by mam8dg » Thu May 23, 2013 10:29 pm
Here are my first impressions based on about an hour of playing through a 1966 Pro Reverb and a CS 62 Strat. I have a BJFE Model G, so I kicked another pedal off my board and replaced it with the BF Model G. I was concentrating on trying to replicate BJFE MG sounds with the BF. I would like to start by saying that Donner did an amazing job with the BF Model G. It sounds excellent, and it definitely delivers on getting those Model G tones that the BJFE counterpart is known for.
My first (obvious) comparison was try each pedal at the exact same settings. Same settings did not = same tone. The BF was a good deal brighter. I soon figured out that (I think) the sweep of the C knob was changed. I soon dialed in a close, but not quite identical, tone where the C knob on the BJFE was ~1:30ish, but the BF was at 11ish. (D was CW, N was ~10:30 on both pedals). It seems to me that, at the exact same position C position, the BF yielded brighter tones.
My difficulty in dialing in the exact same tones is part of the beauty of the Model G. The Drive, C, and Nature knobs are so interactive that you can't always tell which knob you need to tweak close the gap between the BJFE and BF. Brightness/sharpness/warmness can be manipulated using both the C or Nature knobs, and they interact with each other on top of that. In general, I could usually get the pedals to sound 95% similar, with the last 5% difference being that the BJFE tended to sound a bit warmer/darker and the BF tended to sound brighter and more transparent. Bottom line is that you have an incredibly versatile OD. It can deliver a deep growling tone (N CCW, C - 11) or an articulate OD that is great for rhythm (N 12, C ~2), and a ton of variations in between. I don't think I've scratched the surface either.
The Model G is also a stacking monster. I loved pairing it with other pedals. I think my favorite combo so far was with either the PH or RRB (also tried HB-DLX & LGW). Will try some other combos tomorrow.
I'd be interested to hear if other BJFE MG users have came to a similar conclusion regarding the C knob. I'll try to replicate my findings tomorrow.
I'll be playing a lot more with them tomorrow. Same Strat, but this time with a modded Vox AC30CC2.