Product: Moog MF-104 MoogerFooger Analog Delay Price Paid: USD 400 USED
Submitted 01/09/2008
at 10:12pm
by bill
Ease of Use
:10
dead easy very nice design laid out well. manual is good. nice.
Sound Quality
:10
so there is a little noise but i think its kinda supposed to be there on a delay like this. i mean no one complains a space echo has noise. or the way a tube amp distorts. ok so i totaly say this delay has its own colour its own sound and is a unique and cool effect. nothing sounds like it and that is why i give it a ten.
i use it with a boss spring reverb in front of the chain. i am using it to do dub and experimental music. the delay on long mode is nice dark. it completely sounds like its own thing. not exactly like tape but also a different sound from a ehdmm alltogether its a great deal of fun. plugging in a lfo in to one of the control parameters can also do some wonderfuly good things as well. its awesome.
Reliability
:No Opinion
have only had it a week or two so dont know yet seems solid tho
Customer Support
:No Opinion
i imagine them to be good but its only my imagination
Overall Rating
:10
its a very unique effect and its inspiring to use it. sounds like its own thing and has a great degree of flexibility for routing signals.
i love it
Product: Moog MF-104 MoogerFooger Analog Delay Price Paid: US $562
Submitted 03/14/2005
at 06:32am
by mike mcgill
Email: lyramusic at hotmail<dot>com
Ease of Use
:10
I love the sound. It's easy to use and very functional for what I'm doing.
Sound Quality
:6
I use this through a fender dual showman with a 66 fender mustang.
I love it, though i've not cared to buy the crappy expansion pedal.
I do it all real time, just bend down and mix it right there.
It IS noisy, but i like noise. Not too big in lots of distortion, just love the natural crunchup this pedal brings.
I paid alot for it, but it was worth it considering all it has brought to my writing.
Now i need the 105
Reliability
:2
I've had some trouble.
I have encountered some for of short i assume. I turn it on and there's no change, a light comes on, but nothing from the pedal. I have to unplug it and start over then it will work. It really puts me in a tight sopt live. I'd have it fixed, but I feel i've already paid enough on this one. I want Bob to come to my house and FIX IT PERSONALLY!
Customer Support
:No Opinion
Haven't gotten that far yet
Overall Rating
:8
For the stuff I write, it's perfect. Very organic, yet wierds out enough to relate to whatever I'm doing.
I love the sound of it and the asthetic it brings. I hate the fact that it doesn't respone once in a while, and that it was so damn expensive.
email me if you want a cd.
lyramusic@hotmail.com
Product: Moog MF-104 MoogerFooger Analog Delay Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 02/28/2004
at 12:00am
by Anonymous
Ease of Use
:10
If you can work the other foogers you'll have no problem with this. It's the easiest.
Sound Quality
:7
For what these go for you'd think it would be holey grail status but it is just good.
Very noisey for a moog product. Even with guitar it has very little headroom. You have to turn the input level way down then jack up the output hence boosting the noise floor.
The echo itself is very dark. The runaway can go really far before it feeds back. I think this is do the the lack of high frequencies in the feedback loop.
Before you part with a ton of cash for one of these check out the ibanez ad-230, the t-rex replica or a good tape unit. I prefer all three to this.
Honestly It sounds like an arion SAD with more delay time. I prefer the SAD because it doesn't clip, does a better runaway and only costs like $20 compared to $600.
Reliability
:10
I have 7 mooger fooger pedals. One started to acts kind of wierd and sent random voltages for a while. I ended up just working the amount pot for a long time and that fixed it.
Customer Support
:No Opinion
Overall Rating
:6
This pedal is kind of a poor value. I think they could have kept making them but just realized it was expensive to build and not a very strong design. I hope moog will release a better sounding delay with the same features.
If you allready have every other cool delay worth having and are just a delay freak then this is worth getting just for the novelty i guess. It can do things no other delay pedal can, but If you can only afford a few nice pedals I'd say you could get at least three better delay units for the cost of one of these. Yamaha e1005, ibanez ad-230, roland space echo, echoplex, korg stage echo. Get a couple of these and spend the rest on a good overdrive.
This is not as cool as the three other mooger fooger pedals and is much more expensive.
