Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: tekbow on February 23, 2013, 03:16:04 PM
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http://morpheusefxsite.abff.stackablehost.com/droptune.php (http://morpheusefxsite.abff.stackablehost.com/droptune.php)
Now, these things seem to divide peeps..
there's bad rep for them on TGP, HC and RT. Mostly from people who're repeating what they've been told and never played one.. I have on multiple occasions, just never got round to buying one.
The bad rep is this, they sound warbley and processed, there's high latency etc etc.
This is true, but and this is a big but, it only occurs AFTER a drop of more than 2 tones, most of the people bitching are , as stated, the hearsay crowd or, people who want it to work at the extremes of it's capabilities, like those who want to have standard tuning and drop down to A.
Here's the important part, for someone who likes to keep their guitars in standard (me, like the feel, drop tunings haven't worked for me in a long time) and are only looking to drop a 1/2 or full step for the odd song, they are perfect. they sound awesome. they do not sound processed, there is no latency, none of the above problems at this level.
works good for chords as well as single notes
Unfortunately the dude who owns the company died and they seem to be out of production, the website is dark if you try to access from google, i believe the link is a cached page or summat. I had to phone 8 different shops today to get one of these, and those 8 where the ones showing stock. there were a multitude of other google hits for shops saying no longer available..
not everyones cup of tea, but i think its a great pedal and i'm 100% chuffed to have nabbed one of the last new ones. and the shop i got it from was doing it £15 cheaper than everywhere else
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the link does even work...I don't even know what the product is you are advertising, can you explain what it is?
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glad you told me, copy/paste c**k up on my part, fixed.
Its the morpheus droptune
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Looks interesting to say the least
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It works though :D
well, to the extent i need it to. not too worried about more than a tone
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Ive been thinking about getting 1 of these as 1 of my bands plays all songs in Eb.
I know the obvious thing is to have certain guitars in Eb, which I do, but I dont want to limit myself to what guitars I can use with the band :lol:
What shop did you get yours from?
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Ive been thinking about getting 1 of these as 1 of my bands plays all songs in Eb.
I know the obvious thing is to have certain guitars in Eb, which I do, but I dont want to limit myself to what guitars I can use with the band :lol:
What shop did you get yours from?
place called hot rox uk, and that was the 8th place i called.. and was also the last they had.. they're getting scarce new. for some reason all the reps say there's some coming in on the 31st of march, so maybe they will. but if the website is down and the guy is dead.. seem to be a couple on ebay at ok prices
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvGpbmhczTc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvGpbmhczTc)
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Heard a lot of good things about this, dude, congrats on the score! I wonder if anyone will pick this up again after the founder's sad, untimely demise. I hope they do, it would be a shame for the knowledge, research and development to go to waste.
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I have heard a lot of good things about these. I have considered getting one in the past which seems like a great idea until I just retune and realise it takes all of about 5 second :lol:
I do like things that let me be lazier though.
Currently I've been messing with the pitch shifter on the G major with surprisingly good result for half a step either way so my guitar is currently in Eb which nets me three tunings of course.
Enjoy! and give us a full report later on.
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weighs in on tuesday, but i've play tested one of these a bunch of times, so i know what i'm getting, just one of those things you never get round to buying cos you assume it'll be there next year lol
i wouldn't minds the retuning thing, just doing it quickly, but this thing also works if your trems are floating, which a few of mine are ;)
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i wouldn't minds the retuning thing, just doing it quickly, but this thing also works if your trems are floating, which a few of mine are ;)
THat is a very good point!
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Looks splendid - I would love one! How much do they go for?
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well there's a second hand one on the bay just now for about £80, new between £135 and £150, and am sure there's more sitting in shops waiting to be had :)
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well there's a second hand one on the bay just now for about £80, new between £135 and £150, and am sure there's more sitting in shops waiting to be had :)
Cheers for the heads up on the 1 on Ebay, it should be here by the end of the week! :lol:
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amke sure it has the firmware update, apparently it makes a difference, although the ones i played were the original firmware and i thought it sounded great :)
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amke sure it has the firmware update, apparently it makes a difference, although the ones i played were the original firmware and i thought it sounded great :)
Cheers for the heads up.
The Morpheus site is no more, and hasn't been for a while apparently, but I've managed to get a copy of the Firmware update from somewhere else so I'll have to see how it goes.
