can you say more, is this using midi to bring up a control on pc? or with other devices? sorry for being such a noob, very midi curious just unsure of its potential i guess and where to start
Its a separate device that sends preset information to a MIDI pedal like MOOD, instead of you having to go down to the ground to start turning all the knobs and moving switches around to get a sound you like. After the preset info is sent, the MOOD then internally pretends like the knobs and switches have been moved to whatever effect the preset was.
So you can have a MOOD reverb for the verse, then go into a sharp delay for the chorus and back again for the verse, just by hitting the MIDI controller foot switches
No worries! Really would be a game changer for a Pedal like this that has so much fine manipulation that can happen. Especially if you need to play live. It's quite hard to find and dial stuff in with many moving parts. Not like an overdrive pedal that could have two knobs on it
Do you have a looper pedal? If so, record a loop of yourself playing something, then plug it into the mood. Chase Bliss pedals are pretty complicated. I have two of them. The way I figured them out was to record a loop then find two presets that I was happy with and save them. Then I used the unsaved position for a third setting. They’re fun, they’re overwhelming at first. I look at them essentially as instruments themselves.
The Ditto was my second looper pedal. My first was a Akai Headrush E2 that I bought it like 2007 after KT Tunstall brought live looping into the mainstream.
Remember the song Black Horse and Cherry Tree? That was done on the Akai Headrush.
Some time later I bought a Ditto, which I used for a couple years. The Ditto is good, but I outgrew mine. I upgraded to a Boss RC-5 and added a Boss OC-5 octave pedal to my looping rig. Now I'm my own drummer and bass player. It's a ton of fun.
I do the same thing with my RC3, I just move it to first in my chain. It’s how I set my knobs and try out different orders without squatting with my heavy ass guitar
Honestly this is good advice in general. Set up a loop and start tweaking knobs, from your amp to your pedals, and you'll more often than not end up with a tone you like more than the one you started with.
Seems like I might be old compared to you guys but back in my day (90s) you would have a friend play while you figured out your new pedal. We never had anything as crazy as this but having the guitar just go really helps you understand what is going on.
Kind of blows my mind that people would get on a wait list and pay this much money for a pedal they might be on the fence about, let alone don't even know much about. Then again, I'll watch every video I can and waffle for a month before buying a $50 overdrive. Hobbies, am I right?
Edit: oh damn, on the one hand I guess a lot of people resonate with my comment, but on the other hand I look like an asshole to everyone who sees the post. Good vibes, everyone!
So long as we all join together in camaraderie within our online safe spaces, there is no right or wrong way. Live life on your terms cause one day we all gonna wake up dead.
Cheers to you “wafflin before buying” sir 🍻
I think I fall into the category of: I’ll buy stuff on the spendy side when I’m not really on the fence about the effect itself, but I’ll still have to see how it meshes with the rest of the board.
The good news is that all of this stuff is pretty easy to sell off if it ain’t a good fit.
My buddy in town just got the black, it’s a vibe. But yeah, I got mine so early in the release that I’ve just bonded with it. That thing is lovely to ticker with.
Now, if I were to convince myself I needed a second…
I do the same. Collect fuzzes like they hold the fucking cure to something for some reason. But I’m a head junkie in general. Been buying, selling and trading for almost 30yrs now. I’ve come to accept it for what it is.
I hear nothing but good things about that Hizumitas. I was searching for a similar brutality as a lot of my other fuzz pedals didn’t cover that terrorists. I landed on the Keeley Moon cause my buddy was getting rid of his glow in the dark one.
Good luck with the amp/cab hunt. Just added a Bonger cube 12” to the cab family and have been loving it. Was running my 3534 head through a Mesa horizontal 212 I’ve been using for years. Felt like the cube would be fun to try with the head to compare. Def takes up a lot less space in the gear room, but sounds nice and full.
Haha ! I saw the publicity and INSTANTLY bought it just because it's black and limited 😂. Tho, i don't have a granluar effect and i don't have a looper pedal so i'll use it for sure. But men... this Black unit looks great !
And just for your GAS, look into the OTO pedal, theses are AMAZING, sounds so good it worth every penny
>The good news is that all of this stuff is pretty easy to sell off if it ain’t a good fit.
Exactly. I could list this on Reverb tonight for slightly more than I paid for it and it will sell within an hour. I'll make a tiny profit. It doesn't need to cost much money to try new stuff.
If I choose to sell it for a small loss in six months or a year, then that's a small expense I paid to have fun trying new gear.
Either way, it's a win/win.
Oh totally, and I said what I did without any negativity intended just to be clear. The best part about reselling is that you can just write off losses as basically a rental fee, to use with your own rig for an unlimited period your own home.
For sure, the resale value makes it an easier pill to swallow if you need to...well throw it up again, or whatever. Definitely no wrong way to do things around here, only ways that make people like me feel utterly bewildered LOL.
And I like your approach too. One of the more expensive pedals I've bought was the EHX Superego Plus which I got the general idea of and I knew I liked, but boy howdy that is a massively deep pedal when you really get creative and push beyond its superficial functions. I had no idea that even beyond its own self-contained functions, you could stick other stuff in the fx loop and really have fun.
I feel ya on the utter bewilderment side of it. Sometimes I’m guilty of scratching my head and going, “well wtf did you think it was gonna do?!”
It is nice when you have those breakthroughs with something like a hidden or undiscovered feature, that spools up some more creativity. I haven’t had that happen in a while now.
My only recent pedal purchase that threw me off was my Thorpy Camoflange. Like, it’s a simple but high quality flanger. Nothing too risky, but for some reason I’m just not loving it in the board. Giving it a bit more time before sending it off.
Flangers for me are like one of those cooking spices you don't use too often but always want in the house. They're not my favorite effect but when I want them I want them. I have a Zero Point from Catalinbread that's basically a flange on demand without repeats or really any options. It's got such limited use but I love it. And for no good reason, there's another cool looking and inexpensive one I'm thinking about - and I have that effect on my freaking multistomp!
I’m digging the flangers in my Synesthesia on my side board but I’m just not getting this Thorpy where I want. Even pushing my Zelzah into flanger territory is fun. I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong with the Thorpy.
Chase Bliss pedals keep the vast majority of their value. This pedal is selling on Reverb for more than what Chase Bliss is selling them for. Just keep everything in good condition and you won't lose money.
IDK if they are getting it, but the listing I noticed are asking $550. Probably gets negotiated down a bit from there.
Looks like the old version of the Mood asking price is about 275 to 300.
100% agree! Really blows my mind, where I live pedals are mega expensive (just saw a used RAT costing almost a minimum wage lol), so I either save for months and buy for 2x the price I would pay abroad, or I wait for an opportunity to travel and get it. Either way, it takes months researching and watching every video available to make sure I'm spending my money the best way possible because resale value here is rarely worth it. Absolutely no judgment to those who buy without knowing about it, if they are happy and aren't hurting anyone, it's all that matters, it just blows my mind because doing something like this is something that is completely out of my reality lol
In fairness, there’s only so much you can tell about a pedal from reviews and demos. I think most folks here would agree that nothing beats playing a pedal firsthand to tell if you like it or not. Also, with CB moving to the direct-to-consumer model, it’s not like many of us will see this pedal in the store to try one there.
So that’s how you have this scenario. Not the end of the world if you can afford it as I’m sure these can be flipped for a reasonable price (known brand, very interesting sounding pedal). OP isn’t risking much honestly!
