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CMC Effects Fans

#201
mouthmw said:
I kept the Civil War and sold the TFR variant when I had them both. I liked the brighter and tighter sound for a change (been using W&C TFR for years before that). No longer have it though.
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I also just realized you said TFR - not Bubble Font. I enjoy the TFR for what it is, but it's too smooth and not articulate enough. I feel the Bubble Font straddles the exact middle point between the TFR and Civil War - a little more grit than the TFR, and more bass than the CW. I could certainly make do with any of them for most things, but I'm persnickety, darn it. (First world problems!) I want THE fuzz. Ideally, I'd have a smaller version of the Priestess, but these are darn close, and certainly good enough for my "small" amp/board setup.
 
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#202
kleinenenten said:
What replaced the Civil War? Gotta do some more testing, but initial results on the rig are that I'll still end up preferring the Bubble Font. I upped the sustain to 12:00 (from 10:30), and upped the tone to 1:00 (from 12:00). Gives me just a bit more bite, bit more grit, and still plenty of lows. Not as tight as the CW, but I think I just need to accept that a relatively low cost fuzz won't be able to doom AND do thrash/faster stuff on the same settings like my Priestess can. I'd likely use a different pedal for those needs, anyway! Will keep testing a bit more tomorrow when I have some time. Today was maybe only 15 minutes.
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I most likely would have preferred the Bubble Font variant, but I didn't get to try that one.
Civil War was replaced by Broughton Calamity, which is described as a Civil War variant, but it's definitely not as bright as the CMC one.
I love it in LED mode for a brasher, more in your face fuzz tone and I switch it to silicon mode when I want a darker, more "behind the mix" tone.
It's a fantastic muff, and I prefer it to the CMCs I had and I prefer it to the W&C TFR I had for years, which sounded excellent but was a lot more scooped (and had less controls to be fair).
 
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#203
mouthmw said:
I most likely would have preferred the Bubble Font variant, but I didn't get to try that one.
Civil War was replaced by Broughton Calamity, which is described as a Civil War variant, but it's definitely not as bright as the CMC one.
I love it in LED mode for a brasher, more in your face fuzz tone and I switch it to silicon mode when I want a darker, more "behind the mix" tone.
It's a fantastic muff, and I prefer it to the CMCs I had and I prefer it to the W&C TFR I had for years, which sounded excellent but was a lot more scooped (and had less controls to be fair).
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The Calamity is on the rather short list of fuzzes I'm still interested in, but given the price and availability, I'm not keeping my hopes up. And certainly not for how satisfied I am with my current stable of fuzzes. It'd have to be just the right price etc. for me to bite right now.
 
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#204
Got to play at volume for a while today. Bubble Font wins hands down. As always, the solution is more volume. I ended up just keeping the tone at 1:00, and reducing the sustain back to 10:30 like I had prior. The extra volume let me hear the grit I had more distinctly, so I needed less grit overall. Plenty of bass, just enough treble to cut/poke through the mix, and workable on some faster stuff too if I wanted. Love that pedal!
 
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#205
kleinenenten said:
I also just realized you said TFR - not Bubble Font. I enjoy the TFR for what it is, but it's too smooth and not articulate enough. I feel the Bubble Font straddles the exact middle point between the TFR and Civil War - a little more grit than the TFR, and more bass than the CW. I could certainly make do with any of them for most things, but I'm persnickety, darn it. (First world problems!) I want THE fuzz. Ideally, I'd have a smaller version of the Priestess, but these are darn close, and certainly good enough for my "small" amp/board setup.
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Ya know, maybe I do need to try the bubble font. That's a circuit variation of the green russians right? I've gotten a chance to long term try almost all of W&C's muffs and the tri-pie, big box box of war, and big box IC, were hands down my favs, the garbage face and the good one were close seconds.

I got to try the elephant skin and tall font. The lows are nice, but the voicing on the scoop and center point for the tone sweep is not as desirable as the box of war or the tri-pie for me.

Those two, for whatever reason aren't my favorite muffs alone, but shine in a mix. Not to say they don't sound great, but in one on one there were others I liked more. There's something about their mid voicing that cuts through well, and both have a clarity on the lows that comes through that I dig. For the tone on both I dont believe I had it much more than a smidge past noon, maybe equivalent of 1215/1230 on the clock, was a tight sweet spot. I don't know if it's most muffs as its something I've started to notice more the last year, but there are tons of spots where there's so much variation and change in tone in a tiny portion of the tone sweep.
 
