moogerfooger MF-105B & MF-101

[xgsjx]

Well this is my first ever review of something & it's recently acquired items so I'll do it as a rolling review & add bits as time goes on.

First on the list is the MF-105B or Bass MuRF as it's known. I originally thought that this was a synth pedal of some sort, it's not.

To break it down, it takes 8 harmonic frequencies from your bass (or whatever you put into it) & allows you to filter them out a'la EQ style. This can be animated in a set sequence (there's 22 patterns & a further 2 static). The second set of patterns have an LFO swoop over them which is kinda like a slow phaser effect which is cool.

There's an Envelope control which goes from percussive to continuous to slow attack sounds. A Mix control to blend in some bass if you want and a Rate control, use to adjust tempo.

There is a Drive & an Output control & this can be used as a very good analog distortion pedal.

Downsides so far: There's not enough 3/4 or 12/8 timings, although I'm finding out that you can mess about with some things on it to get this effect. That's all I can find so far.

Using this with animation set to static, you can really tweak your sound to get a really sweet sound that you cannot get with an EQ.

I'll move onto the MF-101 LowPass Filter.

This pedal lets you filter out as much top as you want & then you can set the envelope amount so that when you play you can get an auto wah effect or a dub bass effect.

I have to say that this pedal is more of a synth sounding filter than the MuRF & can make your bass very bassy.

The filter has a 2 pole & a 4 pole switch, 2 pole is 1/2 the filter on, which gives a brighter sound & 4 pole is the filter fully on, which is more muffled.
There's a Smooth/Fast switch on the envelope side for what sort of response you want & a Mix control.
The Drive control allows for some good distortion (again? Could try distorting the distortion of the MuRF I suppose!) & on the filter there's a resonance control that allows for some fabulous effects to be had.

Downsides so far: If you use a cheap (te*co, etc) adaptor, the thing buzzes like a fridge. Nothing else so far.

Using this on slap can sound quite amazing. Coupling this with the MuRF allows for some amazing sounds full stop & looking forward to using it in a band situation.

I plan on getting a tap tempo for the MuRF & an expression pedal to use on either as I've read that it makes the LPF sound like a very controllable synth.

I'll continue more on these at a later date once I get to know them better, but for now, have some sound clips............


First clip is bass into 105B. I start off with the MuRF bypassed so you can hear the bass. The bassline is "Little Disappointments" by Frigorifico.


[attachment=18106:Little_D...nts_Murf.mp3]


Next up is the 101. Again it bypassed for the first run to hear a plain bass. The bassline is "Carlos Fandango" by Frigorifico.


[attachment=18109:Carlos_LPF.mp3]


Finally I drop D'd my bass so I could play octaves whilst messing with both pedals. It's bass into MuRF into Filter. I used just the one animation (No 10) & messed with the filter sliders on the MuRF & the Envelope amount, Cutoff & Resonance on the LPF. Kinda chillout techno groove for this one made up on the spot...


[attachment=18110:Fooging_..._Moogers.mp3]

G

Edited January 6, 2009 by xgsjx

[steve-soar]

Brilliant, brilliant review.
I want those pedals, that last piece was great and overall the pedals still make the bass sound great.
A good sounding bass when used without the fx anyway.
Thanks for that.
Steve.

[xgsjx]

Cheers Steve, so far I've been very impressed with them.

I took them to rehearsals on Monday there (as if I'd leave em behind) & tried all sorts of things with em.

One thing they do good is give loads of bottom without going muddy or bad & my combo didn't feel any stress from it.
I tried fuzzying up the sound using the drive controls on both pedals & was happy with the sound although I'm not sure any of our current set would suit fuzz on the bass, but I might develop something.
The LPF makes some super dubby bass sounds as well as fabulous 70's wah & the filters on the MuRF just makes my sound cut thru without being too loud & just sounds lovely.

I was kinda wondering at first if I woulda been wiser spending the money on a multi fx unit (one of the dearer ones), but after rehearsals I'm glad I didn't cause I love what these are doing to my sound.

Here's a couple more clips using drive.................

First up is just using the MuRF for drive (plain bass at the start again) & the last couple of takes I added the LPF for a bit more drive..............


[attachment=18316:Mooger_Fuzz.mp3]


Next I thought I'd play the same thing using animation 8 B still with a good amount of drive & then turned on the LPF & messed with the knobs.............


[attachment=18317:Mooger_F...Animated.mp3]


Hope this helps understand some more of what these are capable of.

G

[xgsjx]

I've now gotten the EP2 expression pedal & the FS1 footswitch. I use the FS1 just for tap tempo on the Bass MuRF but my drummer can't get his head around playing in time with something (I guess this is a common drummer issue ) so it gets used mainly in my acoustic band (no drummer there, you see).

The EP2 I mainly use on the MF101 & usually have it in the AMOUNT input, but also like using it in the CUTOFF input & I'm seriously considering getting a 2nd pedal or making a footswitch to switch between the two. Most of the time I have the filter set to 4-pole as I like the sub sounds I can get.

Here's the EP2 being used on the MF101...

[attachment=20344:Exp_on_101.mp3]

I started with a bit of bass in Bypass mode & then I'm using the pedal on the Envelope Amount & had the filter set to 2-pole for a brighter sound (I think I did anyway).
The next part is using the EP2 on the Filter Cutoff. First on 4-pole & then on 2-pole.

This is just my bass (Ibby SR100) plugged into the MF105b set to bypass (which is true BP) then into the MF101 (which doesn't have true BP) then straight into the back of my iMac & recorded into Garageband 08.

[xgsjx]

Hello again,

Had there pedals for @ 1 year now & I still think they're money well spent.

I've taken a song that I wrote years ago & played all the parts on my bass (with the exception of the drums) & done some improvisation to show some of the sounds I can get thru these. I'm also using a Boss CE-2 chorus on some parts (such as the intro piece where the Murf is animated on a slow swirl and using the LFO to make more swirly sounds & then the Chorus on top).

Hope you enjoy it...

[attachment=39241:Puzzles_...all_bass.mp3]

As you can hear, I mainly use the exp pedal for adjusting the Cut Off or for the envelope amount. I was going to put a wee bit of slap using the envelope but I thought you've all probably heard that before.

All the best for 2010,

Graeme

[xgsjx]

I've made a demo of the Bass MuRF to try & show some of what it does.



Edit: at 10:20 ish a cat attacks me just off camera!

& here's some solo DnB/Dubstep sounds that I'm planning on making good use of. Once I get a 2 channel mixer & an octave pedal, that should be me almost sorted for the sound I want (tho I doubt I'll be keeping the PSK distortion on the board unless I make some mods to it).



Sorry about the videos being so long.

Edited March 11, 2011 by xgsjx