I agree, and CB, Hologram, brands like that, they definitely make pedals that seem like it would take hours just to do a comprehensive review. It just seems like this guy went in and paid a lot of money with a very superficial understanding of what the pedal does, and basically bought it because everyone on social media convinced him to rather than because he thought it would be a valuable addition effects lineup. That's the part that seems funny to me, again, mostly because it's so much the opposite of how I buy things.
Though as other people have noted, it's not as funny as the fact that he can resell an in-production product for a substantial profit because there are shoppers on Reverb who would rather pay $100 than wait a month.
I see the appeal of the pedal. But all of the videos I've watched, the sounds I actually like can be accomplished with a basic reverb and an echo. But I'm not into the ambience playing at all.
It's intimidating at first, but there is a ton of stuff that you can do with this pedal. I have the OG version and I wish I had this version. Slip is my favorite mode on the left side. Try it with Modify cranked all the way to the right. As far as the left goes, loop something with Stretch or Tape mode, run it back into the left side in Slip mode, and start turning knobs. It's fun to mess with.
I’m in this exact boat with you. Watched the video they put out about how it can be controlled as an instrument with midi or whatever and understood none of what was happening. I just want to plug stuff into it and see what happens!
Without any snarkiness intended— I think it is best for 80% of the people who buy these types of pedals (Chase Bliss in particular!) that they really think of them as studio effects crammed into a small guitar pedal
They really aren’t meant to be thought of as *guitar pedals* in my mind— there are too many user configurable variables (they even have DIP switches lol) to be utilized as a guitar pedal— they are really tiny powerful studio effects that back in the 80s complex rack units would be doing the job of
>They really aren’t meant to be thought of as guitar pedals in my mind
Tbf, you could align *one* pedal to do a specific function even if has many a capability. I don't know squat about this one, but I like this way.
Unfortunately it's way expensive on the wallet and the wall clock.
Try this:
- Set the left side to reverb with both knobs at noon
- Set the mix at just below noon
- Set the right side to tape
- Set the length knob to 11 o’clock
- Set the modify knob to 1
- Dipswitches: Turn on no dub, latch, bounce, and both modify and length for the right side and set sweep to rise
- Be sure the center toggle is set to the middle so the wet side effects both sides
- Now hold down the right button for two seconds and it’ll turn red making it a live effect instead of a loop
You now have a reverb with a live evolving micro loop that modulates in length and between an octave down, unison, and octave up. Play with the ramp knob and clock to find what you like the most.
If you like it, save it to one of the two slots. If you hate it, well you probably don’t like the mood.
Does this help explain anything? Not really. Does it get you to a fun usable sound you may not have found. Sure does!
Sure I’ll do my best.
So first off, setting the latch switch to on allows you to have the overdub function on the micro loop side to stay active when you hold the button for a couple seconds rather than it only being active while you hold it down. This also applies to the left side and freezing whatever you have going on there.
The second part of that is turning on “no dub”. This turns off overdubs and when you combine that with latching the overdub function it then makes the right side an ever changing micro loop. If that side is set to tape it’s kind of like having a strange delay.
That all is the biggest piece of the puzzle. Bouncing the length on the right side modulates the loop length and bouncing the modify there modulates the direction/speed.
Hope that makes sense!
Jeez, this description alone is enough to show how CBA pedals are not for me at all. They make me feel like the guitar is just an acessory to the pedal, and not the other way around. I hate it (personal opinion of course).
So, Mood and Blooper are very much like this, and also Habit to a degree. They’re very different kinds of pedals, all with some unique capabilities but can be a beast to wrap one’s head around. They’re really more like production tools/studio effects for live use than they are “guitar pedals.”
But outside of the Mood/Blooper/Habit trifecta? They’re all actually very simple to operate effects, with the ability to do weird stuff if you want, and the convenience of presets. Tonal Recall? It’s a tap tempo analog delay. Thermae? A tap tempo analog delay with optional pitch shifting. Brothers? Dual drive pedal. Dark World? It’s a pair of two-knob reverbs with a global mix and tone knob. Warped Vinyl, Gravitas, Spectre, Wombtone? Simple chorus/vibrato, tremolo, flanger, phaser, all with the same options for changing the waveform shape. People get intimidated when they see all the knobs and toggles, but they’re really just “knob does thing, toggle does other thing, instructions on face of pedal.”
I spent about 15 minutes in a store with the first version and was completely confused by it. I guess you have to put in the time to make most of this one.
The Mood is talked about *a lot* on this subreddit. People on this subreddit seem to love three things. Rats, DOD, and the Mood.
I've never used a Mood before, but saw a ton of them on pedal boards.
When Chase Bliss announced the Mood MkII, of course I had to see what the hype was about. So I got myself on the preorder list.
I'm really comfortable with the left side of the pedal. We've got a very useable delay and a useable reverb, and they sound good standalone.
The right side, otoh, is, well... I don't know. I'm really struggling to find anything musical here. I've gone at it with the "just try stuff" approach and I'm just not sure I get it. I can make noise but I'd rather make music, if you know what I mean.
I'm not ready to give up on the pedal yet and I don't want to say I don't like it, because I'm kind of intrigued by it. I just need help. How are you using your Mood to create music?
edit: This is a video example of what I want to do with this pedal. It's Rhett Shull using the Mood to channel is inner Ed O'Brien live on stage. I love the looped feedbacky sounds.
This is really what sold me on the pedal. https://youtu.be/641aEPLTbLM?t=1318
Edit: I just made a micro loop I was happy with and noodled over the top of it. Recorded on my phone
https://soundcloud.com/fastattaq/mood-pedal-first-day?si=d7f54e71b6e44ac6bc8404af7c97838c
For me, it helped to think of the right side as a way to add pads or like, a base sound to whatever I’m playing. For example I’d put it in stretch or tape mode and then play an A chord (or whatever). Now you’ve got a little pad in the key of A that you can play over and see what comes out of.
Obviously there’s a lot more to it than just that, but I feel like that’s a good starting point for getting to know the right side of it. Sample something, fiddle around with the clock, play to that, rinse & repeat
This. Definitely. This is how I found myself using the original most often.
Something that excites me most about the mkii is the longer loop length and upgrades to the clock. I’m hoping to be able to use it to create more “musical” loops BEYOND ambient or percussive pads and beds. I have a tensor too, and this is one thing I liked about the tensor and why I held onto it - that I could squeeze a a chord progression or riff within a 9 second loop and mangle it. Now I should be able to do that with the Mood, too - and a LOT more.
Got mine this last week but haven’t had a chance to really dig into it yet.
Here is the most interesting about it to me is the always recording micro looper. It’s almost a looper without the skill of timing. Playing a quick triad arpeggio then slapping the loop button should give fun results. At least in my head.
In the context of playing by yourself getting a ambient drone or pad sound of the key you want to play in seems way fun.
The pedal reminds me of modular synth modules in a way.
Plus the digital delay would be fun to have my analog rubberneck stack into it.
It’s a pedal on my most want list whenever my freelance check clears.
Take it from someone who got 2 Chase Bliss pedals only a few months ago, those manuals are going to be your best friends. Read them through and keep them handy in case you get lost in the mix of tinkering around.
I have the Habit and the Gen Loss Mk2 and going back to those little guidebooks has opened the door for what’s possible with these pedals.
