So, I've got stuff I've had forever, and some of that stuff is too old, too cool, and too precious to me to use very often. A great example is my MXR vintage Script Logo Distortion +. For most folks, it's worth about 200 bucks. For me- all the memories, all the time spent with it, makes it absolutely priceless. I'd rather sell my guitar than this pedal. So the irony is, that means I can't use it very often for fear of it deteriorating more than it already has. I've been on a quest to have something that sounds like it, but I don't need to fear hurting or losing. I've tried the boutique route and the cheap route, and found nothing. It's just a random, once inn a lifetime sound. So I got this pedal not really trying to replace it, but trying to find another thing that would become as unique. In that venture, it's a success. This doesn't sound like any other distortion pedal, and I dig the sound.
BBE is the electronics half of G&L guitars- makers of Leo Fender's more pure guitar designs-and Paul Gagon runs and helps design this stuff. So, if you don't know- Leo was the guy who invented the Telecaster, and the Stratocaster, amoungst other tthings, so, yeah I hold him in high regard. Paul was a legend in sound engineering for people like me. The sound of sunset strip Glam Metal? Yeah, more so than the musicians, he invented that. Then, he was the guy who came up with all that great pointy guitar stuff for Charvel/Jackson. If you want a gain-heavy but still musically ear pleasing distorted guitar sound, this guy should be your man.
So, seeing as the MXR was a favorite for Randy Rhoads, who is my hands-down favorite for that kind of sound, it makes sense to go back to the Paul Gagon well. The 427 is his "Muscle Car" take on the EHX Big Muff Pi. Now the Pi is much more the sound of the 70's, but, important to my purposes, a chief competitor to MXR's Distortion +. Given that Gagon is an 80's guy, I knew this wasn't going to sound like a Pi, really- I figured it would be voiced like a super thick, compressed fuzz pedal, and it kind of is, but really, it's not. Yes, the sweepable EQ compresses the signal in a strange way, and yes, it's a more fuzzy kind of distortion than, say, a Boss Heavy Metal pedal, and because of those two factors, it does remind me a bit of the MXR, but the harmonics come out less than the MXR, and where the MXR is more muddy and beefy, this just sounds stolid, and thick. So, yes, it'll fit the bill, but it's not a sound I think everyone can use. Put it about halfway between the EHX Tortion and the Wampler Plexidrive.
The QC on this thing is off the charts, however. The hammond style enclosure has a blue metal flake paintjob that seems tough enough that it could take a bullet, and a gut check shows a vero board hand wired so well, with poly caps and metal film resistors- it's built like an Army radio- I could easily see putting this in combat- literally. There is no stage abuse I can foresee that would harm this in any real way. OK- the knobs are plastic, so, if they literally took a bullet, they might crack, but the pedal would still function. I am certain. It comes with its own wall wort, so even if the battery choice is shaky, you'll make the gig.
So, yeah, happy with this one....
Sunday, August 16, 2015
A bad decision- MoVall Choral Mermaid
I buy a lot of crap on Ebay. Because of this purchase, I'm starting to curb that. Here's what happened:
I found this MoVall chorus pedal on Ebay, being sold as "new" by some dude named Kai, going by the handle "Bucks Saver" at a pretty good price. So I snapped it up. It took nearly a month to reach me from China, and I tried it out. First pass- it didn't exactly work. So I debated, and tried to contact, with no response from either Kai or MoVall. So, figuring ( correctly) that the warranty meant nothing, anyway, I had a look see. The problem was obvious- the main potentiometer was broken. Quick fix- and popped in a new one. It worked for exactly 1 hour, before it went completely dead. So, I opened things up again- there were two pcbs in there ( circuit boards, if you don't know) the one that I had attached the new potentiometer on was fine, but the other was cracked, disrupting the circuit. The pedal was shoddy junk. Sorry, there's really no two ways about it. See, I did consider all the possibilities- for example- let's say that Kai was a worker at MoVall who snuck out the pedals that didn't pass QC, and sold them on the sly on Ebay. OK, that explains the bad pot, but the cracked board? Nope, that should only happen if you're using bad materials in the first place. Let's say that the mere act of opening the enclosure did it. Again, that wouldn't crack the pcb on any of my other pedals. No, the only way this happens is if the board was bad. So, armed with this, I put everything back exactly the way it was when I bought it, and tried contacting the seller. He told me to check the battery. Please follow the link. See a place for a battery? Nope. So I told him that ( so much for the theory that he worked for the builder) and he said- check inside. This would, as I already knew, void the warranty. So, as a back up I contacted MoVall. In the meantime, Kai finally gets back to me, and says "Mail it to me, standard"- I check, and that would cost me more than the pedal would cost direct from MoVall. So I close out the return process at Ebay- who gives me no way to leave feedback, now. Then, I hear from MoVall- a week after I emailed them. They say that they can't respond they're on holiday. That was a month ago. No follow up at all.