Product: Moog MF-104 MoogerFooger Analog Delay Price Paid: US $595.00
Submitted 03/20/2003
at 08:32pm
by Bill
Email: cobralibre75 at hotmail<dot>com
Ease of Use
:7
It's not totally intuitive but there is a lot more going on with this pedal than any other dalay I've ever owned. the whole internal/external loop puts this in a different class of pedal and you have to mess with it longer to discover all of it's potential. Not a bad thing really. The loop gain stuff is a little unwieldy but you get the hang of it. Just takes a while to do it all and can require juggling. The manual is decent.
Sound Quality
:8
All depends on what you're looking for. This is the mother of all analog delays and is pretty far on the other side of the spectrum from clean, clear, accurate digital delay. I like both for different applications. This pedal is very warm, pretty dark over all and colors your signal significantly. The feedback is dark and slightly degraded. I happen to like this. It adds to my very retro tone. Great for space rock, moody indi-rock stuff, sad songs and such. I can cover the Radiohead, Doves, Pink Floyd territory very well. I use this with the expression pedal (at least one is ESSENTIAL to get the full potential of this pedal) and with it it's the cats meow. Without the exp pedal, its a great delay, with it -it's an instrument. I use it on the feedback knob and with little gentle rocking I can make some insane noise/space squalls and pads. Very useful and cool with a volume pedal as well.
There is one feature that is important to mention - the external loop. I find its best with a ring mod or phase effect. The primary signal is largely uneffected but the feedback signal picks up the effect and if you use the exp pedal with the feeback knob, it gets very colorful. It sounds simple enough but I find I'm often suprised with the results. The sum of the whole is greater than the parts. The sounds that result are unpredictable and vary greatly according to small variables when you have all these elements happening at once. I can make my guitar sound like a pulsing, slowly phasing, techno-style synth with the ring mod or lilting, squeezed, high pitched bird echo's with the phase. Very different than a ringmod or phase just going into a delay. I tried to build a unit like this a few years ago with an old DOD 680 and couple of organ pedals but this far excedes my skills and my expectations.
One thing it doesn't do well is fast accurate slap back. If your doing fast picking/strumming and need the dalay to stay right with you, giving you back exactly what you give it and leaving the negative space dry - use a digital unit. I tried it with this in the studio and this is just not the unit for the job. Too much color in between and the delays are just too rounded and dark. Conversely, western style slap back that is less staight-up rythmically demanding sounds nice.
Also, I don't really like the drive knob. I leave it pretty far down and turn the output up. This pedal doesn't need more dirt and darkness in my opinion but it's there if you want it. I haven't found much use for it. I don't like the fact that I have to compinsate with the output knob and that this creates more noise. This pedal is not noiseless and not true-bypass. True-bypass is generally overrated and mis-understood anyway but this will colour your signal on or off. It's classic style analog.
The basic delay sound of this unit sometimes sounds like my 80's Ibanez Analog Delay going through my old fender reverb tank. I think that pretty well hits the tone on the head. I think you'll find you'll still want a traditional delay to cover basic stuff if delay is as much a factor of your music as it is in mine. I have 3 in my rig including this. You'll use this for adventure and insanity with expression pedals and effects in the external loop, an independant instrument in its own right - it's real strength.
Reliability
:7
The pedal itself seems well built but the expression pedal is CRAP! I've fixed it a half a dozen times. The gear-to-pedal stick comes out and I have to take it apart and tighten stuff. A real drag for the price. I would ditch it and build my own but the resitance or capacitance, or what ever, is very unique, or so I'm told, an its hard to find pots that match the unit. I may put it in another case but I shouldn't have to! The guy at the store told me they've been having a lot of problems with them.
But...as this is a review for the delay and not the Expression pedal I'm only taking off 1 for it. I'm going to smoke it in it's own review though, the folks at Big Briar have got to do something about this.
Customer Support
:No Opinion
I've heard good, I've heard not so good. I have no personal experience. They may here from me soon regarding that for-s#*t expression pedal.
