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Damnation Audio Fan/Appreciation Thread

#321
Grahams Groove said:
When I bought mine I was using a homemade board roughly the size of a PT Classic Jr. Since I've down-sized to a Metro 20, I'm finding space is much more of a factor. Particularly something that pushes into the third rail and eats up space where I could have a 125B sideways along the top. I get it though. On my previous board it was a non-issue...
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Don’t get me wrong, I get it. But after hearing what the MBD1 does firsthand and having for one for a bit, it’s one of those pedals where it doesn’t matter what size it is, it’s gonna get space made for it. I use to run 9 dirt pedals. Shortly after I got the MBD1, I went to 4. I use the MBD1 for 75% of my dirt sounds.
 
#322
1. do you care what style of boost?
I play a solid state amp (Quilter Bass Block) so I don't really need to push the front end, I would more use it to push pedals if that makes sense. I would trust in the expert opinions of others regarding boost type and see how I could use it for my own sound.
2. along with a boost gain control, would you need a separate volume control when boosted?
That would be helpful to help have a little more control over the whole system.
3. how do you use the boost (ie. set the MBD for low gain and then boost for distortion or set the MBD for high gain and then boost for insanity?)
I use my setup kinda like a 2-channel amp - MBD as always on slightly unclean/dirty tone (cleans up super nice in response to lighter playing!), AE OCD as the dirt channel (which ends up being on most of the time). I would use the boost in this case to further beef up the sound during guitar solos. I play in a 3-piece doom/heavy metal band, so I am looking for solutions to keep the sound heavy during solos. Currently, I'm using a Wounded Paw Blender V1 - nothing is in the loop, but just taking advantage of the 15 dB boost the volume control provides (it's dimed). To be honest, I've never really gone whole hog with diming the gain on the MDB and then throwing more gain on top of that because that slightly dirty tone is just so darn good.
4. carrots?
Keeps the doctor away!
5. and this one is most important. What are you using now to boost it? I do see lots of people stacking pedals so is a boost truly needed or just convenient?
I'm stacking an Abominable Electronics Oppressive Cult Destroyer into my MBD. I use it with the LED mode always on (it has more gain, a meaner sound plus the ghoul's eye light up when you play....it's actually really fun to watch hahaha). I wanted to take advantage of the unique tone of each pedal and how they sound stacked. So the theoretical Damnation boost would be used for the situation mentioned above in 3.
6. Would you still be bringing your other pedals too?
Definitely! If this product were to exist, I would definitely be curious to see how it plays with my other dirt boxes and on guitar as well.
7. Do you use the internal boost trim? How do you set it?
Factory settings!
8. Do you use a boost because the available gain is not enough?
No, I really love the way the MBD sounds as a slightly dirty channel. There's definitely enough gain on tap.
9. Are you worried about noise with excessive gain?
Some feedback is good in my case (just not too much)! Worst case, there's always a noise suppressor.

And the big one:
10. What's more important? Smaller size or an integrated boost?
I would be for a slightly smaller size of the MDB with the boost as a standalone pedal (not just because I need more things to stoke the GAS/excuse for another Damnation product). I was a big fan of the boost prototype that you had for the pedal expo in Brooklyn back in October. Regarding the size, it's not too much of an issue, but smaller pedals mean more room for other stuff on your board!
 
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#324
So I've been on the hunt for an MBD for not so long, but long enough that I'm getting antsy, and I there's a V four B up right now and I'm trying to decide whether or not to be patient and wait for the next batch of MBDs or pull the trigger on the V and see how that treats me. I dont play super heavy music so the boost/cut of the treble and the cleaner clean appeal to me, but I dont know... I'm leaning toward just waiting. What say the wisdom of the crowd?
 
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#325
mirrorful said:
So I've been on the hunt for an MBD for not so long, but long enough that I'm getting antsy, and I there's a V four B up right now and I'm trying to decide whether or not to be patient and wait for the next batch of MBDs or pull the trigger on the V and see how that treats me. I dont play super heavy music so the boost/cut of the treble and the cleaner clean appeal to me, but I dont know... I'm leaning toward just waiting. What say the wisdom of the crowd?
Click to expand...
That V Four B used to belong to me.
It’s pretty amazing, definitely in the same vein as an MBD-1.. I used it more as an overdrive, paired with my actual MBD-1. The internal trim for gain was crucial, got some crazy gnarly tones with it dimed. It also did always on tubey goodness pretty well, with the gain dialed lower, so it’s pretty versatile.
Basically sold it because having two MBD-1 enclosures on one board just wasn’t working for me.
Also, if you wind up getting it, hit me up if you’d like to buy the set of Hilbish knobs I bought for it (buyer decided on the stock knobs look)
3304D799-9100-420B-BE75-0175213D9396.jpeg
 
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#327
donahue said:
Try it, you can always flip it, but you'll still wonder how it compares to an MBD. It's been flipped several times, also by folks who own an MBD as well, so thats also something to think about.
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This^

That's what is giving me pause. I've seen how many times it's been flipped. I read before that Jeff would like to improve some things about the mid & lo, so I think I'm going to sit this one out. I'm sure someone else will pick this up before too long. I'd rather have this money free for when the the opportunity for an MBD comes up.

