursday Jun 23, 2011

gibson

lol just kiddin. i played an older gibson and liked it for the most part. just too damn heavy and expensive! i'm a single coil kinda person anyways.

i think another thing thats kinda overrated is the fender vintage noiseless pups. ya they sound great, but my tex mex sound about as good for half the price. imo.

- kayla.

f.sciarrillo · Post by **f.sciarrillo** » Thursday Jun 23, 2011

I would agree with TC. I also have to say that the g-force is a nice set up. But from what I hear, they are a technicians nightmare. If I was going to go rack setup, I would go Voodoo Lab Ground Control pedal and GCX Audio switcher.

LHSL · Post by **LHSL** » Thursday Jun 23, 2011

BBE Sonic Maximizer.

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Thursday Jun 23, 2011

LHSL wrote:BBE Sonic Maximizer.

I agree that they are virtually useless, but my question is:

Who overrates them?

LOL

LHSL · Post by **LHSL** » Thursday Jun 23, 2011

lonewolf wrote:
LHSL wrote:BBE Sonic Maximizer.
I agree that they are virtually useless, but my question is:

Who overrates them?

LOL

I can't name how many times I've run into someone who says buying one made their PA sound amazing. Nor can I count how many I've seen in bar PAs.

So... the general public I guess.

slackin@dabass · Post by **slackin@dabass** » Thursday Jun 23, 2011

ToonaRockGuy wrote:I'd have to go with most custom-shop drums. They all use Keller shells, so essentially, you're buying a Keller drum with a custom paint job. The prices on most of them are totally outrageous, and I just can't see plopping down 5-8K for a maple custom kit that I can get from Yamaha, Mapex, Pearl, or Tama for half the price.

I think Drum Workshop makes killer drums, but I also think they are way overpriced. Just my opinion, though. Same with Paiste Cymbals. They are on the average 50-70% more than Zildjian or Sabian.

Cant agree more on custom shop drums. And paiste.

I think fender is overrated. Dont misunderstand. I give leo props for doing what he did for the business and you can hear a fender guitar on pretty much every album. But what makes them so fantastic? Not to mention an american standard p bas is what? 1300 bucks? What the fuck? I mean it dosnt get more basic when you think of the frills it dosnt come with. Plus you can make any bass with active electonics sound like it. Just boggles my mind.

Jasaoke · Post by **Jasaoke** » Thursday Jun 23, 2011

Slackin, I think it's the no-frills that really makes Fender stand out. Sure, they're 'vanilla' but it's a really goooood vanilla.

TC makes some jaw- droppingly beautiful sounding high-end studio gear; I've never used their pedals.

My votes: Peavy and Carvin. Poorly constructed and cheap-sounding

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Thursday Jun 23, 2011

Jasaoke wrote: TC makes some jaw- droppingly beautiful sounding high-end studio gear; I've never used their pedals.

I agree that their stuff sounds great, but don't send it much more midi data than a program change or you'll get a midi train wreck. You might end up with a hard echo where you want slapback delay or continued harmonies when you just want unison....or you might just end up with flashing lights & clicking noises.

For the ridiculous price you have to pay for their stuff, you'd think they'd have better communications and higher quality front panel buttons & controls.

I never used their pedals either.

MeYatch · Post by **MeYatch** » Friday Jun 24, 2011

slackin@dabass wrote:...Plus you can make any bass with active electonics sound like it. Just boggles my mind.

disagree.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Friday Jun 24, 2011

MeYatch wrote:
slackin@dabass wrote:...Plus you can make any bass with active electonics sound like it. Just boggles my mind.
disagree.

I agree with the disagree. There is something inherently different between the sound of passive and active electronics. There really is something inherently different between passive and active pickups.

Banned · Post by **Banned** » Friday Jun 24, 2011

MOST OVERRATED EQUIPMENT?

A bass player???

haha, just kidding guys i know it takes at least 4 to make a band.

Diavolo · Post by **Diavolo** » Friday Jun 24, 2011

I know I'll take some heat for this but most high-end drums are overrated. With the right head selection and a little effort finding the tuning most entry-level drum kits sound pretty good. I suspect I'm not alone but I hear very little difference between top-of-the-line models and entry-level models. Maybe that says more about me than the gear.

With cymbals, on the other hand, there is a vast difference between top models and lower priced models.

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Friday Jun 24, 2011

faster pussycat wrote:MOST OVERRATED EQUIPMENT?

A bass player???

haha, just kidding guys i know it takes at least 4 to make a band.

