UberMetalDood
New member
I had both pedals overnight. I played them through my Engl and Two-Rock, and with a Les Paul and Stratocaster. Both were good pedals although they are very expensive. The Might Red goes for $169 and the Famulus is a whopping $299. I'll keep this short as I wasn't impressed enough to buy either even though they are good pedals.
The Mad Professor has a great sound. I was expecting a lot like an overdriven Marshall JCM800 kind of sound but it's not really a Marshall-in-a-box like I expected. It has a great sound and it worked great on both very different kinds of amps. It goes from a light overdrive to full-on 80's metal, but I think you can get some modern scooped sounds. To me it sounds like a cross between a Marshall and a Mesa Boogie. The clarity is great even at high gain and it has a really awesome, organic sound.
The problem I had with the Mighty Red Distortion was that it was only "great" at very high gain. It was too spongy at lower gain settings and made the pick attack resistant even on my Engl Raider. It's not a real versatile pedal and the tone control isn't real useful to shape the tone as far as getting the cut or smoothing it out.
There was also a flaw in the pedal housing where the bottom part was a ill fit. It wasn't a big deal but that kind of attention to detail makes me wonder about the pedal. Another thing that kind of bugged me even though it shouldn't is how they talk about it being the cheaper version of the handwired Mighty Red, almost as if it's not as good but the next best thing.
The Famulus distortion isn't really a distortion at all. The advertisements say it can do metal but it doesn't unless your amp is already overdriven. It has some really cool controls. There are two different kinds of gain sounds and they can be blended or used independently. One is kind of like a mid cut tube screamer and the other is kind of a fat tube screamer. It has a real nice transparent sound, and I like how it was designed to work well with other overdrives. At the same time, why spend $299 on an overdrive if you have to use another overdrive with it to get the amount of gain you want?
The tone cut seems to not only cut presence as you turn it up, but also seems to compress the tone. The thing I didn't like about it is that I couldn't find a happy place on the tone knob. It was either too present or dark and compressed. I was also expecting more distortion out of it, but it's just an overdrive with a little more gain than a tube screamer.
Both pedals really are good but not my taste. If I could afford to keep expensive pedals, I would like the keep the Red Witch just to mix with other overdrives sometimes. They're pretty good and I would recommend them to someone looking for a high quality boutique.
The Mad Professor has a great sound. I was expecting a lot like an overdriven Marshall JCM800 kind of sound but it's not really a Marshall-in-a-box like I expected. It has a great sound and it worked great on both very different kinds of amps. It goes from a light overdrive to full-on 80's metal, but I think you can get some modern scooped sounds. To me it sounds like a cross between a Marshall and a Mesa Boogie. The clarity is great even at high gain and it has a really awesome, organic sound.
The problem I had with the Mighty Red Distortion was that it was only "great" at very high gain. It was too spongy at lower gain settings and made the pick attack resistant even on my Engl Raider. It's not a real versatile pedal and the tone control isn't real useful to shape the tone as far as getting the cut or smoothing it out.
There was also a flaw in the pedal housing where the bottom part was a ill fit. It wasn't a big deal but that kind of attention to detail makes me wonder about the pedal. Another thing that kind of bugged me even though it shouldn't is how they talk about it being the cheaper version of the handwired Mighty Red, almost as if it's not as good but the next best thing.
The Famulus distortion isn't really a distortion at all. The advertisements say it can do metal but it doesn't unless your amp is already overdriven. It has some really cool controls. There are two different kinds of gain sounds and they can be blended or used independently. One is kind of like a mid cut tube screamer and the other is kind of a fat tube screamer. It has a real nice transparent sound, and I like how it was designed to work well with other overdrives. At the same time, why spend $299 on an overdrive if you have to use another overdrive with it to get the amount of gain you want?
The tone cut seems to not only cut presence as you turn it up, but also seems to compress the tone. The thing I didn't like about it is that I couldn't find a happy place on the tone knob. It was either too present or dark and compressed. I was also expecting more distortion out of it, but it's just an overdrive with a little more gain than a tube screamer.
Both pedals really are good but not my taste. If I could afford to keep expensive pedals, I would like the keep the Red Witch just to mix with other overdrives sometimes. They're pretty good and I would recommend them to someone looking for a high quality boutique.
