Your alloyed muff

Discussion in 'Guitar Gear Talk Forum' started by thehundredthone, Aug 19, 2009.

  1. thehundredthone

    thehundredthone Well-Known Member

    Did I get swindled? There's no LED or input/output jacks. Plus the pedal looks really flimsy, like it's made out of cardboard. I knew it was too good to be true.
     

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  2. alpha1

    alpha1 I BLUES!

    Why did you get one?

    are you following the rsj forums too much?
     
  3. thehundredthone

    thehundredthone Well-Known Member

    I don't go to RSJ forums. Haven't been there for years now.

    What do you mean why did I get one?
     
  4. nandac

    nandac New Member

    i have a eh little muff - a fuzz pedal. it has a small led as well as a power socket. plus it its casing is made of steel i think. you should check harmony central reviews for the metal muff - if it is flimsy as you say it will definitely be mentioned there.
     
  5. flood

    flood New Member

    dude... wtf is that?

    did you buy it off ebay? can you post the auction link?

    how much did you pay for it?

    i don't want to call you an absolute moron, but it looks like your dropped good money on a metal muff PACKAGING.... in addition to the lack of jacks and the LED... i hate to point out the fact that there are no knobs or switches either.

    PLEASE post the ad or classified or auction here.
     
  6. thehundredthone

    thehundredthone Well-Known Member

    How long have I been on this forum exactly? Your faith in me is so reassuring.
     

    Attached Files:

  7. angel_of_sin

    angel_of_sin bassist.....

    Rotfl......................
     
  8. flood

    flood New Member

    phew. thank god for that.

    well, i really have heard of a number of people who got swindled on evilBay in that manner... could happen to anyone. enjoy the new pedal. is there a demand for electro-harmonix stuff in india?
     
  9. thehundredthone

    thehundredthone Well-Known Member

    Not really no. Budgets haven't increased, and people aren't yet looking to make their own sound.
     
  10. alpha1

    alpha1 I BLUES!

    Recording please ...
     
  11. thehundredthone

    thehundredthone Well-Known Member

    Soon, soon :D
    Any particular settings you want me to cover?

    The EQ settings are quite sensitive. I'm going to put the Zoom in front of it for compression and delay.

    Will have an in depth review soon. One for all of us with budget gear, I'm sick of reviews saying that an ENGL is better than a distortion pedal.
     
  12. flood

    flood New Member

    :think:

    But it is. :p:
     
  13. flood

    flood New Member

    hmmm that is a very true observation. the second observation is even more unfortunate than the first one.

    of all the mainstream pedal manufacturers, EHX is still my favorite. the stuff they make is so out there, but still sounds so damn good, that i'm amazed every time musikmesse comes around. i think pricing is very reasonable for the quality and the stuff their pedals can do, which pretty much goes into bow-teek territory. let's see what can be done....

    sadly, you're also very right in terms of budgets. i think the budgets have actually decreased with manufacturers like behringer, beta alvin, biyang and belcat flooding markets with their crap. nonetheless, i think guitarists pick up stuff slowly - i remember actually giving away my rocktek distortion back in 2001 (i had bought it a couple of months before, my first distortion and second pedal ever, rage 158 amp, squier affinity strat) because it sounded so shite. i wet out on eBay and bought a nobels overdrive for 50 german marks instead.... the best Rs. 1000 i ever spent. i am NEVER parting with that pedal; it's going to be rehoused too, so that i get a lifetime of service from it!

    anyway, the metal muff sounds really good. the top boost is effective, and the tone doesn't have that boss sterility and overfuzziness that haunts the (stock) MT-2. good choice. IMO one of the few "metchul" pedals worth spending cash on apart from the zoom trimetal and (never heard in person though) zvex box of metal.
     
  14. angel_of_sin

    angel_of_sin bassist.....

    how much was the muff for????
     
  15. thehundredthone

    thehundredthone Well-Known Member

    It retails for around 80$ online in the US I think. #78 online in the UK. In India, I got it for free :)

    There are some things money can't buy :p
     
  16. alpha1

    alpha1 I BLUES!

    You mean you flicked it off someone?
    Or picked it off the street
     
  17. thehundredthone

    thehundredthone Well-Known Member

    Take your pick :)

    Let's say I ran into a bit of good fortune.
     
  18. thehundredthone

    thehundredthone Well-Known Member

    Review of the EHX Metal Muff with Top Boost

    Alright, I'll go over the pedal with the sound clip as the guide. Please forgive the really sloppy playing, I just wanted to record the sound.
    https://soundclick.com/share?songid=8009663

    Guitar -> Metal Muff -> Zoom 707II -> Laney LX35R -> Phones out -> Line in -> Logic Pro

    No EQing, mixing or mastering has been done. I simulated an instrument speaker by using a low pass (5600Hz) and a high pass (80Hz). The sound although not identical, is somewhat close to what I get from my amp.