I do believe that there might be a few 3-piece bands who will disagree with that.

floodcitybrass · Post by **floodcitybrass** » Friday Jun 24, 2011

Monster Cables

Jasaoke · Post by **Jasaoke** » Saturday Jun 25, 2011

I forgot about high-end cables. 100% agree with that.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Sunday Jun 26, 2011

Man, some of the marketing hype with high-end cables is just insane. I remember some cable brand that was selling 9v replacement power cables for about $1000 a pop, claiming they provided the most clean amount of power possible.

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Sunday Jun 26, 2011

Yep, some of the cable claims are funny. I really like the ones that have 3 separate conductors that are "crossovers" (roflmao) so that it keeps all the audio frequencies in phase.

There is one higher priced design that does make some sense, though. ProCo makes a guitar cable that has 2 conductors and shield. The signal and ground is connected via the conductors at both ends, but the shielding is only connected to ground at the amp end. This is to drain off any noise picked up by the shielding to the amp chassis ground rather than the guitar circuit. This tends to keep most of that noise away from single coil pickups.

This is a common shielding technique for low-signal electronics.

Hawk · Post by **Hawk** » Sunday Jun 26, 2011

The quality of the sound of any instrument is in the hands of the user. I've seen high end drums with bad drum heads and bad tunings that sounded terrible. I've heard low end drums sound really good.

Drums: at ear level one can hear the difference. You would find that if you owned a good DW kit IMO the tunings have a wider range and the resonance (both length of sustain and the strength of the fundamental pitch with nice sounding supporting overtones) is far better than most lower end drums. However at audience distance only the musicians with distinguishing ears will hear the difference. Add sound reinforcement and it's a new game. Shawn does tell me that the the higher end kits make his job easier with sound reinforcement, along with good head choices and good tunings. Usually drummers who mute the drums mute them because the overtones are stronger than the fundamental pitch. The fundamental dies off quickly and the overtones are noisy, so they have to mute the overtones.

Snare drums IMO definitely sound better in high end drums. Listen to Bobby Waters' snare. It always sounds great no matter how it's tuned. I had a Dennis Chambers signature Pearl snare and no matter what heads I put on it or no matter if I tune it low or high, it sounded great. Low and snares are much harder to get a quality sound.

As far as custom drums, it is who makes them. I know a guy in Baltimore who makes some amazing drums. Keller makes good shells, but what he does with the shells makes them better than low end (or other Keller shell builders) kits. And when it is truly custom (unlike the DW's you'll see at Dale's) you call him, tell him what you want the drums to sound like, and he'll design them accordingly. That's custom.

rock · Post by **rock** » Wednesday Jun 29, 2011

TAYLOR GUITARS!!!!!!!!! Nuf Said

Merge · Post by **Merge** » Wednesday Jun 29, 2011

I've played quite a few Taylors, and I wouldn't call them overrated.

sstuckey · Post by **sstuckey** » Wednesday Jun 29, 2011

Honestly I'm not a big fan of Zildjian. Contrary to popular belief, I don't consider myself to really be a hard hitter. Especially when it comes to cymbals. But I have busted more than my fair share of Zildjians. But my Paiste's and Sabians have withstood the test of time.

slackin@dabass · Post by **slackin@dabass** » Thursday Jun 30, 2011

Jasaoke wrote:Slackin, I think it's the no-frills that really makes Fender stand out. Sure, they're 'vanilla' but it's a really goooood vanilla.

TC makes some jaw- droppingly beautiful sounding high-end studio gear; I've never used their pedals.

My votes: Peavy and Carvin. Poorly constructed and cheap-sounding

1300 bucks for no frills? Would you buy a 50000 dollar base model ford truck? Come on.

Dont think i hate fender, i just dont think theyre as good as everyone makes them out to be. I think their quality control is slipping, i think that their "really good vanilla" is average at best and that the fact that a fender can be heard on nearly every album in existance also makes playing one a little unoriginal. They do usually sound good and alot of players i like use them, but i stand by my original statement that they are over rated and definatly over priced.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Thursday Jun 30, 2011

Well, I think a lot of what people are going to say is overrated is another's treasure. Jasaoke doesn't dig Carvins. I own three of their basses and have found their construction and playability to match a lot of boutique-level basses I've laid my hands on. I disagree with Lonewolf about TC Electronic equipment. I think the G-force is one of the best rack-mountable FX processors around. But that's cool. We're all going to disagree.

I dig Fender, but I get where Slackin's coming from. I'm not a big Ampeg guy; not because I think their stuff sucks, but because I've been hearing that same bass sound on records for most of my life. I love the all-tube SVT, but the fact they can't take an 8-ohm impedance load is a huge deal-breaker for me.

Either way, it's interesting to hear everybody's opinions.