New MBM Pedals - your feedback needed

[Mike]

Hi kids,

So we're (me and Tim) thinking of adding some more pedals to our line up of standard pedals which is currently:

Salt Booster
Green Muff
Salt Shaker
Salt Storm
Salt Breaker
Fuzz Face

I'm thinking of dropping the Saltbreaker since it's complicated to build and sales haven't been all that high, and adding some more pedals. I've been playing around with the idea of adding these:

'78 IC Muff - this is the Siamese Dream pedal, and believe me it is dead on. I've played Tim's original and designed a layout I built up last night. It sounds perfect.
RAM's Head Muff - the Gilmour Muff converted from pedalboard unfriendly huge size and positive ground to a daisy-chainable small footprint version.

Germanium MKIII Tonebender - as recently built for johnnyseven. 3-knob Fuzztone with tons of snarl
Silicon MKIII Tonebender - again knocked off from one of Tim's pedals, a 3-knob Fuzztone with a more balanced and bass healthy response.

I know we're talking maining Dirt/Fuzz heavy stuff but I could recategorise the lineup like this:

Boost
- Saltbooster
- Saltbooster Plus (with Tone control)

Fuzzes
- Germanium Fuzz Face
- Silicon Fuzz Face (daisy chainable)
- Germanium MKIII Tonebender
- Silicon MKIII Tonebender

Overdrive/Distortions
- Modded 808 Tubescreamer
- Saltstorm
- Green Muff
- '78 IC Muff
- RAM Muff

Modulation/Delay
- Saltshaker Tremolo
- Echo Base Delay
- Small Clone (with added Depth pot) Chorus


Could also do with some help for a name for the modded Small Clone?

What do you think? Yay or Nay?

Cheers
M

[benecol]

Affordable Rangemaster clones will always sell. Thomann do a neat PCB with a three way switch: that with m@j@ caps would sell well.

[timhulio]

If I were you I wouldn't bother with small clones due to parts count and build time. Is there much profit left in muffs? I still sell mine quite regularly, but have to keep prices down because so many different builders make them.

Those Tonebenders are a good choice. Are they the positive ground models?

I've said it before, but switching to pcb construction would cut your build-time in half, especially if you're moving from one-offs to a more settled product range.

[Doog]

Sounds like a grand idea, especially selling both the germanium and silicon versions of the fuzzes. I was dead impressed with both the Echo Base and Saltbreaker, totally usable and tweakable to fit various rigs.

From a design point of view, would it be possible to put both forms of clipping into the fuzzes and make the choice switchable, ala a few Muff and RAT mods I've seen you do?

If you ever want additional gear videos, I'd be chuffed to help out.

[willlin]

I'm well behind this. It's really cool that you're expanding the whole range, particuarly with the Muff and Tonebender variants. The mkIII Tonebender you just made looks absolutely off the hook.

I take it you'll still be doing the custom stuff too? I think it's probably quite important to still keep that going alongside the expanded 'standard' range.

It's now got me raiding behind the sofa for spare pennies for my MBM fund...

[Mike]

Affordable Rangemaster clones will always sell. Thomann do a neat PCB with a three way switch: that with m@j@ caps would sell well.

I wouldn't need to order PCBs, just do my own layout since those are dead simple. I'll add it to the list above in the Boost section.

If I were you I wouldn't bother with small clones due to parts count and build time. Is there much profit left in muffs? I still sell mine quite regularly, but have to keep prices down because so many different builders make them.

Those Tonebenders are a good choice. Are they the positive ground models?

I've said it before, but switching to pcb construction would cut your build-time in half, especially if you're moving from one-offs to a more settled product range.

Small Clones with Depth pots I do for £90/£100 in and out of shortscale and they sell, I think people are keen on a build with a decent bypass, better footswitch and smaller footprint in a sturdier case or something. Plus Small Clones from EHX have really shocking wiring generally. Plus I like building them, I think it rounds out the range to have some Modulation in there.

I'm still selling Muffs pretty well and I think some good videos will really sell the IC Muff and the RAM's head version. I have talked to Proggie about doing some and I'll also enlist Doog as he seems to be interested. I was going to start a madebymikepedals youtube account aswell as using the ShortScale and my own personal ones to spread the love.