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http://morpheusefxsite.abff.stackablehost.com/download.php (http://morpheusefxsite.abff.stackablehost.com/download.php)
Cached page i think, but the download still works. It says 2.1 but its a typo, it's 1.2
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Got here! A day late, but thats couriers for you..
So it came preinstalled with the firmware update, and no USB cable, which is fine, had a bunch of them anyway and i don't think we'll be seeing anymore updates in the near future..
So basically it's as i said it was before, down to a full step, no latency issues and no artificiality. It does become progressively "synthier" the further down you drop after this, but as i recently found out, the further you move away from the guitars tuning, the harder the DSP chip has to work, so fair enough. like i said, im not looking to go anyfurther than a 1 step. and to my mind, even at the largest drop, it doesn't sound anymore processed than a lot of metal produced with DI and re-amping..
No losses in volume, although with single coils on a strat i basically had to dime the input sensitivity knob on the back (in the instructions, it says turn this up until the LED guage on the front barely flashes yellow). obviously there was a bit more power with buckers.
The only minor minor little tiny thing i would say is this. When you activate it, there is just the most barely perceptible loss of presence, not treble as such, but like somebody dialled down the presence knob on an amp a tiny amount. It deadens ever so slightly, and i figure if you're telling people about these, you need to tell them about the (barely) bad. Its more to do with dynamics more than treble content.
In real terms, it doesn't do this anymore than a compressor might (never used one) or anymore than switching between one guitar and another might. It certainly doesn't prevent pinch harmonics in the neck or bridge positions of a strat with texas specials (yes i like em), you can hear the difference when you dig on notes and get more grit, it may soften the attack only just perceptibly, but it doesn't destroy it like a lot of people would have you believe. And it certainly doesn't affect any of this anymore than any other addition to the chain between you guitar and amp would.
One other thing to mention, and its not the pedals fault. play with a half decent amount of volume, because if you can still hear your electric strings played acoustically in standard tuning in combination with the drop tuning from the pedal thru the amp, it sounds weird. some people in the early days of the pedal thought it was the pedal producing this and duly rubbished it.
I'm starting to think the negative hype on these, as i said, was generated by a) those who read the comments of some who saw a prototype at NAMM before they were released and badmouthed it on line, b) some of the REAL bad tone obssessives (a proportion of TGP) for example, who go nuts for true bypass (when buffers are a good thing) and can hear all sorts of things affecting their "tone" when they can hear a difference that doesn't exist between joyo and freekish blues pedals and c) people who jump on bandwagons and try to sound knowledgeable by regurgitating terms like "over compressed" and "loss of picking dynamics", when they run the gain dimed on their amps anyway.
In the real world? this is a fine tool, absolutely perfect and basically without fault in the event that you want to drop to Eb or D for a couple of songs in a gig, but dont want to bring 2 guitars. or play along to something in the house with a floating trem guitar. It allows you to play most common drop tunings with any config of guitar you want, without the need for a setup. what it doesnt do well is work at the extremes of its ability, but if you want to play the equivalent of drop tuning a low B on a 7 string to A on your 6 string, then buy a 7 string guitar and drop it a whole step, don't buy this and say it doesn't do what it's supposed to. Lets face it, if they had have released the pedal and only had it function to drop a tone and a half because they knew anything past this deteriorated, people would have complained they didn't go expand it's functionality. They did expand it's functionality and people complain because it sounds more artificial the further you go. meh..
It also does an octaver effect, again people complained it sounds artificial. not anymore so than a boss octaver or octavio.. and theyre still good enough for people like Iommi and many others.
Hope this all is informative
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That's a great reply Tekbow, very informative.
I pretty much agree with you on every point you made.
Mine came with the USB cable and as I wasn't sure which firmware it had, updated it to 1.2 anyway.
I got mine primarilly as 1 of my bands plays all of our songs in Eb, and I didn't want to limit myself to only using a few guitars so I bought this. I currently have 3 guitars always in Eb, so during our set I'll switch between those and then use the Morpheus so I can use some of my other guitars too.
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Not what I was expecting when I clicked on this from the main screen :(
(http://www.juansolo.demon.co.uk/misc/awesomepie.jpg)
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Not what I was expecting when I clicked on this from the main screen :(
(http://www.juansolo.demon.co.uk/misc/awesomepie.jpg)
:lol:
it was cherry..
