Has anyone played with this yet? Is it out yet? I have been looking for one in a store so I can test drive it but no luck.

Any review or status would be great.

By the way I did a search I am looking for some newer reviews. :D

Yes it is out...

Alex

It's out indeed :)

But I think there isn't anyone around yet who owns this nice pedal. Over here in Europe it isn't even available yet! :(

Hey! That thing's a little more expensive than I had hoped! Oh well I'm definitely going to have to try before I buy on that one.

The price is the same reason I was looking for reviews and wanted to try one at a store. Bassplayer magazine listed it at $275.00 or something like that. If it was $125 or $150 I would buy one on the net to try it out but @ 275.00 it is not worth the hassle of paying shipping both ways if I do not like it.

Thanks for the info.

musictoyz.com has it for $175, and pedalgeek.com say they're getting it in stock any day now. I'm assuming their price will be close to that of musictoyz.

Dan @ Pedalgeek has always been very friendly and responsive to questions and any customer support issues. In addition, the 'in stock' indicators at pedalgeek seem to be more accurate than those of musictoyz.

I just ordered a Fulltone Bass Drive from musictoyz.com yesterday but I would have probably ordered this one instead if I knew it was out. Anyone know how musictoyz.com's return policy is? I have never heard either of these pedals but I bought the Fulltone based on the general consensus around here and elsewhere on the web. Also, I liked the idea of having two channels.

Originally posted by Geoff Rusch
I just ordered a Fulltone Bass Drive from musictoyz.com yesterday but I would have probably ordered this one instead if I knew it was out. Anyone know how musictoyz.com's return policy is? I have never heard either of these pedals but I bought the Fulltone based on the general consensus around here and elsewhere on the web. Also, I liked the idea of having two channels.

Musictoyz have a no quibbles 5 day return policy, you don't have to contact them for an RMA or anything - just send it back to them.

Believe me, they're not perfect, but they've always handled returns well when I've dealt with them.

I got a Juggernaut yesterday from them, I didn't intend on keeping it but was curious as to how it sounded. Unfortunately, the unit is busted and I get nothing when I engage the effect. I'd like to hear from anyone who's tried a working one.

One thing - It's built like a fricking tank, and it's pretty heavy. I'm not sure how well it would stick to a pedalboard if you velcro'd it.

BTW, I have the Fulltone and love it. I've tried most od/distortion pedals out there, and it was the one that best fit my needs. I need to go from mild od to distortion at the touch of a button sometimes, and the Fulltone lets me do that. There's also the Barber deep fryer which has two channels, and the Sansamp TRI-AC which has three programmable channels.

Originally posted by davidmwilson


...BTW, I have the Fulltone and love it. I've tried most od/distortion pedals out there, and it was the one that best fit my needs. I need to go from mild od to distortion at the touch of a button sometimes, and the Fulltone lets me do that. There's also the Barber deep fryer which has two channels, and the Sansamp TRI-AC which has three programmable channels.

Thanks David. Yeah, I have read quite a few of your posts (and others here) regarding the Fulltone. I'm not looking for anything "over the top" so I think the Fulltone will be good. I have a Modulus VJ4 and an SWR Silverado. Both are known for their "clean/hi-fi" sound and I was looking for a pedal that could dirty it up a bit and maybe give me a "Tubey" sorta overdrive. BTW, I also use a Sadowsky Outboard on occasion, what do you think would be the best arrangement of my signal chain? Should the Preamp be first followed by the Fulltone, or vice versa? OR, should I attempt to sidechain the Fulltone? This might give me more control as far as blending goes.
That sucks about your Juggernaut. Please post a review if/when you get a Juggernaut that works. :D


BTW, You don't happen to have any sound clips of your Fulltone that you could post do you?

Maybe just a loose wire? I guess opening it up might void your return options but if you were careful...they'd never know! I don't think there is much in there to go wrong. You could probably spot anything obvious right away? We want to know what you think?!

http://www.procosound.com/musicians/rats/juggernaut.jpg

Originally posted by Geoff Rusch


Thanks David. Yeah, I have read quite a few of your posts (and others here) regarding the Fulltone. I'm not looking for anything "over the top" so I think the Fulltone will be good. I have a Modulus VJ4 and an SWR Silverado. Both are known for their "clean/hi-fi" sound and I was looking for a pedal that could dirty it up a bit and maybe give me a "Tubey" sorta overdrive. BTW, I also use a Sadowsky Outboard on occasion, what do you think would be the best arrangement of my signal chain? Should the Preamp be first followed by the Fulltone, or vice versa? OR, should I attempt to sidechain the Fulltone? This might give me more control as far as blending goes.
That sucks about your Juggernaut. Please post a review if/when you get a Juggernaut that works. :D


BTW, You don't happen to have any sound clips of your Fulltone that you could post do you?