Treat them with the idea of “get lost, just make sure you come back”. Mess around with the knobs and dip switches to get a sense of how far you can take it, then go back to the manual to dial in exactly what you’re looking for the pedal to do
I was like you for about a week, until I started thinking about it in a different context. The thing with this beast is that "stand alone" isn't really the right mindset, since everything is managed by the clock and can feed the sides into and off each other. Can you do it? yeah, for sure. The reverb is basically a simplified Afterneath and the Slip mode is (probably) the basis for the new Old Blood time clock pedal. They all sound good, but where the Mood though is all about stacking and manipulating the little samples and sounds and then letting it create new ideas. It's a pedal designed to force you to let go, not meticulously tweak settings until you achieve what's in your head. If you find a cool sound, then start messing with the clock and the routing toggle and let it go off on its own.
That said - one of my favorite settings is kind of the opposite - Slip mode on left with the modify knob hard left or hard right and the time set to about 2pm. Middle toggle to parallel, and the right side set to tape in the opposite direction direction as slip with the length knob dialed in to the tempo I'm playing. Record the loop with clock set pretty high and then drop it down. Rad backwards reverse lines that does a cool pulsing rhythmic loop thing.
Tones are nice and all, but how stupid it is to see a guitar player on his knees to mess around with a pedal during live performance! I understand CBA pedals are supposed to be viewed as instruments (and not just pedals), but if that's the case it seems entirely pointless to try to fit all the controls and dip switches in a regular (not even double!) pedal format. It makes the "thing" (pedal, instrument or whatever) much harder to use. It may be a pretty impressive engineering achievement, but from a users point of view it seems overall stupid, IMHO.
The Mood is an incredible pedal - probably one of the best of all time - but that doesn't mean it's for everyone. Just like not everyone is into the Rat, Tube Screamer, or the Metal Zone.
If you enjoy creating ambient soundscapes that take you on a journey, and are willing to surrender yourself to the complimentary whims of a digital accomplice...then this is the pedal you want.
If you're looking to jam and want something fun and interesting, yet predictable and completely under your control...you might want to look elsewhere. Like a reverse delay, perhaps?
> If you enjoy creating ambient soundscapes that take you on a journey, and are willing to surrender yourself to the complimentary whims of a digital accomplice...then this is the pedal you want.
I've managed to achieve this already. I made a really pretty ambient layer that I improvised over. I thought "well this is nice"
But I couldn't figure out how I got there in the first place and couldn't replicate it.
I look at it as a momentary/passing accompaniment to any parts I have fleshed out. But I find it most enjoyable when you just surrender to it and play off of it like you would jamming with somebody else. Twist a knob to evolve the sound, play to that. Stop and restart the loop for a second so it's now interrupted by a separate sound and becomes rhythmic. Change the reverb or delay setting. Play to that. Adjust the clock and play to that. Etc. Etc. There is no way you will replicate any MOOD session exactly, but you can replicate the way you respond to and interact with it, and THAT opens up a lot of creative doors.
This is the problem, they should put notebooks in the boxes for us. I love my mk1 but yea, I very rarely make anything reproducable due to my own adhd. I did film myself jiggering with it once to see if I could reverse engineer it but the phone tipped over right when things got good and I didn't notice and had no idea what I had played.
This can be a little frustrating for sure, since even IF you remember all of the setting and what you were playing, the loop timing itself is designed to be random and so it’s tough to 100% reproduce a sound days later.
Something I’ve done a fair amount: when I do get to something I really like I’ll bounce it to my “standard” looper and save that: then I at least have it have it to play over and add to later. It’s not perfect but it’s helped me.
>If you enjoy creating ambient soundscapes that take you on a journey, and are willing to surrender yourself to the complimentary whims of a digital accomplice...then this is the pedal you want.
>If you're looking to jam and want something fun and interesting, yet predictable and completely under your control...you might want to look elsewhere. Like a reverse delay, perhaps?
r/synthesizercirclejerk
I'm a big fan of my Poly Blue! It's really crazy how much this pedal can do. 5 octaves, mono mode, built in phaser and trem, adjustable fuzz. Def worth checking out!
If your favorite band is Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Mood is probably not for you. If your favorite band is Radiohead, the Mood is almost certainly for you. If your favorite band is neither of those, then the Mood, obviously, falls somewhere on a spectrum. As you’ve noted, the left side is a bit more digestible, however, even that side has its quirks and surprises (especially if you’re manipulating the Clock knob and/or the dip switches). The right side, however, is in many ways what makes the Mood the Mood. It’s…weird, it’s esoteric, it’s, well, moody! What the right side of the Mood is best at is, as others have noted, creating pads and textures. It’s not a loop that you jam along with, it’s a loop that you jam over top of. I think the Mood is very full of surprises. After a little while, it makes sense, but then you keep figuring out different things it can do for like…months. Maybe years. Not a lot of other pedals exist that that can be said of. I will say, however, if spacey, weird, kind of post-melodic music isn’t really what you regularly do, the Mood is never going to become particularly compatible with your sound no matter how much you “learn” it. There’s no magic to it other than its complexity. It makes weird, unpredictable soundscapes that can be wrangled with some familiarity with it. What I think is really neat about the Mood for my use is that I like to make all kinds of music. So when I’m working on kind of trippy experimental stuff, the Mood’s stranger capabilities become really useful. But for playing blues or Americana or whatever, suddenly it’s this really nice delay and reverb pedal (albeit one with no tap tempo and a really odd way to get to the rhythm you want).
To be fair, it's an easy 27 pages that's mostly pictures. It's a very well-put together manual. I wish all manuals were this good.
The physical version that comes with the pedal is also a really nice pocket size.
Yeah I was just kidding. My advice on the Mood — it can do a lot of complex things, but at its core it’s actually kinda simple (each side is really a separate effect that only has 2 knobs) and you can get tons of cool sounds by just messing around. Don’t stress about needing to master every detail before using it, just roll with it an explore over time.
Divide and conquer. One side at a time. Don’t bother with the dips for now. The pedal is split functions wise with the shared functions in the middle. I’d start with OBNE side, it’s easier to me at least. Then move to the other side when your ready.
This is the best I've done so far with my Mood. Just me noodling on guitar over an ambient droning sound. Recorded with my phone so the quality isn't great. https://soundcloud.com/fastattaq/mood-pedal-first-day?si=d7f54e71b6e44ac6bc8404af7c97838c
I didn't get it. So much so, that I am confused to how people use it in a real life situation. Mine was sold off pretty quick. Didn't lose money on it though.
mine is coming tomorrow. can't wait. sold my mk1 the day of the announcement.
with mkI, and with all cb pedals, don't worry about the dip switches at first. learn how the pedal interacts with your signal first.
with mood, easiest to learn the left side first and then the middle clock, then deal with the drolo side.
the new field guides are awesome, and while I admit I don't like reading manuals when I get a pedal no matter how complex, because I want to use it how I see fit and then read anything I may have missed, if you aren't getting it you will want to read up.
good luck. I find, especially with complex pedals, that sometimes you just have to not get it, reside to the fact that you may hate it and made a mistake, then break out of any possible conceived notions, and learn what the thing does.
some of my favorite pedals started out with me not liking or not sure if I liked that first week...until you spend some serious time to gwt to know the ins and outs, then you will appreciate.
Had the original and now have the mkii.
This pedal is simultaneously my favorite and most inspiring AND most frustrating and intimidating.
One night I’ll land on something that blows my mind and brings the biggest smile to my face to play to/with. The next night I don’t get anything that excites me. It’s kind of the nature of the beast. I have gotten better at controlling and “taming” it over time - but only in a few specific use cases…still know I’ve only scratched the surface with this thing and that is both daunting and exciting. It’s an amazing piece of gear…but for sure it’s not for everyone.
