So I've been neck-deep in election stuff for the past few days and haven't really been able to chime in... hell besides the pedal party w/ Bobby D I've barely been able to get any playing in. Now that things are settling down though lemme give some thoughts
First off, Bobby D rules!! I'm glad to be able to play with this stuff myself but it was really great being able to hear them put through their paces by such an incredible player. I don't think anybody can argue Bobby can freakin' shred!
I think we'd both agree there were 2 big surprises of the evening-- the SYOD pretty much blew us away when I don't think either of us thought that'd be the one we'd really be talking about at the end of the night. The other surprise which is a little harder to say but I'll just come out and be honest with it, we tried the CliffHanger first because we expected it to be the big winner of the night, and while it was an awesome pedal we were a little underwhelmed. I think I personally had anticipated that one the most and while it rocked the house, no doubt about it, it wasn't the big star of the show I expected it to be.
Love the MH and the SWF, the more I play with the SWF it really strikes me just how thick, powerful and yes... elegant, it really is. Such a strong tight low-end, its great.
Another thing to note that was a little bit refreshing... Between Bobby and my BJFE collections we got to compare the custom shops to the production models pretty carefully and came out feeling like the production models really didn't feel like "2nd tier" or inferior in any way, really. The CS models are awesome and different but it was nice coming out of it being happy with what I have and not feeling the absolute need to pick up a CS pedal just to have one, like it would be superior just on the basis of being more expensive and less readily available. Its fantastic that Bjorn is making these different pedals and trying different experiments, but it reinforced that the ones that are in production are in production for a reason.
I love these pedals--but having my EGDM come back to me after being gone for a while may actually be the nicest bit of it all in the end. It re-affirmed my love for that pedal, not that it was ever in doubt, but I dare to say the EGDM is actually relatively underrated compared to some others in the BJFE lineup.
Anyhow, I'll spend a little more time with it and then pass the box along to its next stop!! Thanks to everyone, especially Donner for allowing me to be a part of this!
-Mike
My BJFE- Some special ones. Some standard ones. I love them all just the same.