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That's a great reply Tekbow, very informative.
I pretty much agree with you on every point you made.
Mine came with the USB cable and as I wasn't sure which firmware it had, updated it to 1.2 anyway.
I got mine primarilly as 1 of my bands plays all of our songs in Eb, and I didn't want to limit myself to only using a few guitars so I bought this. I currently have 3 guitars always in Eb, so during our set I'll switch between those and then use the Morpheus so I can use some of my other guitars too.
Cheers Brow, hope you're liking yours and it does what you wanted, im still playing with mine like a kid with a new toy. I'm even starting to like the funky synthy sounding extremes, good for weirdish sounds
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Little follow up on this one, had for about a week now and i still think its as good as when i got it, tried it with most of my other pedals and i thought one thing would be worth mentioning. Classic Germanium FF style pedals, it likes em fine, however.. for some reason you lose the ability to back off the volume on the guitar and clean em up that way. at full volume there's no issue, in fact there may even be a little more gain on tap, but i suspect the signal coming from the Droptune is a little hot.. basically when the volume is backed off the fuzz pretty much stays, i have a hybrid Si/Ge pedal kicking round somewhere, will have to see how that behaves
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Try putting the droptune after the fuzz in the signal chain, fuzz pedal generally don't like buffered pedals very much.
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yep i know, germanium fuzzes generally don't like anything, except for a buffer after a fuzz to change signal impedence, but i'm kind of in delay pedal outwith the loop with amp distortion territory here, do i delay the distortion or distort the delay, generally i always felt delaying the distortion because distorting the delay sounds bad (to me). same with this, do i drop the fuzzed signal or fuzz the dropped signal.. i get the feeling dropping the fuzzes signal isn't going to sound right, and also i have a feeling that this thing is meant to be run straight after the guitar. Maybe a buffer ala fuzz friendly wahs might do the trick.
Its not a big issue, because anything I play in Eb tends to be full on rock out, and at full guitar volume,m it sounds as it should. would just be nice to have the capability for the fuzz to behave a bit more as it should if it was first in line
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I have a Digitech Whammy DT, which does much the same thing as the Morpheus. i would say all the things you have said about the Morpheus apply equally to the Digitech, except that it adds uptuning and Whammy effects. the main reason i got it was the droptuning though. I had been intending to get the same pedal as you until i came across the Whammy. since Morpheus appears to be AWOL at the moment, i would say this pedal is a very viable alternative.
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I have a Digitech Whammy DT, which does much the same thing as the Morpheus. i would say all the things you have said about the Morpheus apply equally to the Digitech, except that it adds uptuning and Whammy effects. the main reason i got it was the droptuning though. I had been intending to get the same pedal as you until i came across the Whammy. since Morpheus appears to be AWOL at the moment, i would say this pedal is a very viable alternative.
I heard that full chords dont work so well with the whammy?
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with the older Whammys, no, you got lots of strange warbly artifacts. which could be a kind of cool effect in itself :)
with this new DT, and i think the new Whammy as well, they have a polyphonic mode, so it handles chords just fine. the DT is like two or three pedals in one; on the left is a standard whammy, then the treadle in the middle, then the detune/capo section on the right.
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Well, thanks to Tekbow giving me GAS again, I have been following these on Ebay and they keep going higher than you can buy them in stores, so I just ordered one from DV247.
Thanks for that. -_-
Revenge will be mine! :lol:
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I have been following these on Ebay and they keep going higher than you can buy them in stores
That's good news, the band I wanted to use my Morpheus with split up before I even got chance to try it :lol:
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Get it on the 'bay before people realise how silly they are, hah!
DV247 still have some in stock, £150 and free next working day delivery. Score! :D
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Well, thanks to Tekbow giving me GAS again, I have been following these on Ebay and they keep going higher than you can buy them in stores, so I just ordered one from DV247.
Thanks for that. -_-
Revenge will be mine! :lol:
Your complete lack of willpower re stompy things is not my fault. Mind you.. it's not exactly been a quiet month for me pedal wise..
On the firmware update thing, apparently newer ones should have the 1.2 preinstalled (see previous page for link to cached SW page if not). the following is lifted from a comment to a review on it, stating how you know if it's got the update.
