Ugly Guitar Truth: NUX Masamune Booster Komp

NUX is mostly known for making affordable pedals with plenty of options. However, they have recently released some pedals that look strikingly similar to Strymon. Now, I don't think you are going to actually confuse one of these for an actual Strymon pedal, but it seems that they are going for a more premium look. And they'd have to look a little more premium, because when asking what these pedal will go for. I was told, by NUX that they would fetch $160 street.

Here's what Nux Says about the pedal:

Booster and Compression Pedals are the gigging guitarist’s secret weapon.  Both pedals are now available in one convenient metal housing, and it comes with selectable signal routing.  The Boost Section comes with Boost Level, Drive, and Hi-Cut controls.  The Compressor Section comes with Komp Level, Sustain, Blend, and Clip controls.

NUX Masamune is a sound-crafter pedal.  It forges your dry-signal, enhancing your sound before sending your signal to your amp, and/or any effects unit.  The Booster adds beneficial color to your signal, and, if necessary, after you adjust the boost & drive levels, you can cut high frequencies on your Input signal with the Hi-Cut Toggle Switch.

Masamune’s Kompressor does a remarkable job managing and enhancing your signal:  Komp Level knob adjusts the final Output level for the Compressor, perfectly balancing your Input and Output signals.  Sustain knob adjusts the compression ratio, and increases sustain. Higher sustain levels will squash your signal harder when you hit the strings and creates a longer, richer sustain.  Blend knob adjusts the compressor transparency from 50% to 100%, so you can dial-in the exact amount of compressed dry-signal blend you want.

Clip Toggle allows you to choose the clipping range of your Input signal.  The Toggle-UP position will squeeze the signal for voluminous sound, and Toggle-DOWN will open up more space on your clipping range.

NUX Masamune Booster & Kompressor has inside routing with 3 Functions:
1_Use both effects in parallel connection.
2_Choose which effect you want to come first on your signal chain.
3_Toggle-UP the MUTEX to engage only one effect at a time.

NUX Masamune has an external foot-switch jack Input. You can add Masamune to your pedal chain, and/or you can operate the pedal by using an additional remote switch.

Conclusion

$160 is not an insane amount of money for a nice pedal, but NUX has made a name for its self as being an affordable direct from China. It would be hard to recommend this pedal when there are similar pedals made much closer to home (or rather, assembled here). There is a big difference between buying a cheap Chinese pedal for $20 and buying a $160 pedal from a company halfway across the world. What happens if it breaks? How's the customer service? There is an inherent risk of buying a pedal like this and the high than average price tag takes away one of the strongest advantages to buying from a Chinese manufactorer.

Ugly Truth: Boss CS-3

In an attempt to be a well rounded guitarist, I picked up a compressor. Many respected player have this tool in there effect chains. I've ran comps before, but I've never liked what they did. I've used Visual Sound, Boss, Joyo, and more. I've never really liked what they did. Most the time my sound got completely covered up. If I ran more gain on the pedal they became noisy and If I turned up the amp then the levels with the effect off were too mismatched. As far as I can tell these things are a "darned if you do, darned if you don't" kinda deal. They level out your highs and lows and make you single notes sound fuller. On the other side, they squash your signal and can effect your tone in a unfavorable way.

It's The Standard

If someone runs a compressor, chances are they at least tried a boss comp. I picked one up to get my bearings on what comps can do. Single notes are great but the pedal falls flat with using chords. Too much input into this and you can hear your signal get squashed. Even running this pedal first in your chain with hot pickups can cause some unwanted effects to you level. If you adjust the level on the pedal you can minimize this effect but it will still be present. Not to mention that your level is probably going to be one of those things that you'll want to balance out without having to worry about hearing a pedal chomp down on your tone.

It's Not Very Subtle

I did a review of the Joyo PipeBomb Compressor. It was a good comp, but the effect was very subtle. I found myself cranking it up just to notice the effect. That's not the case with this effect. Setting the levels very conservatively will still yield very noticeable compression. I don't like a lot of compression, but I do like the benefits from using one. The problem is that you can't switch the effect on and off without adjusting other setting greatly. If it could just jump in when playing single notes to make a fuller sound then that would be great. The effect can weaken big chords. The CS-3 is a pretty big offender.

