Damnation Audio Fan/Appreciation Thread

[220_Hz]

A low gain MBD2 > Curmudgeon (Depth up / Gain around noon) works better than muffs with my 5-strings. Normally I’d run the MBD after, but in this case, I like the Curmudgeon’s power amp-ish grind after... Another part of that is running into Mesa SW 12’s

The curmudgeon essentially took the place of my tone bypassed muff by itself lol

+1 on curmudgeon being better than muffs

 

[Grahams Groove]

The curmudgeon essentially took the place of my tone bypassed muff by itself lol

+1 on curmudgeon being better than muffs

Interesting. Are you guys using the Curmudgeon as a fuzz pedal on it's own? Or does that application need to be stacked with other dirt? Curious how you'd compare what you're getting to specific muff pedals? For reference, I play riffy stuff and we never really do the doomy, bass-blanket 'wall of sound' thing. So my fuzz has to be defined, big sounding, but not washed out or overly squishy, if that makes any sense. My best bets so far have been W&C Super Russian, Broughton Calamity, and the one that's been on my board for a while is the 3Leaf Doom 2. The Doom is far from a muff, but the clean blend and aggressive sound allows me to play detailed riffy lines without it turning into a blur of hot garbage. It has two modes, and the builder likens the one I use to muff-ish territory...so it does the job and stays responsive.

 

[220_Hz]

Interesting. Are you guys using the Curmudgeon as a fuzz pedal on it's own? Or does that application need to be stacked with other dirt? Curious how you'd compare what you're getting to specific muff pedals? For reference, I play riffy stuff and we never really do the doomy, bass-blanket 'wall of sound' thing. So my fuzz has to be defined, big sounding, but not washed out or overly squishy, if that makes any sense. My best bets so far have been W&C Super Russian, Broughton Calamity, and the one that's been on my board for a while is the 3Leaf Doom 2. The Doom is far from a muff, but the clean blend and aggressive sound allows me to play detailed riffy lines without it turning into a blur of hot garbage. It has two modes, and the builder likens the one I use to muff-ish territory...so it does the job and stays responsive.

Try the curmudgeon by itself, you will not be disappointed. I use single coils so it can be a little prone to feedback but damn it rocks for articulate riff-based stuff. I use it in a fast & tight hardcore punk band, usually with the switch down, but the switch up is cool for when I’m having trouble dialing in my preamp. I can rely on that to always give me more punchy low end

For reference, listen to the latest pissed jeans album. I know he was probably using an ugly twin or something else, but I feel that the curmudgeon gets me pretty close with single coils and a slightly over driven preamp

 

[220_Hz]

I started stacking a super fuzz into the curmudgeon today
I sound like Sunn O)))

 

[Andy westwood]

was a squeeze but the second Blooper is in the board with the coloursound in the loop!

sounds killer

 

[Erithon]

Dirt Fixer Update:


Looks like some changes from the Invalid Link Removed:

• the enclosure has been rotated 90 degrees
• power jack moved to the right (from left)
• 3 switches (Polarity, LPF, and Notch) down to 2 (Polarity? and Notch)
• 5 knobs (Dry, Wet, Filter, Depth, Level) up to 6 (Dry, Wet, Low Mid, High Mid, Level?, and ???)

The text is small/obscure in that video so I'm not confident in my reading of all this. If you see something different, please correct me!

 

[whoismarykelly]

Dirt Fixer Update:


Looks like some changes from the Invalid Link Removed:

• the enclosure has been rotated 90 degrees
• power jack moved to the right (from left)
• 3 switches (Polarity, LPF, and Notch) down to 2 (Polarity? and Notch)
• 5 knobs (Dry, Wet, Filter, Depth, Level) up to 6 (Dry, Wet, Low Mid, High Mid, Level?, and ???)

The text is small/obscure in that video so I'm not confident in my reading of all this. If you see something different, please correct me!

We're just waiting on enclosures to finalize the design and build a batch but the final circuit includes Wet and Dry levels, polarity and dry voice switches, and a 4-band active EQ on the wet signal. Its been a ton of experimenting and brainstorming to get to this point but IMO its the kind of pedal you could dramatically alter any distortion device with if you so please. We'll have a ton of examples at release and over time.

 

[kranahan]

We're just waiting on enclosures to finalize the design and build a batch but the final circuit includes Wet and Dry levels, polarity and dry voice switches, and a 4-band active EQ on the wet signal. Its been a ton of experimenting and brainstorming to get to this point but IMO its the kind of pedal you could dramatically alter any distortion device with if you so please. We'll have a ton of examples at release and over time.

I would love to know what the dry voice switches are. LPF and/or HPF at fixed frequencies?

The EQ is post FX Loop, right? It seems like a dumb question but I actually used to own a pedal that had gain, LPF and HPF before the FX Loop.

