POLL: EHx Deluxe Memory Man...GAS & opinions?

[mhuxtable]

So I saw on the EHx forum that they are officially discontinuing the old big box style of the Deluxe Memory Man.

 

I get the whole rugged die cast box, more space on the pedal board thing, but really, I LOOOVE the old big boxes. That is why I have been getting ALL the EHx pedals I want in the big boxes while I still can. (I have the small clone, deluxe electric mistress, and the POG)

 

So the DMM had been next on my list, then I saw the EHx post about them discontinuing the old box style at the end of the month! So first thing I do is call up my local guitar store I get all my stuff from, tell them what I just saw & ask a favor.

 

I asked if they would go ahead & order the DMM in the old box while they still could get it, & I could just pay them weekly here & there til I pay it off (I just did not have the $350 laying around after getting the POG). And them being so awesome, they said SURE! So instead of layaway where I HAVE to pay it off by certain time, I can just pay slowly knowing it will be there for me (see if your local GC or Sam Ash will do THAT!)

 

So I have a Deluxe Memory Man on the way! WOOT WOOT.

 

But really, anyone else EHx lovers out there? What do you think about this new thing XOing all their pedals? I just do not like it...the big boxes have a certain mojo that just feels RIGHT.

 

or am I WRONG?

[Caevan O’Shite]

First off- cool, glad you're able to get that! Those sound awesome; what amp are you going to be using that with? Got an effects-loop?

 

I could only vote one way or the other if I knew whether the new ones- the ones with the new, smaller, die-cast enclosures- are otherwise the same as the sheet-metal DMM.

 

If the new small ones sound at least as good as the big old ones, I don't know as I'd care. Maybe they're even quieter... any idea?

 

For that price, if I could pull the trigger right away (and not have to make installments), I'd consider a used (or even "vintage") "big-box" DMM and have it tweaked by this guy*, or even just get a Diamond 'Memory Lane' or 'Memory Lane 2'.

 

*(Doofy website, but he is the guy who designed the EH DMM; a few years ago, I narrowly missed getting an original '70s EH DMM from him for $295, freshly refurbished and aligned... )

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

But the 70s EH stuff was awful. It was simply either the only option, or it was the cheapest option. In terms of the DMM, the EM, and those other large format pedals, they were all noisy, destroyed the signal quality, and were cheaply assembled. Didn't stop us from buying it then, but we both know a little better now and we have other choices. What is the appeal to a 70s EH piece?

 

Though I haven't used any, I assumed that the new EH pieces were seriously updated electronics in vintage 70s looking boxes.

 

Bill

[Caevan O’Shite]

Iddunno, I kinda like the sound of the old DMM and Small Stone, for example; I wouldn't say they sound awful at all. They can be noisy, sometimes that can be helped, sometimes not, and then it's down to what amount of noise you can and will put up with in a trade-off.

[miroslav]

I had a 70's EH "Soul Preacher" comp/sustainer (it's still laying around here somewhere, but doesn't seem to work).

Used it from time to time to juice up my leads...but yeah, kinda noisy and somewhat lo-fi sounding (though that's cool at times).

 

I've been looking at a lot of pedals lately...and that's the thing with EH stuff...there are WAY TO MANY versions, and just hard to tell what you are getting if you can't try it out.

Weren't EH products at one time or another made in the USA, Japan, Russia...and now...?...who is making them now?

[mhuxtable]

I play through a 65 Reissue Twin Reverb...no effects loop...everything goes thru the front...but it is an amazing amp for using a lot of effects.

 

The circuits are supposed to be exactly the same...just smaller parts...i feel like using a smaller part HAS to affect the sound somehow yes? even if it is just a little...main thing is the mojo factor for me...

 

Miro, and anyone else wondering, here is a great site concerning the history of EHX.

 

Basically, the company was started in the US, met a demise, restarted by the same guy under a different corporate name. That corporation made Sovtek (amps & tubes) and EHx.

[GovernorSilver]

I've been interested in the bigger case version, because of the huge knobs that facilitate parameter changes with the feet. Apparently the newer case design shrinks the knob size quite a bit.

[Mudcat]

Some of those old EH boxes, while being noisy, get very specific sounds that have not been replicated by newer, quieter gear. I happen to think the Line 6 DL4 does a pretty good job on the DMM but some folks disagree.

 

I will tell you one box EHX made in the 70s that I have not heard recreated yet is the original Muff Fuzz distortion. It was a TINY inline box. One knob. One switch. No footswitch. Absolutely my all-time favorite fuzz tone. I think the version they put out now with the footswitch is buzzier than the original.