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.
The Mutron Club : only quacks allowed...
- Thread starter Mosfed
- Start date
does the other side of yours have a sticker? Can it handle 220v? Or only 110? I feel like the description was better a week ago when you first posted it.
Mik3tron3
Guest
ANSWERS ABOUT MU-FX RE-ISSUES OF MUSITRONICS MU-TRON PRODUCTS, by Mike Beigel
I looked through all the posts and questions about Mu-Tron (original Musitronics) and our "Enhanced Reissue" Mu-FX products.
Here are answers to as many questions as are still relevant to answer.
MU-FX OCTAVE DIVIDER--We made a production run in 2014 and now it's completely sold out.
The product was expensive to make. We ended up finishing assembly and calibration from a few units we got back from our ex-subcontract-manufacturer, and now the entire production run is sold out. (The last ones we sold for $499 due to extra work we had to do on them at our lab.) We have about 50 HOUSINGS left, but no PC boards to go with them! If we get 50 or more requests to buy these products (with new circuit boards installed, of course! They would cost $499 on account of the extra cost for making only 50 more units.
TRU-TRON 3X- As with the Octave Divider, we "resurrected about 20 more Tru-Tron3X received from ex-manufacturer in various states of non-completion. These are also for sale at $499 till sold out.
TRU-TRON 3X with pedal option. We are making a few prototype units of TT3X with a control pedal jack, and a customized Mission pedal to go with them. We will only sell the 3X and the pedal together, because most CV or EXP pedals don't have the right pots in them. After these are made and sold, we will then be SOLD OUT of all Tru-Tron 3X.
WE HOPE TO MAKE A NEWER, SMALLER, LESS EXPENSIVE 3X TYPE Product in the near future, but we don't know when or IF they will actually become available.
BOOSTRON 3- This NEW product (not a Musitronics re-issue) is 3 products in one pedal-board sized housing: A FET preamp, an "ORANGE SQUEEZER" type compressor and a "RAT-LIKE" overdrive/distortion effect. Between the Preamp and the Compressor is an EFFECTS LOOP, which can handle an extra effect or multiple effects. This product operates from a 9V DC supply, and can be bought direct from www.mu-fx.com for $299.95. It is very versatile, with extra controls on all 3 effects for synergistic advantage. A cooperative design-effort by myself and Rand Anderson (an FX connoisseur and very creative WORKING musician, we bring to the pedal-board a new concept of tone-creation and expression.
POWER SUPPLIES- We now sell the CIOKS AC-10 multiple isolated power supply, which has 2 isolated 12V AC outputs (for TT3X, Octave Divider, and other 12V AC effects by other companies, as well as 6 isolated 9 volt supplies, with many other options. THIS POWER SUPPLY WORKS ON 120 AND 240 VOLT POWER LINES, so is suitable for use overseas in most countries.
We continue to sell the 12V AC power supplies for 120 volt line. For 240 volt lines, it's best to buy a power supply in the country of use, or a 240-120 LOW POWER adaptor.
FLANGER, PHASOR, OTHER RE-ISSUE PRODUCTS- We would like to re-issue improved versions of all the Musitronics original products, but that depends on REQUESTS for the products and PRE-ORDERS once the new products are announced. That's how we finance our company and hope to keep bringing you these products--which are AUTHORIZED re-issues, by contract with the original founders and stockholders of the original Musitronics Corp.
Thanks for reading all this!
Mike Beigel
I looked through all the posts and questions about Mu-Tron (original Musitronics) and our "Enhanced Reissue" Mu-FX products.
Here are answers to as many questions as are still relevant to answer.
MU-FX OCTAVE DIVIDER--We made a production run in 2014 and now it's completely sold out.
The product was expensive to make. We ended up finishing assembly and calibration from a few units we got back from our ex-subcontract-manufacturer, and now the entire production run is sold out. (The last ones we sold for $499 due to extra work we had to do on them at our lab.) We have about 50 HOUSINGS left, but no PC boards to go with them! If we get 50 or more requests to buy these products (with new circuit boards installed, of course! They would cost $499 on account of the extra cost for making only 50 more units.
