What's a good clean (no fuzz) octave down for bass?

[Betty Wont]

Dang this just made my day- was looking for one back during the peak of the MB RI hype and these used to be expensive af and near impossible to find. Honestly kinda surprised that there's this many still out there.

The Meat Box was a novel use of the chip. It was actually designed as a bass booster for car stereo amplifiers back when the bass business was (literally) booming. It was used by lots of brands like Kicker and Cerwin-Vega.

 

[Betty Wont]

Bricks, I understand you have multiple Meatboxen.
Are internet rumours that "the reissues don't track as well as the originals" fact? or bunk?
Are the subharmonic ICs labeled the same? (If none of yours are original FX32, just disregard.)

Right now the meatbox is the only thing giving me a really thick boner, being a different topology from all the PLL variants.
U-235 also for detuned mode.

The reissue was crap, and I don't know why. I've had every Meat Box out their including the Density Hulk family. They all use the exact same IC, there is no variation there.

 

[xefned]

Dang this just made my day- was looking for one back during the peak of the MB RI hype and these used to be expensive af and near impossible to find. Honestly kinda surprised that there's this many still out there.

I'm approaching these M51134P chips as “workalikes;” not genuine Mitsubishi product.

The internet is full of people saying shit without substantiation. So I don't claim to know the facts.

• The M51134P was discontinued by Mitsubishi
• Aliexpress has sold the chip since at least 2013 (means nothing)
• “Digitech managed to uncover 3000 of the Mitsubishi chips” for the 2015 reissue
• Tom from DOD confirms: in 2019 “Yep, we only had 3000 IC's - And we did sell out. This batch must have been lost in a warehouse somewhere. All the gut shots I've seen are from my time there, these aren't new production AFAICT.”
• Smallbear had 90 in stock in June 2017 | They sold out by Dec. 2018
• Smallbear restocked with 97 (probably 100) in Jan. 2019 | Those ran out by Summer. They restocked again with qty. 194 (probably 200) in Sept 2019
• Those were nearly gone by Summer 2021.
• Tom (of Digitech) mentioned they had a replacement chip already spec'd and it was his opinion it would work just as well but he didn't want to deal with the drama of people endlessly comparing them.

The chips from Smallbear have the Mitsubishi logo, but they're no longer available from Mitsubishi. I suspect they work exactly like the originals. The dudes at Mantic are using something for the Hulk, which is widely loved so I'm assuming these chips work just fine.

But it's kinda like the PT2399—discontinued by the original maker decades ago. Workalikes are widely available. But some are noisier than others.

I'm not making a federal case out of this. I just wish they'd not use the Mitsubishi logo on them.


I hope this thread keeps rolling. Im gonna build a SoySauce with the Smallbear chip and take BettyWon't's suggestion to use the original 100kw pots for the eq. I'll post a build report.

 

[Betty Wont]

I've built around 20 Soy Sauce since it came out all using the small bear chips. Every Soy Sauce sounds identical to my OG unit, and tracks better. The "limited" chips was probably just a marketing scheme on an oddball pedal, just like they originally did with all the warnings about speaker damage and "use at your own risk".

 

[xefned]

That's great to hear! I'm really stoked about it.
I ordered one of the chips from Smallbear last night.

 

[xefned]

The reissue was crap, and I don't know why. I've had every Meat Box out their including the Density Hulk family. They all use the exact same IC, there is no variation there.

Whew, I didn't notice this post before.
Several people who bought the $75 discounted 2022 Meatboxen have them listed on reverb for ~$110.
I had a Reverb meatbox in my cart this morning. Almost pulled the trigger. Glad I didn't.

Harman has the unique ability to fuck up every company they buy.
So I shall DIY FTW.

 

[xefned]

I've built around 20 Soy Sauce since it came out all using the small bear chips. Every Soy Sauce sounds identical to my OG unit, and tracks better.

20!! 20??
That's fookin' amazing. That did not go unnoticed.

The "limited" chips was probably just a marketing scheme on an oddball pedal, just like they originally did with all the warnings about speaker damage and "use at your own risk".

“I've blown up tons of speakers…” [using the Meatbox] “…I melted speakers.”

It's fun seeing how suggestible humans are: ingesting a marketing mythos, believing it happened to you “tons” of times, and then repeating it on YouTube for others to subsume into their own revised legends.

 

[xefned]

I think I'll splurge for UV printing for this one. So if anyone has some non-meat related themes to suggest, I'm all ears and lacking in inspiration.