I just received the Morpheus Droptune today. I called them up asking about the unit and the firmware upgrade. They said that only the first couple hundred had the old software and more than likely if I just ordered mine that it would have the latest. Then he asked me to power it up and said if the #2,4 and both 12`s light up momentarily that it`s the latest software. And it did …my question was answered :)
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I've just ordered one of these and should have it on Friday. Keen to try it out but I'm only interested in going a whole step down. If it's good then I save myself a lot of money if not, then I buy a BC Rich Warlock NJ. I want to play in C and the guitar I have in that tune is a cheapie BC Rich with heavycore 12's on it. Put pressure on the neck or move about while playing, and the strings slacken off and it's annoying as hell. My BC Rich 7 string is neck through and doesn't have this problem. So I'm hoping my guitar in D with a drop tune sounds really good. From this thread it's looking good and I'll get that Warlock another day, maybe.
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Awesome, let us know what you think!
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I've tried this through a 30 watt solid state Marshall with a Boss SD-1 as a boost and Boss noise suppressor. I've also tried it through my Blackstar HT5-RH with 212 cab running 70/80 celestions with an MXR 10 band KFK eq.
So through the 30 watt Marshall DFX is sounded best with active pick up's. It sounded good 1/2 step to a whole step down. Even 1 1/2 step down sounded ok but it was getting artificial. It did colour the tone but the SD-1 helped fix that. There was no lag either and I was playing Slayer and Fear Factory songs on 6 and 7 string guitars picking fast. I've always liked this amp as it's good to just switch on and play. No frills, just go and play.
The Blackstar gave a better and clearer understanding of the pedal. I found again that 1/2 step to a whole step works and sounds really good but 1 1/2 step down was artificial. Again no lag but I did notice a change in sound. It took the crispness off the EMG Hetfield actives I have in an ESP Ltd and the SD blackouts I have in my 7 string. It was like having a sheet over the cab. It wasn't muddy but just lost the edge of the tone. It's not a big deal and not enough to make me hate the pedal. It's almost like it's saying "hey, I'm on". I tweaked the amps eq and ISF and was happy with the result. It sounded really good with my Epiphone Les Paul Tribute Plus. But again I stayed a 1/2 to whole step down. But this guitar through this amp sounds awesome and I really didn't notice losing the edge off the tone. It's a big gutsy tone.
I like the pedal a lot although a guitar in the tuning I want would be better. Consider the pedal was $190 Australian and the Warlock I like is $1100, it's a good buy. It's nice to have and I'm really going to enjoy it. I play at home for the love of it so I can't say how it would go live or recording.
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Cool! glad you like it :) did you adjust your input sensitivity on the back? i found if it pretty much wasn't dimed you could lose high end sparkle
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I was adjusting the input till a yellow bar was becoming visible. I need to restring all my guitars and keep playing around with things. It's something I'll use but it won't be too often as I have my guitars covering E, D, C and B. But it's interesting to get to the sharps and flats and to hear them a whole step down. The more gear, the more fun to be had! :D
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going to resurrect this one briefly. I know a few of the guys bought these after i posted up the review, just want to know what those who got it thought of it?
I still find it indispensible as a "dropping down a semi to full tone for the odd song" pedal, and no real change to my opinion on the quality of the sound it produces either.
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going to resurrect this one briefly. I know a few of the guys bought these after i posted up the review, just want to know what those who got it thought of it?
I still find it indispensible as a "dropping down a semi to full tone for the odd song" pedal, and no real change to my opinion on the quality of the sound it produces either.
I'm still not really using mine too much tbh! :lol:
I tend to use it more at home when I'm learning new songs for my band and I just use it to switch between standard and Eb depending in the song I'm learning so I can play along.
I find I notice it's 'fakeness' at anything more than a tone, so between a standard and Eb tuned guitar I can get down to Db without it sounding awful (imo).
That's more than low enough for the stuff I play anyway so no big deal :D
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So basically a useful little tool then? cool!
it's what i try to tell people, but they seem to be expecting, I dunno, some kind of magic or something?
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So basically a useful little tool then? cool!
it's what i try to tell people, but they seem to be expecting, I dunno, some kind of magic or something?
Yep, been useful a few times!
We used it at last band practice to work out how far to drop a song so that our singer can reach the notes without having to change what we were physically playing :lol: