• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

CMC Effects Fans

#121
deepestend said:
I will eventually post. BUT as these things go... decided that I basically have the components I want in place and set out to remove all of the sockets and solder them in permanently. Some of the sockets were kind of loose, so it made sense. Of course, now the thing doesn't work. Oh well... prob a solder bridge or something similar. I'll go in tonight and see if I can trace the signal and troubleshoot. It's nice when these things work the first time! But that rarely happens.
Click to expand...
This is exactly why I don't mess with my pedals! I'd love it if I were able to repair/build my own pedals, but I'm not able to do so. Every time I try something like that, I run into far too many problems. Good luck with the troubleshooting!
 
#122
kleinenenten said:
This is exactly why I don't mess with my pedals! I'd love it if I were able to repair/build my own pedals, but I'm not able to do so. Every time I try something like that, I run into far too many problems. Good luck with the troubleshooting!
Click to expand...
Not my first rodeo. I always figure it out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kleinenenten
#125
I will give it a shot... I'm trying to just take out the germanium diodes for a no-diodes option, but have to figure out how to do that. Just taking them out messes with something and then the LED clipping doesn't work.I think it's somehow taking out a ground. I just used some cap legs to bridge the component areas for the germaniums so that the LED's work again, but it's not the same as a no-diode option. I'll figure it out.
 
#126
deepestend said:
I will give it a shot... I'm trying to just take out the germanium diodes for a no-diodes option, but have to figure out how to do that. Just taking them out messes with something and then the LED clipping doesn't work.I think it's somehow taking out a ground. I just used some cap legs to bridge the component areas for the germaniums so that the LED's work again, but it's not the same as a no-diode option. I'll figure it out.
Click to expand...
Hadn't thought of that, but it begs the question - have you ever done anything with MOSFET diodes? I have no use for germanium, but LOVE MOSFETs in my Pharaoh Supreme. Would it be a simple swap to just plug in identical MOSFETs to those in the Pharaoh Supreme into the CMCs? That would give me more available tones...
 
#127
kleinenenten said:
Hadn't thought of that, but it begs the question - have you ever done anything with MOSFET diodes? I have no use for germanium, but LOVE MOSFETs in my Pharaoh Supreme. Would it be a simple swap to just plug in identical MOSFETs to those in the Pharaoh Supreme into the CMCs? That would give me more available tones...
Click to expand...

Good question on MOSFETS... I don't really know if you could just slot them in.

I finished things up and even asked CMC about a no-diode effect. The way he has it wired up, you can't just pull the germaniums out and get a no-diode effect. However, LED's aren't "that" different. I ended up putting some different germaniums in the germanium slots on my ram as I had destroyed the stock ones while pulling them out. IDK, but now the germanium volume is the same as the LED's. Sounds different put comparable and great. I think I'm done tinkering for now and will just get to playing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Novarocker and kleinenenten
#128
Sounds like a lot of fun.

I agree that mosfets have something to them that sound really good. I always thought muscular, kinda in between silicon and LEDs. That's a limited experience on my end though.

I've never tried them in a muff that I know of, same for LEDs. I've always heard that LEDs work much better with high gain and retaining clarity, etc. If I recall correctly that's how the turbo rat was invented. One of the workers wanted a rat that worked better with his cranked marshal and that's the diodes they found that worked best for not turning to much with the half stack.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kleinenenten
#129
Novarocker said:
Sounds like a lot of fun.

I agree that mosfets have something to them that sound really good. I always thought muscular, kinda in between silicon and LEDs. That's a limited experience on my end though.

I've never tried them in a muff that I know of, same for LEDs. I've always heard that LEDs work much better with high gain and retaining clarity, etc. If I recall correctly that's how the turbo rat was invented. One of the workers wanted a rat that worked better with his cranked marshal and that's the diodes they found that worked best for not turning to much with the half stack.
Click to expand...
Interesting that you say all of this...

