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NEWS

new item(s) were added into this section (10 days ago max.).

updated item

some of the items in this sections were updated (7 days ago max).

8.5. The long awaited Moon Vibe MkII has been released today, with very short waiting list.

2.5. 27.05. Gilmourish.com have published a review of our Pig Hoof MkII.

25.4. We added a variant of our well established Pig Hoff pedal - Pig Hoof MkII.

11.4. Rob O'Block has finished The Wall tour of his band, he was using our Pig Hoof, and he sent two fresh new videos that you can find at the Pig Hoof page.

19.2. Jamstage.cz released a nice video for our Distant Voices Theremin.

------------- 2012 ------------

18.12. There is a new article in our blog about Tuning the Distant Voices Theremin.

06.12. We added two videos about Distant Voices theremin to our blog.

03.11. Widara company has introduced our model of a simple rock stage theremin under a name Distant Voices.
More in our blog.

07.08. Moon Vibe has been discontinued. We are working on a new model of Moon Vibe, which shall be available by Christmas.

10.05. And yet another video for Pig Hoof was added. Nicolás Quiroga is performing Castellorizon this time.

You are at: Electronic Orange > Guitar pedals > Moon Vibe MkII

Moon Vibe MkII (phaser)

The bare enclosure dimensions:
Height: 4.5 cm
Width: 15.4 cm
Lenght: 9.2 cm
Weight: 650 g

Power: 18-24 VDC
Current draw: 40 mA (+LED)

PRICE: 199 EUR

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There is a waiting list for our pedals at the moment.
New orders for Moon Vibe MkII can't be completed before June, 2013.
New orders for our other pedals can't be completed before November, 2013.

What is the difference between the old Moon Vibe and the new Moon Vibe MkII?

The new Moon Vibe MkII holds the same circuity as the discontinued model, hence it has the same sound. The only difference sound-wise is that you can adjust brightness/darkness of the sound by an internal trimmer to your own taste. The old "vintage/modern" switch was omitted.
Another change we have done, is an extra control knob marked "Symmetry". There was a trimmer inside of the Moon Vibe that allowed to set the balance between the light and dark side of the phasing. We've modified its range and moved it on the front panel as a full-blown control knob.
The last change is the enclosure itself. It is a custom, factory-made enclosure. It is sturdier and heavier, since a thicker sheet metal used. Instead of a sticker we arranged a print.

Moon Vibe MkII is an improved clone of the famous late 60's phaser Uni-Vibe. The Uni-Vibe was invented by the Japanese engineer Fumio Mieda in 1968, and consequently manufactured by Shin-Ei/Univox/Unicord. The unusual phasing unit quickly made its way to the rigs of guitarists like Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, etc.

The original design uses a pulsing light bulb to control seemingly randomly designed phase stages (apparently tuned by ear by Mr. Mieda, as there is no logical order in the part values). Another feature is that the depth of the phasing effect depends on the speed - the higher speed brings more depth, the lower speed makes the phasing go smoother.

Unlike the other phasers, Uni-Vibe(a well-built unit) provides a very prominent, deep and natural sounding effect - nothing like those 70's chemical, disco sounds. There was also a toggle switch mounted on every unit, to swap between Phaser and Chorus effect. The switch was misleadingly marked as "Chorus/Vibrato", where "Chorus" was describing the phasing effect, and "Vibrato" the weird chorus effect.

If you want to hear a real unit (as the eBay prices go over $1500) check out Jimi Hendrix songs like Machine Gun or Angel, or Breathe/Any Colour You Like by Pink Floyd. Another "Vibe album" to mention would be probably "Bridge of Sights" by Robin Trower.
Moon-Vibe MkII is an exact Uni-Vibe clone with some extra features that improve the behaviour of the original units

Moon Vibe MkII - the main features:

A. Quality of the phasing of the originals varied from unit to unit, as the depth of the "heart-beat" very much depends on precise values of the particular parts. That's why we handpick the crucial parts for every Moon Vibe MkII unit to achieve the best results.

B. Moon Vibe MkII incorporates the true bypass switching (7), where the originals did not have any bypass at all. The original units were fully engaged all the time, and musicians just used the expression pedal to turn the effect down by lowering the bulb intensity. Also, the volume drop that often follows true bypass installation has been eliminated. When you turn the volume knob (1) all the way up, the level of the wet sound will be lauder than the clean, bypassed sound.

C. The "Symmetry" control knob (2) lets you set the character of the phasing to your own taste. It adjusts how much the phaser pumps towards the dark and light side of the phase. The "Intensity" knob (3) sets the depth of the phasing. The depth range goes all the way from a subtle waving to a deep "heard-beat" like pumping.

D. Moon Vibe features the mod that has been introduced in David Gilmour's unit - the higher speed mod. David Gilmour used the top speed in Any Colour You Like. Instead of the expression pedal (speed control) that was provided with the original units, Moon Vibe has a large speed knob (4) that can be operated by your foot, and gives you better visual perception of the speed selected.

E. There is a pulsing LED indicator (6) that visually shows the speed selected. The foot-switch marked "Mode" (5) switches between "Chorus"(= phaser) and "Vibrato" effect, as the original units did. The LED indicator turns yellow when you switch to "Chorus" and red when you switch to "Vibrato".

F. Polyester caps are used instead of the electrolytes. They are more durable and keep better sound fidelity. This is not a mandatory approach though, we can use electrolyte on demand.

G. When you turn the pedal off, the bulb light is turned down. This clever feature extends the light bulb's life span.

H. The pedal is powered by a 24VDC power adapter that is included in the package. The mains plug is chosen so you can use it in your country. The DC socket (8) is located on the side of the enclosure. The polarity of the power adapter follows the guitar pedal standard: (-) inside of the barrel, (+) on the shield.

There are two internal trimmers (see the picture below), mounted on the board inside of the enclosure:

Using an alternative 18VDC power supply

It may happen that the circumstances will lead you to a need of using an alternative power supply. Typically, you are using Power Brick to power your other pedals and you want to feed your Moon Vibe from it as well, using the Brick's 18VDC output. We made this possible while designing the pedal.

The trimmer by the lamp shield (1) is there to compensate the DC voltage drop and get the fine sound back. After you apply the 18V power source, set the Symmetry knob to the middle position, Intensity to the max, hit the strings and then turn the trimmer (1) slowly to the left, until you get the sound back. Then keep adjusting the trimmer till the sound feels to pump symmetrically.

We very recommend not to change the factory setting of this trimmer, unless you want to use an 18VDC power supply as described above. Turning the trimmer to the left while you feeding it from the provided 24V adapter may damage, or even burn the light bulb. Also make sure your power supply provides the right polarity: (-) inside of the jack barrel, (+) on the shield of the jack (barrel jack 5.5/2.1 mm).

Setting the overall brightness

The other trimmer (2), marked "brilliance" is there to set the amount of brightness in the wet signal. Use it to your own taste. It changes the tone all the way from brilliant to muffled. The factory setting leaves it in the middle position.

internal trimmers

Original units used by: Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, Robin Trower ...
Controls: Volume, Symmetry, Intensity, Speed, Chorus/Vibrato switch
Contemporary trend: pulsing yellow/red LED indicator, speed mod ala Gilmour, internal "brilliance" trimmer, True Bypass switching