Cross-post from the
Fuzz Addict Club - there's been a decent discussion of CMC Effects take on the various iterations of Muffs lately, and I decided to try one out. If any of you are in the market, I'd recommend checking them out.
The CMC Civil War did not disappoint in my mix test this morning. The right amount of bass (not too much like some Russians, nor too little like many others), just enough treble and dirt to be heard but not harsh, and I can see myself really using two of the three diode options (SIL and LED). I have a preference for SIL, as I find it more open and natural sounding with less compression, but I can see both getting used. As an even better bonus, I have plenty left on the sustain knob - it's only at 9:00! I briefly turned it up to 10:30 to see how that sounded, and I quite enjoyed it too if I need something a little heavier. These settings work on both of my main basses with different tunings (5 strings with a standard tuned one and one tuned a whole step down) and with each of the songs/styles I mentioned previously. Overall, I'm really enjoying this pedal, and really tempted to get more CMC Muffs - especially his Russian takes. If this one is the most aggressive, and I've got it at 9:00-10:30 on the sustain knob, I'm interested to see what I can coax out of more gain on the less aggressive offerings.
Random (and serious, non-troll) question - who uses GE diodes on a Muff? I feel like every time I have that option, it's too loose, indistinct, and with no definition. But it seems a popular option as many Muffs have it. So what am I missing? Is it just not anywhere near my tonal goals (which is certainly possible)? Is it a temperature thing (don't GE diodes change characteristics with temperature, or is that something else...) and my basement is too cold? Is it a "guitar" thing and doesn't do as well on bass? Just curious, as it's something that must clearly get used by many people, but I have never seen anything useful from it.
Back to doom talk - anybody snowed in? What are you jamming to? I need to add to my repertoire again, just because. I'm really trying to be productive this year, and keep up some of the positive things I've been working on the past few months. Doing a dry January, likely turning into a dry few months, getting back to my reading routine after nearly two months of being slammed at work, getting sick, and just life preventing me from being able to focus on a book, and continuing to try and dwindle down my pedal collection. Later today I'm dropping off my old Peavey guitar amps for some TLC since they're both current out of commission. They're both ~30 years old, and one has been in decline for a while, but the other just died last week out of the blue. Similar symptoms, and I'm sure it's an easy fix, but I'm even more sure that I'm NOT the one to do it...