Tonebenders can be made either positive or negative ground, but for m@j@ reasons I would make the Germanium ones positive ground to keep them "authentic".

I'm not going to PCB though, I'll be expanding my range of "standard/advertised" builds but not be building up stock unless stuff really slows down.

Sounds like a grand idea, especially selling both the germanium and silicon versions of the fuzzes. I was dead impressed with both the Echo Base and Saltbreaker, totally usable and tweakable to fit various rigs.

From a design point of view, would it be possible to put both forms of clipping into the fuzzes and make the choice switchable, ala a few Muff and RAT mods I've seen you do?

If you ever want additional gear videos, I'd be chuffed to help out.

Thanks for the kind words. Clipping in Tonebenders uses a Germanium Diode so I could make that switchable to Si or out of the pedal - that's a good idea. The Muffs will have a tone bypass switch also. I'll definitely send some pedals on a tour to see you and Rob to get some demos made.

I'm well behind this. It's really cool that you're expanding the whole range, particuarly with the Muff and Tonebender variants. The mkIII Tonebender you just made looks absolutely off the hook.

I take it you'll still be doing the custom stuff too? I think it's probably quite important to still keep that going alongside the expanded 'standard' range.

It's now got me raiding behind the sofa for spare pennies for my MBM fund...

The Custom stuff is going nowhere, it keeps people interested in the pedals I think, and they're a bag of fun to make.

[Bacchus]

Doog mentioned something that I've always wanted to see, a muff with loads of switching options. Basically, most of the muffs in one box.

Actually, ideally, I think two of all the muffs in one box would be awesome, but would hardly be cheap and would be difficult, and no-one would buy one.

[Mike]

Yeah, I'm not interested in doing those pedals bristling with options. They're always fairly tedious in my experience.

[johnnyseven]

Adding the new pedals to you line up sounds like a good idea to me, after all if you're getting asked to build them often it makes sense to add them on your website. Plus anyone who peruses your website may not know what custom builds you can make, maybe you could list a few you have or can make to generate more business - last time I looked I think there were just photos with no indication as to what the pedals are in the custom section.

[Mike]

That's deliberate, to avoid litigation

[chrismakesgod]

Could you demo the two new muffs?

[Mike]

I'm very busy and I don't have a working demo amp at the moment, so not likely.

I'm planning to send them to Proggie and Doog though when I have built samples.

[johnnyseven]

That's deliberate, to avoid litigation

I figured that might be the reason but thought i'd mention anyway.

[kim]

musket fuzz copy and i'm soooolld. but it's quite a hassle, ...yet...it sounds so awesome.

[Haze]

Those are reasonably priced as is, and with six pots it would be very right to fit in the same sized enclosure. Not that I don't think mike could do it, that is.

I think the muff additions are a great idea. There are loads of people making muff clones right now though. Look at stomp under foot's website, damn near every muff and reasonably priced. I know first hand that I would rather have a MBM pedal, bit new customers might not. You'd have to offer something that they don't, weather that be a price point or pure salty goodness

[Progrockabuse]

in regards to demos, what kinda stuff you wanna hear? do you want copy right free riffs or for instance, your making a pedal know for a certain band's sound, dropping a few of their riffs in to prove you can nail it?

video or just audio demos? miked amps or amp sim/pod etc?

[Mike]

The highest quality recording audio wise possible. Miked amp.

Don't care about video, I can just splice some photo montage stuff on afterwards, so if you just do some audio high quality demos and make a note of the settings then I'll do the rest here and publish them so they all look the same for style purposes on the youtube channel I'll make.

As for riffs, stuff pertinent to the pedal would be good, but I'm fine with an original/famous riff split.

[Progrockabuse]

so if it's a tonebender, i could do some early zep or something.

will post an ad in the classifieds for an audio interface.

[Mike]

Yeah that's the kind of ticket.

But don't go buying stuff just to make demos - that's madness. I won't even have the pedals ready for a little while anyway as I have some orders on my list again. They seem to come in waves.

[Progrockabuse]

i need to get a new sound card anyway, so it's all cool.