No clips of the Fulltone sorry, I don't have anything to record onto. The fulltone can definitely do a tubey overdrive. The second channel on the fulltone is for distortion boost only. If you're just interested in mild overdrive, the fulltone might be too much for you. Maybe something like a Dredgetone Angler, BJF Blueberry Bass OD or one of those new Hao Rust Drivers.

As for ordering of distortion and sadowsky DI, there's really no right or wrong answer. Whatever order produces the sound you want is the right order for you.

If you're planning on using the DI on the sadowsky then obviously you should have that last in the chain. Generally, I prefer to have the overdrive/distortion prior to any additional eq. As my basses are all active, the sound out of the bass is already pretty much eq'd how I want it.

Originally posted by Mad Subwoofer
Maybe just a loose wire? I guess opening it up might void your return options but if you were careful...they'd never know! I don't think there is much in there to go wrong. You could probably spot anything obvious right away? We want to know what you think?!

http://www.procosound.com/musicians/rats/juggernaut.jpg

I did take a quick peek, the battery slot is in the middle of the underside of the pedal. Nothing obvious. The led's go on and off, and it works fine in bypass mode.

I'll have another look tonight

Originally posted by davidmwilson

...If you're planning on using the DI on the sadowsky then obviously you should have that last in the chain.

Good point. Duh. I guess I didn't consider that. :p

Another killer pedal worth trying is the Carl Martin Heavy Drive. Keeps all the lows & has a decent tone control section, nice & gritty too!


later,
EL DIABLO

i thought the juggernaut was two channel?

Originally posted by zongeek
i thought the juggernaut was two channel?
The Duecetone RAT is. Not sure what those controls on the Juggernaut are as the site doesn't offer up enough info. Two switches though...? There is a blend AND a master volume. FX loop as well which is cool. I'm sure DavidMWilson will inform us all shortly.

Clips of my Fulltone are available at http://www.geocities.com/basseffects/ .
It's only noodling, don't expect good music.
I basically tried to cover the whole range of the instrument with different settings.

The Fulltone is the best bass overdrive I've tried so far. It has loads of low end and preserves your tone perfectly.
The 2 channel make it really versatile.

Originally posted by Mad Subwoofer

The Duecetone RAT is. Not sure what those controls on the Juggernaut are as the site doesn't offer up enough info. Two switches though...? There is a blend AND a master volume. FX loop as well which is cool. I'm sure DavidMWilson will inform us all shortly.

you rang?

OK, first of all, it's definitely busted. Going back on Monday.

As for being two channel, it really doesn't seem to be, which is a disappointment. It didn't come with a manual, so I can't say for sure. I'm guessing the 'Master On/Off' activates the effects loop and master volume for a clean boost. And 'Rat' obviously kicks in the distortion channel.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=932376

Originally posted by davidmwilson
I'm guessing the 'Master On/Off' activates the effects loop and master volume for a clean boost. And 'Rat' obviously kicks in the distortion channel.

You know what? I think that is a very cool and unique feature. Think about it; not only do you have access to a rippin' bass-specific fuzz/distortion box but you also get a loop/bypass switch for any weird or non-true bypass pedals you may have i.e. old Mutron, MXR, EH, etc. That's allot of flexibility and decent bang for yer buck. Nifty.
:bassist:

david, when you get a review up, i'll stick it to the top of the forum, since this is probably the most posted thread asking about a kind of distortion pedal

ok so teh master on off is a clean boost? and the rat obviously is a distortion. am i following so far?

as far as the fulltone, can anyone post a pick of it? a frontal view like that of the juggernaut.

Originally posted by zongeek
ok so teh master on off is a clean boost? and the rat obviously is a distortion. am i following so far?

as far as the fulltone, can anyone post a pick of it? a frontal view like that of the juggernaut. well, that's conjecture on my part based on :

1) The Juggernaut I received is broken
2) There's no manual with it

I'm guessing the master is an optional clean boost plus effects loop engage. But again, I don't know. Since it's not two channel I was just going to return it and forget about it. But since there's a lot of interest, I think I'll get a working one and review it to put an end to the speculation.

Here's a full frontal pic of the bassdrive from the fulltone site.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=932794

Left on/off is master switch, Right on/off engages second boost channel - level of which is controlled by, funnily enough, the distortion boost knob on the right. If you want to use channel 2 only, you can do so by leaving 2 'on' and the master off. Then when you engage the master, it'll kick in channel 2 rather than channel 1.

so the master on off is the boost and channel 2 is the distortion for the fulltone? or do i have it backwards?