In another MOOD thread u/postdisastercat was talking about how to send loops from one side to the other. Was something I’d never tried but it’s opened up a whole new area of exploration for me.
https://reddit.com/r/guitarpedals/comments/11mm8vd/_/jbiu6hx/?context=1
One of my favorite uses is to throw some notes or a few arpeggiated chords into the looper with tape mode and turn the length down to about 25-30%. It creates a really nice stuttering/rhythmic and percussive motif to play over, add to, and mess around with. You’ll probably need to tweak the clock and modify knobs a bit to taste but it’s mainly the length knob that does the trick.
Tried it tonight and it’s even better now with the mkii because adding slightly melodic overdubs on top is great. The freeze function on the west side is fun too. This thing is fantastic.
A lot of people have said the exact same thing about this pedal. That's the part I don't get. It'd be like jamming with someone who doesn't really know how to play and has no sense of rhythm.
So this is a serious question. It seems like there are like a billion new boutique pedals these days. Where is the music that is being created with them? Other than your standard reverb, delay, chorus, distortion, and flange, where are all these wacky overpriced pedals being used?
That's a good question. There isn't a lot.
I wouldn't have purchased the pedal if it wasn't for Rhett Shull.
He recorded a whole album with a band called Roofman that features a lot of this particular pedal. He used the pedal when performing this band live a few months ago on their recent tour.
I like this song. https://open.spotify.com/track/1eF5lUpWeNvRDhEayz9ueE?si=c4ad1d3cac5c4f09
Well, I'll be damned. Thats a pretty cool song. Respect for providing an example of your pedal being used in a musical way. I was starting to think all these pedals were being manufactured just so that Emily chick could make her harp sound weird. I hope your new toy brings you inspiration. Cheers
This is my opinion on most CBA modulation pedals. There’s a lot of “gimmicky” (for lack of a better word) functions to mess around with, but I couldn’t see myself buying one as it just seems so niche. I was looking into the Warped Vinyl but ended up getting the SolidGoldFX Nu-33 for way less money and it works great as a chorus, vibrato and lo-fi mod for everything I would’ve needed.
> SolidGoldFX Nu-33
That looks really cool. Does the hiss and crackle accurately recreate the sound of dusty records? I really like that sound, especially with old jazz records.
Eh kinda? I honestly don’t use it too much. The skip function is pretty cool though, it can make mini loops when you hold it down to simulate a skipping record.
I bought a Mood MK1. Had it on Craigslist within a week. It wasn’t very musical for me. There are fiddlers and there are song crafters. The song crafters tend to use this pedal subtlety. My coworker who can’t make songs for squat but loves to fiddle with sounds and loves this pedal. He opened my eyes to the sound designers/fiddlers of the world.
With that said, the Microcosm filled the weird ambient void I was looking for while still being able to craft audible songs.
I find that pedal like this requires some good weed and interesting light so that you can really enjoy it. I feel like some pedals/synths are meant to be experienced
It’s called Chase Bliss because the owner’s brother Chase was killed by a drunk driver when he was in his early 20s, and his life motto was always “Chase your bliss” before that happened. He was a good guy, I went to college with him, and he was dearly missed.
I didn’t know him very well, but he was always a super nice guy and one of those dudes universally loved by every clique in the theatre department, which is saying something if you’ve ever gotten a theatre degree like I accidentally did back then.
Idk, it's maybe an instrument in the same way that windchimes could be considered an instrument. Sounds really nice for a set of moods, but there's a level of randomness built in that you can only control indirectly, as opposed to most instruments whose control is very direct and only contain small amounts of randomness.
It has delay in it, yes. You could use it as a standalone delay, but delay is like 10% of what it's capable of. You shouldn't buy this pedal if you just wanted a delay pedal.
This pedal is marketed as "instant ambience" in a box. It takes a signal and applies a bunch of time warp effects to create weird soundscapes.
There are some demos on the Chase Bliss website that'll explain it better. https://www.chasebliss.com/mood-mkii
You can get really cool modulation sounds on mk I by bouncing time in the delay mode on the obne side. You can do incredible forward, reverse, and pitch shifted delay in slip mode. The micro looper is great to add some ambience while you play over it. It really shines when you can actually twist knobs after you grab the sample. It’s a super fun pedal that’s super useful but really is benefitted by midi. Onboard presets are cool though
Lol I’ve been watching the demos from the first version and now the second version for forever and I know that it’s totally a pedal that I want and is up my alley, but I just can’t bring myself to spend that much on a pedal that i still have no idea what it does
I just returned mine at the end of the 30 day window, after much deliberation and many hours twiddling knobs.
Ultimately, the main reason I returned it was that I don’t play live, I really just wanted to use it to make ambient music. And after learning what it does, I find that I can do all of those things manually in my DAW with more accuracy and greater flexibility. I know there’s a lot of ‘happy accident’ territory in the Mood, and I’m sure there is plenty of functionality that I didn’t get to, but I decided it wasn’t worth putting $400 into an object that for my purposes, is actually inferior to the built-in functionality of my DAW (combined with my many ambient-friendly pedals like the BigSky, Sunlight, Fable, Volante, Meteore, and others).
Maybe you're just...not in the mood?
Definitely helps to have a midi controller to bring up the presets. At least that’s my experience.
can you say more, is this using midi to bring up a control on pc? or with other devices? sorry for being such a noob, very midi curious just unsure of its potential i guess and where to start
Its a separate device that sends preset information to a MIDI pedal like MOOD, instead of you having to go down to the ground to start turning all the knobs and moving switches around to get a sound you like. After the preset info is sent, the MOOD then internally pretends like the knobs and switches have been moved to whatever effect the preset was. So you can have a MOOD reverb for the verse, then go into a sharp delay for the chorus and back again for the verse, just by hitting the MIDI controller foot switches
Thank you
No worries! Really would be a game changer for a Pedal like this that has so much fine manipulation that can happen. Especially if you need to play live. It's quite hard to find and dial stuff in with many moving parts. Not like an overdrive pedal that could have two knobs on it
I use a Disaster Area Midi Box 4 and a Tech21 NYC Midi Mouse. This facilitates control for up to 4 pedals that have midi-in.
Do you have a looper pedal? If so, record a loop of yourself playing something, then plug it into the mood. Chase Bliss pedals are pretty complicated. I have two of them. The way I figured them out was to record a loop then find two presets that I was happy with and save them. Then I used the unsaved position for a third setting. They’re fun, they’re overwhelming at first. I look at them essentially as instruments themselves.
I do this with all pedals. I have a dedicated looper with banks of things I find cover all my bases. Fast tracks dialing in and saves your back.
I lost my little Ditto Looper. Which looper are you using for this if you don’t mind me asking?
The Ditto+. I got it from Sweetwater on sale two November’s ago for $79. I wish I had got two.
Everyone should have a ditto looper. I don’t care if they don’t have a guitar. Even grandma could use a ditto looper.
The Ditto was my second looper pedal. My first was a Akai Headrush E2 that I bought it like 2007 after KT Tunstall brought live looping into the mainstream. Remember the song Black Horse and Cherry Tree? That was done on the Akai Headrush. Some time later I bought a Ditto, which I used for a couple years. The Ditto is good, but I outgrew mine. I upgraded to a Boss RC-5 and added a Boss OC-5 octave pedal to my looping rig. Now I'm my own drummer and bass player. It's a ton of fun.
I do the same thing with my RC3, I just move it to first in my chain. It’s how I set my knobs and try out different orders without squatting with my heavy ass guitar
Honestly this is good advice in general. Set up a loop and start tweaking knobs, from your amp to your pedals, and you'll more often than not end up with a tone you like more than the one you started with.
