Hello TB!
I thought I'd do a review of one of the many pedals this site has brought to my interest, the Musket v2.
http://blackouteffectors.com/site/?page_id=6
I love this pedal more and more every time I use it. It's a great sounding, versatile fuzz that sounds fantastic in a mix!
The Blackout Effectors Musket v2 has 6 knobs, from top left to bottom right: Pre, Mids, Focus, Fuzz, Tone, and Volume.
Now for some BRMC-inspired sound clips!
*Clips sound best with headphones and speakers with good bass response* Here's a clip with all knobs at 12 o'clock, volume undetermined.
For all of the clips of each specific knob, I keep everything else at 12 o'clock, volume undetermined. Starts with clean tone then goes from 7 o'clock - 10 o'clock - 2 o'clock - 5 o'clock. Then I play with a pick backwards from 5 o'clock - 2 o'clock - 10 o'clock - 7 o'clock.
Pre (alternate gain control): " A built-in clean boost on the front end adds extra possibilities for gain control and fuzz shaping with added note clarity/clean-up or added sludge/blistering fuzz."
The Pre knob does just what the manual says. It acts like a boost in front of the fuzz. Cranking the Pre knob can increase note clarity and fuzziness, but can also amplify any noise in your chain so use wisely.
Here's a clip of the sounds of the Pre knob, just rolling it from 5 o'clock to 7 o'clock with the tones in between. Fuzz(fuzz/sustain control): "It's a FUZZ control! What was once the "leave at max" knob has become a useful fuzz/compression control throughout it's entire range die to the addition of the PRE knob."
The fuzz knob is just that, a fuzz knob. It controls how fuzzy your tone is, or isn't. The amount of tones you can get through adjusting the FUZZ and PRE knobs alone is something that anybody looking for a fuzz should experience.
Here's a clip of the sounds of the Fuzz knob, just rolling it from 5 o'clock to 7 o'clock with the tones in between. Mids (ultra-scooped through big mid boost): "Don't get stuck in the rut. Or do. The MIDS control travels from an exaggerated mid-scoop through a boosted mids response and the best part: all areas in between."
The mids knob controls the mid frequencies of your tone. All the way down and you've got your scooped mids fuzz, and cranked all the way up and it provides a large mids boost. I don't really hear too much difference in the mids knob positions except for at 7, 12, and 5 o'clock. Playing alone you won't hear much difference in your tone with the mids knob but in the mix you can definitely hear and feel what this knob does for your tone.
Here's a clip of the sounds of the Mids knob, just rolling it from 5 o'clock to 7 o'clock with the tones in between. Tone (shapes): "A wide range low-pass/high-pass tone control. You know how this works."
There is definitely a loss of lows when you turn the tone knob beyond 2 o'clock, and there is definitely a loss in clarity when you roll the tone knob back beyond 10 o'clock, not at all to insinuate these tones are not "usable" because they may be just what you're looking for. The tone knob itself provides a large variety of fuzz tones as with most Muff and Muff-like pedals.
Here's a clip of the sounds of the Tone knob, just rolling it from 5 o'clock to 7 o'clock with the tones in between. Focus (note attack/bass limiting): "The leash on the beast. The FOCUS knob controls bass input at the front of the fuzz circuit - from bass-heavy, soft-attack sludgefest through crisp clarity & sharper note attack."
The focus knob helps add clarity to your finger or pick attack. There's a sharp sound you hear when you turn on any dirt pedal and really dig in, slap, or play with a pick, and the focus knob is what controls that on this pedal. You can either bring that sound down and smooth your tone out by rolling the knob back, or crank the knob to get a really aggressive fuzz tone that retains the characteristics of your attack.
Here's a clip of the sounds of the Focus knob, just rolling it from 5 o'clock to 7 o'clock with the tones in between.
These are some clips of some different tones I got out of the Musket. The first tone is the tone I use most often.
Tone1 Pre 10 o'clock| Mids 2 o'clock| Focus 10 o'clock| Fuzz 2 o'clock| Tone 2 o'clock|
--A standard muff-like tone but keeps you in the mix
Tone2 Pre 10 o'clock| Mids 10 o'clock| Focus 12 o'clock| Fuzz 2 o'clock| Tone 10 o'clock|
--A fuzz tone with some bite on each attack
Tone 3 Pre 10 o'clock| Mids 10 o'clock| Focus 7 o'clock| Fuzz 2 o'clock| Tone 2 o'clock|
--A bit of a smooth fuzz tone
Tone 4 Pre 2 o'clock| Mids 3 o'clock| Focus 7 o'clock| Fuzz 9 o'clock| Tone 2 o'clock|
--A subtle grinding tone. You can't always hear the fuzz in a mix with this setting, but when you do it's definitely going to put a smile on your face.
Your tones will vary with different basses and different amps.
For all clips I used an Active ESP 6-String bass > Musket v2 > Digitech Jamman.
I was going to record a Musket vs. Black Russian Muff video but after playing with both for a while I realized there isn't any tone the russian can give you that the Musket can't, and better! Also, my Flip doesn't pick up as much of the low frequencies as I hoped it would so the videos just make both, fine pedals sound weak.
****A note for those hoping to keep the Musket blended.
A lot of people have brought up the fact that the Musket, if put in a blend loop, needs to be looped through a pedal with an inversion switch.
Without an inversion switch on any given blend pedal, you will experience a dramatic volume drop when you try to blend the musket at say 50%.
The pedal's black and white graphics are really classy and nice to look at. Small white knobs and a bright orange LED add to the general cosmetic appeal of the pedal. 4 7/8" L x 2 6/8" W x 2 3/8" H including knobs and jacks. The pedal runs only on 9v DC power supply, so powering the Musket is as simple as any other pedal.
The musket has become my favorite fuzz pedal, and ended my desires for any "Muffish" fuzz pedals. I don't use it too often, but when I do it makes me incredibly happy. Using it in a mix with guitarists and a drummer is a great experience, and tweaking the knobs in such an environment will show you just how versatile the pedal is.
I hope this review was helpful, since it was my first review of anything. Comments and suggestions are definitely appreciated.