For long time (like, nearly a decade?), whenever I tried a "new" fuzz, I always seemed to gravitate LED or silicon diodes - very few had both options and even fewer had MOSFETs. I'd find one of those diodes to be the "best" option, get a great tone, and compare it to my reigning champ - the Pharaoh Supreme. I'd set that up to compete with the "new" fuzz tone, match the diodes, and get tweaking. Pretty much always and without fail, I'd end up preferring the "new" fuzz, but then I'd swap the diodes on the Pharaoh Supreme to MOSFET, keep all of the other tweaks, and absolutely love it. I always found that the MOSFET gave the best of both silicon and LED diodes - clarity, a bit more "natural" tone than other diodes, and still plenty of grit.

And on the Rat side of things... This actually led to me trying the Bass Mountain, since I also quite enjoy Rat tones (but have FAR fewer Rats, as they seem more hit or miss for me on bass). Anyway, the Bass Mountain is the ONLY "Rat" I'm aware of with MOSFET clipping as an option, so I HAD to try that... And of course I love it. It's my #2 Rat at the moment behind my Volt Thrower clone. Both are incredibly clear with plenty of bass and highs to pop out of the mix. I do have a slight preference for the LED over the MOSFET on the Bass Mountain, but mostly because I have a similar tone already covered by my fuzz pedals - using MOSFETs. There is absolutely NO reason I couldn't use the MOSFETs on the Bass Mountain - I just did a quick diode comparison between the two on that pedal and the only things I have to tweak between the two diodes are slight volume adjustment and Gain Shape. The MOSFETs are naturally a bit bassier and distort the lows more it seems, so I increase Gain Shape to get a bit more highs and cut. But again - that's what I want out of a "Muff" vs. a "Rat". I feel the Muff should have more distorted lows and be thicker in general, while a Rat should be a bit brighter and snappier with more natural and less distorted lows.

TL;DR - I agree.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Novarocker
#131
Well, I officially f'd up my russian board. Probably a slight chance I could figure it out, but I've put in too much time already. A ground was lifted somewhere. Anyway, talked to Chris at CMC and he's going to send me a new board for $30 (no pots, switch, jacks, etc.). Problem solved. No regrets because I learned a lot and had some fun doing the work of trying out components. I regret wasting a board, but at least I'm recycling most of it the pedal components.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Novarocker, kleinenenten and mouthmw
#133
As usual, my Muff pedals are always swapping positions. As of now, the Tall Font is winning versus the Pharaoh Supreme on my #2 rig due to its ability to cut just a bit more while retaining bass. Still can't believe how much variation there is between these various versions of Muffs. And the Bubble Font gave my Priestess a run for its money, though the Priestess won out in the end with a bit more liveliness/punch in the bass end of the spectrum. Still, excellent tones from all of them, and the CMCs keep holding their own against MUCH more expensive Muffs for me. I need to get the other couple of CMC Muffs (and their Rat!) to get the whole breadth of the Muff spectrum.
deepestend said:
Just played my rams head with a band. With a Blumes after, it really worked.
Click to expand...
Do you ever boost your Muffs with anything? Boosting high gain into lower gain doesn't often do much for me. I usually arrange my dirt in order of gain (least to most), and fuzz is my final pedal. I've found I really like to boost my Muffs with Rats and even an HM-2, though those tones are a bit much for most mixes. Generally, the Dunwich ODB gets my "boost" duties because it just adds a bit "more" to any of my other dirt pedals without completely transforming the tone. And it works great on the same settings as my "low gain" OD. Ditto for my modded Pork Loin.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mouthmw
#134
kleinenenten said:
As usual, my Muff pedals are always swapping positions. As of now, the Tall Font is winning versus the Pharaoh Supreme on my #2 rig due to its ability to cut just a bit more while retaining bass. Still can't believe how much variation there is between these various versions of Muffs. And the Bubble Font gave my Priestess a run for its money, though the Priestess won out in the end with a bit more liveliness/punch in the bass end of the spectrum. Still, excellent tones from all of them, and the CMCs keep holding their own against MUCH more expensive Muffs for me. I need to get the other couple of CMC Muffs (and their Rat!) to get the whole breadth of the Muff spectrum.