TRU-TRON 3X- As with the Octave Divider, we "resurrected about 20 more Tru-Tron3X received from ex-manufacturer in various states of non-completion. These are also for sale at $499 till sold out.
TRU-TRON 3X with pedal option. We are making a few prototype units of TT3X with a control pedal jack, and a customized Mission pedal to go with them. We will only sell the 3X and the pedal together, because most CV or EXP pedals don't have the right pots in them. After these are made and sold, we will then be SOLD OUT of all Tru-Tron 3X.
WE HOPE TO MAKE A NEWER, SMALLER, LESS EXPENSIVE 3X TYPE Product in the near future, but we don't know when or IF they will actually become available.
BOOSTRON 3- This NEW product (not a Musitronics re-issue) is 3 products in one pedal-board sized housing: A FET preamp, an "ORANGE SQUEEZER" type compressor and a "RAT-LIKE" overdrive/distortion effect. Between the Preamp and the Compressor is an EFFECTS LOOP, which can handle an extra effect or multiple effects. This product operates from a 9V DC supply, and can be bought direct from www.mu-fx.com for $299.95. It is very versatile, with extra controls on all 3 effects for synergistic advantage. A cooperative design-effort by myself and Rand Anderson (an FX connoisseur and very creative WORKING musician, we bring to the pedal-board a new concept of tone-creation and expression.
POWER SUPPLIES- We now sell the CIOKS AC-10 multiple isolated power supply, which has 2 isolated 12V AC outputs (for TT3X, Octave Divider, and other 12V AC effects by other companies, as well as 6 isolated 9 volt supplies, with many other options. THIS POWER SUPPLY WORKS ON 120 AND 240 VOLT POWER LINES, so is suitable for use overseas in most countries.
We continue to sell the 12V AC power supplies for 120 volt line. For 240 volt lines, it's best to buy a power supply in the country of use, or a 240-120 LOW POWER adaptor.
FLANGER, PHASOR, OTHER RE-ISSUE PRODUCTS- We would like to re-issue improved versions of all the Musitronics original products, but that depends on REQUESTS for the products and PRE-ORDERS once the new products are announced. That's how we finance our company and hope to keep bringing you these products--which are AUTHORIZED re-issues, by contract with the original founders and stockholders of the original Musitronics Corp.
Thanks for reading all this!
Mike Beigel
Mik3tron3
Guest
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hi BoOtsy,
We had one "hecK" of a time with foreign power supply units. The Octave Divider took higher current than the TT3X and when used with different types of EU voltage (and frequency!!!) adaptors, the voltage regulators (rarely) bottomed-out due to lower input voltage than we designed it for. My bad. We now sell (in USA only) the CIOKS AC-!0 multiple isolated power supply, which operates on 120 AND 240 volt lines, and has 2 ISOLATED 12V AC outputs as well as 6 isolated 9V DC outputs, and other voltage options. Please, if interested, check CIOKS website for EU dealers. I highly recommend this high-quality power block for any user of Mu-FX (and some other manufacturers') 12V AC powered products.
We use the 12VAC power supply to derive dual REGULATED + and - power rails, with TRUE GROUND in the middle. This is intrinsically different from, for example, 18 volt or higher SINGLE SIDE SUPPLIES (i.e. +18 and "Ground", with a "Derived Ground" obtained by splitting the +18volts in half, and buffering the resulting 9volt "Ground" as best one can.) It's too bad that our TrueGround approach with high-dynamic range (+ / - 12)volt rails is not easily obtainable from the usual +9V DC outputs so standard on most pedals and block supplies. There is a way to derive the dual-rail voltages using "switching converter/regulators" but when I look at the (often in-audible) spikes generated by these types of supplies INSIDE the FX units that use them, I see the possibility for intermodulation and other kinds of distortion that could degrade the over-all 'sound'. Though this remains to be proved experimentally, I continue to design products as "all analog" as possible.
Mike Beigel
Mik3tron3
Guest
Hello Mosfed,
Having been ignorant of the Mutron Club till very recently, I want to thank you and the other members for starting the club in the first place, and for its continuation.