#206
Novarocker said:
Ya know, maybe I do need to try the bubble font. That's a circuit variation of the green russians right? I've gotten a chance to long term try almost all of W&C's muffs and the tri-pie, big box box of war, and big box IC, were hands down my favs, the garbage face and the good one were close seconds.

I got to try the elephant skin and tall font. The lows are nice, but the voicing on the scoop and center point for the tone sweep is not as desirable as the box of war or the tri-pie for me.

Those two, for whatever reason aren't my favorite muffs alone, but shine in a mix. Not to say they don't sound great, but in one on one there were others I liked more. There's something about their mid voicing that cuts through well, and both have a clarity on the lows that comes through that I dig. For the tone on both I dont believe I had it much more than a smidge past noon, maybe equivalent of 1215/1230 on the clock, was a tight sweet spot. I don't know if it's most muffs as its something I've started to notice more the last year, but there are tons of spots where there's so much variation and change in tone in a tiny portion of the tone sweep.
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Yup - it's a variation on Green Russians. I've read that some people say that Bubble Font and Tall Font are the same, and perhaps they are in some instances, what with the Russian factory using whatever was on hand at any given moment. But I can definitively say the CMC Tall Font and Bubble Font are different and that I have a preference for the Bubble Font. It seems to stand out of the mix just a bit more and be slightly more aggressive.

I'm not a builder, so I don't know how true this is, but I've also heard that fuzzes are often so simple, that a tiny change to any component can have large effects on the tone. Perhaps it's something like that you're describing with the tone sweep. Maybe one specific Muff has a different component in the tone section of the build. No clue.

Good luck with the various Muffs - I'm saddened that the CMC shop hasn't really been operating lately. There were still a few I was interested in.
 
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#207
kleinenenten said:
Yup - it's a variation on Green Russians. I've read that some people say that Bubble Font and Tall Font are the same, and perhaps they are in some instances, what with the Russian factory using whatever was on hand at any given moment. But I can definitively say the CMC Tall Font and Bubble Font are different and that I have a preference for the Bubble Font. It seems to stand out of the mix just a bit more and be slightly more aggressive.

I'm not a builder, so I don't know how true this is, but I've also heard that fuzzes are often so simple, that a tiny change to any component can have large effects on the tone. Perhaps it's something like that you're describing with the tone sweep. Maybe one specific Muff has a different component in the tone section of the build. No clue.

Good luck with the various Muffs - I'm saddened that the CMC shop hasn't really been operating lately. There were still a few I was interested in.
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I've read the same thing about fuzzes. I know it was big on the simplest ones like fuzz faces and tone bender. I have no clue on muffs, but I dont doubt considering how much different in tone and breakup character between that "good one" and tri-pie, which should just be part value changes IIRC.

Good to know, I'll have to find a bubble to compare. I think you're right though, because it's almost like its just minor variations of what frequencies are muted or let through throughout the sweep and where it seems centered that give the big difference. That is outside of the character of the breakup and attack/clarity of the signal.

The Civil War to me, tends to let a little more clean low end through, darker overall tone, but more mid focused/less scooped than the other Russians. That seems to be why it sounded so much better in a mix. That mid voicing, though more on the high mid side that cuts through is why I like the tri-pie a ton too.

I will say that my hoof with the mid control can mimic most of the muffs I tried and even though its not my overall favorite, it does most all of them so close that I definitely will keep it so I dont have a 100 muffs, lol!

I was bummed to see the same. Speaking of which, I need to re-up my user as I'm pretty sure I'm gonna sell my cmc od120. It's great, but I really just want to snag an orange amp anyway.
 
#208
Novarocker said:
The Civil War to me, tends to let a little more clean low end through, darker overall tone, but more mid focused/less scooped than the other Russians. That seems to be why it sounded so much better in a mix. That mid voicing, though more on the high mid side that cuts through is why I like the tri-pie a ton too.

I was bummed to see the same. Speaking of which, I need to re-up my user as I'm pretty sure I'm gonna sell my cmc od120. It's great, but I really just want to snag an orange amp anyway.
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I was just debating trying the Civil War on my guitar rig again the other day. I recently got a Doom Hammer, which I'm really digging for that rig, and am trying to NOT spend more money than needed. The Civil War is definitely middier, not quite as bass heavy, and grittier than most other Muffs - which on paper sounds pretty similar to what I like about the Doom Hammer. It'd be pretty great if I can get a similar tone with gear I've already got. And that Civil War has been able to cop some surprising other tones fairly closely - namely the Fat Metal and Fat Sandwich. Both of which I used for doom/Iommi tones. So maybe if I crank the gain I can get the "all the gain" tones of the Doom Hammer? We'll see sometime soon, hopefully.

