Steve Kimock Discussion

otherones90210 · Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 9 Location: Prince Edward Island

A few months ago inspired by a thread on this board I decided to set out to find a Mutron III by Musitronics.

I found one and bought it for 300$ Canadian. I love the pedal but the problem is that it doesn't have a powersource anymore. It Drains 2 9V batteries about 3/4 of the way through my show.

Also, what are the advantages of getting the pedal modded and calibrated? The pedal sounds really close to that "Fire On The Mountain" kinda sound but it could be a little better in my opinion. Would Getting it Modded and Calibrated give it that extra edge?

Is there anyone in North America that would be able to work on the pedal? Being in Prince Edward Island I realize that shipping costs will be pricey but having the pedal at full capacity would be well worth it.

Anyone with any help or info would be much appreciated.
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Tryin' to make it real - compared to what?

mrbowenz · Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 399 Location: Bethlehem PA

Congrats on one of the best pedals ever made !

Here is the man !, as recommended by Mike Beigel , the guy who invented the thing :

Richard Lingenberg : http://www.lsound.com/

He will go over the whole thing and replace caps re calibrate and install a true bypass, he also make a power supply that fits .

He is awesome !, and pretty reasonable .. don't take it anywhere else
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Easy access design for simple upgrades !
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mrbowenz · Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 399 Location: Bethlehem PA

Well my Mutron is behaving badly, so I am sending her back to Richard Lingenberg for rehab, all three of the switches are becoming soft and scratchy. Again , if you need work on a Mutron , this is the place to take it.
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Easy access design for simple upgrades !
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lalaland · Joined: 21 Dec 2006 Posts: 197

Its been mentioned that poping the knobs off and spraying it with contact cleaner may help quite a lot.

mrbowenz · Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 399 Location: Bethlehem PA

lalaland · Joined: 21 Dec 2006 Posts: 197

I believe it!
Good luck with that, let us know how it comes back...

Jamie

mrbowenz · Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 399 Location: Bethlehem PA

Well she's back home now ... another great repair from LSound... Good to have the Mutron back on line and singing better than ever. Thanks Richard !
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Easy access design for simple upgrades !
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Frankenstrat · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 170 Location: San Francisco

Nice. I think next payday, I am going to ship my Musitronics Low octave divider for a major overhaul. It REALLY needs it, and doesn't even work at all any more. This guy sounds like the perfect man for the job. I wish he were more local to Norcal. I would be crushed if this thing got LOST in the mail, or something along those lines. It was tough even finding one that was beat to shit.
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Boogie Mark III Blue Stripe
Fender '76 Twin Reverb
Fender '87 USA Strat

kimock · Joined: 20 Aug 2004 Posts: 441 Location: Lehigh Valley

Frankenstrat · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 170 Location: San Francisco

Well, that certainly couldn't hurt at all. It's not completely dead, as in it does power up. But as soon as you hit the switch it makes a huge hum noise. It did seem to sound like a ground problem. Eh, I'll give it a shot, and see what happens. I figured I'd have it overhauled, becasue it is quite beat up. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll play around with it tonight.
Oh, I saw a 2Rock Jade on Craigslist for $1600.00! But I just bought some other stuff, and now I don't have the money. D'oh!!
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Boogie Mark III Blue Stripe
Fender '76 Twin Reverb
Fender '87 USA Strat

alans · Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 8:41 pm Post subject:

A friend of mine took apart a broken Q-Tron (which as I understand it is designed by the same person that designed the Mutron), and found that the jacks are grounded in a somewhat unusual way, so that if you tighten them down without making sure that they remain in their original position, the ground wires can be broken. He said it looked like a much more fragile design than most pedals, and it took him quite a while to identify the problem. Just a heads-up if you are fiddling with it, so you can avoid doing the same.

alan

Frankenstrat · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 170 Location: San Francisco

Eeexcellent advice. I will be very careful. I sure hope it works. I am dying to get this pedal back in the chain.
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Boogie Mark III Blue Stripe
Fender '76 Twin Reverb
Fender '87 USA Strat

alans · Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 8:04 pm Post subject:

A clarification on the ground thing - my friend told me that the problem is not that the wire breaks, but that the jack can be twisted to make contact with the ground wire, which is not insulated. The problem can then arise without actually breaking anything inside. It's not as severe as it sounds in my previous post, but still something to watch for.

alan

Frankenstrat · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 170 Location: San Francisco

Well, the Mu-Tron gremlins must've gone on vacation. I hadn't plugged it in for a couple of months. I did so over the weekend, and it worked just fine. Hmm?

"As melon scratchers go, that's a honey doodle."
Ned Flanders

Of course, now I'll get it to the gig tomorrow night, and it'll crap out on me.
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Boogie Mark III Blue Stripe
Fender '76 Twin Reverb
Fender '87 USA Strat

mrbowenz · Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 399 Location: Bethlehem PA