Thanks for the collective wisdom.
 
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#329
donahue said:
I would still like to AB the V Four B against my MBD for kicks though. That would be fun. I'm in the opposite camp, always wondering how different they sound. It haunts me a tad.
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They’re certainly different enough to warrant owning both. I remember the EQ on the VFourB being a lot more sensitive / having a more apparent “sweep” than the MBD. Like most other pedals, it paired really well with the MBD-1.
Really couldn’t handle the real estate that having both took up. I’d be down to pick up a smaller enclosured version, for sure (or a smaller MBD-1, for that matter!)
 
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#330
donahue said:
I would still like to AB the V Four B against my MBD for kicks though. That would be fun. I'm in the opposite camp, always wondering how different they sound. It haunts me a tad.
Click to expand...

I had it prior to Cataract, and got to AB the two. The MBD is quite a bit deeper in the low-end, and I thought it did much better in the light/moderate OD realm. With the internal gain cranked on the MBD, the outer gain knob will get into distortion but it's not fuzzy (for me) unless you slam the front end with drive/boost. In comparison, the V4 can turn into an aggressive throaty fuzz with the gain cranked. The Ultra-Lo knob does much less than the MBD's Depth knob, and the V4 is much more mid-prominent. Not sure if the clean knob on the V4 is low-passed or not. Also, the treble knob on the V4 is very different from the tilt EQ on the MBD.
 
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#331
I don't own the MBD-1 (yet), but I've been following this thread for the past several months before creating an account. I will likely be getting the pedal regardless of size, but a smaller size would be the only change I could see being useful for me. All the other extra bells and whistles are nice, but one of things that draws me to the pedal is it's straightforward design and simplicity.
 
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#333
Grahams Groove said:
I had it prior to Cataract, and got to AB the two. The MBD is quite a bit deeper in the low-end, and I thought it did much better in the light/moderate OD realm. With the internal gain cranked on the MBD, the outer gain knob will get into distortion but it's not fuzzy (for me) unless you slam the front end with drive/boost. In comparison, the V4 can turn into an aggressive throaty fuzz with the gain cranked. The Ultra-Lo knob does much less than the MBD's Depth knob, and the V4 is much more mid-prominent. Not sure if the clean knob on the V4 is low-passed or not. Also, the treble knob on the V4 is very different from the tilt EQ on the MBD.
Click to expand...

Nice description! I was daydreaming of a separate mini board centered around the V Four B (right now I have mini board gas lol), but it seems like more of an agressive mid-heavy pedal, than an all-arounder like the MBD. I need an all-arounder for a mini board.
 
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#334
It seems like y'all have it covered on the VFourB.

I will add that there's a reason it's not a production pedal and that's because it's not fully fleshed out.

I sold it purely to have something for Black Friday last year. I never hid what it was.

For the right player it's a nice distortion.

For someone wanting and MBD it misses the mark.

Maybe I should buy it back for the museum.
 
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#335
It's fun having these prototypes out there and I'm sure that it will land in someones lap who can make good use of it. I was interested because of the cleaner cleans and the treb boost/cut, but knowing it was a test pedal and not the finished product is what made me wait on it.

I had a V4B at one time but sold it and if you want to crank out a tube pre pedal for one of those, I'd be first to sign in blood at the top of that list.
 
#337
Also, everyone thanks for your input.

I keep shooting myself in the foot by working on everything except the one thing people want.

The Contour Pre and Loop Blend will be limited runs to test the water. I made several prototypes and revisions to get to this point.

I tried 3 different PCB revisions for the GMP but the next run will be the standard old version cause it sounds the best.

I tried 2 revised MBD PCB's but the next batch will be the Rev B. which is the last major revision I released and is probably how it'll stay for a while.

The Ugly Twin is coming along nicely. I'm really proud of it. It's not specifically for bass but its so much fun to play. That took 4 prototypes.

I mocked up boosts, DI's, preamps, limiters, etc. Nothing I have time to build sadly.

I have a run of pedals I designed and built for a friend which will be released soon but one of my manufacturers have been jerking me around so that's been a major time suck.

All this while I could have just been building MBD's and actually making money.

I feel lazy when I look at some of the other TB boutique guys but I just try and remind myself that I suck at time management.

Thanks everyone for the constant feedback and support.
 
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#339
IMG_0635.JPG


Jeff, here is a very crude drawing I just drew up on lunch break. Would it be this simple to give folks 2 switchable gain levels on the MBD? Have an alternating footswitch coming out of the circuit with literally two gain controls wired in parallel out of the footswitch and back into the gain control part of the pcb? I know nothing about electronic pedal stuff, but the concept seems legit, no?
 
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#340
donahue said:
View attachment 3035734

Jeff, here is a very crude drawing I just drew up on lunch break. Would it be this simple to give folks 2 switchable gain levels on the MBD? Have an alternating footswitch coming out of the circuit with literally two gain controls wired in parallel out of the footswitch and back into the gain control part of the pcb? I know nothing about electronic pedal stuff, but the concept seems legit, no?
Click to expand...


You missed an output for the circuit but that's a good visualization.

So if the idea is just two gain settings and not a boost then that is actually easier to implement.

Where I was getting confused was that it seems like folks want a boost and not just two gain level choices.
 
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