my reviews of the EHX Metal Muff and Small Clone chorus pedals

MLC2006

well, after attempting to wait out the MusiciansFriend/Music123/GuitarCenter Fiasco 2007, I finally said fuck it and went the ebay route (my local store doesn't sell EHX and even if they did, their prices are ridiculous). so here's my thoughts......

Metal Muff (w/ top boost)

it's got 6 knobs: 2 volumes (for top boost and non-top boost), 1 distortion, mid, bass, and treble.

now it took me a good 3 hours last night to get the feel of this thing, but I've quickly grown to like it. just so you don't think I'm one of those people that think every new acquisition is the greatest thing ever, it took 2+ months for the Tubescreamer to grow on me and I NEVER came around to liking the Blues Driver. for the Metal Muff, it only took 3 hours.

I bought this pedal because I wanted metal, and you can get about any metal sound dialed in. every one of the knobs are EXTREMELY sensitive. the upside of that is that it offers virtually endless possibilities. the downside though is if you move 1 knob even slightly, it will throw all the other knobs off. so you have to work at getting the sound dialed in. in the few hours of playing with it so far, I've been able to get everything between "Harvester of Sorrow" to "Enter Sandman" and it also gets a good Alice in Chains sound. now, I've read that you can dial it back and get a good bluesy sound....BULLSHIT. even with the volume low and the distortion all the way down, it still sounds too metally for blues or classic rock.

the DISTORTION. the edges of the distortion is a little bit fuzzy and not quite as sharp and crisp as I was hoping for. BUT, it's so tweak friendly that I can get the distortion and volume to work together to get what I'm after. I wouldn't say this is my "dream" sound. but if I were going to get my dream sound, it would probably take a $3000 amp and thousands more in different processors. so for a single $80 pedal, this thing is worth every penny.

the TOP BOOST. now this top boost is being marketed as a one button way to boost up for lead playing. again, I don't agree. I think that's all VERY misleading. the reason I say that is that if you get it dialed in right for the main part of a song (without the top boost) and then try to use the top boost for the solo, the top boost will damn near blow your eardrums out. like I said, I played for 3 hours and the top boost had my ears ringing. so the best use I've found is just that some songs call for the sharper top sound, and some call for the non-boost sound. but like I said, I don't agree that the top boost's best use is for boosting a lead because it throws everything out of whack. but now that the Metal Muff has rendered my OS-2 obsolete, I am probably going to try to use that as a volume boost for soloing.

though I just got it yesterday, I give the Metal Muff a strong B+. and for me, a strong B+ after 1 day is pretty damn good because it usually takes things a while to grow on me.

MLC2006

EHX SMALL CLONE CHORUS

I was immediately wary of this because 1. it only has 2 controls (depth and rate) with no volume or wet/dry and 2. it was hailed as the "Kurt Cobain chorus pedal". now I like Nirvana and all, but when I think of "Nirvana chorus", I think of "Come as you are" and that is NOT the kind of chorus sound I was after. I didn't want a wet and wobbly chorus, I wanted something to simply add beef and depth.

well, upon plugging this in and playing it, my doubts were immediately put to rest. this is the 3rd chorus pedal I've owned and it is damn awesome. if you put the rate anywhere past midway, it becomes too watery. but if you keep it at 3-5, it is damn awesome. as for the little depth button, I like the switch at the bottom position rather than the top. the bottom poisition adds a sparkle to the chorus, the top position is a little too messy for me.

but yeah, imo, this is the best chorus pedal I've owned. from these 2 pedals, I'd say my first impression of EHX is a very good one and I may start looking at some of their other pedals now.

run_into_the_rain

MLC2006 wrote:

EHX SMALL CLONE CHORUS

I was immediately wary of this because 1. it only has 2 controls (depth and rate) with no volume or wet/dry and 2. it was hailed as the "Kurt Cobain chorus pedal". now I like Nirvana and all, but when I think of "Nirvana chorus", I think of "Come as you are" and that is NOT the kind of chorus sound I was after. I didn't want a wet and wobbly chorus, I wanted something to simply add beef and depth.

well, upon plugging this in and playing it, my doubts were immediately put to rest. this is the 3rd chorus pedal I've owned and it is damn awesome. if you put the rate anywhere past midway, it becomes too watery. but if you keep it at 3-5, it is damn awesome. as for the little depth button, I like the switch at the bottom position rather than the top. the bottom poisition adds a sparkle to the chorus, the top position is a little too messy for me.

but yeah, imo, this is the best chorus pedal I've owned. from these 2 pedals, I'd say my first impression of EHX is a very good one and I may start looking at some of their other pedals now.

Wow this review is way helpfull for me. I've been thinking about one of these and this might be the backing I need.

Novawind

Good to hear about the Metal Muff. I'd like to try one eventually but I'm kind of put off that my friend has one, and I kind of want to be "individual" with my pedalboard. Stupid reason, but whatever. Glad that it's so versatile, that's what I look for in a pedal.