Sweet Sound Electronics, talk about cream of the crop! It was the Sweet Sound Mojo Vibe that hooked me by the gills and put me in the Sweet Sound grip forever more. It was in the beginning of my studio session days that I first heard the Sweet Sound name. Cats would swear by the gear and hunt it out like a rare and mystical animal. Many of the producers, engineers, and players I came to know always pointed me in the Sweet Sound direction. I had had a Uni-Vibe that was giving me problems, always breaking down and acting funny in gigs, sessions, and practices. I knew that hunting down a replacement was going to be a tuff tuff job. I went out and tried a bunch of different vibe pedals and effects units. Some pedals were small, some large, some units complex, and others much simpler. Nothing I tried was able to give me the sound I was looking for. This is when I came across the Mojo Vibe, lent to me by a fellow musician friend for some gigs and sessions. The rest is history. Later I would discover the Sweet Sound collection of fuzz boxes, this would only seal the deal even tighter. I few months ago I had a chance to try the MoFaux Vibe. Again I was to be floored by the character and ability of another Sweet Sound pedal.
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The
Sweet Sound
MoFaux Vibe
* True Bypass Switching
* Hand matched FET transistors
* High quality parts/components
* 9V DC adapter or 9V battery operation
* In/Out jacks
* Single Speed/Effect knob
* Stunning Uni-Vibe type sound
* Very small footprint
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Do not let the size of this little devil fool you, the Sweet Sound Mofaux packs one of the meanest vibe sounds in the effect pedal world. The Mofaux Vibe does not come equipped with an array of knobs, switches, or blinking lights. There is one knob and one knob only. To get a great sound out of this pedal is as easy, turn the Speed knob to your desired setting and you're in. The vibe effect, tonal characteristic, and mix amount couldn't be better. The Mofaux Vibe is capable of giving life to any guitar tone, and capable of making those epic lead tones sound even bigger. It don't matter if your thing is blues, classic rock, hard rock, or psychedelic madness. The Mofaux will work it's magic through them all.
Setting up and getting a good sound out of this pedal was as easy as pie. I'm talking instant gratification here. I grabbed one of my favorite axes, plugged into a decent tube amp, and got to playing. With an effect like the vibe you have to make sure it's used in the correct amount and with the right amp tone. Using the wrong vibe tone can end up sounding either too cartoonish or too darn extreme. When I aim for a killer sounding vibe tone I always think of one of two things, either an original Uni-Vibe sound or the warm vibe tones of a great vintage tube amp. Everyone knows finding a vintage Uni-Vibe unit in good shape is not an easy thing to do these days, and if you do find one you will be easily paying an arm and a leg. Sweet Sound takes care of this problem by giving you an affordable, great sounding, and super easy to dial-in vibe pedal. The Mofaux Vibe's overall sound is designed to produce a great universal vibe effect which will compliment whichever amp tone you choose to pair it up with. The first amp tone I paired the Mofaux up with was a sparkling clean Blackface tone. I ran the pedal through a couple different single coil pickups and some of my favorite humbuckers. My 70's spec Strat was the first guitar to do it thing. The spank and boom of the Strat's pickups worked beautifully with the Mofaux. In slower/lower settings the pedal created a dreamy, light vibe effect. I rang out a bunch of arpeggiated chords and mellow riffs which sounded wonderful through this setting. The sound of the Mofaux Vibe rose and fell evenly without ever getting too extreme or bothering the playing at hand. While in the clean amp setting I also plugged in my humbuckered semi-hollow body guitar. With the humbucker pickups the tone was still clean but a bit warmer and with a tad more aggression. I was able to get a hint of grit by digging into my playing and shaking the strings this way and that. This worked beautifully with the Mofaux Vibe, especially through a killer run of blues licks and classic rock riffs. Adding in a dirt box and turning up the speed of the Mofaux also sounded awesome. I tried the pedal behind and in front of the overdrive pedal and to my ears it sounded nice in both setups. The great thing about this vibe unit is that it doesn't overpower any of the boxes you pair it up with. Besides the overdriver I also plugged in a distortion and a fuzz box. I was able to setup some of the most epic classic rock, hard rock, and fully tripped out lead tones. So far so good and knew things were only gonna get better through an overdriven tube amp. The amp I chose to pair the Mofaux Vibe up with was a 100 watt Super Lead. The smooth thickness and rich flavor of the Super Lead worked perfectly! I was able to head into some pretty damn convincing Hendrix and Trower tones. The guitar I played through this setup was a Junior copy with a single Lollar P90 and Creation Audio Labs Redeemer Circuit. The warmth of the Mofaux combined with the clarity and spank of the guitar pickup sounded like pure heaven. I was a good couple hours into rocking this pedal out and was yet to land in any ugly amp tones. This is what makes this vibe pedal so special. You just set your desired speed and the rest just falls into place, no matter what you throw at it. I have plugged into so many vibe pedals in my time, and this is easily one of the best out there. The pedal can easily stand up to vibe units costing 2-3 times higher. I gotta give it up to the cats at Sweet Sound for creating such a gig and musician friendly vibe box. Never am I left unsatisfied when it comes to these cats, and if you've had a chance to plug into these pedals you know what I mean. Absolute magic baby!
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For more info on Sweet Sound please go to www.sweetsound.com or click the direct link in our sidebar. You can check out the entire collection of amazing vibe units and also listen to some cool demos. Word around the camp fire is the Sweet Sound fuzz boxes will be back into production sooner than later, so keep your eyes peeled! Dig it!
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