Overall Rating
:8
I know lots of folks are put off by the price and I think its a valid complaint. That there are only 1000 ever made drives the price up, certainly, but fact is no other delay pedal does all of what this one does. The Line 6 with the exp pedal is ok on some settings but not really comparable. Tape delay's and the old Roland Space Echo's are the real rivals to this unit and they are less expressionable - if that's a word. I know price knocks a digit or two off everyone's reviews and it does mine as well.
Fact is, I love this unit but the price made me cry fat wet tears... as I fished the card out of my wallet. I'm a delay lunatic and I had to have it.
It is very musical and very emotional, if you catch my drift, and I'm glad I suffered thru the buyers remorse because It's rewarded me by helping me write and produce better/cooler sounding music. Oh, and I love it with my Moog Liberation Synth as well.
Product: Moog MF-104 MoogerFooger Analog Delay Price Paid: $925 (CDN)
Submitted 08/17/2002
at 09:27pm
by Mark Penner(Jebus0000)
Email: Mark_Penner at hotmail<dot>com
Ease of Use
:8
It's harder to use then your average analog delay because it has a lot of special features. You'll be so excited about the special features that you won't care.
Sound Quality
:10
This pedal sounds amazing. Very lush delays. The delays are noticably mellower or darker sounding then the original tone. This is what makes it sound so cool.
The pedal has an effects loop that allows you to send only the delays through the effect. This is super cool. It doesn't work with all effects but it works really nice with modulation effects. The one thing that is kinda wierd is the first delay after the original effect is not sent through the effects loop. So you play a note, you hear 1 delay uneffected and all the delays after that are effected.
This pedal is NOT true bypass. At first I thought my tone improved just by having the pedal in my chain. Maybe something to do with a buffer circuit, I'm not sure. But I've started to notice my wah sounds like crap when I have it before the MF-104, even if it's bypassed. I plan on building a true bypass box to solve this problem. One more negative that I've heard about a lot of analog delays is if you put the delay time past 12 o'clock(on the long setting) you'll hear a faint high pitched whine that lowers in pitch as you turn the knob clockwise. I'm not sure if this is the case with all MF-104s but it hasn't proven to be a big problem yet.
You may be wondering why I've given it a 10 when I've spent most of this section listing negatives. Well I figured it might be a waste of time just blabbering about how awesome it is and more construtive listing it's faults. I should mention this though, the way this pedal sounds and it's features(some not found on any other delay pedal)are absolutely unbelievably and far out weigh any negatives I've listed.
Reliability
:10
I don't forsee any problems in this department. The only thing is because this pedal is so beautifully constructed, I'm very concerned about marking it up. The inards look very reliable.
Customer Support
:No Opinion
I've had no reason to call yet.
Overall Rating
:10
I'm a delay freak and this pedal will take care of me for the rest of my life. I seriously doubt I will ever play a better analog delay. In terms of sound quality and special features it is the best and well worth the money. And they only made 1000 so the resale value will always be high(not that I would ever sell it).
Product: Moog MF-104 MoogerFooger Analog Delay Price Paid: US $599
Submitted 05/06/2002
at 08:16am
by Anonymous
Ease of Use
:7
This isn't an analog dealy pedal so much as a delay module for a modular synth. Many more options that your average delay, and working them out is not a five minute process if such tools are unfamiliar to the user. Very good manual for setting things up.
The front panel has knobs for delay time, mix, regen, switches for double delay time with even less fidelity and f/x loop in or out, and a loop gain level. Also a trim knob for the input and an output level knob. Back panel has mix out (dry + delay) delay out (delay only) plus CV/expression pedal jacks for delay time, regen and mix. It can take a bit of time to match levels, but this also means that it will interface with more than just a guitar. It's great as a send effect with line level devices when properly configured.
As I said, excellent manual as well.
Sound Quality
:10
Oh my gawd. Yeah, six hundred bucks for a delay pedal is pretty extreme, but this is just one of those special pieces of gear. It sounds amazing as a guitar pedal. It can do country slapbacks perfectly. Set with an LFO on the delay time input and a 40ms delay, it can do some lucious doubing sounds. Longer delays are great for more dramatic guitar f/x.