Do you ever boost your Muffs with anything? Boosting high gain into lower gain doesn't often do much for me. I usually arrange my dirt in order of gain (least to most), and fuzz is my final pedal. I've found I really like to boost my Muffs with Rats and even an HM-2, though those tones are a bit much for most mixes. Generally, the Dunwich ODB gets my "boost" duties because it just adds a bit "more" to any of my other dirt pedals without completely transforming the tone. And it works great on the same settings as my "low gain" OD. Ditto for my modded Pork Loin.
Click to expand...
I have a boost option as well—but sometimes I like the muff tone and don’t want to drive it more—I just want to amplify what I’ve got. Blumes in opamp boost mode is not low gain. It’s just pretty wide open but adds some mids.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kleinenenten
#135
deepestend said:
I have a boost option as well—but sometimes I like the muff tone and don’t want to drive it more—I just want to amplify what I’ve got. Blumes in opamp boost mode is not low gain. It’s just pretty wide open but adds some mids.
Click to expand...
Gotcha. Sounds similar to my "solo" boost for my guitar rig. (Not that I'm anywhere near good enough to solo, but a man can dream...) I use an old DOD BiFET Boost to add just a touch more highs to the signal, but still keep the basic tone the same. I already like the various pedals' tones I have, so why would I drastically change them? I just want "more". On bass, however, I feel that I need more gain to stand out - and as it happens, typically adding more gain via my other drive pedals gives me both more gain AND more treble content, so it works quite well.

The Blumes is a bass-centric "Tube Screamer", correct? I don't have much experience with Tube Screamers, though I have held on to my Green Rhino as it's the best one I've tried, I love Way Huge pedals, and I like to have at least one take on the "classic" circuits in my arsenal just in case. Though in fairness, I hear that the OCD is a TS derivative, and I also believe that the OCD is the starting point for the Dunwich ODB... and I love my Dunwich ODB and have just ordered another clone. Anyway, for whatever reason, I've never gone down the TS rabbit-hole like I have with Muffs, Rats, and HM-2s.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Novarocker
#136
Def a time and place for pre and post boost. I sometimes just want more of what I’ve got than pushing it more.

One Blumes mode is total TS, but there’s more to it. Three options:

  1. Symmetrical LED clipping: more crunch and compression.
  2. No clipping: wide open OpAmp drive for clean boost.
  3. Asymmetrical silicon diode clipping: more transparency with a loose feel.

I like 2 as a muff follower.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Novarocker and kleinenenten
#137
Just did a quick and dirty recording on guitar and bass using my CMC Civil War (guitar) and CMC Bubble Font (bass). Thought some of you may be interested in hearing them together and comparing. Anyway, here are the links - one each for each instrument and another with both so you can hear it all. Settings are identical on both pedals - LED diodes, tone 1:30, sustain 12:00, shape maxed, volume as needed. I think they sound pretty decent for a stoner/doom setting, which is what I'm usually going for with my fuzz.

Guitar & Bass
Bass Only
Guitar Only
 
  • Like
Reactions: mouthmw, Backdrop and Novarocker
#138
kleinenenten said:
Just did a quick and dirty recording on guitar and bass using my CMC Civil War (guitar) and CMC Bubble Font (bass). Thought some of you may be interested in hearing them together and comparing. Anyway, here are the links - one each for each instrument and another with both so you can hear it all. Settings are identical on both pedals - LED diodes, tone 1:30, sustain 12:00, shape maxed, volume as needed. I think they sound pretty decent for a stoner/doom setting, which is what I'm usually going for with my fuzz.

Guitar & Bass
Bass Only
Guitar Only
Click to expand...
Really nice. Thanks!

I'll do one after the new year when I have my TFR board back and installed. Headed to Mexico city tomorrow.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back