 

[Betty Wont]

I think I'll splurge for UV printing for this one. So if anyone has some non-meat related themes to suggest, I'm all ears and lacking in inspiration.

I think the fly sticker that came with the original was a defining element. I’d make a red box with life size realistic flies on it.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

The reissue was crap, and I don't know why. I've had every Meat Box out their including the Density Hulk family. They all use the exact same IC, there is no variation there.

I have one RI from the initial 2015 run, one purchased in 2018 after they “found more of the chips”, and two purchased in January of 2020. The 2015 is rad and sounds very, very close to the FX32. The 2018 is kinda reedy sounding and the tracking is only okay. One of the 2020 ones sounds almost exactly like the 2015 and one of them sounds halfway between the 2015 and the 2020.

 

[Betty Wont]

I have one RI from the initial 2015 run, one purchased in 2018 after they “found more of the chips”, and two purchased in January of 2020. The 2015 is rad and sounds very, very close to the FX32. The 2018 is kinda reedy sounding and the tracking is only okay. One of the 2020 ones sounds almost exactly like the 2015 and one of them sounds halfway between the 2015 and the 2020.

Cool! I did not know there were versions of the reissue. I must’ve had the 2018. My density hulk was similar but slightly better than the reissue I had. The soy sauce is equal to or better than the original in my opinion.

 

[Feral Feline]

I think I'll splurge for UV printing for this one. So if anyone has some non-meat related themes to suggest, I'm all ears and lacking in inspiration.

"TOFURKY"!

or the "BEYOND MEATBOX"
My wife is vegetarian and I used to be, so we both try to find stuff that is satisfying to both of us; fake meat has gotten better in the last decade, well, 5 years at least.

"VEGEBACON" I used to get some great stuff in HK, but the shop stopped importing it and I never was able to find out the true name for it.



non-fake-meat related:

"SWING LOW" or just "SWEET CHARIOT" with a graphic of a swing-set and one of the swings is practically scraping the ground...

 

[xefned]

Great suggestions.
I'll probably end up with a chunk of tofu with a photo-realistic fly on top, next to a bottle of Soy Sauce and call it the Soy Saucer Subharmonizer. I dunno.

Fake meat was terrible when I was a vegetarian. Not even worth it.
But I was recently hipped to this place in Phoenix called "Green." Their fake meat comfort dishes look amazing.

 

[jimilee]

Great suggestions.
I'll probably end up with a chunk of tofu with a photo-realistic fly on top, next to a bottle of Soy Sauce and call it the Soy Saucer Subharmonizer. I dunno.

Fake meat was terrible when I was a vegetarian. Not even worth it.
But I was recently hipped to this place in Phoenix called "Green." Their fake meat comfort dishes look amazing.

The impossible stuff is really good these days. It’s not hard to find stuff to eat like it has been.

 

[xefned]

Interesting notes from the Meatbox (reissue) manual: The output jack is a TRS with meat on the tip.




Could this be done simply by wiring the input tip straight to the output ring? Or would a buffer be required?

 

[jimilee]

Interesting notes from the Meatbox (reissue) manual: The output jack is a TRS with meat on the tip.

View attachment 47061


Could this be done simply by wiring the input tip straight to the output ring? Or would a buffer be required?

In theory that could work. You would need a buffer I think. You would really need to breadboard it to know for sure. Or just build it and give it a go. I’m really digging the concept though.

 

[Feral Feline]

Maybe try a Split'n'Bblend (Buff'n'Blend), but just use the split and don't blend.

 

[xefned]

…I’m really digging the concept though.

I know, right? I can imagine sending just the sub-harmonizer output to FOH. Or using separate inputs for recording.

Maybe try a Split'n'Bblend (Buff'n'Blend), but just use the split and don't blend.

I have a C-buffer board already. Hoping that'll work. Although I don't know what the "C-" stands for. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[xefned]

Stuffed the U-235. I thought I had the PLL IC. But no, it was a different PLL chip. Boo.

For future builders, I'd recommend smaller diameter elecrolytics near the trim pots. Really cramped there.
Or possibly upright, multiturn trimpots.

Pushing in the trimpots *moved* the already-soldered electrolyics. That can't be good. There's my most likely failure point.
Will update next week for anyone interested.

 

[benny_profane]

Does anyone know how the second output on the original Meatbox is connected?

It’s taken directly from the input.