why is the pharoah good?

[davedeath]

anyone have experience with the pharoah fuzz + orange amps? (particularly rocker 30 or dual terror). i keep hearing this is one of the few pedals that actually sound good with orange gear but haven't heard any demos anywhere.

http://spellbookdoom.bandcamp.com/


whatever that combo is plus the pharaoh and the other tracks mesa transaltanic and the pharaoh through greenbacks

[delayed delay]

it's not a Muff. not the same gain structure and not nearly enough gain. flat mids. the gain structure sounds amazing, it has {censored}loads of volume on tap, low and high input options, three clipping diode options including GE, and an unbeatable dual tone circuit. the only downside to it is that is doesn't work as it should unless you play loud.

I respectfully disagree.

It still sounded like a Muff to me. Sure, the gain structure is different and there's not as much gain... but it still sounds dark and muddy like every other muff out there. JMO.

Great for bedroom playing, not so much for live use.

[Reaganomics!]

It's definitely a muff. They originally built it on General Guitar Gadget's muff board. It's tweaked so it's not going to be identical to every other muff, but it's definitely "a muff" circuit-wise.

[Harry_Manback1]

Great for bedroom playing, not so much for live use.

 

Weird. The Pharaoh is capable of crazy mids and really stands out in a band mix IMO, more so than any "muff" I've played. And sounds better the louder you crank it. It's based on a muff, but sound nothing like it to my ears. More OD/distortiony, depending on how you set it.

[Poltergeist]

Weird. The Pharaoh is capable of crazy mids and really stands out in a band mix IMO, more so than any "muff" I've played. And sounds better the louder you crank it. It's based on a muff, but sound nothing like it to my ears. More OD/distortiony, depending on how you set it.

 

 

this.

[Loobs]

there is a hxfc doom room

yeah, because you haven't ever noticed it...

[christianatl]

 

Not really but there is a Dunwich Amps spam thread.

 

 

Nailed it.

[smallsnd/bigsnd]

doesn't everything sound better when cranked?

[Aristotle]

Not really but there is a Dunwich Amps spam thread.

[Dr.Picklebottom]

I respectfully disagree. It still sounded like a Muff to me. Sure, the gain structure is different and there's not as much gain... but it still sounds dark and muddy like every other muff out there. JMO. Great for bedroom playing, not so much for live use.

church fuzz. it doesnt work for it.

'hoooold myyy haaand loooorrrrd jebbbuussssss chrriiii***BBBZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ***

bandleader,'who ever made that sound please get off the stage and come back with an acoustic guitar and dont bother plugging it in. thanks, lord bless.'

[moqi]

[tattoedsailor]

I respectfully disagree. It still sounded like a Muff to me. Sure, the gain structure is different and there's not as much gain... but it still sounds dark and muddy like every other muff out there. JMO. Great for bedroom playing, not so much for live use.

I agree thats in muff family, but its way more dynamic much better volume roll off. In terms dark muddy really depends guitar and amp. I think it really shines through brighter amps w/Teles and Strats.

[IRG]

Weird. The Pharaoh is capable of crazy mids and really stands out in a band mix IMO, more so than any "muff" I've played. And sounds better the louder you crank it. It's based on a muff, but sound nothing like it to my ears. More OD/distortiony, depending on how you set it.

 

 

 

Definitely this. I've owned quite a few muffs, and the Pharaoh just doesn't "feel" like one. It has shares some sonic qualities sure, but like Harry mentioned, it can be an overdrive or distortion if you want it to be. And for more clarity goose it with just about anything. And unlike a muff, it cleans up a bit easier with your volume control, unlike the LSTR which is much more purely in the muff camp.

 

The Pharaoh works great when playing loud, but I can find plenty of times it works nice at reasonable levels. But yeah, it likes to be turned up for sure. As do most great pedals.

[thebirdgrip]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah3XiTIDHds&feature=related

[six acre lake]

Muff circuit design or not, am I the only one who hears / feels this pedal is more of a bad ass distortion pedal with vast eq options? If sure the tech specs say Muff but to my ears / through my rig it seems more distortion-y if that makes sense. Obviously I love it either way since I have two of them, one for BK, one for PHL.

[trainbridge]

I have two of them, one for BK, one for PHL.

So spoiled.















I'm just jealous

[IRG]

Yeah it strikes me as a distortion too, I think it depends on how you set it. Really straddles the line sometimes, which makes it so good. It has a bounty of different tones, making it a great value.

[christianatl]

My Skreddy Zero feels like a distortion to me as well, even though it's technically a fuzz.

[Reaganomics!]

well, the way the muff circuit works, is basically just transistors boosting the signal which then hits diode pairs for clipping, which is really how almost every distortion/overdrive pedal works. The thing with the muff is that it just does that to an extreme amount of volume/clipping. Along with it's tone stack that scoops the mids it's going to sound very much like a "fuzz" which generally make transistors beg for mercy to get their sound.

 

If you mod the muff to reintroduce the mids and bias the transistors so the amount of volume/clipping isn't in extreme fuzz territory, then it'd start to behave more like a DS-1 or a Rat or something. I'd wager the difference in the Pharoah and LSTR is some tweaked values so the former is biased less extreme so it's more of a distortion, and the latter is more fuzz.

[christianatl]

Dat science.

[Reaganomics!]

actually I lied. It's all mojo. nuthin but mojo and maybe a red dot or two.

[Urinate Forever]

 

actually I lied. It's all mojo. nuthin but mojo and maybe a red dot or two.

 

 

Now you're speaking in terms I can understand!

[Krallum]

Its not good. Everyone in the world is just trolling you.

[The Riffer]

Thanks to alla yinz for the love. So humbling.So appreciated.

A couple of points I can make here might be constructive to the conversation.

 

Pharaoh is a modified muff circuit.

Tone controls: when tone is full counterclockwise, and High is full clockwise, is an essentially flat response with no volume cut., not a tone bypass, but damn close.

Pharaoh is a less extreme bias on the transistors, LSTR is a more extreme bias on the transistors, among other changes. This along with the input selector and clipping options, allow for a better range of useful gain.

LSTR is definitely the muffy style.

The reason some cats are finding it "muddy" is likely because it is tuned to clip more low notes than the BMP. Tone controls can't change that.

 

Again thanks for your love. {censored}in rad.

[goodhonk]

the phaoroah is the opposite of a muff in that it sounds great in a band setting and is kinda boring when bedroom jamming. the pharaoh is super thick, i felt like i was hurting my twin reverb when i would kick in the pharoah. i took an nyc muff and pharaoh to practice and tried them both out, not telling the band what was up; when i kicked on the pharoah they were all like, "holy schnarff balce!" in the best way possible.

 

if you're tired of disappearing when you step on the muff, get a pharaoh. however, dont' expect it to sound like a muff.