Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 3:07 amWhat an excellent review. Not too long and not too short.
Well, here is my review of the tourbox in which Donner was so kind as to include me. All demos were performed utilizing my David Thomas McNaught Vintage Singlecut with Rio Grande Texas BBQ Humbuckers. This guitar has many of the qualities of a Les Paul, but more articulate. Not quite as ?ballsy? in some ways as a Paul, but clearer-sounding?which is more important to me. The guitar was run right into the pedal being demoed, with exception of the delay, which also had the different drive pedals placed before it in the signal chain. The amplifier used was a Fuchs Train 45, set to have a touch of break-up?meaning that it was pretty clean with some shimmer to it, but then would overdrive on its own if using the bridge pickup, for example, digging into the strings. It was pretty loud. This was run into a Port City 2x12 cabinet, using a pair of the WGS British Lead 80 speakers (Celestion Classic Lead 80 clones). I used this set-up in particular, not only because it?s the way I actually run it for myself, but also because I believe that many who use one-channel or older, more ?traditional? amps probably tend to run their amps with similar amounts of break-up. I don?t know too many who run squeaky-clean set-ups.
MP Deep Blue Delay ? I really love this pedal, to the point where I already owned one. This is my second time with the pedal in this tourbox, and it was fun to compare this one with my production #54 that I own. (Very consistent, by the way.) While I have every confidence in BJ?s design abilities, it is nice to be able to try it first and make certain it?s right for me. The MP Delay really excelled at doing all the things I think most guitarists would want or need. Yes, it will do some oscillation and space-ship sounds, but I don?t get the impression that those applications are what it was designed for. What was so striking about this pedal was its ability to have the best of all worlds?meaning that it had the clarity of a nice, studio-type rack / digital delay but without the sterility I would typically associate with a digital delay. It had the warmth of some of the nicest analog delays and tape echoes I?ve ever heard, but without the muddiness and cloudiness in the repeats and decays that I would typically associate with those types of effects. In the past, I?ve never been totally satisfied. I have always hated digital for its lack of warmth and for its tendency to make my tone sound ?metallic.? So I switched to analog (which was an improvement), but still not 100% satisfying. I never could get past the murkiness that would be generated in the repeats, especially in a live band setting. I think I finally resigned myself to the notion that the best delay sounds were only going to happen in the studio on my recordings.
Not anymore. Not only was I captivated by the stunning warmth and clarity of the delay at home, but it amazed me even in a band setting, as I?ve been gigging with mine for quite some time now. Even our bass player has commented more than once on how much more clear and defined my delay tones were, as compared to what I?d been using before. And he?s right. Even under the biggest, high-gain, over-the-top, guitar hero solo conditions, the MP Delay added a thickness and a presence to the tone that was just fantastic. In a fashion true to the very design ideals of The Mad Professor, clarity and definition were preserved, no matter how much distortion I was using. The clean stuff also sounded wonderful, like the soft echoes you?d hear playing by yourself in a big auditorium. Never before had I experienced a live delay sound that had the same type of ambient quality that I?d only come to expect in a recording studio. AMAZING.
I could go on and on about this pedal. I feel like it has everything I?m looking for in a delay sound. Not only is the quality of the tone there, but it is also great feature-wise. It has the right range of delay times for my purposes. It?s only three knobs (volume / mix, repeats, delay time). It's easy-to-use. I'm not a knob-turner, I'd much rather spend my time playing than fooling around with knobs (especially onstage). I love that I don't have to mess with this pedal. And yes, there is a sweet spot. I found a particular setting that really served more as an overall tone thickener than an actual delay or echo effect. It was one of those phenomena where you almost don?t even notice it?s on, regardless of whether you?re playing clean or dirty?but you notice that something is missing as soon as you turn it off. I?ve never used a delay before where I felt like I could almost just leave it on all night. WOW. BJ hits another one out of the park, as far as I?m concerned.
MP Little Green Wonder -- 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. It has 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. 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 (although it works really well in this application!). 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.
MP Mighty Red Distortion ? Killer pedal. As the product description says, ?put on your spandex trousers!? I played a gig with this one while I had it, and got to use both my DTM & my Strat. I think that, while both guitars work well with this pedal, it tended to like the single coils in my Strat a bit better.
The MRD is a high-gain pedal with volume, presence, and distortion controls. It retains clarity and definition at all settings, as this characteristic is one of the hallmarks of the BJF designs. I really liked the flexibility of the presence knob. I was able to set it quite high to compensate for some of the darkness inherent to my humbuckers in the DTM guitar. It behaves in many ways like the presence knob on an amp in that I could increase the amount of cut in the mix without altering the all-important upper mids.
It?s not a heavy metal pedal, but could be potentially if used with a mid-scooped graphic EQ after it. I did not try this, but I think it would work.
This pedal does exactly what it?s designed to do ? high gain, compressed, 1980?s hair band tone. BEAUTIFUL!!!
Overall, I am 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 reproducible. 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 pedal. 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.
The ?Mystoury? Pedal ? This is an overdrive pedal. There are no markings of any kind on it. There are three knobs, and they seem to be volume, a tone control of sorts, and drive. This is an *excellent* pedal. It is quite possibly one of the finest-sounding overdrives I have ever played.
There is a very healthy amount of volume on tap, as it starts to boost at about 10:00. The drive characteristics are very open, chimey, and dynamic. Very touch-sensitive, perhaps more so than any other pedal I?ve tried (besides my BJF stuff). The tone knob seems to control treble and upper midrange. I was able to dial in some pretty cutting tones with this one. It reminded me a lot of the Vox / Matchless-type tones. Very Brian May, Mike Campbell-sounding. Really kills for the Tom Petty tunes our band covers. Great lead tones, but absolutely stellar rhythm tones and textures. It has the ?crushed glass? sound that so many of us really dig. I like that it can be dialed in to get a fairly healthy amount of overdrive or distortion, but at much lower compression levels than most pedals in this gain range. This is why it?s so good for powerful rhythm. I like a bit more compression for leads. But for rhythm work, less compression is better because otherwise things start to squash together too much. Less compression helps give a good rhythm player more, well?rhythm?like a train (chug, chug, chug) as opposed to water being run from a faucet (where there is no silence or abruptness between sounds).
The Mystoury Drive is a real winner, seriously. It is very open & toothy-sounding, more like pushed power tubes than pushed pre-amp tubes if that makes any sense. I?d buy one in a heartbeat, no question. I really hope they end up being made available for purchase. I?m very interested to hear what others on this tour will have to say about this one.
The only three questions I would have about the Mystoury Drive are:
1. What is it / who makes it?
2. When will Donner reveal its true identity to us?
3. Are pre-orders being taken? (LOL)
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Well, that?s it for me. Thanks for reading, and keep on keepin? on????
DocRock
P.S. Hey guys, please don't forget to put your reviews on other forums like TGP as well.
