I haven't seen an effects thread dedicated to this unit so I figured I'd offer up an initial impressions review. Simply put: WOW
Preamp:
The mini mo is capable of a lot of really awesome sounds.
I really really really like the preamp section, haven’t used a swr amp before but the voicing of the lows and highs is in the right place, the semi parametric mids are nice to find the sweet spot, and the aural enhancer is really awesome emphasizing the tone very nicely. The limiter utilizes the 12AX7 tube and is a nice and simple single knob design that gives a very transparent compression from a peak limiter to heavy amount of squish. This section of the preamp amp sounds very good and really does wonder for my clean tone. Using the preamp volume in conjunction with the other controls it can give a nice smooth sound or a punchier almost active bass type tone.
On Board Effects:
The overdrive uses the same 12ax7 tube used for compresison, it can go from light tube amp grind to screaming overdrive, it gets into a very heavy distortion realm. The tone control can really help shape the way the overdrive sounds and acts a lot like the tone control on a passive jazz bass slowly removing the highs. Unfortunately I find that the overdrive increases the volume a significant amount if the drive is any higher than 9:00. I liked it set best around 1:00 with the tone in a similar position.
Octave is delicious. Seriously. Scrumptious. Analog, fat, and hairy. 100% wet with the tone rolled all the way down and it’s reminiscent of the oc-2 but a little harrier. But the tone knob gives more control over the octave’s sound- tone at 12:00 and higher sounds very synthy but also can get a little tinny up there. It definitely tracks better than the oc-2 allowing for more sustain, and it might have a slightly easier time hitting the A on the 5th fret of the E string.
Combining effects and the ability to recall presets is where the unit really shines……
There is a 3 band graphic eq as a section of the effects it is useful paired with all of the other effects but I really liked it with the octave- tone all the way up, 97% wet with only enough of the dry mixed in so when the overdrive is turned there is some dirt to make the octave an angry square wave instead of smooth sine wave- then add in the graphic eq with treble, and mids cut all the way out and bass boosted- WATCH OUT, that is some angry Uuuuumph.
The analog chorus sounds rally great. Nice and fat- lots of thick buttery variations. Not much more to say about it- sounds much better warmer yet possibly less synthy than my hardwire cr7.
Saw wave synth/envelope filter section is effect I was most excited to try from the unit- it is indeed the deepest most versatile section. It is very interactive with the preamp volume- It’s hard to describe exactly how the saw wave sounds, but I’d say less aggressive than most synth pedals but it tracks better than any digital synth I’ve owned bsy600, BSW, MBSS, SB7, & me-50b. I’m fairly confident that this section only shapes the incoming sound into a saw wave rather than actually triggering an oscillator. I’ve emailed swr to confirm. In my playing so far I would say it sounds as much like a saw wave as the BMS sounds like a square wave. The envelope filter is very touch responsive and reacts very nicely to playing dynamics- the preamp volume greatly effects it’s sensitivity. Volume set real low and you’ve gotta dig into the strings to really get the envelope to open all the way up… with the volume set up higher you’ve gotta play really lightly to keep it closed. Hook an expression pedal up to the foot controller (I found the behringer to work better than the ep2) and it controls how far the filter will travel. The effect sounds great with resonance set somewhere in the middle, but can really get Very wet and super resonant, without getting a clicky or quacky sound. It responds great to playing very quickly opening and closing as you’d expect and can also stay way open if notes are struck hard. Honestly this is the most responsive synth and filter I’ve played to date. If you turn on the overdrive at the same time as the synth- it will revert the signal back to a sine wave with distortion, it doesn’t go into squarewave territory but does give a gritty and edgy envelope sound. Combine either the overdrive or the saw wave with octave and now you’ve got fat deep tones. Add in chorus/eq and fat deep becomes a modulated and moving amalgamation of tones to produce a really thick awesome synth sound.
Oh yeah and the foot controller has some other awesome features, allowing you to turn any effect on and off, combine multiple effects, & has 4 preset save spots that allow you to recall any combinations of effects you want grouped together. My favorite additional feature is dual, which inserts a dry underlying sound beneath any effects you run- which I know from experience with other pedals can be really helpful for hearing yourself in the mix. Other helpful footswitches include bypass- which will instantly revert to the dry preamp only sound, if stomped on again it will revert back to whatever effects you had on before.
With almost all pedals I find there is some type of tradeoff or downfall- the mini mo is no different. First the overdrive is loud- I haven’t been able to get the extreme overdrive sound I like best at unity gain- and if I do the preamp volume is too low that in synth mode it doesn’t push the saw wave enough or trigger the envelope the way I’d like it too. Also since all of the effects are analog the presets only recall the groupings of effects you want switched on together, not the placement of each knob, so just like the BMS unless the settings are changed manually you get 1 setting no 2 overdrive settings, or multiple synth settings. Since the brain of the unit is rack mounted- and my cabs are tall enough I suppose it’ll be easy enough to turn dials before a song.
Definitely still in the honeymoon stage with this effects unit it but I really think it’s a keeper!
I'll try and do a video/clips asap
Last edited by wolffman : 09-28-2011 at 03:51 PM.
Reason: sprelling
So my initial inkling was incorrect…Per fender/swr the saw wave does indeed trigger an oscillator- lightning fast tracking- no noticeable delay or glitching out. Shows how little i know!
quick and dirty clip made- i wanted to do a nice clean pro clip like gastric or msterling highlighting each section of effects and the preamp alone but i ran out of time (live in an apartment and don't play past 10pm) so at 9:55 I tried to do something quick
So anyway it starts off clean and then play the octave, bass synth, bass synth and octave, mess with some of the other effects, and also throw in bass synth and oc2, and bass synth with octave and overdrive (which removes the saw wave- replaces it with a sign wave and does overdrive/filter) I'm really just sloppily noodling trying to play short and long notes and twisting knobs. Not playing to the filter right in certain spots. It's a quick and dirty and I'm embarrassed by it but nevertheless I'm sure some of you would rather hear something rather than nothing.
Thanks for the clip. The synth tones remind me of the Octavius Squeezer in up-sweep mode. The filter sounds like it has a nice fast retrigger. No downsweep on the filter?
no problem after listening to tons of clips on tb I figured I was somewhat obligated to do my first clip with an effect that currently doesnt have any demos haha nope no down sweep setting, might be able to coax one out of it like you did with the MBSS but not certain...
agreed! I've known about/wanted to buy one for a while so when I saw the price I jumped in without hesitation! However it seems as though I'm having trouble connecting the foot controller consistently.
It looks like you got a killer deal on a brown dog & 00 funk
Yeah the octave is really good. It's fast and different enough from the OC-2. I really like it paired with the overdrive and eq you can hear that tone around 0:47.
The only delay eq I have right now is the red panda particle, I'll try and put that in the effects loop and get a clip for ya
the unit is SO VERY versatile... also the more I play the octave the more I love it, IMO it wouldn't replace the oc2 outright, but I use octave a lot and is a very very nice change up, can be a little hairy or a little synthier, but slightly less fat. ehhh the playing is very pedestrian, kinda embarrassed by it, but too lazy to redo hahaha Thanks for the compliment anyhow
If I had the liquid cash I'd buy it and sell a head and my pre amp... but I spent all my money on a bass last week....
