Monday, July 3, 2017

MODULATION- Seriously Pro sounding mini pedals ... small, cheap but equal to most of the best.

        THE VERY BEST MINI MODULATION PEDALS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        


A high quality mini pedal is as good as a high end digital
pedal for the ascetic quality of the sound.
I had the Strymon Mobius and..kept for a whole year...then sold it
I did not use it enough and a very good analog pedal sounds as good.
Some feel they sound even better. I would not argue the point.
You get a little noise with all analog but you get a lot of character.
Oddly enough the best sounds on the Strymon are very accurate clones of the
best analog pedals.


The best effects are delay and reverb they add to the guitars sound 
but they DO NOT CHANGE THAT SOUND.
Your dry signal...the guitar itself stays the same.

But there are times when a little bit of Phasing, Flanging or Chorus can be nice.
It does not have to go for bizarre or weird sounds and include dozens of extras to be effective.
You can know get a great mini phaser and a great mini chorus that needs no apologies for how it sounds.
I had the original MXR Phase 90...does it sound better then the Phase 95 mini I have now?
NO...a little different yes. But the 95 has a clone sound of it and it is at least  95% the same...another sound that is usable and a third sound that I like better then the Strymon!!!


 MXR Phase 95 Phaser mini 

$100.00 USD



The MXR Phase 95 is a killer pedal.
You get a Script logo 4 stage filter Phase 90 a modern Phase 90 and a 2 stage Phase 45 sound...the artifacts that spoiled the original Phase 45
have been fixed to make it very usable. 
The third sound is a modern 4 stage Phase 90 which is dead cool!
On a dirt sound ...it rules!!! 
The Phase 90 Script gives you an instant Van Halen.
It takes up little room and at $100.00 USD...you can not buy a better
 pro sounding Phaser. Different and as good ...but not better! 
You can just get more of the same or a lot of overkill that to my ears is a messy detraction to the music.



Like I said if you love a few crazy sounds (I do) get a great reverb and a delay.You can put on a sound that is totaly surreal or ethereal yet still
not have your guitars sound  compromised!


 TC ELECTRONIC Corona 

$100.00 USD

I love this pedal it has that really full sound of the Boss or the MXR but it has that super transparent and crisp highs of the best digital. You get the crisp sound but loose none of the warmth and fullness.
The B size box original Corona is on endless big name players boards. The guys that have no budge constraints 
...just a great ear for sound.
TC has manage to cram the big one into the small box with ZERO loss of quality. It also has their digital in put to download new
sounds from many of the key players that have the full size one.
This is a no brainer choice.




 IBANEZ Mini Chorus 

$120.00 USD

Ibanez have done exceptional job of cloning their old CS9 and fitting it into the mini format.
The sound has a unique dreamlike floating quality. I have always liked the CS9.
I have squeezed in a modest Mooer Flanger at the end Tier 2 to use with
the light/medium gain OD's
and have just bought the Ibanez to add to it.
So with 2 Flangers and 2 Chrous pedals I can have two different sounds going on in the same tune.

 


 NU-X RIVULET Mini  Chorus 

$72.00USD

If you have no problems that it is digital then this could be your pedal.
I have owned a Nux delay and their digital quality is as good as any pedal under $300.00 USD.
You can download by a USB cable to get new voices for it.
At the price of the Rivulet goes for ...it is well worth a listen.

But even so I feel the TC Electronic edges them all out.


WHY FLANGERS??? 

Why is it there are zero great Mini Flangers.
The best in theory should be the TC Electronic Vortex

$70.00 USD

it has great tone but a really erratic sweep to the modulation.
It is unbelievably annoying.
It was a major disappointment I thought after choosing the Corolla it would be as good.
The only alternative is a Mooer Eleclady an  EH Electric Lady clone. It isn't lol. 
Actually it sounds like a Boss especially in it's modulation..
.
Alternately the Pizza Pie shaped Modtone is not bad. Lots of  EH type highs .It it has it's own voice it is not trying to clone anything.

A truck load of evidence points to Modtone being defunct. 
On one hand if a bricks and mortar store has one it might sell for $50.00 
Online they are a $95.00 USD  as it is the one pedal out of them all
they designed where they nailed the tone.
It is really a B size pedal with the sides cut off to look like a piece of pie.This makes it much smaller. 
The crazy shape may help you squeeze it in ...or not! lol
As for the shape.. I quite like it. A bit of fun without getting
trite or too gimmicky.


