I had another pedal maker talk me into it. When a peer is telling you to buy someone else’s pedal, you listen. The MBD1 is permanent now and has made me rethink the other boxes that need to go
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I had the big box a few years ago but I also had a ton of dirt pedals then. I figured if I ever needed to pick just one then the MBD1 would be it. I ended up selling it, followed by a bunch of others. I’ve got a new Hilbish preamp on the way. Once that gets here, we’ll see what the budget and dirt needs look like.
Same here. Grizzly is really great, but I eventually sold it after I got my MBD. A cool advantage to the MBD is that I find it much easier to tweak. Some of the Grizzly's controls were really sensitive.
Also, the MBD is a keeper for me: my go to neutral OD/distortion/fuzz (note: I like it better than true fuzz). For hard rock I tend to go with colored distortions (I have quite a few), but a favorite trick is to do something like this: run my Darkglass B7K at lower gain, but kick on the MBD ahead of it (stacking them together) when I want heavier crunch. Of course I have the option of MBD on + B7K off when I want a more neutral distortion. And there are gigs where I use MBD and nothing else.
Same, I really wish he'd make one that has two footswitches and two gain stages.
Im feeling like I have to get one of these today. I love my X7 but it's been hard to find a consistency in it. I thought I really wanted a bi-amped sound and it's been great to play fast with lots of distortion and still retain so much note definition, but still can't get it to sound "right".
Does anyone know why the MBD-1 is more expensive on the site if the MBD-2 is the same and has additional features?
Does anyone know why the MBD-1 is more expensive on the site if the MBD-2 is the same and has additional features?
Interesting. Maybe the "go away" pricing to get people buying the new one? I haven't read about any major differences.
father of fires
Commercial User
father of fires
Commercial User
The 2 is the future but if people want a 1 I'll sell them while I have the parts.
Hey humans. Anyone using an MBD with their EBMM Sterling or Stingray?
I’ve had a jazz and P bass for a long time, and my dirt pedals are all dialed in to sound great with those bases. I recently picked up an EBMM sterling, and I love the clean tone. But, I’m finding that when running it through my rat pedal stacked with my MBD, it’s almost losing some balls and clarity. The breakup is sounding sort of mushy/washed out on top, instead of chunky. That combo typically adds some chunk and clarity and punch to my jazz.
Backing off the volume on my Sterling and messing with the EQ isn’t really solving it. I’m wondering if a buffer buster or something like that could help if it’s an issue of the Sterling just being too hot and low-mid pushed for my dirt pedals set as they are.
Hoping I won’t have to reconfigure things for each bass, but maybe that’s just the reality since they sound so different.
Anyway, curious to hear if anyone else is using a ray or Sterling and how they’re finding the combo with the MBD and other dirt...
I’ve had a jazz and P bass for a long time, and my dirt pedals are all dialed in to sound great with those bases. I recently picked up an EBMM sterling, and I love the clean tone. But, I’m finding that when running it through my rat pedal stacked with my MBD, it’s almost losing some balls and clarity. The breakup is sounding sort of mushy/washed out on top, instead of chunky. That combo typically adds some chunk and clarity and punch to my jazz.
Backing off the volume on my Sterling and messing with the EQ isn’t really solving it. I’m wondering if a buffer buster or something like that could help if it’s an issue of the Sterling just being too hot and low-mid pushed for my dirt pedals set as they are.
Hoping I won’t have to reconfigure things for each bass, but maybe that’s just the reality since they sound so different.
Anyway, curious to hear if anyone else is using a ray or Sterling and how they’re finding the combo with the MBD and other dirt...
My dirt board, including MBD-2, is set up for my Stingray. It's the only dirt pedal on that board I don't use with a Bloop. I haven't had issues like you describe with the MBD-2 but also haven't really explored stacking it with other pedals. The Stingray does overpower my SGFX Beta II and pushes it into break up even with the toggle switch in the clean EQ position with the gain circuit bypassed. I tried a buffer buster with this combo out of curiosity but it made no difference, so I guess it's the hot signal clipping something in the Beta's circuitry. I tried stacking the Beta into my Mountainking Behemoth II (both in the same Bloop loop) and funnily enough had some low end drop out, which I assume was due to a phasing mismatch. Could your problem be a phase issue between the MBD and the rat?
Edit: I'm assuming you've tried this, but there's also a significant increase in low mids heft with the MBD-2's mids toggle switch in the down position
You may have already done this but try the MBD last.
I personally stack by putting the "sound" that I want last.
As in: if you want the MBD sound with the rat kicking it into high gear, run the MBD after the rat.
Right? In the original MBD case but oriented sideways.
That would be killer.
father of fires
Commercial User