So, here's what I've learned:
1. MoVall makes some crap products.
2. Don't buy from China on Ebay, if there's a chance you'll want to return the item.
3. Don't expect the small, independent company to have any better customer service than the big guys ( I actually already knew that)
and
4. Don't trust Ebay ( more on that in a future post)
Live and learn. Oh, and the MoVall came recommended from not one but two highly regarded Youtube reviewers. I'm not saying they're liars, or anything, just that even the best can be dead wrong-especially when they also sell the stuff they review. I've talked to both, and they're nice enough guys, but that's no assurance of being correct. One of 'em, and I'm purposefully not naming them because I want you to be critical of all reviewers , I know from multiple, multiple examples really doesn't know what he is talking about with questions of electronics quality. So, not to toot my own horn, or try to self-advertise but I'd trust my opinion, even if it's just a gut reaction, over this guy any day of the week when it comes to QC. He definitely has me in terms of getting a good sound on a guitar- his aesthetics are far, far more universal than my own- so it's still useful to me to watch his reviews, but I have to back them up, elsewhere, every time. There's a lesson for anyone reading.
I found this MoVall chorus pedal on Ebay, being sold as "new" by some dude named Kai, going by the handle "Bucks Saver" at a pretty good price. So I snapped it up. It took nearly a month to reach me from China, and I tried it out. First pass- it didn't exactly work. So I debated, and tried to contact, with no response from either Kai or MoVall. So, figuring ( correctly) that the warranty meant nothing, anyway, I had a look see. The problem was obvious- the main potentiometer was broken. Quick fix- and popped in a new one. It worked for exactly 1 hour, before it went completely dead. So, I opened things up again- there were two pcbs in there ( circuit boards, if you don't know) the one that I had attached the new potentiometer on was fine, but the other was cracked, disrupting the circuit. The pedal was shoddy junk. Sorry, there's really no two ways about it. See, I did consider all the possibilities- for example- let's say that Kai was a worker at MoVall who snuck out the pedals that didn't pass QC, and sold them on the sly on Ebay. OK, that explains the bad pot, but the cracked board? Nope, that should only happen if you're using bad materials in the first place. Let's say that the mere act of opening the enclosure did it. Again, that wouldn't crack the pcb on any of my other pedals. No, the only way this happens is if the board was bad. So, armed with this, I put everything back exactly the way it was when I bought it, and tried contacting the seller. He told me to check the battery. Please follow the link. See a place for a battery? Nope. So I told him that ( so much for the theory that he worked for the builder) and he said- check inside. This would, as I already knew, void the warranty. So, as a back up I contacted MoVall. In the meantime, Kai finally gets back to me, and says "Mail it to me, standard"- I check, and that would cost me more than the pedal would cost direct from MoVall. So I close out the return process at Ebay- who gives me no way to leave feedback, now. Then, I hear from MoVall- a week after I emailed them. They say that they can't respond they're on holiday. That was a month ago. No follow up at all.
So, here's what I've learned:
1. MoVall makes some crap products.
2. Don't buy from China on Ebay, if there's a chance you'll want to return the item.
3. Don't expect the small, independent company to have any better customer service than the big guys ( I actually already knew that)
and
4. Don't trust Ebay ( more on that in a future post)
Live and learn. Oh, and the MoVall came recommended from not one but two highly regarded Youtube reviewers. I'm not saying they're liars, or anything, just that even the best can be dead wrong-especially when they also sell the stuff they review. I've talked to both, and they're nice enough guys, but that's no assurance of being correct. One of 'em, and I'm purposefully not naming them because I want you to be critical of all reviewers , I know from multiple, multiple examples really doesn't know what he is talking about with questions of electronics quality. So, not to toot my own horn, or try to self-advertise but I'd trust my opinion, even if it's just a gut reaction, over this guy any day of the week when it comes to QC. He definitely has me in terms of getting a good sound on a guitar- his aesthetics are far, far more universal than my own- so it's still useful to me to watch his reviews, but I have to back them up, elsewhere, every time. There's a lesson for anyone reading.
Reviving
So, I abandoned Blogger- and to a lesser degree blogging in general- a few months back. However, I knew I'd want to post more, so I left everything in place. I have a few things to talk about, and, if I still feel like it I will be putting up a few more things. Just know that there are no rules- I post what I want, when I want, in the way I want. But, I do have a lot of newer things. Some of it I like, some I loathe. I'll talk about it.
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