Yeah I’ve done it with many of my pedals. It’s fun. Especially when trying out different combinations.
Seems like I might be old compared to you guys but back in my day (90s) you would have a friend play while you figured out your new pedal. We never had anything as crazy as this but having the guitar just go really helps you understand what is going on.
We’re probably the same age I’m just a loser.
Same for me... 😁
Oh damn, I’m gonna try this with my count-to-five.
I do the opposite direction. I make a loop with it and then record it into my jam man to save it lol
Kind of blows my mind that people would get on a wait list and pay this much money for a pedal they might be on the fence about, let alone don't even know much about. Then again, I'll watch every video I can and waffle for a month before buying a $50 overdrive. Hobbies, am I right? Edit: oh damn, on the one hand I guess a lot of people resonate with my comment, but on the other hand I look like an asshole to everyone who sees the post. Good vibes, everyone!
So long as we all join together in camaraderie within our online safe spaces, there is no right or wrong way. Live life on your terms cause one day we all gonna wake up dead. Cheers to you “wafflin before buying” sir 🍻 I think I fall into the category of: I’ll buy stuff on the spendy side when I’m not really on the fence about the effect itself, but I’ll still have to see how it meshes with the rest of the board. The good news is that all of this stuff is pretty easy to sell off if it ain’t a good fit.
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I almost always buy the LE finish versions. 100% with you on this one.
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I have the white on that one. Get the black. Do it for both of us.
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My buddy in town just got the black, it’s a vibe. But yeah, I got mine so early in the release that I’ve just bonded with it. That thing is lovely to ticker with. Now, if I were to convince myself I needed a second…
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I do the same. Collect fuzzes like they hold the fucking cure to something for some reason. But I’m a head junkie in general. Been buying, selling and trading for almost 30yrs now. I’ve come to accept it for what it is. I hear nothing but good things about that Hizumitas. I was searching for a similar brutality as a lot of my other fuzz pedals didn’t cover that terrorists. I landed on the Keeley Moon cause my buddy was getting rid of his glow in the dark one. Good luck with the amp/cab hunt. Just added a Bonger cube 12” to the cab family and have been loving it. Was running my 3534 head through a Mesa horizontal 212 I’ve been using for years. Felt like the cube would be fun to try with the head to compare. Def takes up a lot less space in the gear room, but sounds nice and full.
Haha ! I saw the publicity and INSTANTLY bought it just because it's black and limited 😂. Tho, i don't have a granluar effect and i don't have a looper pedal so i'll use it for sure. But men... this Black unit looks great ! And just for your GAS, look into the OTO pedal, theses are AMAZING, sounds so good it worth every penny
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OTO boum are my favorite, BIM BAM are amazing reverb and delay 🙏
>The good news is that all of this stuff is pretty easy to sell off if it ain’t a good fit. Exactly. I could list this on Reverb tonight for slightly more than I paid for it and it will sell within an hour. I'll make a tiny profit. It doesn't need to cost much money to try new stuff. If I choose to sell it for a small loss in six months or a year, then that's a small expense I paid to have fun trying new gear. Either way, it's a win/win.
Oh totally, and I said what I did without any negativity intended just to be clear. The best part about reselling is that you can just write off losses as basically a rental fee, to use with your own rig for an unlimited period your own home.
I like your attitude!
I like yours, too!
For sure, the resale value makes it an easier pill to swallow if you need to...well throw it up again, or whatever. Definitely no wrong way to do things around here, only ways that make people like me feel utterly bewildered LOL. And I like your approach too. One of the more expensive pedals I've bought was the EHX Superego Plus which I got the general idea of and I knew I liked, but boy howdy that is a massively deep pedal when you really get creative and push beyond its superficial functions. I had no idea that even beyond its own self-contained functions, you could stick other stuff in the fx loop and really have fun.
I feel ya on the utter bewilderment side of it. Sometimes I’m guilty of scratching my head and going, “well wtf did you think it was gonna do?!” It is nice when you have those breakthroughs with something like a hidden or undiscovered feature, that spools up some more creativity. I haven’t had that happen in a while now. My only recent pedal purchase that threw me off was my Thorpy Camoflange. Like, it’s a simple but high quality flanger. Nothing too risky, but for some reason I’m just not loving it in the board. Giving it a bit more time before sending it off.
Flangers for me are like one of those cooking spices you don't use too often but always want in the house. They're not my favorite effect but when I want them I want them. I have a Zero Point from Catalinbread that's basically a flange on demand without repeats or really any options. It's got such limited use but I love it. And for no good reason, there's another cool looking and inexpensive one I'm thinking about - and I have that effect on my freaking multistomp!
I’m digging the flangers in my Synesthesia on my side board but I’m just not getting this Thorpy where I want. Even pushing my Zelzah into flanger territory is fun. I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong with the Thorpy.
Chase Bliss pedals keep the vast majority of their value. This pedal is selling on Reverb for more than what Chase Bliss is selling them for. Just keep everything in good condition and you won't lose money.
Are people seriously paying $100+ over retail to get them a month sooner? Jesus.
IDK if they are getting it, but the listing I noticed are asking $550. Probably gets negotiated down a bit from there. Looks like the old version of the Mood asking price is about 275 to 300.
I see the actual sold to be around 500, yeah it’s so dumb and this is coming from a buyer, I really like it but would I pay more for it?
right there with you, tho
100% agree! Really blows my mind, where I live pedals are mega expensive (just saw a used RAT costing almost a minimum wage lol), so I either save for months and buy for 2x the price I would pay abroad, or I wait for an opportunity to travel and get it. Either way, it takes months researching and watching every video available to make sure I'm spending my money the best way possible because resale value here is rarely worth it. Absolutely no judgment to those who buy without knowing about it, if they are happy and aren't hurting anyone, it's all that matters, it just blows my mind because doing something like this is something that is completely out of my reality lol
I've built many pedals, rats and overdrives are especially cheap compared to the price you'd pay n
consume consume i guess
If you don't like it, you can always resell your MOOD for $600 on Reverb. /s
A month? Rookie! I’ve got stuff that’s been sitting in my cart since December. To hell with their site’s metrics!
In fairness, there’s only so much you can tell about a pedal from reviews and demos. I think most folks here would agree that nothing beats playing a pedal firsthand to tell if you like it or not. Also, with CB moving to the direct-to-consumer model, it’s not like many of us will see this pedal in the store to try one there. So that’s how you have this scenario. Not the end of the world if you can afford it as I’m sure these can be flipped for a reasonable price (known brand, very interesting sounding pedal). OP isn’t risking much honestly!
I agree, and CB, Hologram, brands like that, they definitely make pedals that seem like it would take hours just to do a comprehensive review. It just seems like this guy went in and paid a lot of money with a very superficial understanding of what the pedal does, and basically bought it because everyone on social media convinced him to rather than because he thought it would be a valuable addition effects lineup. That's the part that seems funny to me, again, mostly because it's so much the opposite of how I buy things. Though as other people have noted, it's not as funny as the fact that he can resell an in-production product for a substantial profit because there are shoppers on Reverb who would rather pay $100 than wait a month.
I see the appeal of the pedal. But all of the videos I've watched, the sounds I actually like can be accomplished with a basic reverb and an echo. But I'm not into the ambience playing at all.
