Moog MF-104Z MoogerFooger Analog Delay

This is the pedal nobody should be complaining about. It is a piece of art all of its own in a catogory no builder could touch because they didnt know how to reach, in the universe, the place moog was first to put on the map. Go somewhere else and complain, because this pedal is what it is, and there is nothing else like these pedals. They don't even belong to you but the universe, its the understanding of how sound works, if you have a problem with the pedal, its because you don't know what your doing with the pedal in the first place.

is what it is

very well built

The usual parameters for a delay pedal are present:

Delay time, including a switch to double/halve the selected time.

Feedback, which goes from one repeat to self oscilation.

Mix, from completely dry to completely wet. A seperate 'delay only' output is included on the back of the unit for more recording/performance options.

Input drive controls the input level, for which there is an LED to show how strong the signal is. The LED goes from green to orange and then red if the input is overdriven.

Output level controls the overall output of the unit.

One more switch, labelled 'loop int/ext' is included to allow the user to put external effects into the delay signal path. Some very strange and wild effects can be made by using a Wah or Phazer in this loop; it doesn't just put these effects on top of the echo, it incorporates them into the delay as it's generated. There is a send and return on the back of the unit for this option and a very useful 'loop gain' parameter allows control over this section of the delay when using the external option. Another LED is included to show the level of the external loop. Mine often goes into the red without any side effects.

There are other inputs included on the back of the unit for expression pedal control of the time, feedback and mix parameters.

I only gave this unit an 8 because it can get a little wild if parameters are pushed just a little too far. Very careful tweaking is required, especially when recording.

I use this at the very end of my signal chain, before entering the input of the amp. I use the clean channel of the amp, all my distortions are taken care of using other effects.

This is a properly bucket brigade delay (google it) so the echoes are a little dark compared to digital delays. The echoes disappear into a kind of clicky sound if the feedback is turned up to just below self oscilation. This isn't a bad thing in my opinion and only noticeable in certain situations. This can be remedied anyway by using the external loop.
I am using a Line 6 Delay Modeller in the external loop (set to tape delay emulation with delay time set to zero) which adds control over the timbre of the echoes from bright, slightly distorted echoes to thumping bass echoes. With the loop drive turned right up the echoes change in timbre very quickly. I can play any note on my guitar and within a few repeats this note can turn into a kick drum sound for example. Using some effects or an EQ in the external loop is highly recommended.

Overall the sound of the echoes are great and with the external loop a lot of fun can be had. Be aware that the overall volume of your sound can go through the roof if you're not careful.

I'm giving this an 8 because there is a very, VERY slight hiss when the unit is engaged. The unit stops producing the dry signal when switched off so it's probably not true bypass either.

Hard to judge: The first one I had turned out to be intermittent in performance, even with a regulated PSU.
I took it back months ago, was given an EX-Demo unit while mine was being replaced and I'm still waiting on that... When you get a good one they are very reliable though, this isn't a design issue. I would use without a backup.

I tried to contact Moog on their web site but didn't hear anything.

I'm still waiting for the replacement/repaired unit.

I've heard that they are usually quite good so I'll give a 5. I think I'll keep this ex-demo one though.

I play in a doom metal band (for 15 years now) who use a lot of psychedelic effects, this delay fits the bill perfectly.

One thing I wished the unit had was the ability for the delays to continue after the pedal is bypassed. Expression pedals might be able to sort that out but my rig already takes up a whole living room.

It's a great unit....but expensive!!

I have 4 other foogers and though size can be an issue, I feel that the layout of them all is fairly intuitive. their manuals are excellent and eduactional. It ain't hard to figure this guy out.

OK the pedal is expensive, the size is big and clunky, but it sounds friggin awesome. It's the best delay I have used by far. Please note that I have owed or used the following: DL4, Memory Lane, Keeley AD9, H20 and a couple other lower level pedals. This pedal is lush sounding and not digitized. No tap tempo since it is all analog but the foot control pedal feature is noce and can create some wackiness.

I do gig with it, but I keep all my foogers in a Heavy Duty Stompin Ground pedalboard case (highly recommend Troy's product). I have had it for over a year an dno issues with it or any other of my foogers.

NA - sent me a T-shirt so that should count for something

OK, this thing costs as much as many people's guitars or amps - so this is pretty insane to think I could get a gently used Super Reverb for nearly the same price. So for overall value I have to deduct a couple points. However, the sonic tones and flexibility with this along with other foogers is where it's at. I'll AB my fooger board against my smaller board filled with very nice boutigue pedals (Empress Trem, Keeley AD9. Retro Sonic Phaser, Mojo Vibe) and it will blow it out of the water every time. Don't get me wrong, I love my little board, but the 102 trumps the Empress, the 103 trumps the Retro Sonic, and the 101 trumps the Tonefactor. Foogers obviously cost more but at least you can hear and feel the difference. It's a sickness, but many there are fun to light up.

very easy to use main controls. however the feedback loop and control voltage inputs bring this into territory of modular synthesis. if you aren't a synth dork, you might need a little tutorial.

a very good sound. too good, i think. it does not output hiss or contain the "erratic" charactoristics of many the bizarre and pretty cool in my opinion japanese analog delays from the late 70s/early 80s. it is basically a very clean analog delay, perhaps the brightest analog delay i've heard. however for me, i don't know, how should i say this - it's too clean for me. no it's not digital clean, but it is a very un-"squishy" sound. i got used to some of the funky one-off a-delays i got off ebay or borrowed from my wierd friends, and this just seemed all wrong from the moment i got it out of the box. it kept mocking me with it's uppity little boutique appearance, saying "you tossed down some CASH-MONEY for me, dude." i found that the feedback was really conservative for my taste. i tell you, i know it's a well used sound, but a really big chunky analog delay feedback loop thrills me to pieces. the moog feedback seems kind of...tiktiktiktiktik. it should be...JGHJGHJGHJGHJGH!!!!!!! do you know what i mean? either you do or you don't. but, seriously, this is NOT a crazy nutball delay. yes, when hooked up to a modular synth, it will make many goofy video game noises. but still, it seemed somehow conservative to me. and incidentally, there are no trim pots on the CV jacks, so unless you want to sweep through the full range of the pots with your modulator signal, you will have to find a way to trim your CV before going to the delay, a bit of a pain in the ass.

yes, very well made item. no problems there.

i'd imagine they're good guys. a while ago i emailed them about something though, and they took so long to get back to me i forgot i ever emailed them in the first place. then one day, "hello.. in response to your query...blah blah..."

they are probably faster with waranteed products, but still, be cautious...

guys and gals, since i don't work for Keyboard magazine or something, i'm not going give the candy-ass "great for space-rockers and trippy dub engineers" review. this is strictly my OPINION. i was very nervous to buy this item becuase of the price, but ive wanted a voltage controled delay for many years and due to Bob's sad passing and the reappearance of this item on the market, i decided to shell out. well i regretted it pretty much from the start. i eagerly hooked up a bright sawtooth oscillator to it and cranked the feedback up. i was about to bust with anticipation, but then it just went, "tiktiktiktik...". i know i said that already. damnit, IT'S important! many will say that this is the most experimental a-delay, because of the CV options, but i beg to differ. it is a very clean, professional sounding pedal that will please any producer or nerdy studio guy. but homemade noise-blissed psychedelic wacks like myself just don't belong with this Faberge' Egg pedal. TRUST ME experimenters...there is NO grease on this thing! and as for YOU, guitar players...you who do not ever set foot near control voltages, why get a huge pedal that will take up half of your pedal board, that you won't even use half of it's features (CVs), and will piss your wife off because you spent the amount of a mortgage payment on it? as for rich studio dorks...enjoy. you'll love it. i sold mine already, got all my money back, thank god. sorry bob, i meant every word i said.

This pedal is fairly easy to use and certainly the easiest of all the moogerfooger pedals to use however the extra control options definately put it in a different class than most "guitar" pedals. For one, you can control every parameter (except drive and output level) with a voltage from a pedal or analog synth (such as a moog voyager or other moogerfooger pedals-particularly useful for this application are the LFO outs on the mf102 ring modulator and mf-103 phasor as they can change any parameter of the delay much like spinning the knobs with your hands-in real time-dependant on how fast/slow the LFO is set, which can be monitored on either pedal using the LED's flashing capabilities-got it?!) Anyway, the manual for this pedal is very informative, just like all the moogerfooger manuals, and really if you've ever used a delay pedal before you shouldn't find the MF-104Z very complicated.

The sound quality really depends on what you're looking for. I give it a ten in relation to other analog delays because it really does sound better. However, if you are looking for a pristine, clear, and identical delay sound (like the ones found in many digital delay pedals that don't have "analog" emulating circuits) you might be very dissapointed in the MF-104Z. What this pedal does really really well is give you the ultimate analog delay sound. Don't know what I'm talking about? Listen to any recording made before about 1975 that has echoes on in and you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about. Pink Floyd comes to mind when using this pedal-the delays are warm, indistinct, and very psychedelic. It's really more of a "natural" echo sound-just like when you scream in a canyon, the delays from this pedal exhibit and indistinct and different quality, definately with less-high frequency content-than the original signal. One discerable difference in the various settings this delay has that I noticed right off the bat is the short/long delay time rocker switch. With this switch you can toggle between delays that go from 50 millisechonds to about 500 milliseconds (short) or 100 milliseconds to a little over one second of delay (which, BTW, is the longest time ANY analog delay pedal has yet to offer-except the moogerfooger super delay, which none of us will ever have) and the tone changes dramatically. On the short setting the delays sound pretty distinct and crisp and as soon as you switch to the long setting the delays instantly become murky, muddy, and sort of muffled. I love it...two very different delay sounds that are both very useable and very insipiring. Again, the point must be made that some won't like the long delay setting as they will find it too muddy but this and all the moog products (including their synthesizers) are insturments that you have to adapt your style to to really get the most out of them. They play you, not the other way around, but, again, I love this because the inspiration never stops with these pedals...I dare someone to get bored with all the various combinations that can be conjured up with these boxes. Anyway, as far as analog delays go the only thing that rivals the MF-104Z is my echoplex (or probably any good tape delay such as the Roland Space Echo or the new fulltone tape delay). The echoplex has that warm, liquid quality to it but with a bit more high frequency content to the echo than the moogerfooger. Not better, but different and equally cool. Where the MF-104Z outshines the echolpex is in it's control options (well and that it's not an electromechanical device that can break down on you easily-something my echoplex has done way too many times). The fact that the MF-104Z has an effects loop is really wonderful, and that you can control every parameter by pedal is great too. The effects loop is pretty cool-you can patch in anything (and I do mean anything-there is a dedicated loop gain control to allow just about any input source). What happens when you use the effects loop? Bascially your original signal is kept uneffected and the delay repeats have whatever effect you've patched into the effects loop (which could contain multiple effects). This can sound interesting but rather pedestrian on paper (or screen as it were) but when you patch in, say, a MF-101 lowpass filter something very interesting and bizarre begins to happen...the delays exhibit a gurgling, liquid quality, with amazing self-oscillation when the resonance on the MF-101 is cranked. I never expected such sounds and it immediately made me want to try different effects in the loop. The results are always unpredictable, and usually completely different than ANYTHING you've ever heard before. Hell yes...

well I've owned the MF-101, 102, and 103 pretty much since they came out and have yet to have them need service (knock on wood)...and I gig regularly with these suckers. Of course I use a metal pedalboard and try to take good care of them, but they've definatley seen thier fair share of sweat, dust, and beer without skipping a beat. The verdict is still out for me on the reliability of the MF-104Z but if the other moogerfoogers are any indication this peedal should last a very long time with moderate or even heavy usage.

Called Moog music to ask about the power supply for the MF-104Z and they were very helpful (BTW, all the moogerfooger pedals have positive-opposed to the standard negative-power supplies so don't try and plug them into your voodoo labs or dc brick power supply without getting the right type of custom cable first).

Well, here's the deal. I love moogerfooger pedals. I love the new minimoog voyager, and just about everything moog music makes. This pedal is ceartianly the ultimate anaolg delay on the market today. However, this thing costs an arm and a leg. Hell, it cost more than my amp (mesa boogie dc-2) or my guitar (fender telecaster). That's just kind of rediculoso!!! Bascially I broke down and bought the damn thing after using a friend's original MF-104 and falling in love with it and also knowing that this delay probably won't be produced forever (there's a finite supply of analog bucket-brigade delay chips...they're just not made anymore) and will, like the original MF-104, probably become a collectors item and increase in value over the years. However, if you're not a complete analog delay, or moogerfooger pedal freak I highly reccommend the Line 6 DL4- Delay modeler. No it can't really sound like the MF-104Z...how could it (it's digital). However, it does have more delay options (like reverse delay, and volume ducking delay) and you can control it with a pedal. Anyway, the MF-104Z is a great pedal but not really a great deal.

The manual is straight forward and tells you everything you need to know about this delay unit. Once you set up the proper levels, it is very easy to get great analogue delays out of this unit. It gets a little more complicated if you don't understand control voltages and what to do with them, but the manual explains all. You also have to wrap your head around the fx loop built into this gear. There is so many possibilties, and yet it can be very simple too.

Smooth, smooth warm delays. This is not like a digital delay, which are also great in what they do. The delays get weaker and start to decay as they start to fade. Digitals don't decay like this. The MF104Z is very quiet. You have the choice of boosting the gain on this pedal, thus creating some nice distortion. I have mainly been using this with my Moog Voyager, but I have also used it with guitar through a Matchless DC30. This pedal is incredible for guitar. You can get a nice slapback or you can get a full second of delay. The feedback control gives you a couple of echos to a full multitude. The feedback control will self oscillate when you start maxing it out which will produce some pretty insane sounds.

Built like a tank. All Moog products are solid and reliable. They are built for the pro market.

The support at Moog Music is hard to beat. They are eager to help.

I play ambient and experimental music on my synths. I play rock on my guitar. The Moogerfooger 104Z is perfect for what I do. This pedal can be very simple to use, but it is modular and can become part of the Moogerfooger system. The MF pedals can interact and modulate one another and produce some very unusual sounds. I own other MF products: MF101 low pass filter, MF102 Ring Modulator, MF103 phaser, and the CP251 voltage control processor. This is a very expensive pedal, but because of the control voltage, loop, customer support, and sound; this pedal is worth the money.