EHX soul food. Why all the hate?

because they could have just made a straight klone but decided to muck with it in a not-good way

 

I think it's a fine pedal. It's inexpensive and doesn't have the boutique mojo. Maybe that's it. Or it isn't really special and there are a zillion alternatives.

I used to like low gainers, works as a boost and doesn't color your tone much. When you crank it it goes a little mushy in a good way.

Now I prefer versatility and gain range. Rats do that well.

 

I like the Soul Food a lot. I find it natural sounding, subtle, and classy.

I'm not a pedal expert. For comparison I have two other OD pedals including an SD1, and a bunch of amps with a bunch of OD sounds, and the SF is my favourite.

There's my honest opinion.

 

Shes a trebly one. Works good as a boost

 

If you like it dlew919, that really is all that matters.

Never tried one personally, although I do know someone who treats it more like a 'Timmy clone' - so it can do mild OD. (That's with an LP and a Tele into an HT20)

But, and I see this as a recurring 'thing' here .... The Soulfood isn't expensive - but people's ears do seem to be affected by the $$$ they pay - and, yes I'm guilty there too.

Anecdotally - got a TC Spark Boost (4 knob one with fat/clean/mid switch) ... great pedal c. £40 here.

But no, I convinced myself one pedal (at more than twice the price) would be better, then another (4 times the price) would be better still and give me more variations.
Now, these two other pedals are great and are on my pedal board but - if either of them failed the TC could fill the gap permanently without a problem!

 

I had a Soul Food and an Archer. They sounded so near the same that there wasn’t any point in keeping them both, so I sold the Archer.

 

I like mine okay, but Gramma Rosalie always said “you don’t know what’s good,” so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I just use it to goose my little 5w toob amp a bit.

 

I give it respect for introducing me to the Klon circuit, I could tell there was something unique about the circuit that made me want to keep that style of sound as a staple of my rig.

But once I tried the next one I got (Archer), I realized how “blah” the Soul Food sounded. It was lacking the hi-fi kind of quality that I hear about in real Klons and have experienced in the five or six Klones I’ve owned since the SF.

 

My Rat and Soul food have been joined at the hip for three years.

 

Ever try it after the Rat? I always prefer a Klone after a rocking drive.

 

The Soul Food has stayed on my board since I bought it 4 years ago. Other more expensive OD's have come and gone. What I like is that it works with all of my guitars (Single Coils, P90's, Humbuckers). I primarily use it with the drive at about 10 o'clock and kick it on during a solo. Gives me a bit of boost with just a little gain. I am not a high gain player. Mostly clean tones so I think if that is your playing style it is a good pedal. It also is a nice pedal to stack with other OD's and fuzzes. And you can buy one used for $60

 

I tried one when they first came out, when they were around $55 (?) or so... I think my perception then was that it was too bright or too harsh or something, for my tastes...but I probably did not give it a fair run. I haven't really bonded with many of the newer [ small box ] ehx pedals anyway - liked a number of the big box ones back in the day.

Since, I have acquired a really good klone so I don't have a need to try it again. Perhaps if/when I build out a small board, I will look at it as the klone has become a key pedal for the sound I like - its always on.

Admittedly, I run the klone on low gain and level/tone to taste. I know I did not test the soul food like this, hence my "fair run" comment above. As a boost, the SF may do just fine, but I did not care for it as a drive.

 

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The problem for many with the Soul Food hate is purely price and branding.
"You're only a legit serious guitar player if you have a Klon" -- just like back in high school having the right jeans/shoes put you in/out.
Play what sounds good to you.

A Golden Horse, twisting the knobs a little, does a lot of 'the thing' for $25,
Especially after you stack in the variations between guitars, amps, and a gig no one is going to cry out you didn't spend $5k..


Nux demoed in the above video, makes most of the mini pedals for private label brands similar to the Golden Horse (I haven't popped the case yet on that pedal but I suspect it is Nux-built).

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I have a Soul Food, it is a fine pedal, although it has been replaced... I am still keeping it. It gets the job done for certain tones.

 

I had a Soul Food and the JHS modded one. I thought the JHS mod version was an improvement over the original. The original did seem to drop the bass a bit. The JHS modded one solved that problem but in the end it was about the same as another klone I had. In the end I landed on the Archer Ikon because I like the sound the best. But I use the Earth Drive mostly now - which is not a Klone? I don’t know.

 

I have a Turnip Greens that of course includes the Soul Food. I use the pedal with Mooer TS and Rat clones in the loop of the Turnip greens.
The SF acts as a clean boost and works very nicely direct into the amp or the pedals in the loop...

 

That's the magic spot for all TS-types IMO
(of which Klones are, IMO)

 

I think the Soul Food is a fine pedal. Looking at my favorite drive pedals over the years, I seem to tend to like both EHX's take on classic pedals as well as their original designs (Crayon, Hot Tubes, Tortion, Green Muff). They just seem more "organic" to me than a lot of other drive pedals - probably in my head . I tried the Soul Food but my main drive right now is the Hot Wax, which is basically a Crayon and Hot Tubes in a single casing. I think the Hot Tubes is an original design - I mostly use it for low gain boost on my neck and middle pickup positions to get bluesy, SRV-ish type tones. I use the Crayon side more on the bridge pickup for pushing a little more gain for classic rock and metal tones. I think Crayon is supposed to be in the "Timmy" camp, but I don't know how close it really is - I just like it. A little mid-hump, but not nearly as pronounced as a tube screamer. The Hot Tubes is very transparent and just feels like adding more dirt to the amp sound without compressing the lows or emphasizing the mids.

 

I've found, through experimentation, that I like higher gain pedals first and lower gain ones after them in the chain - not intuitive, but I find they seem to stack better that way and maintain articulation without getting "mushy" as quickly.