It also absolutely thrills as a mix send effect. Anything from fattening up vocals to seriously tripped out dub effects. My main use for it is as a send effect while mixing, and it's just one of those pieces of gear that makes anything sent thtough it sound better. For guitar stuff, I set it at about 140ms and have an expression pedal for delay time and regneration. A volume swell on the guitar plus more feedback = thrilling whale sounds. Neil Young freakout sounds are also there with the feedback cranked up. It sounds so good that I leave it on almost all of the time with the 140 ms and a few repeats.
Just an amazing pedal for anyplace where a delay is needed.
Reliability
:8
Seems well built. Back comes off and all of the parts look high quality, though I'm no expert. I'd use it without backup 'cuase I ain't paying freaking $600 for a BACKUP delay. I like good sounds, but I'm a complete idiot. Switch feels a little sketchy.
Customer Support
:No Opinion
no experience
Overall Rating
:10
It's expensive, and I really wondered about it when I bought it, but I used it with EVERYTHING now. It's in my live guitar rig, as a send effect in my studio when tracking, at mixdown on an f/x bus. There really isn't much like it out there. Tape delays have their own thing, and I'd still like to have one of them, but this sounds as good as any tape I've heard. A Memory Man is a cool pedal for sure, but doesn't have the same versatility for level matching or routing this pedal has. It's a lot of money, but it also became a crucial piece 'o kit for me as soon as I had it. A Line6 pedal could probably cop 80% of the vibe of this pedal, but I'm thinking of a delay modeler as a compliment not a replacement for this pedal. Looks extraordinarily cool on the floor when playing live. CV iputs open new vistas of sonic capability. A true achievement, can't say enough good about it.
Product: Moog MF-104 MoogerFooger Analog Delay Price Paid: US $595
Submitted 12/02/2001
at 01:28am
by Anonymous
Ease of Use
:8
Simple enough but read manual first!
Sound Quality
:10
I am using a Fender Strat>mf 104>mf 101>small stone phaser.Sounds of the delay are very good.Extremly warm tape sounding.Even when bypassed it makes my clean sound so warm coming frm my dual rectifier.If you want delays like the edge(u2)look no further.
Reliability
:8
I just got it a month ago but it looks real tough.
Customer Support
:No Opinion
Overall Rating
:10
I play lots of pop rock and brit rock.I must say that it is perfect for me.Sometimes i even run it through my keyboard and i tell you it sounds awesome.This pedal changes my sound frm zero to hero.I had played with lots of digital delays(line 6,boss,digitech) i must say that the mf 104 kicks these other delay pedals in the face.
Product: Moog MF-104 MoogerFooger Analog Delay Price Paid: US $599
Submitted 04/27/2001
at 10:21am
by MC
Email: analogdiehard<at>worldnet dot att dot net
Ease of Use
:10
Real easy. You can use it on the floor or as a tabletop unit. The footswitch is sturdy enough to step on but you can press it with you finger too. It's a basic analog delay as far as controls go, but with added voltage control for delay, mix, and feedback. You can use a voltage pedal or a synthesizer LFO to continously change parameters, or you could go hog wild and build yourself a programmer that puts out programmed control voltages to build the world's first programmable analog delay. We're getting on a tangent here, but you can see the possibilities...
Anyway there are controls for delay time, mix, feedback, and loop gain. "Loop gain"? Yes, you can insert any external device into the feedback loop, a rare but useful feature. Try a highpass filter for authentic valley echoes. The manual suggests a setup with a Ring Modulator, I can't begin to imagine what that would sound like. "Loop Gain" controls the gain at the loop return jack for level matching.
Rounding out the front panel is a pair of nice big rocker switches, one toggles between short and long delay modes (400ms max and 800ms max respectively) and the other switch enables the external loop. Then there's an input gain and output level control along with a status and input level LED.
One of the handy things about the input level LED is that it is tri-color, it is very easy to see when you have nominal gain. The LED flickers when there is signal present; green means ideal gain, yellow means mild but pleasant overdrive, and red is clipping.
Sound Quality
:10
I used this unit with a Minimoog, a Polymoog, a Moog Liberation, and a bass guitar and they all sounded great. This analog delay has a very good tape quality echo to it, especially in long delay mode.