Though I haven't read all of the pages, questions and answers, I will try to comment on various subjects that could use more "input".
Working in other fields of industry for quite a number of years, now in my "golden years" I have tried some reissue products with the sanction and official approval of the (remaining) founders and stockholders of Musitronics Corp (in 1972). I established Mu-FX (R) in 2012 and have tried under some difficult circumstances to re-issue some 'as good AND better" versions of the original Musitronics products. It is not now possible to make the products in sufficient quantity to bring the prices down to the point they could be readily sold by music retailers, and we have already run out of products that were produced in rather small numbers. With thorough study of "what made the original products so special" and what improvements might be made with present new components and manufacturing methods, I'm convinced that the "as good AND better" philosophy of design can be carried forward to make enhanced reissues of the original product line, plus many new product ideas for items that Musitronics "would have made" if fate had allowed, and also the use of new technologies and components for signal processing and control which are available now.
What is now needed is sufficient and forward-looking financial backing for these development efforts. Due to my age and health, I have accomplished only a fraction of what was originally planned for Mu-FX. I also am looking for an "intern, apprentice, whatever-you-call him or her" to carry forward the "no compromise" design philosophy that began so many years ago.
Please let me know any ideas or possibilities for these objectives. (My location is near San Diego CA, so someone "local" is needed for an apprentice/successor.
Although the acquisition of the USA Mu-Tron trademark by Henry Zajac (HAZ Labs) at first caused me some emotional reaction, we have recently re-established contact and are now on good terms. What this might mean for the future I do not know, but one can always hope for the best....
Thanks to all,
Mike Beigel
Mik3tron3
Guest
Thanks to whoever found the CAE power supplies. I will get some, test them and hopefully thus avoid having to re-design what's already available for the Musitronics Mu-Tron III.
For general information: The Mu-Tron III original products operate from (+9Volts DC, -9Volts DC and "TRUE GROUND"). This is consistent with the best-mode operation of the original (4558) operational amplifiers within the product. I have found that the better-regulated the supplies are, the quieter and more consistent the product audio performance.
I have NOT tested out the possibility of "stacking" two ISOLATED 9V supplies to provide the dual rails and "true ground". Mainly, the original PS-1 used Positive and Negative voltages regulated by Zener diodes (the best we could do back in the day). The Tru-Tron 3X uses Positive and Negative 9Volt IC voltage regulators. Stacking two (Positive regulated 9v supplies) on top of each other might not yield the stable TRUE GROUND in the middle. On the other hand, they just might....
In my non-existent spare time, I will try out the above configuration with the CIOKS AC-10 Supply we now re-sell (with isolated 9VDC and isolated 12V AC supplies) and report back on the results.
In any case, thanks to CAE for producing their supplies with the very elusive 3-pin plug!.
Mike Beigel
For general information: The Mu-Tron III original products operate from (+9Volts DC, -9Volts DC and "TRUE GROUND"). This is consistent with the best-mode operation of the original (4558) operational amplifiers within the product. I have found that the better-regulated the supplies are, the quieter and more consistent the product audio performance.
I have NOT tested out the possibility of "stacking" two ISOLATED 9V supplies to provide the dual rails and "true ground". Mainly, the original PS-1 used Positive and Negative voltages regulated by Zener diodes (the best we could do back in the day). The Tru-Tron 3X uses Positive and Negative 9Volt IC voltage regulators. Stacking two (Positive regulated 9v supplies) on top of each other might not yield the stable TRUE GROUND in the middle. On the other hand, they just might....
In my non-existent spare time, I will try out the above configuration with the CIOKS AC-10 Supply we now re-sell (with isolated 9VDC and isolated 12V AC supplies) and report back on the results.
In any case, thanks to CAE for producing their supplies with the very elusive 3-pin plug!.
Mike Beigel
It's so good to have The Man himself join this thread! Welcome, Mike!
I really hope you'll be able to make a less expensive 3X. I just can't afford the current version, although I have NO DOUBT it's worth every penny.
I wish I had the skills to fill this position!
