I've been curious about this one for a while because I like Big Muff style fuzz with lower gain and I noticed that the Acid Rain has no clipping diodes. Plus it has a bass pot - yay!
The build went smoothly and the result is very interesting. Obviously there is a lot less fuzz than on a regular Muff at lower gain settings but it gets plenty fuzzy with gain maxed. The tone controls are welcome and very usable. Without clipping diodes there is a lot less sizzle - the sound is kinda congested like it has a head cold. It seems to be more pure - there is less white noise in the sound. You might love this or hate it - I'm on the fence! I haven't tried it with a Strat yet, which is where I think it will really shine, but with a Gibson (Les Paul or 335) it is very fat and has an early ZZ Top kinda feel to it which I like. The ability to use it at lower gain helps with HBs.
I'm wondering if a switch for diodes on the second or third gain stage might make it even more versatile? My favourite mod for a Big Muff is based on the wonderful SupaTone which is basically a Muff without the diodes on the second stage. I generally leave the diodes off the third stage (did this by accident once and liked it) and you get all the muffiness you could want but more dynamic range. Maybe we could add diodes and cap via a switch to one gain stage?
Overall I do like this pedal but suspect that a switch would make it even more usable - I guess I could add one anyway?
The build went smoothly and the result is very interesting. Obviously there is a lot less fuzz than on a regular Muff at lower gain settings but it gets plenty fuzzy with gain maxed. The tone controls are welcome and very usable. Without clipping diodes there is a lot less sizzle - the sound is kinda congested like it has a head cold. It seems to be more pure - there is less white noise in the sound. You might love this or hate it - I'm on the fence! I haven't tried it with a Strat yet, which is where I think it will really shine, but with a Gibson (Les Paul or 335) it is very fat and has an early ZZ Top kinda feel to it which I like. The ability to use it at lower gain helps with HBs.
I'm wondering if a switch for diodes on the second or third gain stage might make it even more versatile? My favourite mod for a Big Muff is based on the wonderful SupaTone which is basically a Muff without the diodes on the second stage. I generally leave the diodes off the third stage (did this by accident once and liked it) and you get all the muffiness you could want but more dynamic range. Maybe we could add diodes and cap via a switch to one gain stage?
Overall I do like this pedal but suspect that a switch would make it even more usable - I guess I could add one anyway?