In Short

Compression can be a great thing. It may be something you have to experiment with before you really settle on whether or not you like/need it. Some find the Boss CS-3 to be a great tool. These people may be able to better tame this pedal better than I, or need a big squeeze for their sound. There is a trade off when using compression. You might get better sustain, but you will lose some touch sensitivity. When using a wide range of dynamics, you might not want to use anything more than very subtle comp. As for the Boss CS-3 I can't find a place for it. Boss has done a great job of revamping some of there more iconic pedals (DD-500, RV-6, TU-3). Maybe they could put a little work into the CS-3.

5 Ugly Truths About Fenders Micro Effects Pedals

They are sigh inducing

From the colors to the, to the actually types of pedals that are served up, Fender has created the least inspiring line of effect since... their last line of effects. Way to go guys! But seriously, Fender has a terrible track record of effects. The last time that Fender had a dog in the effects game was in the dark ages when they put out the "Tone Bender", and that was only because they were one of the few putting stock in the stuff back then. It has been copied, but it is almost unanimously believed that the design has been improved on in every conceivable way. The first experience with a Fender pedal was with their tuner they put out year ago. I bought it because it was half the price of the Boss TU-2. It also worked half as well. I've stayed away for the most part since then. Everything from the design to the colors to the names of Fenders pedals have been lack luster for as long as I can remember. These pedals are no exception.

They are copies of copies

In the new line up we have a compressor, EQ, DI, and an A/B/Y pedal. The comp is in the same vein as many others from Donner/Mooer/Monoprice and the like. Whether or not they are the same on the inside is a little harder to ascertain. The EQ is seen in many other places. The Graphic sliders function in the same way as the Boss GE-7 or MXR's graphic EQ pedal. The closest resemblance is that to the Mooer pedal. They are just slightly different shades of blue. The DI and A/B/Y are tried and true designs in a compact little pedal. Fender is not fooling anyone here. These are, at best, clones and at worst they are exact copies of other pedals. I don't think that there is anything necessarily wrong with that. Depending on who owns what, Fender might not even be dipping into anyone else "bag of tricks". What it is, is a lazy way to push product out. Fender looks like they said, "This is popular, let's slap our name on it and sell it to Fender fans.", and called it a day.

They are Fender effects

If you have ever tried Fender effects, then you probably have been disappointed. To call them lack luster what be an understatement. In the last 10-15 years Fender has made attempts and failed to bring to market, anything that might be considered successful. Not to say that what they put out was blatantly bad. That accomplishment belongs to Behringer. But finder has found a way to miss the mark every time. Which make me assume that they are either hopelessly out of touch of the pedal/effects market, or they are so conservative that they can't explore and find a niche that is well suited for them. either way it leaves the consumer with a bad taste in our collective mouths.

They might have got everything right

Having said that, allow me to directly contradict myself. For the keen observer, you may have noticed that Fender's line-up of micro pedals is a little thin. For the longest time, I haven't been able to put my finger on what was missing. There is not a single overdrive, distortion or filter among them. At first I thought that they add more pedal to this line later. As of the writing of this post, they haven't. What they do have is a list of pedals that don't take a lot of scrutiny. Their comp and EQ are arguably designed by someone else, tested and liked. Their DI and A/B/Y boxes are so simple a monkey could design those. Not only that, but personally I don't like switching the tiny pedals on and off. They don't feel sturdy. They save space, but that is the only reason to have one of these pedals. So why not have your "Set-it and forget-it" pedals (ones that you don't switch on and off often) as space saving micro. This, my friends is the best move that I've seen Fender make regarding effects. That is...

They probably haven't

If they have screwed it all up. Lets face it. This is the company that could produce a $15 analog, needle style tuner that worked beautifully. (I wish I still had that thing) But fail in the highest order when it came to a $50 pedal that performed the same task. Fender has fumbled the ball in the clutch play before and it would not surprise me if they do it again. The easiest of tasks seem like the hardest to accomplish. I don't know why a huge company like Fender has so much trouble making simple things that people put together in their garage all the time. Not like they need to make anything other than the same guitars they have been making for that last three quarters of a century. All this coming from a Fender fanboy. If anyone from Fender is reading this: please, when it comes to making pedals do it right, or don't do it at all.