The long delay mode has less high frequency content then short delay mode. The MF-104 is a BBD delay device and this is typical of the longer delay times. But it is nice to have decent high end response out to 400ms, while at the same time decreased bandwidth in the long delay mode can actually be a desireable trait, IE if you're working with a 70ms delay with this unit you can switch between the two modes and use whatever suits your fancy. Sometimes a short delay with decreased bandwidth sounds good.
Some people will cry about the bandwidth issue - full 20-20Khz bandwidth is not always desirable. Yes there are digital units out there with full bandwidth for less money, but analog BBD devices have a unique sound that hasn't been duplicated in a digital delay and this unit sounds incredibly warm and clean. I like the sound a lot better than my Yamaha E1010.
Reliability
:10
Seems really solid. The chassis is thick enough to stand on.
Customer Support
:No Opinion
Haven't had to call them yet.
BTW, there was a question about spare BBD chips - Big Briar *did* acquire more chips beyond what went into the 1000 units built, so they *do* have spares.
Overall Rating
:10
A lot of people will say that this is a lot of money for an analog delay. The reason I spent the extra money was for the voltage control. I did an experiment with a friend's modular synthesizer and patched his LFO output to the delay CV input of the MF-104. Instant chorus and flange, and it sounds *good*. But it doesn't end there.
I'm planning a modular synthesizer system and this unit will be part of that system. Yes, this is an expensive way to get analog delay effects but the flexibility of modularity is worth it. If you've ever had quality time with a modular synthesizer you'll appreciate this unit. In fact I'm planning on buying a 2nd MF-104, so I can make stereo quadrature chorus effects. There are so many possibilities with a modular system, and all of the Moogerfooger units were designed to be used in a modular synth. Just an example: I could route keyboard CV to mix so that I get more delay signal as I play higher up the keyboard, because in fact some natural environments react this way.
Product: Moog MF-104 MoogerFooger Analog Delay Price Paid: US $599
Submitted 10/03/2000
at 09:51am
by Anonymous
Ease of Use
:8
The MoogerFooger Analog Delay is the latest addition to Bob Moog's
celebrated effects units.As with the others,operation requires a little more tweaking than the average stomp box.Happily,there is a well written, and not overly technical manual accompanying the pedal.
Sound Quality
:9
I have tried several instruments through the unit,including a Tele Custom,an archtop fitted with Seth Lover pickups and various keyboards.In front of a VHT Pitbull,using the Tele,and dialing in a slapback echo, the sound of James Burton magically appeared from the speaker.I did find that using the long setting on the delay helped,as this attenuated the frequency response of the repeat.This is more in keeping with the "vintage" sound ,much sought after by guitarists.
On the short setting,the unit is still able to reach 400ms,quite long by analog standards,and the difference in clarity is commensurate with the doubled frequency response.I think this setting would be best sreved in an effect loop in amp, or on a boards send,as the effect of all those pristine delays piling up into the amp input is not pretty ,and precisely what guitarists are trying to avoid in buying an analog delay.You are grateful of the added resolution ,however ,once you put synths ,acoustic guitars and even vocals through the unit.The gain and output controls allow you to put practically anything through the unit without resorting to DI boxes or level conversion.At all settings the sound is exemplary and the noise floor, even at extreme settings is
negligible.This is not your mothers analog delay.
There is a external loop accessed by two 1/4 ins jacks on the rear of the unit.This allows you to process the delays with other effects,even ,as Mr Moog points out,other Moogerfoogers.In practice this was not as easy as it seems in the manual,largely due to difficulties matching the drives,gains and outputs on all the pedals.(Yes,I have all four.)
Inserting the ring modulator is fun, but soon descends into the realm of tiresome "special" FX.
The Big Briar filter yields really nice effects on long sweeping delays,the effect becoming brighter with each repeat ,as opposed to the other way round.
The Phaser is great for adding swirl(naturally),but also adds a psyco acoustic "panning" when used as described on Page 16 of the manual.It's an extraordinary effect in stereo and doesn't seem as automated as the digital variety.Add to this the fact that you can modulate parameters on the delay and the phaser by LFOs from the ring mod., and/or Control Processor,or by footpedal ,or by voltage control and you begin to see the possibilities on offer.Its alive!