I've been debating getting a supporting membership to list a few things as well. Never tried that before!
 
#209
kleinenenten said:
I was just debating trying the Civil War on my guitar rig again the other day. I recently got a Doom Hammer, which I'm really digging for that rig, and am trying to NOT spend more money than needed. The Civil War is definitely middier, not quite as bass heavy, and grittier than most other Muffs - which on paper sounds pretty similar to what I like about the Doom Hammer. It'd be pretty great if I can get a similar tone with gear I've already got. And that Civil War has been able to cop some surprising other tones fairly closely - namely the Fat Metal and Fat Sandwich. Both of which I used for doom/Iommi tones. So maybe if I crank the gain I can get the "all the gain" tones of the Doom Hammer? We'll see sometime soon, hopefully.

I've been debating getting a supporting membership to list a few things as well. Never tried that before!
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Yeah, I think that's why I like the Civil War, I tend to keep the tone on most muffs below 1 o'clock or noon anyway, so maybe thats why the lows tend to still be there for me. Granted, I've only tried two versions of the box of war, so that could be it too. I've been meaning to try the sovtek deluxe to see if that meets my needs and gives a fun mid/wah function.

To be honest, its also the reason I'm kinda interested in the bmp 2. It seems to have this weird clean signal making it through like the Civil War does, but meshed with an op amp grit and Civil War clarity.
 
#214
Got out all of my CMCs today, as I've slowly been going through Muffs since I recently got a Russian Pickle (again) and am currently loving its different Muff flavor. Long story short, this was the first time I've spent much time using the CMC's silicon diodes. I was trying to match the tone of the Russian Pickle, but improve upon it as well. While I could never quite get there, I did get plenty of tones that were just as great. None of them matched the sheer aggression in the highs and level of scoop of the Russian Pickle, but each Muff was different enough and workable enough for me to justify keeping them all. The Russian Pickle may be a one trick pony of sorts, but that one trick works like a charm.

I messed around with the Tall Font, Bubble Font, and Civil War. Each ended up with almost identical settings - SIL diodes, tone at noon, sustain around 1:30, mids/shape cranked.

The Civil War was a surprise - I'd never done much with it on bass, though I know some swear by it. This really shone today, and while it wasn't my favorite tone of the three, it was absolutely a tone that could work. Nothing really to knock, just not my favorite for what I wanted. A bit more compressed and brighter than the others, with some more gain. Seemed to cut slightly more overall. Totally a usable bass tone for all sorts of stuff.

The Bubble Font was as great as I recall. The SIL made it a bit grittier than the middle option I have typically used, and it was excellent. A bit of grit to punch through the mix, dirt all over the spectrum, and an overall excellent tone. Loved it like I figured I would.

The Tall Font very much grew on me as well. Previously, I'd thought it to be too dark and not aggressive enough. It was almost too smooth for my needs. It was definitely grittier on SIL, and the lows seemed more distorted. I found myself really liking this, and getting fairly close to the Russian Pickle. Never as aggressive, and the scoop never quite got there, but this was another flavor of awesome. No complaints. I found the upper end of the distortion to be somewhat harsh like I have previously, but that wasn't so bad to me this go-round. Perhaps I've come around to it with the aggression of the Russian Pickle? Whatever the case, I found this to both be a bit smoother than the Bubble Font overall, but more harsh in the highs. It led it to cut a bit more on the high end, but not be quite as present as the Bubble Font is in the other frequencies. Just different options - both would work in most mixes.
 
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#216
deepestend said:
Anyone know what's going on with CMC these days?

Still loving my russian and ram's head muffs... I have them both on my board.
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I wish - after a long shootout of all of my Muffs, the CMC Russian varieties are absolutely amazing for the tones I want. If I ever needed a nice, rounded Muff, but one that can also cut the mix a bit, they are absolutely perfect. I'd be happy to buy another Civil War and Tall Font. I'd buy another Bubble Font, but I already have two! And I never did get to try the NYC or Op-Amp Muffs he made. And with how much I really dug the Russian varieties in my recent shootout, I'm having a slight bit of regret over getting rid of my Ram's Head, too!
 
#218
deepestend said:
I find that putting a boost AFTER the muff really helps keep the sound. I feel like putting one in front kind blows it out.
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Which boost do you use? Is it a clean boost? I often use my low gain drive as double-duty on bass as a slightly dirty boost into other drives, and on guitar I'd use an old DOD FX10 after my dirt as a slight clean boost with a little treble boost and bass cut.
 
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