Well, back in the Dunwich club... Got a DIY HM-2 headed my way. Interested to see how it holds up against my other clones on bass, as well as guitar.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Dunwich Amplification General Discussion
- Thread starter socialleper
- Start date
You would have to email Seth, I am also un-aware of what is refers to.
Thats an older Rev2 I believe. Also I built that unit. Not as many that I specifically built.
Can anyone enlighten me as to the functions of/differences in the switches on the DIY HM-2? I can tell a large difference in the left switch when toggled, but nothing in the right switch. Thanks in advance.
Quick review of my thoughts regarding the DIY HM-2 after about 30 minutes of noodling and knob-twisting:
Definitely the best I've tried on bass so far. Simple to dial in, versatile enough for quick changes that still sound great, and retains a great amount of "heft" that other HM-2s lose at higher gain settings, even with relatively low amounts of clean blended in. It also sounds more "natural" (as far as HM-2s go) than any other HM-2 I've ever heard for bass. All in all, it pretty much instantly replaced my Throat Locust and Arion Metal Master as my go-to HM-2 for bass. I can easily cop both tones I use from those pedals with the Dunwich, and it sounds better doing so.
Guitar review - NOT my favorite. It sounds great, and it's aggressive and everything else, but it almost sounds too generic and not aggressive enough. Like a standard high gain metal amp. Again, not bad, but not necessarily HM-2ish. Basically, all the things that I love about it on bass make it looser on guitar with too much bass for my taste, even with the bass knob greatly reduced. I'm no guitar expert by any stretch, but it seemed to me like it was similar to a pedal I had that was based off of a Mesa Boogie, which had too loose of a low end and fizzy high end for my liking (though the Dunwich does not have the fizz issue).
It almost sounds almost too natural for me. I aim for the Dismember style HM-2 on guitar, and other pedals nail that better. This may sound objectively "better" for many uses, but for that specific tone, there are other, cheaper, more readily available, and better HM-2s. That being said, if you want a high gain amp in a box with an HM-2 flair for guitar, you could do far worse than the Dunwich DIY. But I'll stick with other clones for guitar. On bass, however, this thing is NOT leaving the board!
Definitely the best I've tried on bass so far. Simple to dial in, versatile enough for quick changes that still sound great, and retains a great amount of "heft" that other HM-2s lose at higher gain settings, even with relatively low amounts of clean blended in. It also sounds more "natural" (as far as HM-2s go) than any other HM-2 I've ever heard for bass. All in all, it pretty much instantly replaced my Throat Locust and Arion Metal Master as my go-to HM-2 for bass. I can easily cop both tones I use from those pedals with the Dunwich, and it sounds better doing so.
Guitar review - NOT my favorite. It sounds great, and it's aggressive and everything else, but it almost sounds too generic and not aggressive enough. Like a standard high gain metal amp. Again, not bad, but not necessarily HM-2ish. Basically, all the things that I love about it on bass make it looser on guitar with too much bass for my taste, even with the bass knob greatly reduced. I'm no guitar expert by any stretch, but it seemed to me like it was similar to a pedal I had that was based off of a Mesa Boogie, which had too loose of a low end and fizzy high end for my liking (though the Dunwich does not have the fizz issue).
It almost sounds almost too natural for me. I aim for the Dismember style HM-2 on guitar, and other pedals nail that better. This may sound objectively "better" for many uses, but for that specific tone, there are other, cheaper, more readily available, and better HM-2s. That being said, if you want a high gain amp in a box with an HM-2 flair for guitar, you could do far worse than the Dunwich DIY. But I'll stick with other clones for guitar. On bass, however, this thing is NOT leaving the board!
I do what I can! I'm not as well-traveled amp and gear-wise as many here, but I love my HM-2s and have had plenty of pedals of all sorts. Sometimes, I feel that the gear review world needs an "every day gear guy" to do reviews for people that don't have boutique gear. My gear isn't fancy, but it's more than capable. That's kinda my takeaway from a lot of reviews. I'll never have the $5k bass and amp, so show me what it can do on every day gear available to the working musician. It's much more useful info to me.
Thanks. I always run every pedal through both. Never know what you'll find!
Agreed. My Broughton Sunray hasn't left the guitar board since I got it other than to just try it on bass. I'm sure I'm missing out on the goodness on bass, but it's too perfect on guitar.
Fair question - I typically use it on a clean channel, which I know isn't exactly the "Dismember tone", but putting it through distortion is too much for me. Sounds great on the recordings, but not for me live. But the pedal settings are pretty much the same. I crank the EQ, gain at about 10:00 (I've found that since the tone doesn't change until much later, this gives the same tone with more controllable feedback), and volume as necessary. That's basically how I run most HM-2s for guitar.
Rad. Looking forward to hearing reviews. I contemplated picking one up but I've already got way too much dirt on my board.
There is no such thing!
Anyone else see the big box Wizard on Reverb for $550? Poof. Gone now.
Last edited:
Prices are getting crazy. I’m glad I picked up my VT and ODB (for like the third or fourth time each) when I did.
x-post from the Fuzz Addict thread 
Magic got this back in working order. Sounds terrifyingly lovely.
Magic got this back in working order. Sounds terrifyingly lovely.
seller was willing to go $450 and off verb but wouldn’t budge from $450. I am sure they got it. I have had the pleasure of playing and owning some of Nick and Magic’s stuff and especially for a bassist, it is top tier and if you doom...fuggedabboudit
What ended up being wrong with it?x-post from the Fuzz Addict thread
Magic got this back in working order. Sounds terrifyingly lovely.
View attachment 4371007
