Hi Everybody,
Here is my review of the new Mad Professor / BJF Little Green Wonder. I tested with my McNaught VSC w/ Rio Grande Texas BBQ Humbuckers, my Guytron GT100 amp, and a THD 2x12 cabinet. I did not get to take this to band rehearsal, so my perceptions are based only on what I was getting at home. I did, however, play both at bedroom levels as well as at stage levels (which is really loud if you're at home with no band behind you, LOL). I ran it using the "clean" channel of the amp, set to a shimmer that would give some distortion if I switched to the bridge pickup and dug into the strings.
I really liked this pedal. It was a pleasant surprise, only in that I've heard many compare it to a Tubescreamer-type pedal, and I don't really like Tubescreamers. But I didn't think it sounded like a Tubescreamer at all (which is a good thing IMO).
I was initially taken back by how much gain & distortion is on tap. Again, having had so many preconceived notions about a "BJF Tubescreamer," I wasn't expecting it to have that level of gain, which, despite being sold as an OD pedal, really does approach true distortion at highest settings. Again, a good thing for me (and probably for many).
This pedal could very well serve as an all-around, workhorse, "go-to" pedal for many applications. Depending on how much gain you already have coming from the amp, certain settings on the pedal could yield a certain amount of graininess to the tone that I don't particularly care for.
But, in a very clean amp, or with single coil pickups, that graininess would likely translate to very convincing rock tone. I think this graininess resulted from perhaps too much coming from the pedal into an already overdriven amp.
It is important to set things to complement each other.
BUT...simply changing the settings on the pedal to better complement what the amp was already doing eliminated all the graininess and brought the tone back to where it needed to be...which was just a very classic sound. I like the fact that the pedal has so much "stuff" on tap...what may seem like too much into a distorted amp could be just the thing to rescue an overly clean amp from having an anemic lead tone.
I think what I liked most about the LGW was its seeming ability to play nicely with many other pieces of gear, under many circumstances. BJ and others have said that it stacks great with other pedals like the Dyna Red, and I'm sure that is true. Unfortunately, I no longer have my Dyna Red so I was unable to try that for myself. I think that the extra gain on tap will be most useful for those playing cleaner amps, such as vintage Fenders and the like. I really liked the pedal's flexibility, though...as those of us using amps that already have fairly complex distortion on their own can also find settings on the LGW that will be most useful and effective.
There are three knobs: Volume, Body, and Drive. The Volume determines how strong the signal will be leaving the pedal and hitting the front end of the amp. The Drive will determine how much gain / OD / Dist is in the signal. The Body knob has control over certain aspects of lower midrange and treble content. Fully CCW settings of this control had greatest depth of lower midrange, while fully CW settings were a bit thinner and had a more cutting quality. Of course, a myriad of subtle tonal shades are available from various points throughout the travel path of this knob.
Lower settings of Drive with higher settings of Volume produced more of a "boost" type tone, while not really altogether sounding like a clean boost. The more traditional overdrive sounds were available with backing down on the Volume and simultaneously raising the Drive. The Body control can really be used to "season" the tone to taste.
All in all, I think the LGW is a fantastic pedal that could serve many purposes and solve many problems for people. It seems like a versatile pedal that would do well both with clean, high-headroom amps as well as dirtier, lower-headroom amps.
See also my review of the Deep Blue Delay. I was overall very impressed with the new MP Pedals. It was very nice (and comforting!) to see that BJ-quality sounds are available from products that he didn't actually build himself. This is not only a testament to the quality of workmanship at the new MP Factory in Finland, but also to the talent and skill of the designer for being able to create such great-sounding products that, providing the factory follows his exacting specifications, are consistent and reproduceable. That means that more of us will be able to experience some of the sonic ecstasy that is BJF Electronics...without having to get on waiting lists. I give a lot of credit to the MP Factory. They did a fantastic job. Sounds just like BJ himself could have built the pedals. From a sound quality standpoint, I could tell no difference. It's obviously a great factory, following specific and exacting directions from a great designer. So, to those of you worried about whether or not the new MP Pedals will live up to the reputation that BJF now carries...
DON'T WORRY.
Thanks for reading this, and thanks again to BJ and Donner for giving me the opportunity to check these out, and to share my thoughts, which come from the most honest and humble of places.
DocRock
Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 12:59 am
