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I'm in on this. I got the blue version MBD-2 coming my way. I have a compact pedal board and only run 5 pedals max so the 2 makes more sense for me. This is the most rave reviews I have seen for a drive pedal.
The 2 and 1 sound so similar I wouldn't even worry about that part of it
The CME Blue MBD-2s are beautiful!
I’m a sucker for limited edition versions though. Too many years collecting comics and the like!
I was playing to a playlist today that had everything from Govt Mule, Tower of Power, Jaco, Vulfpeck, Kansas, P Funk, and much more. I was playing my 5 string passive P Bass through a Cali CB and my blue MBD-2, both were on the whole time. My tone was awesome, so good that I lost track of time and was almost late for work.
Got the MBD2 and yeah, its fantastic. What I really love is that I was able to dial in a really nice light OD and then if I want to go high gain, I just flip the +20 dB switch. No knob twiddling required. Bottom end is fantastic in this pedal
Sounds great for tightening up the sound and getting extra bite when I dig in. Or just going for pure grind. The fuzz is fun too, it goes to another dimension with the gain dimed, but probably need could use a noise gate with everything maxed.
I ran my L2500 in it, and oh man - thats a ferociously mean grind. I dont even play the heavy stuff anymore, but I do still like to spend some time grinding out when I can. This is such a cool pedal because it sounds a lot more organic to me than a Darkglass distortion sound, which is kind of played out.
I think anyone who has an L2000 series bass must own this thing just because its a perfect sonic fit. Of course it delivers with all my basses, but the L2000/MBD2 could easily become a legendary combo for heavy music.
Sounds great for tightening up the sound and getting extra bite when I dig in. Or just going for pure grind. The fuzz is fun too, it goes to another dimension with the gain dimed, but probably need could use a noise gate with everything maxed.
I ran my L2500 in it, and oh man - thats a ferociously mean grind. I dont even play the heavy stuff anymore, but I do still like to spend some time grinding out when I can. This is such a cool pedal because it sounds a lot more organic to me than a Darkglass distortion sound, which is kind of played out.
I think anyone who has an L2000 series bass must own this thing just because its a perfect sonic fit. Of course it delivers with all my basses, but the L2000/MBD2 could easily become a legendary combo for heavy music.
Great to hear that you dig the pedal. I agree that it's much more organic than DG pedals. I'm just not a fan of any of the DG od/distortions. They seem to be made well but sound very synthetic and get lost in the mix. The MBD just sounds natural and sits in the mix perfectly.
Yeah you made a good call there. Its going on my board and im set for overdrive. One pedal pretty much covers me for what I need - light OD to full fuzz. Awesome.
One of the other things that I love about the MBD2, besides the fact that it is, by far, the best drive pedal I've ever owned, is the fact that it's a friendly pedal! It plays so nicely with my Spaceman Saturn VI and Apollo VII! I'm using the S6 as a tone warmer/super light OD, the A7 as a medium gain grit, and the MBD2 as my higher gain raunch! I love the Spaceman stuff, but the MBD2 was doing all 3 of those jobs on its own, and doing them VERY well! Running the S6 into MBD2 almost eliminates the need for the 20db switch, the S6 just pushes the MBD2 into Super Happy Fun Distortion Land!
I've never been a fan of dirty bass until I got this combo...
I've never been a fan of dirty bass until I got this combo...
I say this every time, but wait until you stack it with other gain. I like mine after my distortion. It makes them super chunky...
It's almost like the pedal was designed specifically for offering an organic od/distortion solution for high volume passive pick-ups such as the MFD
The MBD-1 works wonders for my SB-1 be it light OD or full-blown distortion, has been part of my instrument since I got it, and isn't going anywhere anytime ever.
Any of you encounter this?
I have a Strymon Ojai 5. I believe each output can only put out 9 volts, which is fine. Had the MPD2 in the second to last slot (power cable order) and it works fine. Moved it to the last slot (switched to last power cable) to try my 5th gear in front of it, and the MPD2 would not turn off. Id hit the button and it just said on. Switched them back, everything was fine. 5th gear had no issues in the last slot.
Went back and tried again and now the MPD works fine in the last slot. Just really odd. I notice when I plug in the power cable to the MPD it instantly powers on without me pressing the pedal button. Only pedal I have that does that. Not sure if that is the way the pedal is made, so I figured I'd ask you all here.
I have a Strymon Ojai 5. I believe each output can only put out 9 volts, which is fine. Had the MPD2 in the second to last slot (power cable order) and it works fine. Moved it to the last slot (switched to last power cable) to try my 5th gear in front of it, and the MPD2 would not turn off. Id hit the button and it just said on. Switched them back, everything was fine. 5th gear had no issues in the last slot.
Went back and tried again and now the MPD works fine in the last slot. Just really odd. I notice when I plug in the power cable to the MPD it instantly powers on without me pressing the pedal button. Only pedal I have that does that. Not sure if that is the way the pedal is made, so I figured I'd ask you all here.
father of fires
Commercial User
Not sure about the last slot issue but the MBD 2 is programmed to turn on when you plug it in for people that have pedals mounted in cases or don't want to tap dance every time they plug their puddle board in.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Mammoth Tamer incoming. Will see how the low end differs relative to my regular bloop. I don't have any buffer-haters on my board right now, but I'm still intrigued to see if they sound different.
Mammoth Tamer is inbound as well, have several pedals that will be used with it. Got one of the last two
Mine showed up today. Will hopefully have time to mess with it tonight...
@father of fires - If I A/B the Bloop and MT Bloop with the same fuzz pedal and same settings, should there be a discernible difference in the shape of the clean lows each of them ads? Or is it way more pronounced difference with a buffer-hatin' fuzz?
I noticed a slight difference between both myself. The 1 has a Slight little something In it. They are both kinda equal meaning as far as knob settings are different. I still have both myself.
Put the Mammoth Tamer on my board and moved the standard Bloop to my small board. The differences are subtle with pedals that are fine with buffered signals. To my ears, the MT has slightly tighter lows and sounds a bit more defined up top. So the original Bloop sounds like it low passes your dry tone more and fattens the bottom before you mix it back in. Maybe I’m crazy though.
Anyway, Damnation has a strong presence on both boards. I’m Blooping a GMP on my small board and it is a whole different beast. I really liked the GMP already as a OD and chunky distortion, but I was keeping the tone knob around noon to maintain the lows even though I wanted more high end emphasis. Now I can roll that thing up a good bit and the Bloop brings the thunder back in. It sounds great...