Originally posted by zongeek
so the master on off is the boost and channel 2 is the distortion for the fulltone? or do i have it backwards?

channel 1 is overdrive (controlled by od knob)
channel 2 is distortion boost (controlled by boost knob)

If 'boost' is left on, master on/off effectively toggles channel 2 on/off only.

If 'boost' is off, master on/off toggles channel 1. When channel 1 is on, then engaging boost kicks in channel 2. This way you can go between your od and distortion sounds by way of the boost switch.

I've probably made it sound more complex than it actually is.

one can only hope

Originally posted by Jazz Ad
Clips of my Fulltone are available at http://www.geocities.com/basseffects/ .


Very cool. Thanks Jazz Ad. I am waiting for my Fulltone to arrive and its cool to be able to hear clips of it.

davidmwilson,

did you get a replacement Juggernaut yet? Just curious what the verdict is.

Thanks,
Dave

nah. This was the fourth item out of sever which was faulty on arrival from this retailer.
Now they've always resolved the problems, and replaced/refunded. And I'm sure it's just a series of unlucky coincidences that's resulted in me having this string of bad luck ordering from them.
But I've decided to wait until another retailer such as Pedalgeek gets it in stock before trying again.

In the meantime, I did just get a Diesel Dawg on the big brown truck and will be reporting back soon!

Anyone have any reviews yet?

Thanks,
Dave

oosh!

IMHO I'd but the Sadowsky preamp before the Fulltone or other OD. But try it either way: no harm done.

I tried out the Juggernaut today at a music store.

It's pretty kickin'. Having the 'Blend' knob is key. I mostly used it w/ 90-98% clean signal and just a touch of distortion - it wasn't difficult to get an over the top fuzz sound even w/ the high clean to dirty signal ratio.

It has a hefty price tag but I might just drop the cash on it. If I end up going with it then I'll definitely post some more info. It's tough to say how it will translate from music store tryout/to band rehearsal/to live on stage.

I'm not a distortion afficianado by any means. I'm just starting to get into a few effects after playing 'straight to the amp' for the past 10 years.

My main criteria for a distorion pedal are:

A) Retaining (or even slightly boosting) the low end.

B) Note definition.

C) Signal integrity when bypassed.

D) the distortion flavor.

The Juggernaut seems to fit the bill.

marc40a

A quick question. What kind of distortion is it. Is it more of a fuzz or an overdrive or can you get both. I tried the big muff and did not like it, to undefined and fuzzy.

I can not believe someone finally tried one. This thread has been around for awhile.

Thanks,
Dave

It's a RAT pedal buddy. Neither a fuzz nor distortion, it's something.....else. RAT's are terrific on bass BTW, 'cepting that low end roll off.

If I had to say one or the other, I'd say 'fuzz.' - especially w/ the traditional guitar Rat pedals.

With the blend feature of the Juggernaut though, it's possible to dial in just a little dirt and get an OD sound - I had one dialed up. It definitely takes a steady hand, though. The sound changed very drastically w/ a very minute turn of the knob (most notably, on the 'Blend' knob.) It was a fine line between adding a little grit, and an 'over the top', 'egg frying' fuzz.

I will say, that to my ears, the Rat sound is somewhat similiar to that of a Muff Pi. They are different, but I'd categorize them both as 'fuzzes.' I borrowed a friend's Muff PI (before it broke) before a sub gig last year. When it died, a member of the band that I was subbing for lent me a Rat II pedal on the reharsal before the show.

I thought that both the RatII and Muff were way too drastic by themselves. I had to throw my Raven Labs PHA-1 into the signal chain to use its variable effects loop so I could go w/ 95% clean signal/ 5% Rat signal.

The Juggernaut totally addresses this issue and even throws in an extra effects loop.

Marc,
thanks a lot for the review. I had one from musictoyz, which came broken so it got sent back.

I was going to ask them to replace it, but this was the 4th pedal which came broken out of 5 orders from there, so was the straw that broke the camels back for me.

If I can find someone else who has it in stock, I may give it a blast again, even although it's not two channel.

On a related note, I recently tried out the MXR doubleshot distortion. I know it's aimed at guitar, but with the bass controls on it I thought it was worth a try. Sounded great with my T*elecaster g**tar, but just not voiced for the bass at all. So, kind of what I thought the answer would be.

Mad subwoofer

I have never tried or heard a rat pedal. Not even on gutar so I was unaware how it sounded.

marc40a
Thanks for the details.

Has anyone tried the budda od pedal?

Yeah, I tried the Budda. Didn't thrill me, I remember it being very middy sounding.

But each to their own.

IM thinking of getting one.... i havnt heard any guitar distortion peadal sound like a rat most i heard sound tinny and if this does for a bass like a guitar im on it..Ill sell my boss overdrive
thanks for the review anyone eles have one?

