Paisley Tubby Myxomatosis?

[Dandolin]

He invented myxomatosis? sad...

Hey, hey, now--he just invented it--it was Bunny Liberation Front, ironically enough, that unleashed it on the world.

[Officer Bukowski]

I will eat you alive I will eat you alive I will eat you alive I will eat you alive

[Bassboar]

Leon is the best. Plain and simple.

[devnulljp]

I don't think the Myxomatosis is a Shin-ei variant -- haven't played it, haven't heard it, but I vaguely remember he said so somewhere...
Don't know what it is, but I bet it's a good un. I have a couple of his builds and they're great. Had a MkI too, but I punted it because my Vibra fuzz is a custom job with a MkI in it.
(Vibra Fuzz is amazing)

Pics nao!!

of the Vibra Fuzz?
This is the straight MkI





Vibra looks like this


Vibe board

MkI board


It's kinda big -- pic next to a Dynacomp for comparison


This is the Super-Fuzz/Duo-Fuzz I just got

[Dandolin]

Leon is the best. Plain and simple.

See its this kind of irresponsible statement that led me down the path of buying a fuzz about which I had no clue. And for the bunnies.

Seriously--I'm psyched to be delving into the Paisley Tubby corner of fuzzdom.

[Wes Mantooth]

Dev, you always come through with some great pedal pron

[Dandolin]

@ Devnulljp:

Ooh.


Is that a honking big LDR inside that silvery bunker on the Vibra Fuzz board? Looks like it could shelter the bunnies from my soon to be Myxi.

[WayToHip]

of the Vibra Fuzz?
This is the straight MkI
Vibra looks like this


Vibe board

MkI board


It's kinda big -- pic next to a Dynacomp for comparison

Fuzz with vibrato/tremolo?! Colour me intrigued.

[Dandolin]

I will eat you alive I will eat you alive I will eat you alive I will eat you alive

"Yeah no one likes a smart ass but we all like stars"

Flushed a rabbit as I rumbled up the drive--must be a sign arrived a little too late. Thursday was Fuzzday for me. No stars--storm still rolling outward.

"The dinosaurs roam the earth The sky turns green"


"

[Officer Bukowski]

That Vibra Fuzz is HAWT.

[Officer Bukowski]

I will eat you alive I will eat you alive I will eat you alive I will eat you alive

"Yeah no one likes a smart ass but we all like stars"

Flushed a rabbit as I rumbled up the drive--must be a sign arrived a little too late. Thursday was Fuzzday for me. No stars--storm still rolling outward.

"The dinosaurs roam the earth The sky turns green"


"

love radiohead

[Dandolin]

OK--pedal received, mystery illuminated.


I'm no circuit genius, but a gander inside, some reading and listening research on the internetz and a giddy play-in session later, and I'm pretty sure what we have here is something in the general neighborhood of, oh say...







...a Roger Mayer Mongoose.

You have your 2n3904.
You have your LM308.
You have your pair of 1N914s.

Build quality is absolutely first rate, and this is a much more pedal-board friendly form-factor than the RM spaceship stylee (though that has its uses, no doubt)

You have thick, bristling, distortion with tons of grind on chords, yet a very high degree of definition. Not Harmonic Perc definition, but this has a much larger pair of 'nads on it than a Perc. It is Rat-ish but a giant step towards a nastier, bassier and yes, in all likelihood diseased, variety of rodent. Yet this does have a bunny at its heart--it's not a noiser fuzz--no howls, glitches, sputters, wheezes--but plenty of nice, controllable White Room stylee feedback at relatively low amp volumes.

It needs to be run with the gain pretty near wound up to top. At settings noon or below, it's kind of farty and wonky in a not so appealing way, extremely fast note decay, and tonally mud city. Same with volume pedal roll back past a certain de minimis point. Rolling back input gain always results in more darkness and fast-decay roll off, whether it's from dialed-back input pedals (EQs, ODs, Fuzzes, etc.), or the guitar volume knob.

But starting at about 2/3 on the gain dial, you get gorgeous grind for power chords--the riff that came immediately to hand was Anarchy in the UK. Loves the Ramones style punch, etc. Cowboy chords are handled with aplomb, as is that ubiquitous definition tester, the 7#9. Minor chords start to show a little more intermod degradation, but that is the case with almost any dirt source--still plenty identifiable here, though.

There is a cocked wah sound that comes out more strongly on single note lines (especially) using the bridge pickup and from the ninth fret on the first string upwards--some Mick Ronson and Brian May-ish things there--not for me so much, but there it is. The grind that blooms on chords submerges that and the resulting tone is not so much honky as fuzzy/grindy with an edge. Great stacker--my incredibly loud GGG Companion Fuzz pummeled the front end for some very vocal sounds, and the fizzy harmonic definition from the Perc turned the cocked wah into a more synthy-filtery/phasey chewiness. Note attack is ok--better on bridge pickup, more obliterated and flutey/cello-like on the neck pickup--in this regard it reminds me of a Muff. Something about the particular type of relatively mild intermod grind this thing produces results in generally better attack preservation on chords than on single notes. Hammer-ons and tapping have their own very appealing, synthy timbre, with very easy note production and a thicker overall presentation than on most of my other dirt pedals--this would be a very good shredder's pedal. Also--on chords, the bass is tighter than most fuzzes yet with a slight, appealing bloom. Again, the overall feel evokes punk and classic rock tones--not so much for the chuggah or doom. Definitely a fair bit of compression on hand, but not to the point where everything sounds unnatural. I'm tempted to throw in some references to certain classic amp tones, but I don't want to go down that road--this was clearly not meant to be an amp simulator.

That said, note decay is fairly "natural" -- more like what you hear from amps and "amp-like" distortions than the synthier filtered decay that I love so much in fuzzes. Stacking it with any other clipping source (not just fuzz) seems to bring out the fuzzier qualities in the Myxi, though, and I was able to coax some very nice sounds from the fuzzier side of the house with a little judicious mixing.

This was a strange one for me, as I was not looking for something like this at all (my own current bias being towards natural amp overdrive, perhaps boosted, with copious use of the noisier type of fuzz circuits to introduce some chaotic/non-guitaristic character, which can then be blended in with the amp's clipping to create myriad textures in-between). But, the universally positive testimony I heard about P-T caused me to jump at this chance and for a very reasonable price all things considered. I was honestly feeling fenced over this one, until I cranked it and launched into the Airbag intro--and pure magick--best I've ever heard (and more importantly felt) with my live rig (the surprisingly loud Mesa Rocket 440 combo w/ 4 Jensen 10s, assorted bright-ish guitars--Teles, Gretsches, Danos, and gnarlier vintage jobbies (Silvertones/Harmonys/Teiscos/Kays))-all of them produced this seminal between-song noodle-of-majesty with inspirational tone.

So, a surprise late gift from the Sad, Twitchy, Wonky-Eyed Easter Bunny. Count me in as a singer of Paisley Tubby praises. Also a hell of a lot more interested in Mr. Mayer's designs than I had been previously.