    1. Neck pickup

    a. Clean sound
    First is the neck pickup, clean. i didn't notice much tone sucking. The pedal advertises a high impedance buffered bypass.

    b. Dist: Minimum
    EQ: Flat
    9s -13s
    I picked lightly, to see the response to the picking dynamics. The distortion is lurking, and it's waiting for a heavier hand.

    14s - 25s
    Minimum gain is a nice crunchy distortion. This pedal doesn't do overdrive, it's no surprise. It doesn't seem to be biased towards scooped sounds, the sound is nice and fat with the EQ flat.

    2. Bridge Pickup

    a. Clean sound

    b. Dist: Minimum
    EQ: Flat
    32s - 36s
    I picked lightly, the pedal seems to do okay, although I wouldn't be strumming Country Roads.

    37s - 45s
    Picked normally. As before, you start off in distortion territory

    46s - 50s
    Turned the volume on the guitar down to the minimum possible. The Metal Muff cleans up quite well when I pick lightly.

    52s - 1:03
    Even at minimum gain and the guitar volume near 0 it's a little more than overdrive. It could do a little classic rock if tweaked right.

    c. Dist: 9 o' clock
    1:04 - 1:20
    EQ: Flat
    Not yet in metal territory but some decent heavy rock tones to be had if you play with the EQ.

    1:23 - 1:30
    EQ: Treble 12 o' clock, Mid 2 o' clock, Bass 12 o' clock
    Fat sound, the EQ is very responsive. Not quite Marshall, but then this pedal isn't aiming to emulate.

    d. Dist: 12 o' clock
    1:32 - 1:48
    EQ: Flat

    1:50 - 1:58
    EQ: Treble 12 o' clock, Mid between 10 and 11 o' clock, Bass 12 o' clock

    e. Dist: 3 o' clock
    2:01 - 2:08
    EQ: Flat
    The noise starts to creep in now. It is a little more noticeable in the recording.

    f. Dist: Maximum
    2:11 - 2:28
    Seems to be plenty of distortion to be had in this pedal. Maybe not as much as the MT-2 sound clips I've heard, but there's plenty.

    2:30 - 2:46
    EQ: Mids minimum
    Like I said before, the EQ is very responsive. I then turned the mid knob from minimum to 12 o' clock and you can hear the response.

    g. Dist: 1 o' clock
    EQ: Treble 11 o' clock, Mids between 11 o' clock and 12 o' clock, Bass 1 o' clock
    2:49 - 3:07
    A setting close to one that worked well for Tornado of Souls through the amp's cabinet. Somehow didn't seem the same during recording though.

    3:08 - 3:13
    Top boost: Off

    3:14 - 3:21
    Top boost: Minimum
    You can notice the boost in the upper mids and highs even at the lowest settings.

    3:22 - 3:27
    Top boost: 9 o' clock
    The frequency range and the amount of boost seem to change as you turn the knob.

    3:28 - 3:33
    Top boost: 12 o' clock

    3:34 - 3:39
    Top boost: 3 o' clock

    3:40 -3:45
    Top boost: Maximum
    The treble boost is razor sharp here. I don't even want to imagine what could happen if I'd turned the treble up any further on the EQ. The Top Boost knob interacts a lot with the treble knob so there are plenty more tonal avenues with this knob.

    3:47 - 3:50
    Top boost: Off
    The top boost may not seem very useable when you're in your bedroom but I think it will do a good job of pushing your leads through in a live performance. It also provides you with a whole new range of sounds between minimum and 9 o' clock.

    h. Dist: Between 2 o' clock and 3 o' clock
    EQ: Treble 4 o' clock, Mid 8 o' clock, Bass 2 o' clock
    3:52 - 3:58
    Harmonics are easy to produce even with the gain barely past midnight.

    i. Miscellaneous
    4:00 - 4:43
    Another demonstration of harmonics and the mad sustain you can get. Barely any vibrato and I could have gone on for hours.

    The voicing is definitely more modern, this is not the Marshall sound. However this pedal wasn't made to copy tones, with this one you can shape your own sound. There's plenty of gain to be had, the EQ is very responsive and the Top Boost knob will provide you with more options if not an effective way to push through in a live performance.

    The EHX Metal Muff with Top Boost is a solid pedal. I didn't try it through the dirty channel of my amp or the tube amp simulators in Logic Pro but I would imagine that if you had a (non high gain) amp with a good sounding distortion/overdrive then this pedal would do quite well to push it into metal territory.
     
  19. alpha1

    alpha1 I BLUES!

    soundclick doesnt work at office :(
     
  20. thehundredthone

    thehundredthone Well-Known Member

    You'll have mail soon.
     

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