Deja Vu davidmwilson,

I just ordered and received the juggernaut from musictoyz and I fired it up with a battery and the bypass switch works but when I hit the Rat button nothing the light is on but nobody home. I am using a used battery so I will be taking it to rehersal tomorrow where I can plug it into a 9v source and see if it will work. If not, back to musictoyz.

I will update tomorrow.

Originally posted by DRN
Deja Vu davidmwilson,

I just ordered and received the juggernaut from musictoyz and I fired it up with a battery and the bypass switch works but when I hit the Rat button nothing the light is on but nobody home. I am using a used battery so I will be taking it to rehersal tomorrow where I can plug it into a 9v source and see if it will work. If not, back to musictoyz.

I will update tomorrow.

Seems like quite a coincidence. Same pedal from same store with same problem? Could be a faulty batch I guess.

Or maybe it is the same unit:D

I just called them and left a message for returns. I am going to have them ship out another one.

Once I get a working one I will post a review.

Anybody get a working one yet???

I finally gave up and just got my money back. For the brief time I did get it to work It did not sound like what I was looking for and to be honest it did not sound that good at all. Maybe it was because it was broken but it sounded like I was running two signals one clean bass and then a second with distortion.

Not for me.

Hope this helps.

I just got mine yesterday, I'll post Sunday night, after practice.

All right, I've had a chance to try out my Juggernaut in a band context a few times, and I'm still kind of on the fence about it.

The Good:
The distortion character is widely variable, but make no mistake about it, this thing is a DISTORTION, not an overdrive. You can get anything from a big and fuzzy low end rumble, or a shrill and crackly "zip," and the effect/dry blend is very, very useful.
It's built very well, obligatory brick $#!*house comparisons. I especially like it's little rubber feet, they allow for enough space between the bottom of the pedal and whatever surface you choose to place it on for tucking patch cables and power cords beneath. Very useful if you zip-tie pedals to your pedalboard. The white position indicator lines on the pedal's knobs glow in the dark. Kick@$$!


The Bad:
It tends to feedback, which I ordinarily like, but in this case, it was mostly the annoying high pitched microphonic squealing type of feedback that nobody likes. In order to tame this, I had to set the blend and distortion level controls so low that it became rather difficult to make out the fact that the effect was engaged at all in the context of a band mix. (This may be a problem that is enhanced by my bass, it pickups tend to transmit miscellaneous outside noises quite well. Strap squeaks, pickup knocks, etc. Another bass may have better luck with the noise problem.) It is sensitive to plucking dynamics, but a lot of times, I found that this did not matter because if I wasn't playing, or if I was playing softly, the pedal would begin to shriek and squeal. So I had to set the the pedal to a fairly weak effect level. As a result, my tone tended to get lost, both in the distortion, and in the mix of instruments. Turn the pedal on, and suddenly you vanish.

The Ugly:
The control layout is completely counter-intuitive. It makes sense after you've spent a few minutes with it, but in a heat of the moment situation, such as tweaking settings on the fly during a performance, I can really see this being a problem. It's completely backwards from almost every other pedal I've ever played. The Tone knob gets bassier the farther clockwise you turn it, the input and output jacks are switched, (like the Big Muff) and the distortion only works when the effects loop is engaged. This makes no real sense to me at all. A seperate effects loop on/off and distortion on/off was one of the main attractions I had to this pedal, and this makes me want to crack it open and see if I can "fix" it.

All in all, I'm still not sure about the Juggernaut. As it is, I'm still relying on my trusty Prunes and Custard, which is doing a good job with whacked out fuzz and subtle overdrive alike. I plan to bring it to rehearsal a few more times, and, failing a breakthrough, throw it on the mercy of eBay.

:hmm:

Hailz Nioe, thx for the review.

My RAT (v1) squeals too, but only when I'm not playing. Even the -30db noise gate in my old Carvin head couldn't shut that thing up. So I just got used to kicking it on and off all the time.

I agree there should be a seperate switch for the effects loop. I leave the distortion on all the time, so the way they laid out the 2 switches is pointless for me and apparently for you as well.

Awhile back, I called ProCo tech support to ask about this pedal and learned a couple of things. First, the effects loop comes after the distortion. And second, the blend control works on the effects loop as well as the distortion. Maybe that info will help you figure out how to "fix" it...

I tried one out in-store and it sounded alright to me but the pop when switching 'Rat' on and off was insanely loud making it completely unusable for me. I took a leap and picked up a Depth Charge instead and so far I'm loving it. Lot's of variation in the sound so I still need to play with it quite a bit but it seems to be worth the extra $$

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the ungodly loud "pop"...

The thing has been sitting in its box pretty much since I bought it. Pfeh... :spit: