Moog MF-107 FreqBox

Out of the box, it surely isn't easy to use. You need to learn how to work with this thing, and the manual is a great help with that. It shows some settings that will sound cool, and that helped me a lot eventhough I don't use either of those.

Basically, when you think of this as just another stomp box, it's not easy to use. When you think of it as an additional instrument, it's actually pretty easy to use. I've had it for about half a year now, and now I know how to set it up for most of the sounds I want. Also, when I sit down and play with it, it never fails to give me some new freaky sounds.

First of all: I absolutely love this thing. I love its really thick sounds that can do anything you want (well, within the range of an oscillator/noise thing).

One thing I really don't like about this pedal, is the combination of output level, drive and mix. My problem with this is that when you allow 'dry' signal to come through, it is affected by the buffer, the drive control and the level control. What's worse: no matter how I set the drive and level, the dry signal is always a lot thicker than the original signal (especially noticable with the mix turned all the way down). Especially when you turn up the drive a little, you can get a really thick overdrive out of this. I actually used the pedal as a major boost for a couple of gigs. But that isn't really what I bought this for. And well, when I play clean stuff through the pedal (and allow dry signal through), this isn't really an issue. However, I find that it completely ruins the dry signal when putting any sort of overdrive or wahwah in front of it. This makes it annoying to set the Moog to one additional note to whatever it is that you're playing.

So I usually either play clean through it and keep the mix somewhere in the middle, or I play distortion or fuzz through it to keep the guitar signal compressed and sustained while turning the mix full up. That's where this pedal really shines!

One more thing though: there's a noticable difference on how 'clean' it sounds between hard sync on and off. It seems like it has trouble keeping its own sound clear when it has to track the input. This is nothing bad though. It actually makes it more fun to play with hard sync off. I find it especially cool to play single notes, pitch controlled by the frequency knob, run the signal through a tuner and then loop it - this way you can build up chords as an ambient background for whatever it is you would want to play.

I'm rating this with a nine because the problem with the dry signal doesn't really have to do with the actual effect.

It seems built like a rock.

Only the power jacket seems a bit weak. Sometimes there's a weird noise, but this is easily solved by 'playing' with the power supply a bit.

As for the gigging without a backup question - I'd be crazy to buy another one of these just as a backup!

N/A, though I might try to contact them about the dry signal issue I have with it.

For experimental things, the Freqbox is perfect. In bands, it's quite hard to make it useful - basically cuz your guitar stops sounding like a guitar and starts sounding like a single note synthesizer (at least, I find that playing multiple notes through it doesn't work for me - except for when I play Sarah Blasko - For You).

The song I'm currently writing with my band seems to make a chance at utilizing the Moog. Also, if you want a sort of crazy auto wah, and possibly mix it with your clean signal, this thing works. Then again, if that's the only purpose you have for it, you're better off buying an auto wah of some sort.

I personally bought it because I wanted a synthesizer to experiment with, and that is what this does. If you're only thinking in terms of using it in a band, you might want to skip this one.

Also, a lot of the fun lies within combining this one with other pedals. For example, putting a phaser or wahwah in front of it does crazy things (I think it has to do with the perceived input level), as does a tremolo (especially with the envelope amount opened up - makes the moog sound like a duck!).

I think it deserves a 9 because it broadened my musicual horizon so much. I think the biggest disadvantage is that it made me hungry for more expensive gear.

not necessarily easy but not exactly hard. it really depends on what you expect to hear, because if you plug this in for the first time and hammer away at a few strings you will almost positively not expect what you hear, and frankly might not like it. its all about twisting knobs and looking for something you like. after a while (longer than most pedals) you will have a pretty good idea of what parameters you need for the sound you want. and it becomes more predictable.

its a moog so you know that the sound quality is gonna be top notch analog goodness. its built around its internal oscillator that changes pitch according to the pitch going in. i rarely use mine as a traditional guitar effect pedal. i spend a lot of time tweaking the knobs real time for a more dynamic performance. and its also very important to note that this is NOT JUST FOR GUITARS. in fact i prefer to use it with a junky old casiotone keyboard. playing key melodies and tweaking the knobs is great fun. your basically playing a rudimentary moog little phatty. turn your drum machines tone into a synthy bit crunchy deal. this pedal is very very diverse and can turn most anything into a synthesized sound while retaining as much of the original characteristics as you want with the blend knob. its great for making spaced out zips zap synth buz, whistleing ghostly sounding tones, roars, fuzzy, grungy. anything really in the synth sound realm this thing tackles. one thing to note is that it is made to play single note type of things, if you played a chord hitting more than two or three strings you get kind of a mangled sound bc the oscillator cant decipher a definite pitch, granted the sound can be just the ticket depending upon what your looking for.

very well built moog quality. classic wood side panelling, icey smooth knob turning. but i got a pretty light foot when it comes to stomping so i will give it a 9.

havnt needed it. ive heard good things about moog taking care of its users though

awesome effect pedal. if your the type of person who likes to plug in and play your favorite song day in day out or doesnt like to have to go through the trouble of tweaking and testing this pedal probably isnt for you. its a pretty experimental process and i think i could play this thing everyday and find a new sound in it. i like to think of this as my turn anything into a moog effect. to my knowledge its the only factory pedal out there built around an internal oscillator. be patient and open minded when starting to use this pedal and if you stay the course it will bring tons of new possibility to your creative process. god bless bob moog.

