NPD: Ground-Breaking, Game-Changing - THE Best Pedal Made Thus Far ???

Wazmeister

ICBM said:

I have a pedal with 30 user presets, 22 different overdrive/distortion/fuzz sounds and analogue controls which cost me £100.

I don't doubt it mate... which pedal is that, and I might be able to return mine and save £650 ?

tone1

Wazmeister said:

ICBM said:

I have a pedal with 30 user presets, 22 different overdrive/distortion/fuzz sounds and analogue controls which cost me £100.

I don't doubt it mate... which pedal is that, and I might be able to return mine and save £650 ?

My guess is IC’s beloved Boss ME-50..? 

Wazmeister

ourmaninthenorth said:

I think this pedal is something else. 

Thanks for the review Waz, that certainly wasn't thrown together in 2 minutes.

 I appreciate being informed by in-hand reviews like this, almost as much as watching someone take a hefty punt and getting it right. 

I think it's called a win-win. 

Good on yer Mate. 

Cheers Paul...

My reviews certainly seem to 'rattle' some people; maybe they are too positive, and/or Ive become the 'establishment' which means, naturally, I need pulling down (like an old statue...)

TTBZ

It might be a game changer if it sounded great but I haven't heard anything yet from demos that sounds amazing, especially for the money. Obviously havent played one yet though. Just seems quite gimmicky and style over substance? Maybe I'm just not target market, it all just sounds like "just another overdrive".

tone1

I’d seriously love one, and I’d probably pull the trigger at £499....it’d probably be the only thing I’d need...(well need is a bit strong) 
I also love Waz’s appreciation of the latest gear and all the time and attention that goes into his reviews.....don’t ever stop matey! 

Teetonetal

I like the concept, but I am no big user of drive pedals and on this one I am far away from the being the target user. I'm just happy that Joel continues to offer something different to the same old same old that so many pedal companies churn out. 

BeardyAndy

I caught an Instagram post of Lee Anderton playing one and it really does sound amazing.

ourmaninthenorth

Wazmeister said:

ourmaninthenorth said:

I think this pedal is something else. 

Thanks for the review Waz, that certainly wasn't thrown together in 2 minutes.

 I appreciate being informed by in-hand reviews like this, almost as much as watching someone take a hefty punt and getting it right. 

I think it's called a win-win. 

Good on yer Mate. 

Cheers Paul...

My reviews certainly seem to 'rattle' some people; maybe they are too positive, and/or Ive become the 'establishment' which means, naturally, I need pulling down (like an old statue...)

I wouldn't worry too much about rattling people Warren, unless of course their approval of the way you go about your business is important to you. 

The constant jibes about your turnover of gear bores the bollocks off me to be frank. 

Let me ask you a straightforward question - have you ever made any money out of this "community" on a single listing, any listing?

 It seems to me that you take a kick in the bollocks on every item you turn over. You recycle a lot of gear, and have not only accepted that there is a personal cash cost to that, but you continue to share your thoughts on this relatively expensive stuff with us, the great unwashed, and then you offer us this gear at significantly reduced prices...you're nowt but a cheeky fooker in my opinion. 

I for one do not specialise in staring gift horses in the mouth. 

You're like a breath of fresh air Waz.

ourmaninthenorth

..... now, can I borrow the fooker for a fortnight....?? 

ICBM

tone1 said:

Wazmeister said:

I don't doubt it mate... which pedal is that, and I might be able to return mine and save £650 ?

My guess is IC’s beloved Boss ME-50..? 

Correct .

I should also admit that it's much bigger, and the sounds are actually digital even though the controls are knobs, which aren't motorised - but many of the sounds are genuinely outstanding and very hard to tell from their analogue counterparts - or even in some cases actually better... that shocked me too, but I have very carefully A/B'd it with many of them.

The size is partly justified because it also has over a dozen other effects, three large footswitches, a wah pedal and all the other things that go with a multi-FX.

And to be fair, £100 is the second hand price.

But I would say one thing about the Chase Bliss, which sounds nit-picky but isn't meant to be, it's my genuine belief - if it can't do *any* bad sounds, then its distortion and tone range is not wide enough. A lot of really great sounds are just on the edge of harsh, or even over it if heard out of context. If it can't do sounds like that it will be too smooth and bland for me, even if I might very rarely use those sounds.

But that's probably why I don't own any boutique overdrives.

Wazmeister

ICBM said:

tone1 said:

Wazmeister said:

I don't doubt it mate... which pedal is that, and I might be able to return mine and save £650 ?

My guess is IC’s beloved Boss ME-50..? 

Correct .

I should also admit that it's much bigger, and the sounds are actually digital even though the controls are knobs, which aren't motorised - but many of the sounds are genuinely outstanding and very hard to tell from their analogue counterparts - or even in some cases actually better... that shocked me too, but I have very carefully A/B'd it with many of them.

The size is partly justified because it also has over a dozen other effects, three large footswitches, a wah pedal and all the other things that go with a multi-FX.

And to be fair, £100 is the second hand price.

But I would say one thing about the Chase Bliss, which sounds nit-picky but isn't meant to be, it's my genuine belief - if it can't do *any* bad sounds, then its distortion and tone range is not wide enough. A lot of really great sounds are just on the edge of harsh, or even over it if heard out of context. If it can't do sounds like that it will be too smooth and bland for me, even if I might very rarely use those sounds.

