As most of you know, I love my English Muff'n (aka EM), and was searching for a 9VDC compact equivalent. Im here to tell you, I've gotten REAL close with this one. And its not even the Valnott
I'm gonna start this with the samples, then my conclusions, then get a little in depth.
Samples. The clean->em->grunge are litterally done in that order. The mojo ones are clean->lpb->lpb+em->lpb+grunge. Settings are as follows:
LPB: boost=9 o'clock
EM: gain=max
bass=noon
mid=max
treble=min
level=9 o'clock
Grunge: grunge(gain)=11 o'clock
treble=min
bass=2 o'clock (max on "+bass" samples)
level=8 to 9 o'clock
This was how I had them set up. They also run thru a TU-2, Micro POG, and an LPB-1. The amp was set to a little grind (about half way on the gain), flat bass, 4db 420Hz boost in the mids and the treble a MINIMUM
I had to set it up like so to get sound from the FX loop, as the send doubles as a "CD in". I also had to run the laptop off batteries cus of ground loops. This folks, is why my next purchase is gonna be a DI of some sort.
Anyways, the samples:
clean->em->grunge clean->em->grunge+bass mojo->em->grunge mojo->em->grunge+bass
Personally, I like both the EM and grunge. With the +bass settings I can get the grunge fairly close IMHO, to the sound of the EM. I find the grunge has a little more midrange, but has a slight "sqeak". If I played live I'd prolly use the grunge, but use the EM for studio recording. There are 3 reasons why I'd do this:
1) Price. I may have got the EM at a good price (slightly)used, but replacing it would be costly. The grunge only cost me 60$. Not a lot of change if it breaks or I need a new one. New, the EM is about 4 times the price.
2) Power. The grunge runs nicely with my other 3 9VDC pedals, even chained. The EM takes 12V
AC, and barring the fact that it doesn't fit on the lunchbox very well, needing a 2nd wart just sux.
3) The sound of the grunge is close enough to the EM that most people listening to my music wouldn't prolly even notice (LOL)
Theres not much else to go into (all the controls on both are pretty self evident), but I would like to point out a couple of things:
-- The grunges bass knob DOES affect the actual bass frequencies, and appears to be a shelving type deal (as with the treble), but it does need to be turned up quite a bit. Sitting at noon there is some bass loss, but it is easily corrected. A note to Thunderscreech (and anyone else thats interested): I would say that the bass control on this is more useful than the Mega Distortion type low knob. The MD is meant for use with downtuned guitars, and I believe that the grunge is designed along the same lines, but where the MD just adds a bunch of almost-lows-but-more-like-low-mids, the grunge excels with its bass knob. Also, the grunge's treble knob allows the taming of the sizzlely-digital-artifact stuff, whereas the MD had a tone that added more low mids. You would end up with a lot of push but no rumble. Plenty of rumble with the grunge
-- There is some squeakyness to the grunges sound that doesn't really dissapear or change even in different positions of the gain knob. Cranking the bass and minning the trebs does seem to make it fall into the background, but it doesn't totally eliminate it.
-- The gain knob on the grunge doesn't appear to DO a whole lot. It starts off distorted and ends that way, and theres not a whole lot of range. You do get more bass responce the lower the gain is and loose bass the higher you set it. Somewhere around noon seems like a happy medium IMHO. If your looking for low-gain, look elsewhere, same with if your looking for fuzz territory.
-- The switch is like the one that broke on my weeping demon when I got it. If the grunge breaks I may be tempted to pick up a metal zone to see if I can get a distortion like the grunge but with the ability to remove the sqeek. It does seem sturdier than the WD switch, and everything seems to be fairly well designed and placed for it to handle some roughing around. Even if I do end up replacing the grunge, the EM would still be more of a pain/worry in a live setting. There might be a guard over the tubes, but the last thing I would want to do is be trying to get glass out of it. Never mind the cost of replacing the tubes.
Hope you find this of some interest
:hungry: (we need a hungry emote too)
. Yours, no.
