smallsnd/bigsnd wrote:chillerthanmost wrote:I played all three side by side for a few hours on bass and guitar. They all sounded entirely different from each other. Loved all three, two more than the other.
i'm curious which one you loved the least? maybe i can shed some insight as to why that may be!
Okay. Well, let me start by saying that all three sounded great and can pass off as superb pedals by anyone who has them. The TAFM has turned into one of my favorite fuzz pedals. In short, the custom Aztec finish one was my least favorite of the three, given the same settings on all three pedals. Let me talk about why I liked the other ones first.
Old Pinky (#420. V3.7), having more feedback/noise (though I haven't adjusted the internal trim pots), was winner on guitar. It had the most amount of gain, it sounded big and juicy on the low mids, and it was just a HUGE fucking sound all around. Even the feedback was huge sounding, which I dig on guitar. Even at full gain on both the input and fuzz, it never lost it's creamy, warm, sweet fuzzy goodness. Stayed warm all across the board.
Mr. Green (#612. V5.2) sounded almost identical but with a bit less gain and less feedback/noise, which makes it a keeper for me on bass. It actually sounded the best of the three, all around, and as is, with no internal adjusting needed. Which is good because it has that funky trim pot I haven't seen before. Being that it had a bit less gain, it sounded a bit warmer to me, but just by a hair. Bass notes were more articulate all around, and specially more on the low notes. Tight, big, creamy, and even the most "vintage" sounding of the bunch (could be the same as just the warmest).
And as I said, Aztec finish (#7001. V6) was my least favorite of the bunch. It did
not sound bad, it just sounded different. On guitar it sounded colder and more shrill on the gain, and scooped and thinner on the low mids. I don't know much but I would probably point it to the germanium trannies not being fully broken in, shy of pushing the sweetness out? The two older ones just sounded much warmer, much thicker on the low mids, and creamier on the gain. This one, although had the same characteristics as the others, was just a bit too cold in comparison. Now, it does mean that it cuts through much more than the others. It has a bit more of a pronounced upper end that will slice through more than the other two. Some people might want/need that. But, to me, it was a bit too "modern" sounding for lack of a better term.
On bass, I don't know why, but it had MORE low end coming out of it than the other two. So much, that it was a bit too woofy and loose. Even a bit dark, in a way. I thought maybe it was set to "unbuffered" on the dip switches but when opened I was surprised to see it on the "buffered" setting. Now, my bass amp has A LOT of low end. So much that it can sometimes get a bit open and lost. But the other two pedals kept the low end in tact and spat out a nicer overall output. While this one was not helping retain the low end, instead making it a bit more loose coming out of the speakers. If the low end in my amp was a bit tighter, it might have made a worlds difference. Maybe even if I was playing droned out open low notes it might have worked, and I'm sure there are a lot looking for that. But again, it just didn't compare to the other two.
(Also, this was given the SAME settings on all three pedals. For all I know I could have just adjusted the knobs and I would be saying something else. I figured I'd try to keep it unbiased towards each pedal, though.)
I am by no means a professional musician, nor do I do pedal reviews (though it seems like fun, maybe I'll do more). And in no way am I discouraging the purchase of a new model of a TAFM as even the new one sounded better than a lot of other pedals I've tried out. And maybe there is a perfectly good explanation as to why the differences. I ended up keeping the two older ones and I don't see them going anywhere anytime soon. I can't wait to get more of your pedals, Brian.
Tony
