Moog Music Inc. launched the new Minifooger effects series, five compact stomp boxes that use 100% analog circuitry.
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The new Minifoogers, namely the MF Boost, MF Drive, MF Ring, MF Delay and MF Trem, are meant to cover essential guitar and bass effect types.
The pedals are expected to carry a US street price below $200, which makes them accessible. With that tag price, it is quite impressive that each pedal still are still hand built in Moog’s factory in Asheville, North Carolina.
Aside from the use of 100% analog components, common to all the pedals in this Series is the use of a compact cast-aluminum enclosure. The pedals all have a straightforward appearance, in keeping with the industrial look of Moog’s other products.
Aside from the rugged housing, other common features of the pedals in this series include true bypass design, optional battery power, 100% analog signal path, and an expression pedal input.
Mike Adams, President of Moog Music, said: “We have been working on designs for a line of highly engineered analog effects pedals that are affordable, compact, and easy to use for some time. We are extremely pleased with the outcome and hope that guitar and bass players are too.”
The Minifoogers control interface is as straightforward as its looks, focusing on convenience so you can quickly conjure the sounds that you here in your head. There addition of a dedicated expression pedal input expands your control options further, allowing for hands-free control of specific parameters per pedal. By playing with the knobs and by using optional expression pedals, you can create a wide variety of sounds.
Cyril Lance, Chief Engineer Moog Music, said: “We want people to approach these pedals from an aural standpoint. The sonic capabilities of Minifoogers are extensive, but they are also easy to use. You can just close your eyes, turn knobs, and create modern, vintage, or other worldly sounds.”
MF Boost
This is a boost pedal with analog tone shaping capabilities, it lets you choose between two voices, the transparent “articulate VCA” signal path or the “colored OTA” signal path. The Gain knob will let you set the input levels, while the Boost switch for picking your preferred voice. The Tone knob on this pedal provides straightforward high end filtering, useful for taming bright guitars and amps, or for adding up low-end to your signal. Finally, the Level knob lets you trim the output level while maintaining tone coloration. Moog describes the MF Boost pedal as an “articulate tone enhancement tool that can be used as a clean boost pedal, a dirty boost pedal and a volume pedal.” MSRP: $149
MF Drive
At the core of this filter-based overdrive pedal is a Moog Ladder Filter that works together with boutique FET amplifiers, and OTAs in its drive section for improved picking dynamics. The Gain knob lets you set the amount of drive you prefer, while the Drive switch gives you specific control over the input gain-stage. The Tone knob is designed to provide three types of sounds: from low-pass to mid-scoop to high-pass. A Peak switch is provided for adding a +15dB boost at the filter cutoff, useful for emphasizing the mid and high frequencies. The Filter knob adds more tone shaping possibilities, it interacts heavily with the Tone and Peak settings to let you customize your tone the way you want it. Wrapping up the MF Drive’s control features is the Output knob, which is designed to be extremely hot when maxed for a variety of uses. MSRP: $179.
MF Delay
This pedal packs 35mS-700mS of completely analog delay time. According to Moog, you can get fast and bright repeats at shorter delay time settings, ideal for creating classic slap-back and plate sounds. As you raise delay time, the repeats become more reverb-like and darker. You can sculpt the delay trail to your preference via the MF Delay’s Drive circuit, it overdrive’s the Bucket Brigade Delay line and the output for a bigger sound and feel. Attaching an expression pedal to the MF Delay will let you control feedback for creating delay swells, or you can switch it to control delay time for implementing modulation type effects. MSRP: $209
MF Ring
The MF Ring is based on Moog’s Moogerfooger MF-102, which is considered as one of the most sought after analog ring modulator effects today. Being affordable and compact, the MF Ring pedal brings the popular MF-102 to the masses in a more compact and affordable package. The pedal features a refined frequency range and tone voicing circuit, designed to add new musical elements to ring modification. Moog summarizes: “The pedal will let you dial in everything from octaves and choral dissonance to harmonic undertones and synthesized lead lines.” Hands-free control of the Freq parameter for sound sweeps, pitch shifting effects, and playing between two scales is possible via the expression pedal input. MSRP: $159
MF Trem
This analog tremolo pedal is designed around a balanced modulator and Sub Audio VCO. This allows for a wide range of effects that are based on phase cancellation and addition. You can set it up to produce classic optical tremolo, hard tremolo, rotary effects and many others. The Shape control expands the possibilities further as it interacts with Tone and Mix to create subtle swells and gallops, as well as rhythmic percussive, and swirling effects. According to Moog, the MF Trem is designed to react dynamically to the harmonic content of your signal. At max settings, the pedal approaches the phasing and chorus effect realms. You can control the Speed parameter via the expression pedal input. MSRP: $189.
To showcase the Minifoogers, Moog had Troy Van Leeuwen of Queens of The Stone Age to create a classic approach demo. Passion Pit on the other hand used a more experimental approach in their video demo.
The Minifooger pedals are now available for preorder from authorized Moog dealers. The units is scheduled to start shipping this month. You can visit Moog for more information.
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