I agree with Joey before me that the FreqBox should not be viewed as an effect pedal, but a separate musical instrument. It works and breathes all on its own and you're going to have to take quite a bit of time figuring it out. [Extra note: the DRIVE and OUTPUT LEVEL knobs are very important! Don't forget about them!]

The manual is helpful by getting you started with making sound right away, and THEN teaching you about the sound theory behind it. Make sure you read the whole thing; it will sound like a lot of rubbish, but there's a lot of relevant information that will only help you.

This is my second Moogerfooger (my first is the Ring Modulator; read my MF-102 review) and I knew that this one would be more difficult to master, but I was up to the challenge.

Get familiar with the term "PREDICTABLE", as it will be a major factor in creating your sounds.

What a stellar piece of equipment this is...

Drones, classic synth leads, simulated wah, power chord fuzz madness, dynamic percussions; this pedal can do all of that and more.

I'm playing a Gibson Explorer through a blah-tonofeffectsonmypedalboardandthenintomyamp-blah. The only notable thing is that I run the guitar into a passive Volume pedal, then into a ProCo Turbo Rat distortion, then into the MF-107 FreqBox, then the MF-102. I get more "predictable" sounds when the Rat pedal is on--the distortion compresses the guitar's signal before sending it to the FreqBox. The sound is even more "predictable" with the neck pickup on instead of the bridge.

With the Hard Sync switch in the OFF position, you just get the pure VCO, whose volume depends on your instrument's volume. Turn the Mix knob down halfway and "tune" the VCO it to whatever key you want to play in for a cool background drone effect. Turn the Envelope Amount up for a crazy vocal-like whine. Use the sync OFF position to play percussion-like sounds on your guitar, or any other instrument.

With the Hard Sync switch in the ON position, you have to turn the Frequency knob up for your notes to "catch" and be audible through the oscillator. The more you turn up the Waveform knob, the more the Frequency knob needs to be turned up, UNLESS you also turn up the Envelope Amount knob, which lets you lower the Frequency on higher waveforms. Is this making sense yet?

I like to think of the Waveform and FM Amount knobs as being "tied" together. The lower the setting on Waveform, the more simple that waveform is, and the more forgiving the FM Amount is when it's turned up. (Again, "predictable"...) When I get up to the square and pulse waveforms, I typically turn the FM Amount down because those waveforms are already pretty complex. You can do whatever the hell you want, though, and make it sound like a baby with a colic. That's the beauty of Moog; Sonic Infinity!

I turned the Mix knob all the way down and pumped the Output Level knob until it was the same volume as my guitar's regular signal. Yes, there is tone coloration, but it's so waaaaarm. It sounds magical. In fact, I like it so much this way that I intend to record with it.

Since this is my second Moogerfooger, I can now begin interconnecting with CV! There are two settings I particularly enjoy. The first is running the MF-102's LFO OUT to the MF-107's Frequency control. This sweeps the FreqBox's VCO and can be set by the Ring Mod's Rate knob. The second is to run the MF-107's ENV OUT to the MF-102's Frequency control. The Envelope Filter in the FreqBox will now dynamically control the Frequency in the Ring Mod (on the "Lo" setting, tremelo speeds up with hard pick attacks, then slows down).

Holy crap!!! I hope Harmony-Central doesn't shorten what I've written here! There's so much you can do with this thing it's ridiculous!!

Okay, I've read a LOT of reviews on the Moogerfoogers and I'm seriously starting to get pissed off. They're not flimsy pieces of aluminum foil. THESE ARE MADE TO LAST.

You would likely only break a Moogerfooger if you are:

A) A three-hundred-pound man who literally jumps with his full weight onto the knobs,
B) The kind of idiot who would throw a $350 piece of equipment out a car window,
C) A studio cat who doesn't gig with an actual pedalboard, or
D) All of the above.

I have both of my 'Foogers prominently displayed on my pedalboard and have full confidence that they will withstand the next few years' worth of regular gigs. I have already cleared up space for the CP-251 Control Processor, which will finish up my pedalboard.

Again, read my other review on the MF-102 Ring Modulator.

I've only dealt with them to ask pricing/availability questions, and they have always answered within business hours. Politely, too.

I play a mix of rock/hardcore/metal/space rock/whatever else and I've been hooked on Moog gear ever since I saw a photo of the 12-Stage Phaser in the CD jacket for Cave In's "Perfect Pitch Black" album.

To be honest, I didn't know if I expected to keep this or return for another Moogerfooger. I allowed myself to play the FreqBox during one gig before I made a solid decision, but the response I got was of everyone's head snapping to attention once I opened up a riff with it on. Lovely! Since then I've spent more time with it and have become more comfortable with its capabilities. Since I don't have an expression pedal yet, I love sweeping the VCO's frequency with the Ring Mod's LFO for a really expressive synth lead sound.

The FreqBox is the most expensive pedal I've ever purchased, but the sound quality and variety of sounds it dishes out makes it worth that of several effects units. This is top-of-the-line, innovative, professional gear, and I definitely feel like I got my money's worth.

And now for my final 'Fooger... the CP-251... or IS IT?!?!???!!!

Let me start by saying that this pedal should not be confronted as a pedal. It should be treated as a new instrument that you are taking up and mastering. In fact, it works as its own instrument that overlays and transforms your sound, even replacing it with its own notes if you turn the "sync" function off. You can't just pick up a clarinet or saxophone, "dial in a sound" and expect it to be good. This is a bit of an exaggeration, but with the FreqBox you will similarly have to figure out how to play it and learn the subtle adjustments and tweaks that make it sound good.

As other reviewers have mentioned, this thing is complicated and does not have presets. The manual is thorough and easy to read, even going into sound theory, but I found it difficult to apply to actual use. The problem is that this thing has multiple combinations and reacts differently though different instruments, amps, etc. For example, the "fm" knob has little effect with my guitar, but through a keyboard it really changes the sound. Likewise, the sounds are much different when played through a tube and solid state amp.

Like setting the tone on a guitar amp, little changes to the knobs often make for big changes in sound. Some combinations make the sound disappear completely. Expect to take a good month or so to get to know this pedal and figure out what the different combinations do together and what sounds good.

For me, this is the pedal to get if you want to blur the line between guitar and synth, making your guitar crackling and full like a synth sound. It also helps to be a person who is happy with messiness and unpredictability in their sound. It has a blaring and messy quality, often with notes not "tracking" correctly, but at the same time it is very warm and not shrill. I wouldn't bother using this to simply "color" a guitar sound - that seems like something you can do with much less expensive pedals. If this is an instrument, it is a "lead" one, not a back up singer.

But guitar applications are only half the story, as many (including me) use the box with synths too. Just turning the thing on gives my digital synth sound a warm, more analog tone to it. The oscillator gives you a lot of options for adding different color and tones, as well as shifting the color while playing and going "cosmic" or something.

Looks pretty solid. The switcher pedal seems especially nice - both strong and smooth - compared to the usual clickers that are suitable only for heavy boots.

Nope

Not for everyone, but this is a great pedal if you want an oscillated, analog, crazy sound to your gear - both guitar and synth.

It takes a little to time to get used to it but if you read the manual everything is simple. There are no presets so you need to remember the settings that you liked.

The sound quality is amazing a very unique but only with an expression pedal... If you are willing to play the guitar and use the pedal creatively you can generate something very original.

No problems whatsoever.

Never used it.

This is a superb, unique sound but should only be used where this type of sound quality is called for. This not a main-stream guitar sound but a special effect that you need to write a new song for... The use of an expression pedal is a must. (I am using Roland EV-5.)

I bought this as a guitar pedal and couldnt find a settieng I was happy with , this thing is extremely hard to control . Having an expression pedal does make a world of difference ,tho I still found it to be a royal pain . the moog web site has a really cool sample of this pedal (which is why I purchaced it ) but after playing with it, I felt it was more of a keyboard effect than a guitar effect and being the only guitarist in my band I cant see how I could get full use of what this pedal can do seeing as the coolest sounds are produced when messing with the freq and pitch nobs while sound is running thru it.

The sound quality is very good . The pedal produces very noisy effects but the translate very clearly . The four differnt freq wave forms produce some very interesting and unique sounds . Moog gives about 8 preset sounds to try in the manual that are all very cool sounding but I counldnt for the life of me figure out how to incorporate any of them into the music we play. If I was in a spaced out niose rock band with two guitarist I wouldnt have returned it after having it for only four days .

didnt have it long enough.

dont know . heard good things tho.

Overall this pedal is very cool but for a rock guitarist kind of obnoxious. Its very cool in small amounts but it carries a heavy price tag for a minimal use pedal , and if you dont have an expression pedal (which you absolutely must have for this pedal) thats another $50-$60 . Just like every moog product , there is nothing out there that sounds like it which is maybe why everthing they sell is so damn expensive . So unless you are in a motion city sound track or dance rock kind of band (not that there is anything wrong with that ) I would have to say, pass .