 Rowin/Mooer LEF 612 Flanger 

Mooer are Kings of the re-branded pedals.

$25.00 USD

 THEY MAKE THE SAME PEDALS WITH 
20  DIFFERENT BRAND NAMES ON THEM

...some sell for more ...some less and some super
dirt cheap. They are exactly the same inside  PERIOD!!!
This week the cheapest is the Rowin.
Check the Post ....Where to buy cheap

Yes folks it really is $25.00 USD for a MOOER

...and no folks I have not made any mistake. I have had many of theses rebranded pedals apart and they not only have the same brand of parts in them but all of them no matter the differences in the metal box can be removed and put effortlessly in the others casing..
What is more (no pun intended lol) ...Mooer have finally squeezed into
bricks and motor stores and they have a few adventurous 'voiced' preamps and other gadgets that are original etc. If they wanted to they could
sue for copy write... it would be, if nothing else, symbolically good.
They haven't and they won't LOL.
No instead of enhancing their new image that makes them  the New Boss or MXR etc. it would destroy it.

Well I have had the pedal a few days. I can not fault it. All the controls have a wide sweep
So you can push it right past the usable into never, never land. The over all tone is even from highs to lows. The highs are favorable, bright but not the razor sharp crispness of the EH which it was patterned after.
In short nothing amateur about it.
This is very good and very competitive pedal. To my ears it sounds as much like Boss as it does EH.
In fact if I can not find a spot for it on my board because I stick with the Modtone I will not sell it. It is really that good. It is worth hanging onto until I can use it later.


MIGHTY SOUND M8 Flanger

$23.00 USD


The Mighty Sound Flanger is a new contender. At first glance it looks like a Mooer but it isn't. The case is different even though the layout is the same.
Designed in the U.S. and made by Cherry Music in China it is yet another EH wanna be.
A really good vid is not available. But their Analog Delay is award winning and it too sold for $23.00 USD.








.


 MODTONE MTM- FL Flanger 

A very nice original sound a little light but beautifully airy.
The overtones are rich but thinner then average but your guitar is not effected.
I feel this actually helps to give it an original tone. A tone with a bit of character.
When a pedal is like this it inspires your creativity!
One thing worth noting is the pedal is really a B size pedal with the sides
cut down to create a pie shape. Not big but definitely slightly bigger then
a standard size mini.


$95.00 USD ?







This pedal has it's own Post... check it out. There is history and some mystery? you might be able to get it for half price!!! ???

I got mine for $54.00 USD incl. shipping from a small time Mom & Pop store in Italy

OK...this thing is pro...it is no toy. It is rich and full with glassy highs.
It is up there with the best. Even if you paid the $95.00 it would be cheap considering the best alternatives.
It has it's own voice it is not trying to be anything but a good pedal ...and it is.

OCT.14/17.... I have had this pedal for some time now and I am more and more impressed with just how good it sounds.

OCT. 28/17....I have decided to spring for the A/DA PBF Flanger. It does the best Flange & chorus ...period  ...nothing beats it!!!BUT that said the MODTONE is just too killer in it's own way not to hold onto.

MALEKKO OMICRON Vibrato 

$140.00 USD

It is an analog vibrato using the MN3007 BBD chip. A discontinued chip
that many say is the best. I expect it was killed by digital.
Great sounding and dead easy to use. It has the basic vibrato stuff but it can be cranked for Stutter type FX.
It does not do all the wacky stuff a digital can do.










  TC ELECTRONIC SHAKER Mini Vibrato  

The digital all bells and whistles vibrato ...it even has a great faux Chorus and a Leslie
You can also download new sounds.


$100.00 USD

.

 NU>X MONTEREY VIBE Univibe 

The Nux digital univbe can do rotary speaker, chorus and a few abstract sounds by downloads. Different but similar 
TC Electronics.

$70.00 USD














$99.00 USD







 MALEKKO TREM 



Another little beauty.
Ok... so what's the difference between a vibrato and a tremolo?
The vib modulates the pitch and the trem the volume.
The nice thing about the  trem is that at extreme modulations on slow settings the sound does not sound out of tune where as the vib
definitely does.








No comments:

Post a Comment