EHX soul food. Why all the hate?

[dlew919]

I think it a great pedal. But reading a couple of recent threads some people really don’t like it? Why?

is it because it’s relatively low gain? Is it because the Rat guys won’t use anything else? Is it ...?

why am I wrong to use one?

 

[Mike_LA]

If you have to ask, then you just don't get it . . . . .

 

[capgun]

I don’t hate it. It never did anything to me, but I did try one for a bit. Along with other pedals like it. Tumnus. Sugar Drive, another one I forget. I liked the Tumnus the best but I got rid of that one too. It’s just not a sound I desire and it makes me wonder why people pay thousands for the “real thing.”

 

[no doz]

forums can be goofy. if it sounds good it is good, enjoy guilt free

 

[GibbyTwin]

I have one. I think it's fine. I use it as a boost or to get a little breakup. It's all about turning the dials (pedal, amp, guitar).
As for why some people don't like it....go check out the Boss pedal thread. The answers have already been offered, just the brand name has changed.

 

[stonetone7]

I couldn’t get along with mine until I turned the drive as far down as it would go.

And there it was!

 

[Shango66]

Set knobbys to 12 noon on the SF and it’s a good pedal.
Any extremes from there...it’s meh

 

[johnniegoat]

it uses a set of silicon diodes - the klon used germanium diodes - for clipping

however - all the klon aficionados set the gain to 0 - at which point the diodes aren't really clipping

i think the main bit is it claims to be a klon thing, but is very cheap and not really but close-ish

i own one and i modded it - with a kit - so its a bit like the JHS Meat & 3 model

its good as a 1st in line low gain boosty thing goosing another higher gain drive

 

[SbS]

I like it, as a booster and clean settings. Gainier things don't sound that good not for me / with my rig (bedroom player).

But it works better than Tube Screamer there, maybe because I really haven't got tubes to scream

Only, sometimes SF pushes signal so that delay pedal makes cranky noises (not very loud though). Other overdrives don't do that.

 

[Crawldaddy]

If you have to ask, then you just don't get it . . . . .

Well, loads of us are here to learn. Maybe you can enlighten us on why we "don't get it"?

I own the Sugar Drive, and have heard another Klon clone, the Archer Ikon. I don't have time to try loads of different klones, so let's be helpful?

 

[J. Bonkosky]

Life is too short to hate pedals. If you like the soul food then that is the pedal for you. What others think about your choice in pedals matters little. You know what you like, never compromise that.

 

[loopfinding]

it's a totally fine pedal, but i'm not a huge fan of klon style.

a TS with the gain dialed all the way down and the level boosted makes my neck pickup p90-ish with that 700hz bump. a timmy can generally be pretty clean. rangemasters are lovely. but i find that the klon (played both direct clones and stock soul food) with it's 1000hz ish? bump doesn't "give me more" of the amp at all. kind of just sits in no man's land for me. but i'm open to trying one again.

i think people should try an actual "transparent" boost. i.e. just use an EQ. in my rig, i modded my TS to have a setting where there are no clipping diodes and only a slight bass roll off. just hits the amp harder with less flub.

 

[DougM]

I think it a great pedal. But reading a couple of recent threads some people really don’t like it? Why?

is it because it’s relatively low gain? Is it because the Rat guys won’t use anything else? Is it ...?

why am I wrong to use one?

Because it sounds like crap. No tone, no dynamics, no redeeming value. Every Chinese Klon wipes the floor with it, even the $20 Mosky Gold Horse.

 

[Fiesta Red]

I liked mine well enough, but I liked the money I made selling it more than I liked the sound the pedal made.

There are plenty of good, great or even iconic pedals that just don’t work fit me...

Like the good ol’ Boss DS-1 Distortion. They’ve been around forever...dependable, tough, been on a million stages...sounds good, maybe even great—to some people.
I liked it—my drummer loved it (he plays guitar, too). So I gave it to him, and we were both happy...I was happy to free up some real estate on the pedal board, he was happy with the effect.

 

[Jay Jernigan]

I have one. I like it. I can turn my pro Jr down and make it sound wide open. Haven't gigged it yet. Things change.

 

[Guitarteach]

Very poor quality. The battery option failed very quickly with mine.. within weeks - and I had not even changed a battery or opened it!! No obvious loose connection i could find or trace. The switch is super noisy - both electronically and physically. The flimsy pot metal case not helping either

It has a very narrow range of usable low gain tones. So for that it may have value on a big board. It gets thin, metallic and nasal with the gain cranked - EQ peak too high? As a dirty boost it has too little weight to the tone at the bottom end. Just no warmth whatsoever. It can certainly be used to boost an already crunchy Marshall for a thinner sounding lead break (lack of bass does not add much balls) and I’d not be looking for ‘the tone’ from the SF itself into a super clean amp.

i eventually added some caps to give me a couple of extensions to the bass response which helped a lot and should be stock but overall ‘cheap and nasty’ sums it up. Just not in the same league quality and musicality-wise as a boss OD3 that now sits where the SF briefly was.

My first EHX and sadly, probably my last.

i usually never buy gear without actually trying it or based on reviews online.. I let my guard down and fell for the godlike klone klaims.

 

[2HBStrat]

I bought one but didn't like it. I didn't like the Klon either. Not every pedal is tight for everyone...

 

[tfarny]

It's another dirt pedal, there must be thousands of them. People are gonna love it, people are gonna hate it. We're not all going for the same sound!
I have one and it's not currently on a board but I am keeping it, I did enjoy and use it for a while.

 

[hamerfan]

I use a Klon as clean booster. My rig is set up for my Les Paul guitars. When I use the Tele or Strat I hit it and I am in my tone zone again.

 

[Tele-friend]

Well, loads of us are here to learn. Maybe you can enlighten us on why we "don't get it"?

I own the Sugar Drive, and have heard another Klon clone, the Archer Ikon. I don't have time to try loads of different klones, so let's be helpful?

Agree, some of us havent tried Soul food yet and would like to hear honest opinions about it.