Dude,
I've had dozens and dozens of pedals and owned and played a lot of amps...
What it all comes down to....when I listen to my stuff I recorded over the years with VERY diverse amps and setups...I always sound more or less the same.
The differences are VERY subtle really, mostly only discernible to the player in the playing situation, not on tape. People who don't play guitar hear no significant differences, even if I've used a Fender 2x12 open back and a Les Paul on one recording and a Marshall and a 4x12" closed and a Strat on another.
So no wonder very similar type pedals sound much alike. They should.
With things like pedals, it's not really as much about differences in how they sound, it's more about what some pedal DOESN't have - like an annoying overtone or interference or a clipping knee - not the basic sound, just these little details that only matter to the player.
I mean, I have no doubt a good boutique pedal IS better than stock etc...but I really doubt they sound any different on tape. Just to the player, and perhaps only good to any number of individual players. Some other player might have a preference of slightly higher frequency clip start or whatever.
It's MUCH more about how you play than the gear. It's basically all down to how you set your volumes all thru the chain plus how do you use your fingers to get the sound.
You can get the best huge chords ever from a 80 buck Behringer 10W SS amp if everything is just right. Or a $5000 boutique amp as well. It don't matter.
Some of the best sounds I ever heard a guitarist get out of their gear was from really shitty amps and gear. BUT some of the worst too.
Still, when YOU are playing various amps LOUD and LIVE...you usually hear HUGE differences. (Maybe not similar pedals; that doesn't surprise me at all.)
But on tape...pfft...really doesn't matter if you use a POD or a JCM800 - either can yield great sounds or utter sh*t.
I think most players feel and imagine 90% of the sound they hear, rather than there being real differences. It's that subtle.
But that's how companies can sell you 40 different humbuckers and claim they sound any different...make you spend $$ for that other humbucker that sounds SO much better...when in reality they sound exactly the same...well, it's kinda like those Hi-Fi fanatics who claim they can hear great differences between a $10 and a $1000 speaker cable or something. It's just BULL-SH*T. Show that in a blind test? I thought as much.
But hey, people believe also in very diverse religions which simply can't all be right, etc. so no wonder, I guess...people are just wired that way, they must find differences and preferences where there is none to be found. There is no room for real 'making sense' there.
Just try it; get a bottle of cola and divide it into 3 glasses and have people taste them...say they are all different, ask which is best, and I bet they will detect differences. Wine, better yet. Been done many a times; psychology 101 stuff.
Copy the same sound clip under a different name and say it's a different amp, ask which is better and people will have opinions, even strong ones about which is better.
Record a clip on a $5000 amp and a $100 amp and claim the cheap one's recording is of the pricey one and 95% of people will say yeah, it sounds MUCH better.
It's just the way it is.
Used to be I posted and did all kinds of tests like this to people; always pissed them off when I told them what actually was the case...but few things are as fun as getting a Hi-Fi fiend trapped into claiming a 3-pass mp3 conversion back into WAV sounds way better than direct CD rip...just because you claim it was digitized from vinyl via a terrific system, not CD...I guess it's mean, but I like what the sceptics society does...provide blind test proof of whatever it is you claim to be able to to or prove to exist and get millions...and nobody can.
Enough ranting...sorry...
Dee
"When life's a biatch, be a horny dog"
Amps: Marshall JVM 410H w/ Plexi Cap mod, Choke Mod & Negative Feedback Removal mod, 4x12", Behringer GMX110, Amplitube 3/StealthPedal
Half a dozen custom built/bastardized guitars all with EMG's, mostly 85's, Ibanez Artwood acoustic & Yamaha SGR bass, Epiphone Prophecy SG, Vox Wah, Pitchblack tuner plus assorted pedals, rack gear etc. for home studio use.