 

[kleinenenten]

Two questions:

1 - Does the difference in knobs and/or LED color mean anything significant when it comes to the MBD-2? I recently got a second one for a steal, and noticed the knobs and LED were different than the first. No noticeable change in tone or anything else really, and was just curious.

2 - How does the Curmudgeon compare against a Rat-based pedal? I've been on a big Rat kick lately, but also really love my MBD-2s, so I thought "Hey - a Rat is a distortion, and so is the Curmudgeon..." You can see where this is going. I'm really enjoying the "clank" that some Rats can give, while also retaining the lows and natural feel of the bass. My current favorite Rats are the Tremond and Volt Thrower, with the Bass Mountain #3. The demos of the Curmudgeon seem more fuzz-oriented so far, so I'm not sure it's what I want, as I absolutely LOVE my current fuzzes.

 

[whoismarykelly]

I would love to know what the dry voice switches are. LPF and/or HPF at fixed frequencies?

The dry voice options are flat and a custom filter contour that emphasizes bass and de-emphasizes some low mid that can become messy. Its dramatically more complex than just a low pass filter and Jeff really nailed the sound of it. The EQ is post loop and only on the wet signal. We considered some pre-EQ options but in practice its too much complexity for not enough value to the user.

1 - Does the difference in knobs and/or LED color mean anything significant when it comes to the MBD-2? I recently got a second one for a steal, and noticed the knobs and LED were different than the first. No noticeable change in tone or anything else really, and was just curious.

All MBD2 are the same design although LED color may be different. AFAIK all the knobs were the same when they went out the door so perhaps someone changed the knobs on the one you got secondhand.

 

[Matt Dean]

Try the curmudgeon by itself, you will not be disappointed. I use single coils so it can be a little prone to feedback but damn it rocks for articulate riff-based stuff. I use it in a fast & tight hardcore punk band, usually with the switch down, but the switch up is cool for when I’m having trouble dialing in my preamp. I can rely on that to always give me more punchy low end

For reference, listen to the latest pissed jeans album. I know he was probably using an ugly twin or something else, but I feel that the curmudgeon gets me pretty close with single coils and a slightly over driven preamp

I like feedback with my fuzz pedals. I may have to try a curmudgeon .

 

[theunknowndude]

Two questions:

1 - Does the difference in knobs and/or LED color mean anything significant when it comes to the MBD-2? I recently got a second one for a steal, and noticed the knobs and LED were different than the first. No noticeable change in tone or anything else really, and was just curious.

2 - How does the Curmudgeon compare against a Rat-based pedal? I've been on a big Rat kick lately, but also really love my MBD-2s, so I thought "Hey - a Rat is a distortion, and so is the Curmudgeon..." You can see where this is going. I'm really enjoying the "clank" that some Rats can give, while also retaining the lows and natural feel of the bass. My current favorite Rats are the Tremond and Volt Thrower, with the Bass Mountain #3. The demos of the Curmudgeon seem more fuzz-oriented so far, so I'm not sure it's what I want, as I absolutely LOVE my current fuzzes.

curmudegon and rat act differently to me (especially with my 5 string active bass)… rat to be more way upper mids and highs with a bit of bass clank and a cut on my setup… holds ok lows but noticeable bass cut. That’s with pretty much any… silicon or led modes. Sounds good at home but drops out in my band mix, only way it worked ok was as a low overdrive and I have an overdrive already…

Curmudgeon seems to be its own things, similar yet not - with the switch up definitely a lot more bass comes through and seems more mids than the upper mids/ high grind of a rat…
But honeymoon has worn off on me a bit… my mbd1 just sounds better. More overdriven lows, more natural and clear articulate clank and grind.
I think curmudegon may come off as tend to be using mbd1 more for what I need in the gap between overdrive and fuzz

 

[220_Hz]

I’m still using my Curmudgeon as a main overdrive/distortion. For heavy music I’ve been stacking it with an octave fuzz, and for most other music I use it on its own.

I’m also using the bloop though, which is essential IMHO

 

[theunknowndude]

I’m still using my Curmudgeon as a main overdrive/distortion. For heavy music I’ve been stacking it with an octave fuzz, and for most other music I use it on its own.

I’m also using the bloop though, which is essential IMHO

Yeah I guess the mbd1 blend and depth just makes a whole lot of difference compared to running curmudgeon with no blend of any type…

 

[220_Hz]

Yeah I guess the mbd1 blend and depth just makes a whole lot of difference compared to running curmudgeon with no blend of any type…

@father of fires If the curmudgeon 3 ever becomes a thing, maybe replace the depth switch with a clean blend? Your clean blends are KILLER and I dig the curmudgeon with the depth switch down because it feels tighter

 

[kranahan]

$41 off all pedals on the Damnation Audio website right now. Today and tomorrow only.

 

[dedpool1052]

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[johnk_10]

bloops are sold out

 

[BklynKen]

bloops are sold out

Damn JHS Show!

 

[father of fires]

I was not expecting this response on the Bloops. Was everyone just waiting around to buy one?