Ok.Calm down.One of the best sounds I achieved was by using a Boss VB-1 in the effects loop.This gave me a modulated delay,a sound not unlike an old Copicat on its last legs.Beautiful delays ,fading into a shimmering ambience, without interfering with whatever was layered on top.Which begs the question,for $600 ,couldn't Big Briar have included
a modulation control?Sure,you can use the $300 Control processor to control the delay time,but not the LFOs on either the 101 Filter or 103 phaser,because there is no way to control the modulation amount,only the speed.
The other thing that is missing in a delay unit of this caliber is a
ducking device.Unless you've played through a pedal with this option you've no idea how incredibly expressive and useful this can be.These are not minor quibbles.Both of these can options are easily and inexpensively obtainable in the analog domain and should be considered a vital part of a professional delay unit.I'm giving it a nine for sound quality, only because I'm not thrilled with the way the drive control moves into distortion.
Reliability
:7
Too early to tell.These boxes are made well,but I wouldn't take mine on stage,not least because you'll look like a plank polishing the wooden sides with Pledge before a gig.More to the point is this;If Big
Briar obtained only enough of these now discontinued ICs to make a thousand pedals,what happens in the event of fried chips?(pun intended.)
Customer Support
:No Opinion
Overall Rating
:8
I can't imagine a musical scenario where you wouldn't find a use for a good delay unit.This one has a great character and will sit in a track nicely while adding a warm halo to the original signal.The external control options will be invaluable to some,and largely ignored by others.For the latter,there are much cheaper options,and if you intend to stick it in front of a sizzling Marshall,perhaps the reissue Memory man would be a better bet;it also has nice modulation effects,but is a little noisy and probably tops out at around 300ms delay.Readers of these postings will be aware of other offerings from Maxon,Stamps(tube driven),H&K(tube driven and digitally modelled)and Tubeplex(tubes and tape).This is right up there with the best of them in terms of sound quality and unfortunately,expense.In fact I'd like to hear Bob Moog justify the high price tag of the MF-104,given that it uses the same casing as the much cheaper filter and ring mod units.
I laid down $600 last September to get one of these babies,and at various times was informed,it'll be special;hand signed by Bob himself,it'll have a nice presentation case etc,implying that it would be some kind of collectors piece.It arrived six months after schedule, in a brown cardboard box,and no signature ,so I can't help but be a little disappointed.The least Big briar could have done was to stick it in a Mooger carrier case for their sins.Gratis,of course.
All this aside,and with the exception of my previously noted gripes,this is great delay unit with extended delay times,low noise floor and sound that is organic, and has that indefinable quality that makes you want to play.Then again, $600 is a huge amount of wedge for a delay pedal,so now that thay are in select stores ,I suggest you try one out before parting with your drinking vouchers.
Product: Moog MF-104 MoogerFooger Analog Delay Price Paid: US $595
Submitted 10/02/2000
at 01:49pm
by Patrick Bailey
Email: patbailey<at>netzero dot net
Ease of Use
:4
Wow, I guess I have the honor of leaving the first review(unless somebody sent one in yesterday) of the mother-of-all-analog delays, the Moogerfooger MF-104. Here we go........
This unit is somewhat easy to get a good sound out of, like a lot of other analog delays that have three to four knobs. You've got Delay Time, Feedback, and Mix. The reason I say it's 'somewhat' easy to use is because Big Briar decided to add an input-'drive' knob and an output level knob. I found it kind of frustrating trying to dial in a decent sound with the moogerfooger in my guitar signal chain, treading the line between my signal level dropping when I kick it on and having the delays distort because of the drive and ouput compensating for signal loss. Maybe this is because of my setup( I run through 4 or 5 other pedals but they are mostly true-bypass). This was a bit annoying compared to running through an EH Memory-Man, Boss DM-2 or 3, or even a DOD FX-90; where there is usually just a mix knob.
There is also a short-long delay time selecter switch that's kind of cool, and a internal-external loop function(more on that later). The manual, like all other moogers is very helpful and informative, they even drop some delay history on you.