But that's probably why I don't own any boutique overdrives.

Good reply mate, and that’s the secret.... finding stuff that works for each one of us, regardless of price or moving sliders !!

To be fair, I so wanted this to work as I love the look, feel and sound of it - it’s lovely to own.

But I’ve had a fair few expensive ‘boutiques’ that are very ordinary

JezWynd

If they released a Benson Preamp with shiftable mids control I'd be keen but 30 presets and motorised faders is so much more than I'd ever need.

mgaw

mine has arrived,  looks expensive, very nicely made etc etc

had a quick run through the presets, first thing I then did was adjust my Amp EQ to suit the pedal...haven't really had to do that before.  that's those presets though.


it does sound superb imo….all the settings aren't to my taste but then I will adjust to my taste then save them.


there is a LOT of volume in the Gain


there is also some volume drop between presets which is a bit annoying, especially when moving from the drive sounds to the clean.  the volume is full on those clean settings which kind of leaves you stuck, obviously I have my guitar volume, but the fuzzes only really kick in when its on full.   needs more clean volume


the EQ is great, seems wide ranging, also seems more intuitive 


there is a HUGE array of tones in here for sure, all derived from the Benson, if you like that sound this is a winner for sure.

looking forward to setting my own presets and think that's when it will either stay or go for me,  I don't need an enormous range of tones but it seems super easy to use, and could well do the trick...

fucking expensive though:)

LastMantra

Do you have any vids/sound clips of your rig waz? I'd love to hear it.

Freebird

Thank you for the great review Waz. You have inspired me to experiment with the drives on my FX8 by running them through some Nebula tube preamps, and then reamping through the Kemper Profiler!

PS I bought this gear based on your wonderful reviews before you sold them 

Lebarque

ourmaninthenorth said:

Wazmeister said:

ourmaninthenorth said:

I think this pedal is something else. 

Thanks for the review Waz, that certainly wasn't thrown together in 2 minutes.

 I appreciate being informed by in-hand reviews like this, almost as much as watching someone take a hefty punt and getting it right. 

I think it's called a win-win. 

Good on yer Mate. 

Cheers Paul...

My reviews certainly seem to 'rattle' some people; maybe they are too positive, and/or Ive become the 'establishment' which means, naturally, I need pulling down (like an old statue...)

I wouldn't worry too much about rattling people Warren, unless of course their approval of the way you go about your business is important to you. 

The constant jibes about your turnover of gear bores the bollocks off me to be frank. 

Let me ask you a straightforward question - have you ever made any money out of this "community" on a single listing, any listing?

 It seems to me that you take a kick in the bollocks on every item you turn over. You recycle a lot of gear, and have not only accepted that there is a personal cash cost to that, but you continue to share your thoughts on this relatively expensive stuff with us, the great unwashed, and then you offer us this gear at significantly reduced prices...you're nowt but a cheeky fooker in my opinion. 

I for one do not specialise in staring gift horses in the mouth. 

You're like a breath of fresh air Waz.

Agree with the sentiment here. The gear turnover deserves a bit of light-hearted teasing of course, but I've never doubted Waz's motivations are anything but childlike enthusiasm, followed by fancying trying the next shiny thing. Besides, variety is the spice of life and there is no perfect rig to work towards - just what's right for you at a moment in time.

I personally am delighted when I see Waz has posted a new review, because I know that it will be carefully considered, amusingly written (always puts a smile on my face) and coming from someone who has experience of trying a lot of stuff. It's easy to filter out the 'water into wine' stuff if that's not your thing - just appreciate some great research and views, which you can use in your own decision making process.

Keep it up, @Wazmeister  Ps. If you don't work in sales/marketing, you probably should! ;0)

handsomerik

@Freebird i’m not sure if that is supposed to be a little dig?! Seems slightly passive aggressive. Most people buy gear based on more than one wonderful review. 

Regardless, I agree with @ourmaninthenorth about how boring jibes directed towards Waz are. The only thing he is guilt of is sharing his enthusiasm with likeminded people on a guitar forum (which is what the forum is for isnt it?!) during the honeymoon phase of gear...and then shifting it on when keen to try something else. Nearly all of us do the same to differing degrees. If Waz is anything like me, I move gear on not necessarily because I no longer like it but because I’m keen to try something new and since I have a young family to provide for it usually means moving other gear on to fund new fun pedals. The chase (no pun intended) is the fun. 

Seems a lot of people Are cynical about Waz posting glowing reviews and then posting stuff in the classifieds. Again, nobody is obliged to buy it. Waz ALWAYS sells at great prices, always packs excellently and always ships promptly using the best possible postage service. He’d always be my first choice to buy from on this forum. 

Great review Waz and the graphics are really impressive. I’d love to try on if these out at some point but it’s probably a bit too pricey for PayPal account!!

Freebird

handsomerik said:

i’m not sure if that is supposed to be a little dig?! Seems slightly passive aggressive

Just a little joke, Waz gave me tons of good advice on the Kemper & FX8 and I haven't bought any new gear since! I'm an ITB guy, and I've got it all wired up with spdif digital reamping and a line level to Hi-Z amp interface, so I can integrate various VST FX & Virtual Instruments, etc. I'm about 10 years ahead of Chase Bliss in the mad scientist stakes 

handsomerik

Ah ok. Sorry I misjudged the intention of the comment. 

AntonHunter

I love reading these reviews @Wazmeister. Don't stop!