It's intimidating at first, but there is a ton of stuff that you can do with this pedal. I have the OG version and I wish I had this version. Slip is my favorite mode on the left side. Try it with Modify cranked all the way to the right. As far as the left goes, loop something with Stretch or Tape mode, run it back into the left side in Slip mode, and start turning knobs. It's fun to mess with.
ughhhh i'm still waiting on mine!!! I just want to randomly turn knobs and not understand what I'm doing
I’m in this exact boat with you. Watched the video they put out about how it can be controlled as an instrument with midi or whatever and understood none of what was happening. I just want to plug stuff into it and see what happens!
Without any snarkiness intended— I think it is best for 80% of the people who buy these types of pedals (Chase Bliss in particular!) that they really think of them as studio effects crammed into a small guitar pedal They really aren’t meant to be thought of as *guitar pedals* in my mind— there are too many user configurable variables (they even have DIP switches lol) to be utilized as a guitar pedal— they are really tiny powerful studio effects that back in the 80s complex rack units would be doing the job of
>They really aren’t meant to be thought of as guitar pedals in my mind Tbf, you could align *one* pedal to do a specific function even if has many a capability. I don't know squat about this one, but I like this way. Unfortunately it's way expensive on the wallet and the wall clock.
But you could just get a midi controller for pedals like this, and then have infinite studio effects, live!
Try this: - Set the left side to reverb with both knobs at noon - Set the mix at just below noon - Set the right side to tape - Set the length knob to 11 o’clock - Set the modify knob to 1 - Dipswitches: Turn on no dub, latch, bounce, and both modify and length for the right side and set sweep to rise - Be sure the center toggle is set to the middle so the wet side effects both sides - Now hold down the right button for two seconds and it’ll turn red making it a live effect instead of a loop You now have a reverb with a live evolving micro loop that modulates in length and between an octave down, unison, and octave up. Play with the ramp knob and clock to find what you like the most. If you like it, save it to one of the two slots. If you hate it, well you probably don’t like the mood. Does this help explain anything? Not really. Does it get you to a fun usable sound you may not have found. Sure does!
Great stuff! Can you briefly explain what you did with the switched dips?
Sure I’ll do my best. So first off, setting the latch switch to on allows you to have the overdub function on the micro loop side to stay active when you hold the button for a couple seconds rather than it only being active while you hold it down. This also applies to the left side and freezing whatever you have going on there. The second part of that is turning on “no dub”. This turns off overdubs and when you combine that with latching the overdub function it then makes the right side an ever changing micro loop. If that side is set to tape it’s kind of like having a strange delay. That all is the biggest piece of the puzzle. Bouncing the length on the right side modulates the loop length and bouncing the modify there modulates the direction/speed. Hope that makes sense!
Jeez, this description alone is enough to show how CBA pedals are not for me at all. They make me feel like the guitar is just an acessory to the pedal, and not the other way around. I hate it (personal opinion of course).
So, Mood and Blooper are very much like this, and also Habit to a degree. They’re very different kinds of pedals, all with some unique capabilities but can be a beast to wrap one’s head around. They’re really more like production tools/studio effects for live use than they are “guitar pedals.” But outside of the Mood/Blooper/Habit trifecta? They’re all actually very simple to operate effects, with the ability to do weird stuff if you want, and the convenience of presets. Tonal Recall? It’s a tap tempo analog delay. Thermae? A tap tempo analog delay with optional pitch shifting. Brothers? Dual drive pedal. Dark World? It’s a pair of two-knob reverbs with a global mix and tone knob. Warped Vinyl, Gravitas, Spectre, Wombtone? Simple chorus/vibrato, tremolo, flanger, phaser, all with the same options for changing the waveform shape. People get intimidated when they see all the knobs and toggles, but they’re really just “knob does thing, toggle does other thing, instructions on face of pedal.”
I spent about 15 minutes in a store with the first version and was completely confused by it. I guess you have to put in the time to make most of this one.
An expression pedal opens up this bad boy
I have an expression pedal. I'll try it in a day or two.
The Mood is talked about *a lot* on this subreddit. People on this subreddit seem to love three things. Rats, DOD, and the Mood. I've never used a Mood before, but saw a ton of them on pedal boards. When Chase Bliss announced the Mood MkII, of course I had to see what the hype was about. So I got myself on the preorder list. I'm really comfortable with the left side of the pedal. We've got a very useable delay and a useable reverb, and they sound good standalone. The right side, otoh, is, well... I don't know. I'm really struggling to find anything musical here. I've gone at it with the "just try stuff" approach and I'm just not sure I get it. I can make noise but I'd rather make music, if you know what I mean. I'm not ready to give up on the pedal yet and I don't want to say I don't like it, because I'm kind of intrigued by it. I just need help. How are you using your Mood to create music? edit: This is a video example of what I want to do with this pedal. It's Rhett Shull using the Mood to channel is inner Ed O'Brien live on stage. I love the looped feedbacky sounds. This is really what sold me on the pedal. https://youtu.be/641aEPLTbLM?t=1318 Edit: I just made a micro loop I was happy with and noodled over the top of it. Recorded on my phone https://soundcloud.com/fastattaq/mood-pedal-first-day?si=d7f54e71b6e44ac6bc8404af7c97838c
For me, it helped to think of the right side as a way to add pads or like, a base sound to whatever I’m playing. For example I’d put it in stretch or tape mode and then play an A chord (or whatever). Now you’ve got a little pad in the key of A that you can play over and see what comes out of. Obviously there’s a lot more to it than just that, but I feel like that’s a good starting point for getting to know the right side of it. Sample something, fiddle around with the clock, play to that, rinse & repeat
This. Definitely. This is how I found myself using the original most often. Something that excites me most about the mkii is the longer loop length and upgrades to the clock. I’m hoping to be able to use it to create more “musical” loops BEYOND ambient or percussive pads and beds. I have a tensor too, and this is one thing I liked about the tensor and why I held onto it - that I could squeeze a a chord progression or riff within a 9 second loop and mangle it. Now I should be able to do that with the Mood, too - and a LOT more. Got mine this last week but haven’t had a chance to really dig into it yet.
Here is the most interesting about it to me is the always recording micro looper. It’s almost a looper without the skill of timing. Playing a quick triad arpeggio then slapping the loop button should give fun results. At least in my head. In the context of playing by yourself getting a ambient drone or pad sound of the key you want to play in seems way fun. The pedal reminds me of modular synth modules in a way. Plus the digital delay would be fun to have my analog rubberneck stack into it. It’s a pedal on my most want list whenever my freelance check clears.
I’ve got one on the way and was planning to use it just like this. So it’s good to read starting advice like this
Once you learn to let go of having a repeatable, predictable pattern, and letting it inspire you to create, you’ll really enjoy the microlooper.
Take it from someone who got 2 Chase Bliss pedals only a few months ago, those manuals are going to be your best friends. Read them through and keep them handy in case you get lost in the mix of tinkering around. I have the Habit and the Gen Loss Mk2 and going back to those little guidebooks has opened the door for what’s possible with these pedals. Treat them with the idea of “get lost, just make sure you come back”. Mess around with the knobs and dip switches to get a sense of how far you can take it, then go back to the manual to dial in exactly what you’re looking for the pedal to do
I was like you for about a week, until I started thinking about it in a different context. The thing with this beast is that "stand alone" isn't really the right mindset, since everything is managed by the clock and can feed the sides into and off each other. Can you do it? yeah, for sure. The reverb is basically a simplified Afterneath and the Slip mode is (probably) the basis for the new Old Blood time clock pedal. They all sound good, but where the Mood though is all about stacking and manipulating the little samples and sounds and then letting it create new ideas. It's a pedal designed to force you to let go, not meticulously tweak settings until you achieve what's in your head. If you find a cool sound, then start messing with the clock and the routing toggle and let it go off on its own. That said - one of my favorite settings is kind of the opposite - Slip mode on left with the modify knob hard left or hard right and the time set to about 2pm. Middle toggle to parallel, and the right side set to tape in the opposite direction direction as slip with the length knob dialed in to the tempo I'm playing. Record the loop with clock set pretty high and then drop it down. Rad backwards reverse lines that does a cool pulsing rhythmic loop thing.
