ALT COLORS now up on the website (very small quantities)

[blackout_kyle]

Black-on-black Mantras
http://www.blackouteffectors.com/?page_id=319

Pink Whetstones
http://www.blackouteffectors.com/?page_id=513

[fattone77]

SPAM Alert: Fat Tone has a couple of those Black on Black Mantras as well as 1 Green Musket left. Grab em...

http://www.fattoneguitars.com/Blackout_Effectors_Pedals_s/214.htm

Phil

[Clean Channel]

Awesome! Bought one of the black Mantras!

Warning to everyone else, now there are only a max 4 still available!

[Fuzzy_Nuts]

Far out, was gonna gift myself a Whetstone for the Bday. One of the pinkies are gone. Fuzzy Nuts can now bask in the warmth of analog phase. Thank you Kyle.

[Astricii]

are you fucking kidding me? I just got a normal mantra after kicking myself for missing the BOB ones...


FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[t-rey]

SPAM Alert: Fat Tone has a couple of those Black on Black Mantras as well as 1 Green Musket left. Grab em...

http://www.fattoneguitars.com/Blackout_Effectors_Pedals_s/214.htm

Phil

Those green muskets look snazzy.

[Clean Channel]

Just checked the website, there's only one black on black Mantra left!

[Clean Channel]

My BoB Mantra arrived yesterday!



Here's a shot of it after I put it in the chain with my other two Blackout Effectors pedals (Very Special Twosome and Whetstone).

[blackout_kyle]

All gone.

[Astricii]

Ahemmmmm, wh, why does your mantra have a togle switch? if you don't mind me askin?

[Fuzzy Picklez]

Ahemmmmm, wh, why does your mantra have a togle switch? if you don't mind me askin?

Unless I'm mistaken, it's a mod that allows you to toggle between the higher gain sound of the Mantra, and a lower gain sound. It works really well I might add. I've tried this one and it sound even better than the regular Mantra I think.

[Clean Channel]

Fuzzy Picklez is a close friend of mine, and he did try out the pedal for a good long time yesterday.

It's an optional mod that you can have done when you order the pedal. It's an external switch for one of the internal trim pots. Although there's no mention of the mod on the BE website, it seems to have been unofficially dubbed the "low gain" mod.

Personally, I'm really glad to have gotten the mod as I find it adds a lot more versatility to the pedal. That being said, if I had to pick one or the other (high gain version vs. low gain version), I prefer the Mantra the way it's shipped (high gain), in contrast to Fuzzy Picklez who preferred the lower gain setting.

Remember, if you're curious about trying it out, I'm pretty sure all you need to do is (no promises here, I haven't actually done it myself) open up the back of your Mantra and switch the trim pot manually.

As we all know, the high gain setting for the Mantra delivers a thick, multi stage OD with loads of gain on tap (just saying that makes me want to go plug in and play; I love this pedal!). You can clean it up by lowering the input signal using your guitar's volume knob. Between the very responsive EQs, the huge sweep the gain knob delivers, and all of the other degrees of gain the input changes can create, the Mantra is wonderfully lush and versatile pedal.

The low gain setting is also beautiful in it's own right. It's a noticeably less layered and slightly less colored OD, which really sounds quite different from the high gain mode; you'd almost think it was another pedal entirely. Although it's less layered, it's still a full and satisfying OD, evidenced by Fuzzy Picklez's preference for that mode. At minimum settings it adds an almost imperceivable amount of hair to your signal. When you crank the gain knob all the way up (in low gain mode, remember) there is a medium-high amount of gain. Here you can again explore different degrees of clipping with the volume knob on your guitar.

In the end I would personally recommend to anyone buying a Mantra to request the mod. It's definitely an advantage to have the toggle switch on the outside as it seemingly turns the Mantra into two very different pedals. Finally, who wouldn't want all of the options available on the outside of the pedal where you can access them on the fly?

I used to (stupidly) be one of those people who wanted simple pedals that did one thing very well. However, after having played with the Whetstone (thanks to Fuzzy Picklez, who has one) I realized that pedals with wide degrees of versatility were the way to go. I picked up a Whetstone and the Very Special Twosome, as well as other feature-rich pedals. With all of them, I've learned how to quickly dial in my favorite sounds, but also thoroughly understand the features so I can experiment and come up with all kinds of other great effects when I want to. I might not use those other settings live right now, but in the future if and when I need 'em (or just feel like having some fun) I've got 'em.

I guess the only last thing to address is why Blackout Effectors decided against including the external toggle switch on all of the standard Mantras? I could speculate, but I suppose Kyle is really the one to properly answer that question. It does seem to stand in stark contrast to the underlying philosophy behind the design of their other offerings. Didn't the earlier version of the Fix'd fuzz have internal trim pots, which were moved to the exterior in the later versions? Perhaps a v.2 Mantra in the future?

[Fuzzy Picklez]

Jesus Christ that was a long post.

So yeah, incase you guys didn't read that, what he's trying to say is I'm the best and the mod is cool.

[blackout_kyle]

SPARKLEMOTION:
http://www.blackouteffectors.com/?page_id=402

Miami Vai:
http://www.blackouteffectors.com/?page_id=499

[theactionindex]

SPARKLEMOTION:
http://www.blackouteffectors.com/?page_id=402