Bad Device Chain Challenge
The "Bad Device Chain" Challenge comes from a long-past discussion we had with friends while we were teenagers. There were a number of bad pedals, but the one that was given the high honor of "the worst" (actually used the word "sh****y") but we aim to keep this a relatively clean site.
The pedal that was "the worst" was the DOD Performer 555-A Distortion. It sounded like a fart machine. The pedal's aesthetics were horrible, aka: It was possibly the ugliest pedal you could buy. It felt as heavy as a brick. It took two 9-volt batteries and STILL sounded worse than pedals that only used *1* 9-volt battery. It was physically poorly designed, with a battery door that would intermittently fall off. By the time we had gotten around to this discussion the battery door had already fallen off so many times that it was lost. The failure to design a decent enclosure was compounded by an 18-volt AC power adapter that required a 1/4" jack - same size plug as an instrument cord. The pedal needed an LED power indicator because it was (except for the sound changing, of course) otherwise impossible to tell if the pedal was "on" by engaging the pedal!
After musing it over with friends, the idea was to take this pedal and record a badly written, unmelodic, uninspired, and mediocre-sounding song called "Sh***y!". The only vocals would be someone yelling "Sh***y!" at various random times when the chords would stop so someone could yell "Sh***y!"
The attempt at getting "Sh***y!" recorded was as half-hearted as the idea for the song.
By the time there was actually any real impetus to get the song started, the wires that connected the 9-volt batteries (2 of them, remember!) to the rest of the pedal had broken. The 555-A Distortion was dead. "Sh***y!" was dead.
But an idea was born: "The Bad Device Chain Challenge"!
Our challenge to everyone is to work VERY HARD, creating a GREAT SOUNDING SONG, but limiting yourself to the WORST equipment:
Bad instruments Bad pickups Bad effects Bad amplifiers
The connectors need to work. Bad cords is unacceptable. The performance of a song "dropping out" because of broken cords won't work.
Great sounding song. Crappy equipment.
And yes, we have found, via eBay, another DOD Performer 555-A Distortion. Battery cover and wires. And the goofy power cord. (And) If it the pedal breaks, we have a soldering station to fix those wires.