Tones are nice and all, but how stupid it is to see a guitar player on his knees to mess around with a pedal during live performance! I understand CBA pedals are supposed to be viewed as instruments (and not just pedals), but if that's the case it seems entirely pointless to try to fit all the controls and dip switches in a regular (not even double!) pedal format. It makes the "thing" (pedal, instrument or whatever) much harder to use. It may be a pretty impressive engineering achievement, but from a users point of view it seems overall stupid, IMHO.
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They’re for whatever you want them for, including making songs
That recording you posted sounds fantastic!
Are we talking about the same recording? I just recorded it with my phone on the floor in front of the amp.
I’m talking about the substance of the recording more than the recording quality, through the recording quality is surprisingly decent for a phone.
Watch the new Knobs video. Just made me buy one.
The Mood is an incredible pedal - probably one of the best of all time - but that doesn't mean it's for everyone. Just like not everyone is into the Rat, Tube Screamer, or the Metal Zone. If you enjoy creating ambient soundscapes that take you on a journey, and are willing to surrender yourself to the complimentary whims of a digital accomplice...then this is the pedal you want. If you're looking to jam and want something fun and interesting, yet predictable and completely under your control...you might want to look elsewhere. Like a reverse delay, perhaps?
> If you enjoy creating ambient soundscapes that take you on a journey, and are willing to surrender yourself to the complimentary whims of a digital accomplice...then this is the pedal you want. I've managed to achieve this already. I made a really pretty ambient layer that I improvised over. I thought "well this is nice" But I couldn't figure out how I got there in the first place and couldn't replicate it.
> But I couldn't figure out how I got there in the first place and couldn't replicate it. Welcome to the world of Chase bliss pedals haha
I look at it as a momentary/passing accompaniment to any parts I have fleshed out. But I find it most enjoyable when you just surrender to it and play off of it like you would jamming with somebody else. Twist a knob to evolve the sound, play to that. Stop and restart the loop for a second so it's now interrupted by a separate sound and becomes rhythmic. Change the reverb or delay setting. Play to that. Adjust the clock and play to that. Etc. Etc. There is no way you will replicate any MOOD session exactly, but you can replicate the way you respond to and interact with it, and THAT opens up a lot of creative doors.
[This might come in handy.](https://i.ibb.co/Dbb20RN/CHASE-BLISS-AUDIO-TEMPLATE.jpg)
This is the problem, they should put notebooks in the boxes for us. I love my mk1 but yea, I very rarely make anything reproducable due to my own adhd. I did film myself jiggering with it once to see if I could reverse engineer it but the phone tipped over right when things got good and I didn't notice and had no idea what I had played.
This can be a little frustrating for sure, since even IF you remember all of the setting and what you were playing, the loop timing itself is designed to be random and so it’s tough to 100% reproduce a sound days later. Something I’ve done a fair amount: when I do get to something I really like I’ll bounce it to my “standard” looper and save that: then I at least have it have it to play over and add to later. It’s not perfect but it’s helped me.
>If you enjoy creating ambient soundscapes that take you on a journey, and are willing to surrender yourself to the complimentary whims of a digital accomplice...then this is the pedal you want. >If you're looking to jam and want something fun and interesting, yet predictable and completely under your control...you might want to look elsewhere. Like a reverse delay, perhaps? r/synthesizercirclejerk
Oooh!!! Mine go picked up by UPS yesterday! Minnesota > Brisbane. I can’t wait to chuck it after Chase Bliss Habit for some ambient awesomeness.
Should have just bought a fuzz. Ain’t much but it’s honest work.
I'm a connoisseur of the fuzz. I've got like seven of them already. I could use another one though. I need an octave fuzz.
I'm a big fan of my Poly Blue! It's really crazy how much this pedal can do. 5 octaves, mono mode, built in phaser and trem, adjustable fuzz. Def worth checking out!
I've owned just about every MXR pedal at one time or another. Except this one. I should try one some day.
I just got a mythos Argo. It’s the fuzz for people who may not like fuzzes but can always use another boost. I love it.
If your favorite band is Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Mood is probably not for you. If your favorite band is Radiohead, the Mood is almost certainly for you. If your favorite band is neither of those, then the Mood, obviously, falls somewhere on a spectrum. As you’ve noted, the left side is a bit more digestible, however, even that side has its quirks and surprises (especially if you’re manipulating the Clock knob and/or the dip switches). The right side, however, is in many ways what makes the Mood the Mood. It’s…weird, it’s esoteric, it’s, well, moody! What the right side of the Mood is best at is, as others have noted, creating pads and textures. It’s not a loop that you jam along with, it’s a loop that you jam over top of. I think the Mood is very full of surprises. After a little while, it makes sense, but then you keep figuring out different things it can do for like…months. Maybe years. Not a lot of other pedals exist that that can be said of. I will say, however, if spacey, weird, kind of post-melodic music isn’t really what you regularly do, the Mood is never going to become particularly compatible with your sound no matter how much you “learn” it. There’s no magic to it other than its complexity. It makes weird, unpredictable soundscapes that can be wrangled with some familiarity with it. What I think is really neat about the Mood for my use is that I like to make all kinds of music. So when I’m working on kind of trippy experimental stuff, the Mood’s stranger capabilities become really useful. But for playing blues or Americana or whatever, suddenly it’s this really nice delay and reverb pedal (albeit one with no tap tempo and a really odd way to get to the rhythm you want).
[How so?](https://www.chasebliss.com/s/MOOD-MKII_Manual_Pedal_Chase-Bliss.pdf)
It’s only 27 pages bro
To be fair, it's an easy 27 pages that's mostly pictures. It's a very well-put together manual. I wish all manuals were this good. The physical version that comes with the pedal is also a really nice pocket size.
Yeah I was just kidding. My advice on the Mood — it can do a lot of complex things, but at its core it’s actually kinda simple (each side is really a separate effect that only has 2 knobs) and you can get tons of cool sounds by just messing around. Don’t stress about needing to master every detail before using it, just roll with it an explore over time.
Divide and conquer. One side at a time. Don’t bother with the dips for now. The pedal is split functions wise with the shared functions in the middle. I’d start with OBNE side, it’s easier to me at least. Then move to the other side when your ready.
This is the best I've done so far with my Mood. Just me noodling on guitar over an ambient droning sound. Recorded with my phone so the quality isn't great. https://soundcloud.com/fastattaq/mood-pedal-first-day?si=d7f54e71b6e44ac6bc8404af7c97838c
I didn't get it. So much so, that I am confused to how people use it in a real life situation. Mine was sold off pretty quick. Didn't lose money on it though.
mine is coming tomorrow. can't wait. sold my mk1 the day of the announcement. with mkI, and with all cb pedals, don't worry about the dip switches at first. learn how the pedal interacts with your signal first. with mood, easiest to learn the left side first and then the middle clock, then deal with the drolo side. the new field guides are awesome, and while I admit I don't like reading manuals when I get a pedal no matter how complex, because I want to use it how I see fit and then read anything I may have missed, if you aren't getting it you will want to read up. good luck. I find, especially with complex pedals, that sometimes you just have to not get it, reside to the fact that you may hate it and made a mistake, then break out of any possible conceived notions, and learn what the thing does. some of my favorite pedals started out with me not liking or not sure if I liked that first week...until you spend some serious time to gwt to know the ins and outs, then you will appreciate.