Sound Quality
:5
I tried this pedal out with the following chain- Gibson Les Paul->E.Ball volume->EH Micro-synth->Crybaby 535Q->Vox valve-tone->Prescription Experience->Moogerfooger delay->Fender 2x12 deVille. I found the unit to be kind of noisy, because I had to keep the drive up so my signal wouldn't decrease when I turned it on. This probably won't be a problem running it through a mixer-FX bus, I'm sure there are a lot of techno/bedroom producer types that will get this pedal. The echoes sound excellent(or lo-fi however you look at it), but then again so do the echoes that come out of EH Memory-Mans, Boss DM-2s, and Ibanez AD-100s. The response when you tweak the delay time during a phrase is very cool, but then again ditto with the other units just mentioned. I was kind of unhappy with the color this unit gave my guitar sound. Its kind of like an undesirable sharp overdriven bite, which is evident even in bypass mode. To better explain my description, if you have a Dunlop wah with a boost control on the bottom, try cranking the boost all the way and play while wah-ing. That's what the distortion sounds like. The delays can be switched between either short(40-400ms) or long(80-800ms). I thought this was kind of cool, especially when you flip the switch during a sustaining chord.....trip out. I found the internal-external loop thing to be a bit dissapointing. I was kind of excited to run my DOD envelope filter through it, but I couldn't get a decent sound at all. The manual explains that "amplitude-style effects don't work well in the external loop". Oh well. Another cool bonus is the control jacks. If you work with CVs and'or other moogerfoogers you'll get the most of this feature. As for guitar players, do you have space for three more volume/expression pedals? I plugged a standard Ernie Ball volume pedal into the delay time control jack, it was cool being able to control the time with your foot, but the Ernie Ball only swept half the knob. I guess because the pot in the volume pedal has a low resistance value. Maybe you can get a couple of Big Briar's control pedals for 40 bucks each, hmmm after you've spent $550-plus on the unit itself? I dunno.
Reliability
:5
I've never used a moogerfooger in a live situation to see how reliable they are, but they seem pretty well constructed. After spending as much on this much-hyped unit, I take a look at it and I will never take this thing to a gig, I'm even hesitant at just stomping on it. As for using it without a backup, well, first of all like I said I won't even use it at a gig, and for the price of one moogerfooger delay I can get an EH Memory-Man reissue which I wouldn't be afraid to use on stage and have two brand new backups in case I stomp on it a little too hard.
Customer Support
:4
I'm kind of in the middle on Big Briar. I remember putting a deposit on this thing back in January, they told me I would get it in March. I finally got it last week.(Sept.) Those people over there must have gotten sick of me calling them every 2 weeks or so to see when I would get it. It kind of sucks that I had to call them, they never contacted me to tell me the delay was delayed. Every time I talked to them they said it would ship next month. I initially wanted to pay by credit card, but contacted them to see if I could send them a check instead. They said that was fine, but when they finally shipped the unit, they decided to use both my credit card and check. I thought that kind of sucked. But then they apologized and are reimbursing me for checks I had bounced because of it.
I have a lot of admiration for Big Briar though because they seem to be very passionate about their products. They just need to brush up on their customer service. They should seek Mike Fuller for some advice in that department.
Overall Rating
:4
I have been playing for ten years, and echo units have had their place in my playing style. I have owned and used quite a few different delay units during these past ten years, tape units(Echoplex, Space Echo, two reel-to-reel decks chained together), analog units(like the ones mentioned above), digital units(Boss DD-5, Jamman, Digitech, Alesis Quadraverb), and those Line6 delay modelers. After trying out the moogerfooger all I can say is that it is just okay. It's not bad, but it's not great either. The price is a big factor. I think this unit is way overpriced, even with its limited edition collecter's item status. If Electro Harmonix can make a similar style pedal for a third of the price, what's going on? I guess they are using lower grade bucket-brigade chips or something, I can't tell the difference. The reason I was initially excited about this pedal is because of their other ones, like the filter and the phaser(THE BEST PHASER EVER). This delay unit doesn't even compare to those in terms of what each offers. But then again if you are a Moog fanatic you're going to want this pedal. I'm sure you can do some amazing things with this pedal in conjunction with CV synths and other moogers and that control processor Big Briar just put out. But as for guitar players, I strongly suggest you look elsewhere.