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Damnation Audio Fan/Appreciation Thread

#5,641
I love both the MBD-2's low-gain and high-gain tones, but being able to access them via foot switch rather than toggle has me thinking I should pick up the MBD.

Does the boost foot switch on the MBD do essentially what the 20db toggle on the MBD-2 does?

I know there are some differences in the circuit, but am hoping that even with the contour blend that it isn't that far off from what I already love about the MBD-2.

Anyone have any insight they can offer?
 
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#5,642
MikoFX said:
I love both the MBD-2's low-gain and high-gain tones, but being able to access them via foot switch rather than toggle has me thinking I should pick up the MBD.
Click to expand...
The MBD will allow you to do this.

MikoFX said:
Does the boost foot switch on the MBD do essentially what the 20db toggle on the MBD-2 does?
Click to expand...
Check out the following:
whoismarykelly said:
It covers the range of the internal pre-gain trim on the MBD1 up through the 20dB boost on the MBD2 but is variable which allows for flexibility with gain staging. You can set the un-boosted sound for light growl and warmth and then hit the boost to get full distortion. You can also set the un-boosted sound for full drive and kick on the boost to take it over the top for high gain while retaining clarity. With a clean amp you can quickly access three levels of drive at your feet.
Click to expand...

whoismarykelly said:
The boost is part of the drive circuit. They aren't independent effects in one box. However, you can set the main drive to be lower gain and function like a boost and then use the boost function to turn the pedal into a distortion.
Click to expand...

whoismarykelly said:
If the Drive control is set such that the pedal is not making distortion and then you slam the boost to make the pedal distort, you will likely experience a change in volume on that channel because you were not previously reaching the clipping threshold. I personally consider this kind of an outlier configuration since most people want some amount of drive when they turn on their drive pedal. But I do see people using the pedal with the Drive control seemingly almost off so anything goes.

The intent of the Boost circuit is to make the pedal distort more. It is not intended to add volume.
Click to expand...

whoismarykelly said:
The MBD-1 has an internal preamp gain trim [Erithon edit: this is external on the MBD-2] that functions the same as the switchable boost on the MBD. So your MBD-1 is always boosted to some extent and the MBD allows you to run a lower gain 'main' sound if you like. The gain staging is all external which allows greater flexibility.
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#5,644
MikoFX said:
I love both the MBD-2's low-gain and high-gain tones, but being able to access them via foot switch rather than toggle has me thinking I should pick up the MBD.

Does the boost foot switch on the MBD do essentially what the 20db toggle on the MBD-2 does?

I know there are some differences in the circuit, but am hoping that even with the contour blend that it isn't that far off from what I already love about the MBD-2.

Anyone have any insight they can offer?
Click to expand...

While technically explained, I second that this is very much possible and exactly how I run it. There is a slight volume boost even with the boost setting at minimum, at least how I have it, but you can get the snarl a grit, but also that nice just touch of saturation if that's your thing as well. The MBD is great; although I loved my MBD-2 as well!
 
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#5,646
MikoFX said:
Anyone have any insight they can offer?
Click to expand...

I use MBD2 at a medium-ish overdrive setting and I use a separate pedal (light OD/dirty boost), JPTR Jive in my case, to boost MBD2 into a raunchier drive territory when I want to. I works really, really well. Stacking another dirt (or a boost) pedal into MBD2 gives me more tonal options too - I can use the other pedal independently of MBD2. MBD2 also has the frequency switch, which the newest one doesn't have, if you care for that. Just shooting another idea here for you.
 
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#5,647
mouthmw said:
I use MBD2 at a medium-ish overdrive setting and I use a separate pedal (light OD/dirty boost), JPTR Jive in my case, to boost MBD2 into a raunchier drive territory when I want to. I works really, really well. Stacking another dirt (or a boost) pedal into MBD2 gives me more tonal options too - I can use the other pedal independently of MBD2. MBD2 also has the frequency switch, which the newest one doesn't have, if you care for that. Just shooting another idea here for you.
Click to expand...

I'm actually also running a Jive in front of my MBD-2 to help shape it's tonal characteristics, so good call!

However, the problem with slamming a boost into it is that it would produce a significant jump in volume, whereas I need to maintain as close to unity as possible while switching between low-gain and high-gain tones.

Secondly, I'm up against space constraints... An MBD will fit, an additional boost in front of the MBD-2 will not. I've already had to make a tough decision to remove a pedal that I absolutely love but rarely use, so going with an MBD is a workable compromise as the option of high-gain will serve a similar purpose.
 
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#5,648
One thing to consider with pedals that have blends is the blend channel and the drive channel behave very differently with incoming volume boost. The drive channel when hit with a hotter signal will just get more distorted without change in volume. The blend channel is usually designed to be clean and maybe filtered so it will have plenty of headroom. If you hit that channel with a big signal boost it will just get louder and offset the balance you set up on the pedal.
 
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#5,649
whoismarykelly said:
One thing to consider with pedals that have blends is the blend channel and the drive channel behave very differently with incoming volume boost. The drive channel when hit with a hotter signal will just get more distorted without change in volume. The blend channel is usually designed to be clean and maybe filtered so it will have plenty of headroom. If you hit that channel with a big signal boost it will just get louder and offset the balance you set up on the pedal.
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Exactly! This is another reason why I think the MBD will best suit my use case :)
 
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#5,650
whoismarykelly said:
One thing to consider with pedals that have blends is the blend channel and the drive channel behave very differently with incoming volume boost. The drive channel when hit with a hotter signal will just get more distorted without change in volume. The blend channel is usually designed to be clean and maybe filtered so it will have plenty of headroom. If you hit that channel with a big signal boost it will just get louder and offset the balance you set up on the pedal.
Click to expand...

So is the boost on the MBD3 (boost switch on the 2) only hitting the dirty/drive side, and not the clean blend side? I assume that's the case, but never thought too much about it.
 
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#5,651
Grahams Groove said:
So is the boost on the MBD3 (boost switch on the 2) only hitting the dirty/drive side, and not the clean blend side? I assume that's the case, but never thought too much about it.
Click to expand...
Yes, exactly.
whoismarykelly said:
The boost is part of the drive circuit. They aren't independent effects in one box. However, you can set the main drive to be lower gain and function like a boost and then use the boost function to turn the pedal into a distortion.
Click to expand...
 
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