I quoted myself from the first page of this thread (I'm #2 in the Mu-Tron Club). I just wanted to thank you, Mike Matthews and EHX for making the Q-Balls. Until I can afford an original Mu-Tron III or a Tru-Tron 3X, the Q-Balls fills the void quite well, and the Attack/Decay/Start/Stop and Distortion make it incredibly versatile. Even when I finally get a Mu-Tron or Tru-Tron, I'm keeping my Q-Balls!
I echo what Filterfunk says above. Fantastic to have you on here Mike, and thanks so much for taking the time to respond to some of the threads. My Mu-Fx Octave Divider, Mu-Tron 3x, and original Mu Tron III remain my absolute favourite pedals. When it comes to envelope filters the Mu Tron III and 3x simply are THAT sound, and for me set the standard for filters. I never got to try the original, but the Mu-Fx Octave Divider sounds incredible on bass, it far surpasses my trusty OC-2, and I love the Green Ringer effect for synthy dirt.
I'm going to check out the CIOKS site for EU Dealers, thanks for the recommendation.
That CAE power supply for the Mu Tron III works great, definitely worth checking out. Please keep us posted on any new Mu-Fx products you are working on in the future, I think there'd be a lot of interest in a smaller, more affordable version of the 3x or any other reissues of other classic Musitronics pedals (how about a new Mu-Fx Flanger?
). Wishing you all the best for future endeavours, and please keep us posted on future prototypes you're working on.
I'm going to check out the CIOKS site for EU Dealers, thanks for the recommendation.
That CAE power supply for the Mu Tron III works great, definitely worth checking out. Please keep us posted on any new Mu-Fx products you are working on in the future, I think there'd be a lot of interest in a smaller, more affordable version of the 3x or any other reissues of other classic Musitronics pedals (how about a new Mu-Fx Flanger?
). Wishing you all the best for future endeavours, and please keep us posted on future prototypes you're working on.
@Mik3tron3 thanks owed since 1989 when I found and purchased what was the end to my envelope search. Also big ups to this club and @Mosfed. My baby has been tuned up and running like a top again. Now if I could just get my hands on a Phasor IIdrool. Anyhow thanks again for Musictronics my favorite effects maker.
Is there any "Musictronics" T'shirts anywhere?
Is there any "Musictronics" T'shirts anywhere?
Any of these old T's hiding out somewhere in a box? Please hit me back with a "Well as a matter of fact"
Sending my mutron to repair and thought I'd share it. Any idea how much I can realistically sell it for? Ive seen ebay listings anywhere from 1400 to 1800... and theres another on reverb for 1900...
Sending my mutron to repair and thought I'd share it. Any idea how much I can realistically sell it for? Ive seen ebay listings anywhere from 1400 to 1800... and theres another on reverb for 1900...
I bought one in much better shape and with the footswitch for $750 about 1 year ago. I wouldn't believe the Reverb or Ebay prices.
Incredible phase pedal
Thanks for the reply. Reverb and ebay or always on the high end. Where did you happen to purchase it?
I purchased it on eBay. Listed for $1500 and I made an offer for $750. He accepted quickly. If you look at the listings most of them have been up for months.
Mike, thanks again for that CIOKS AC10 recommendation. I just picked one of these up from Hotrox (UK distributor) which powers both Tru Tron 3x and Octave Divider no problem at all, (along with plenty of other outlets to power some other DC pedals). I know you 're a busy man, but if you get any opportunity, I'd be really keen to hear back from you regarding your findings on the possibility of powering the original Mu-Tron III by "stacking" two ISOLATED 9V supplies on the CIOKS AC10. If that works I'd love to put together a little Mu-Tron/ Mu-Fx board all powered by the AC10. All that's needed then of course is the little matter of a flex cable with that elusive Mu-Tron III three pin plug...
- Dec 21, 2007
- 15,230
- 45,091
- Disclosures
- Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones
Mike,
Thanks for coming here. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for stepping into the crazy end of the music pool (the business side) once again.
And most of all thanks for designing and building some of the most kick-@ss sound modification devices ever!
Looks like Mu-FX are looking to reissue a new and improved version of the Mu-Tron Phasor II next! - Mike has started a sign up list to gauge interest levels : Phasor 2X - Sign Up List
