Moog Music Forum

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to know if someone could explain the basics of use of the MF-101.

1. I read that you can "loop" the pedal so you don't lose so much tone, since the pedal is not true bypass....what does 'loop" it mean? And what gear would I need.

2. I am looking for a fat low end dub bass sound, any suggestions on that would be appreciated....

3. Lastly, can a pedal like this one hurt a bass head if it is used improperly? Had some problems with a GK 800RB, and 400RB(both need repairs) when using in conjunction with the MF101. But could never determine the actual cause...just curious if anyone as hurt circuits in their bass head from using this type of pedal.


Sorry for the long post....

don't know if this is exactly what's meant by "looping" the pedal, but you can get something like at www.loooper.com where the signal will only be sent through the "loop" when it's activated, otherwise it's completely bypassed. or you can try to put together something similar to that on your own. hopefully that helps some

I'm no expert, but I can't see how you could destroy an amp head with the pedal. Now perhaps I could see you blowing out a speaker with some outlandishly low frequencies played excessively loud. . .

Well, maybe that is it.....how do I protect my gear but be able to use my pedal to produce low subwoofer type sounds, I notice my head now when I use it, gets very hot.....

Any general do's and don'ts?

I can't imagine why the head would get hot. This is not unlike any other FX pedal as far as the signal entering your amp. I'm assuming "looping" is just the audio in and audio out jacks; it's like any other pedal in that respect. You can use it between the guitar and amp or you can use it in the effects loop with a looping cable. There is a lot of gain coming out of the MF pedals, but there is a control pot for that. As far as protecting your speaker, I would use a compressor/limiter, which many bassists use anyway. A lot of amps have that feature built in. As far as true bypass is concerned: this is such a well-made pedal that a true bypass is irrelevant. You won't find tone sucking like some cheap fx pedal. In fact it comes in handy as a preamp for situations where you need a gain boost but not the FX. I could be wrong about this, but a true bypass might affect how the CVs work. And the CV capabilities are one of the most endearing features on the MF line. Also most people buy more than one MF pedal, and if you had different gains when the pedal is on bypass there would be exaggerated boosts or dips everytime you activated one pedal and bypassed another. By having that gain consistent those boosts would be kept at a minimum (I hope that makes sense) I think true bypass is a lot of hype. Like i said, for a cheap, poorly designed pedal that might be an issue. But not here.

I hope I answered your quesion.

Back to the Looping. Perhaps you are referring to the Delay pedal which does have a loop.

I still have one question....but i appreciate your imput for sure!

As far as it heating up my head....I notice if i am using that pedal, and the drive is up atleast halfway, it makes my head much hotter?.... Is the negative -10b on my bass head for limiting as you mentioned?

I love the sound of this thing though and use it alot without the envelope effect and get a great dub bass sound.

I imagine that is a pad for lo and hi Z. The -10 would be a good choice for the LPF.