Are these pedals worth it?!?

[giovanni]

Hey guys, a bit of a random question for your consideration. A coworker is selling a Slotva, ARP87 and a Julianna. I just tried them really quickly this morning and I was just listening to a couple demos before I get to work. TBH I wasn't super impressed with the sounds I got this morning, but I also didn't spend enough time learning the controls, hidden features and whatnot, which seem to be the killer features in these. I am not a fan of hidden controls (hold bypass, then turn a knob ... yeah like I am gonna remember what the hell that does!) so that's a negative in my book, but I wanted to know if you guys had any experience with these and could change my mind (which the pedal collector in me wants you to...). I also wasn't blown away by the base sound of the pedals, but again maybe I am missing out because of the controls thing.

So what do you guys think? Do you like these? What do you use them for?

 

[Ale_jellybelly]

I have a Slotva and I quite like it. It has 3 nice reverb algorithms, quite easy to dial in, and it can save 3 presets. If you like FV1 reverbs it's very nice

The Julianna is an expanded Julia (Ppcb Caesar) with tap tempo, stereo and other bells and whistles

 

[Erik S]

I picked up a Slotva from Walrus on super-sale a while back. It lives in my synth rig and I dig it in that context. I honestly mostly forget how to operate it at this point, but I think the way it saves your pre-sets for the different modes is pretty cool.

 

[Feral Feline]

You don't like the basic core sounds, nor the sub-functional functioning.
Stands to reason you won't find what you're looking for if the fundamentals aren't fun and controls are mental.

You do you.


I've tried numerous times to get into MFX, to dip my toes in their many effectual waters, but the deep-diving through menu-hoops always leaves me cold.
I've finally accepted that anything that has me digging through sub-levels means I won't dig the pedal and it therefore is relegated to be an expensive paper-weight dust-catcher.

 

[giovanni]

You don't like the basic core sounds, nor the sub-functional functioning.
Stands to reason you won't find what you're looking for if the fundamentals aren't fun and controls are mental.

You do you.


I've tried numerous times to get into MFX, to dip my toes in their many effectual waters, but the deep-diving through menu-hoops always leaves me cold.
I've finally accepted that anything that has me digging through sub-levels means I won't dig the pedal and it therefore is relegated to be an expensive paper-weight dust-catcher.

Yeah that's how I feel about these. I might just pass.

 

[falco_femoralis]

I had a Slotva a while back. It was ok, kind of a one trick pony despite the various modes. I built an Afterneath from here and my spacey reverb needs are covered with that.

The hidden menu thing was pretty annoying to memorize. The Slotva had 3 programmable presets, which seems like a concession to the difficulty of accessing the hidden controls quickly. I sold it and don't miss it.

 

[jwyles90]

Yeah that's how I feel about these. I might just pass.

I've really tried to remind myself of this whenever I have a particularly bad case of GAS. If I feel like I'm having to convince myself that I'll like them, they're probably not worth it. If you don't like the core sound of a pedal, I have a hard time seeing how it'll be something that grows on you over time. Obviously this could change but in my experience my initial reaction to the way a pedal sounds doesn't often evolve in the same way that my initial reaction to a pedal's functionality or use case does.

For what it's worth, I had and sold my Slo. It's a fine reverb for ambient specific purposes, but I think there are a decent amount of other reverb options out there that scratch that same itch in more interesting ways (most OBNE reverbs, Pladask Draume, even the Chase bliss Dark World). Overall it felt pretty sterile to me.

I really like the Julia, but we also have a PPCB version of that so I'd go that route if you're digging that kind of chorus functionality.

 

[Feral Feline]

I'm not a pedal-flipper, but it they're a screamin' deal you could always try flipping them.

 

[WesleyJackman]

You don't like the basic core sounds, nor the sub-functional functioning.
Stands to reason you won't find what you're looking for if the fundamentals aren't fun and controls are mental.

You do you.


I've tried numerous times to get into MFX, to dip my toes in their many effectual waters, but the deep-diving through menu-hoops always leaves me cold.
I've finally accepted that anything that has me digging through sub-levels means I won't dig the pedal and it therefore is relegated to be an expensive paper-weight dust-catcher.

Thank you

 

[hamerfan]

Anyone on the Julianna? Could have it cheap from a local musician.

 

[giovanni]

Anyone in the Julianna? Could have it cheap from a local musician.

I just tried one out last week! I have to say it sounds pretty good, I compared it to my Minifooger and it was a lot quieter. It has a lot of extra controls (the kind that you have to remember or look up in the manual all the time) which to me were like meh, and my Minifooger, although a bit noisier, covers similar sonic territory so I didn’t get it.