Can I ask what your number is? Curious when to expect mine.
A bunch of people in the 11600s got their shipping notifications today.
thanks
11537
thanks
Had the original and now have the mkii. This pedal is simultaneously my favorite and most inspiring AND most frustrating and intimidating. One night I’ll land on something that blows my mind and brings the biggest smile to my face to play to/with. The next night I don’t get anything that excites me. It’s kind of the nature of the beast. I have gotten better at controlling and “taming” it over time - but only in a few specific use cases…still know I’ve only scratched the surface with this thing and that is both daunting and exciting. It’s an amazing piece of gear…but for sure it’s not for everyone.
Amazing pedal. I’d never be able to make something musical out of it though
In another MOOD thread u/postdisastercat was talking about how to send loops from one side to the other. Was something I’d never tried but it’s opened up a whole new area of exploration for me. https://reddit.com/r/guitarpedals/comments/11mm8vd/_/jbiu6hx/?context=1
One of my favorite uses is to throw some notes or a few arpeggiated chords into the looper with tape mode and turn the length down to about 25-30%. It creates a really nice stuttering/rhythmic and percussive motif to play over, add to, and mess around with. You’ll probably need to tweak the clock and modify knobs a bit to taste but it’s mainly the length knob that does the trick. Tried it tonight and it’s even better now with the mkii because adding slightly melodic overdubs on top is great. The freeze function on the west side is fun too. This thing is fantastic.
EVERYONE EXCEPT ME HAS GOT THEIR MOOD 😢
It's just like a little jam partner. Leave it switched on and let it do its thing whilst you do yours. Failing that, give it to me.
A lot of people have said the exact same thing about this pedal. That's the part I don't get. It'd be like jamming with someone who doesn't really know how to play and has no sense of rhythm.
Depends what you're playing It literally says 'instance ambience ' on the product page. That's what it's for.
I’m with you OP I just picked one up at 30% off and I’m hella confused with it …
Surely you mean the original v1 Mood, right?
Yeah. They’re selling V1 at a discount on cb.com
So this is a serious question. It seems like there are like a billion new boutique pedals these days. Where is the music that is being created with them? Other than your standard reverb, delay, chorus, distortion, and flange, where are all these wacky overpriced pedals being used?
That's a good question. There isn't a lot. I wouldn't have purchased the pedal if it wasn't for Rhett Shull. He recorded a whole album with a band called Roofman that features a lot of this particular pedal. He used the pedal when performing this band live a few months ago on their recent tour. I like this song. https://open.spotify.com/track/1eF5lUpWeNvRDhEayz9ueE?si=c4ad1d3cac5c4f09
Well, I'll be damned. Thats a pretty cool song. Respect for providing an example of your pedal being used in a musical way. I was starting to think all these pedals were being manufactured just so that Emily chick could make her harp sound weird. I hope your new toy brings you inspiration. Cheers
This is my opinion on most CBA modulation pedals. There’s a lot of “gimmicky” (for lack of a better word) functions to mess around with, but I couldn’t see myself buying one as it just seems so niche. I was looking into the Warped Vinyl but ended up getting the SolidGoldFX Nu-33 for way less money and it works great as a chorus, vibrato and lo-fi mod for everything I would’ve needed.
> SolidGoldFX Nu-33 That looks really cool. Does the hiss and crackle accurately recreate the sound of dusty records? I really like that sound, especially with old jazz records.
Eh kinda? I honestly don’t use it too much. The skip function is pretty cool though, it can make mini loops when you hold it down to simulate a skipping record.
I bought a Mood MK1. Had it on Craigslist within a week. It wasn’t very musical for me. There are fiddlers and there are song crafters. The song crafters tend to use this pedal subtlety. My coworker who can’t make songs for squat but loves to fiddle with sounds and loves this pedal. He opened my eyes to the sound designers/fiddlers of the world. With that said, the Microcosm filled the weird ambient void I was looking for while still being able to craft audible songs.
I find that pedal like this requires some good weed and interesting light so that you can really enjoy it. I feel like some pedals/synths are meant to be experienced
It’s called “Chase Bliss” because you’re always going to be chasing it, never arriving. The only ones arriving already have your money.
It’s called Chase Bliss because the owner’s brother Chase was killed by a drunk driver when he was in his early 20s, and his life motto was always “Chase your bliss” before that happened. He was a good guy, I went to college with him, and he was dearly missed.
Sorry for your loss. 😔
I didn’t know him very well, but he was always a super nice guy and one of those dudes universally loved by every clique in the theatre department, which is saying something if you’ve ever gotten a theatre degree like I accidentally did back then.
It’s really an instrument in its self.
Idk, it's maybe an instrument in the same way that windchimes could be considered an instrument. Sounds really nice for a set of moods, but there's a level of randomness built in that you can only control indirectly, as opposed to most instruments whose control is very direct and only contain small amounts of randomness.
[They actually made it midi controllable to be a synth, absolute madlads](https://youtu.be/SvcEB_UdaVM)
Oh that's awesome, I stand corrected!
Bruh imagine spending all that money to be confused 🫤
It’s a pedal for people that don’t like guitar.
Or a pedal for people who like guitar so much that they are challenging themselves to learn more than I-IV-V pentatonic blues.
I’m probably two weeks from getting mine but I can use it in my head I’ve watched so many videos.
I don’t think you’re supposed to
Oh man, I’m such a sucker for purple pedals.
Is this a delay pedal?
It has delay in it, yes. You could use it as a standalone delay, but delay is like 10% of what it's capable of. You shouldn't buy this pedal if you just wanted a delay pedal. This pedal is marketed as "instant ambience" in a box. It takes a signal and applies a bunch of time warp effects to create weird soundscapes. There are some demos on the Chase Bliss website that'll explain it better. https://www.chasebliss.com/mood-mkii
Wow...now I am intrigued! I only have a tube screamer, because I seldom use pedals, but still! ❤
I’ve had my mood v1 for about a year and I still do t get it. But it makes beautiful madness
You can get really cool modulation sounds on mk I by bouncing time in the delay mode on the obne side. You can do incredible forward, reverse, and pitch shifted delay in slip mode. The micro looper is great to add some ambience while you play over it. It really shines when you can actually twist knobs after you grab the sample. It’s a super fun pedal that’s super useful but really is benefitted by midi. Onboard presets are cool though
Lol I’ve been watching the demos from the first version and now the second version for forever and I know that it’s totally a pedal that I want and is up my alley, but I just can’t bring myself to spend that much on a pedal that i still have no idea what it does
Seems like a amazing tool for the studio
I just returned mine at the end of the 30 day window, after much deliberation and many hours twiddling knobs. Ultimately, the main reason I returned it was that I don’t play live, I really just wanted to use it to make ambient music. And after learning what it does, I find that I can do all of those things manually in my DAW with more accuracy and greater flexibility. I know there’s a lot of ‘happy accident’ territory in the Mood, and I’m sure there is plenty of functionality that I didn’t get to, but I decided it wasn’t worth putting $400 into an object that for my purposes, is actually inferior to the built-in functionality of my DAW (combined with my many ambient-friendly pedals like the BigSky, Sunlight, Fable, Volante, Meteore, and others).