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Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2023 2:35 pm
by mdc
If you haven’t looked at the basic audio lineup, he makes some very nice, affordable versions of every flavor of classic fuzz you could want. Reuss is another good option.
Prices on a lot of those fuzz pedals with 5 parts are truly silly, and I say this having paid full retail for a yellow tone bender from Macaris because I love MBV.
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2023 2:53 pm
by DaveA
mdc wrote:
If you haven’t looked at the basic audio lineup, he makes some very nice, affordable versions of every flavor of classic fuzz you could want. Reuss is another good option.
Prices on a lot of those fuzz pedals with 5 parts are truly silly, and I say this having paid full retail for a yellow tone bender from Macaris because I love MBV.
Thanks for the heads up. Will look into these!
It does seem that the retail prices for many of these are inflated.
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2023 8:46 am
by Dr Tony Balls
DaveA wrote: Sun Nov 05, 2023 2:04 pm
Was listening to a Brazilian album from the seventies featuring really good fuzzy leads that sounded like they were played through a Tone Bender.
There are many different versions of things called "Tone Bender" and all sound rather different. The article below hashes them out pretty decently. The Keeley Fuzz Bender is a variant on the MkIII. The Boss Waza TB-2 is a variant on the MkII. I've built zillions of iterations of all of them in my time.
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2023 2:46 pm
by DaveA
Dr Tony Balls wrote: Mon Nov 06, 2023 8:46 am
DaveA wrote: Sun Nov 05, 2023 2:04 pm
Was listening to a Brazilian album from the seventies featuring really good fuzzy leads that sounded like they were played through a Tone Bender.
There are many different versions of things called "Tone Bender" and all sound rather different. The article below hashes them out pretty decently. The Keeley Fuzz Bender is a variant on the MkIII. The Boss Waza TB-2 is a variant on the MkII. I've built zillions of iterations of all of them in my time.
This ^^ is very useful,
thanks! Have got a Balls Effects preamp pedal, which I've kept on one of my boards, and like a good deal, so I might consult you in the future to build a Tone Bender-type thing.
By the way,
this is the original song/sound I was thinking of. Not sure if anyone could pinpoint which iteration that is, or if it's even a Tone Bender, but . . . it's a common enough sound, but for me is ideal more for leads/single-note playing than chords/heavy stuff/always-on rock playing. That Keeley can pretty much get there, but if there's a better version that's not too costly, I wouldn't mind hearing about it.
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2023 12:47 am
by jirbling rake
Squier Paranormal Esquire Deluxe in sparkle blue, bought on a whim direct from Fender due to sale-pricing. Plays amazingly right out of the box, intonation almost perfect. No rough fret edges, neck is fast, whole thing is light. Songs just falling out of it. The three pickup settings are all usable, not too shrill, fun to stutter it a bit when set to volume/tone bypass and dialing the volume all the way down.
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2023 10:37 am
by TylerDeadPine
jirbling rake wrote: Wed Nov 08, 2023 12:47 am
Squier Paranormal Esquire Deluxe in sparkle blue, bought on a whim direct from Fender due to sale-pricing. Plays amazingly right out of the box, intonation almost perfect. No rough fret edges, neck is fast, whole thing is light. Songs just falling out of it. The three pickup settings are all usable, not too shrill, fun to stutter it a bit when set to volume/tone bypass and dialing the volume all the way down.
Hell yeah - I love hearing these Paranormal win stories. I hope fender keeps this going
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2023 7:50 pm
by jirbling rake
TylerDeadPine wrote:
Hell yeah - I love hearing these Paranormal win stories. I hope fender keeps this going
Here's two more: bought the Paranormal Rascal in rascally pink and the Jazzmaster XII in fiesta red. Both were b-stock rescues from one of those places that do that. They were both deals.
The Paranormal Rascal is the first bass I bought in more than 20 years and it completely blew me away. Highly playable, really comfy. The Jazzmaster XII is also a winner. I haven't bonded with it as much, but that may be the strings. I like the lighter gauge that came on the Esquire, which feels fun. On the XII they sort of feel like nothing. But tuning is a breeze, the sound is great, intonation and everything for both are fantastic. Sure, both came from somewhere that would have fixed them up, but it doesn't mean they would have been good when I got them. 2023: Year of the Paranormal.
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2023 6:01 pm
by Nico Adie
Boss MO-2 Multi Overtone. Love this. LOVE it. Steel drum and Hammond sounds, sometimes simultaneously. So much fun.
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2023 6:48 pm
by TylerDeadPine
jirbling rake wrote: Wed Nov 08, 2023 7:50 pm
TylerDeadPine wrote:
Hell yeah - I love hearing these Paranormal win stories. I hope fender keeps this going
Here's two more: bought the Paranormal Rascal in rascally pink and the Jazzmaster XII in fiesta red. Both were b-stock rescues from one of those places that do that. They were both deals.
The Paranormal Rascal is the first bass I bought in more than 20 years and it completely blew me away. Highly playable, really comfy. The Jazzmaster XII is also a winner. I haven't bonded with it as much, but that may be the strings. I like the lighter gauge that came on the Esquire, which feels fun. On the XII they sort of feel like nothing. But tuning is a breeze, the sound is great, intonation and everything for both are fantastic. Sure, both came from somewhere that would have fixed them up, but it doesn't mean they would have been good when I got them. 2023: Year of the Paranormal.
I feel the same way about the Rascal bass - I got it in green, and I'm gifting it to a friend because I have no business having this many basses - but it does make me want to replace it if I imagine it gone. That's terrific bass!
Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2023 9:35 pm
by mrcancelled
The Mosky King Rat is a pretty damn impressive Rat clone for the price. It's got four modes, Turbo/Fat/Dirty/Vintage, all sounding good on my end, though I haven't played all of the actual Rat pedals these go off of. Side by side with my real Rat it sounds just as good, but it's nice having some extra tones to play with. Not bad for $35.
