FAQ

Why there are two versions of the same pedal, hand wired and pcb?

We first started making pedals by hand and after some time we found out that it is an expensive way to do pedals and almost no-one else made the pedals like that. So, we did redesign our pedals so that there are more components on the board and the pedals are faster to build. The quality is as good on the pcb pedals as the hand wired. Actually, there is a small hand laid pcb also on the hand wired pedal, but all the knobs, pots. Jacks, dc-plug, foot switch … are wired by hand. We thought to stop making the hand wired pedals, but as there is ever growing demand for these, we are still making also the hand wired versions of the pedals.

Is my pedal hand wired or pcb?

The easiest way to see it is to open the bottom plate of your pedal. If you see wires, then it is hand wired, if you see a pcb board, the pedal is pcb-version. You can also tell the difference without opening the pedal, as the dc-plug jack is different on these two pedals. The pcb-pedal has a square hole and the dc-plug is inside the pedal. On the hand wired the dc-plug is round and it is partly outside of the pedal.

Do hand wired and pcb pedals sound the same?

Yes, pretty much they do, there can be minor differences, but the schematics are the same. Except for these pedals: Mighty Red Distortion: The pcb-pedal has more output (is louder), people asked for it, so we made it. Forest Green Compressor: The pcb version has a different function on the tone-pot, it is more traditional. The pcb-pedal has also less compression and is bit more transparent, this seems to be more popular for guitar players, bass-players and those who need heavy compression love the hand wired one. Tiny Orange Phaser: On hand wired pedal there is a Balance pot and that has been bit confusing to use for some people. The pcb-pedal has a switch for two Phase-tones and a Mix knob.

Some pedals have BJF design on them, and some not, why?

At first when we made all by hand, we did print BJF-design on top of the pedal. Then we started to make same pedals as pcb-versions and soon run into the problem that people could not tell if the pedal is hand wired or pcb one. So we started to print the text "Hand wired” on the hand wired pedals and nothing on the pcb pedals. It would be confusing to print the BJF on those pedals only. As all the pedals were BJF, we needed that space for the hand wired information. If the pedal does say ”Hand Wired” it is hand wired, if there is no printing, it is always a pcb-pedal. If it reads ”BJF-design” the pedal can be either older hand wired or earlier pcb pedal (check the ”Is my pedal hand wired or pcb pedal?” question). Now we have also pedals designed by other people, like the Simble pedals and Big Tweedy Drive, Little Tweedy Drive, Dual Blue Delay, Kosmoz, Double Moon, Loud´n Proud, Supreme and Super Black.

Can I use 12V power for my pedal?

Here are the voltages you can use for each pedal:

”1” Pedal 8-12V

Amber Overdrive 7,5 -12V

Blueberry Bass Overdrive 8-12V

Bluebird Overdrive Delay 7,5 -12V

Deep Blue Delay 8-15V

Electric Blue Chorus 9V

Evolution Orange Underdrive 8-18V

Fire Red Fuzz 7,5 – 18V

Forest Green Compressor 9-18V

Golden Cello 9 -12V

Little Green Wonder 7 – 18V

Mellow Yellow Tremolo 7,5 -15V

Mighty Red Distortion 7,5 – 18V

Royal Blue Overdrive 7,5 -12V

Ruby Red Booster 8-18V

Silver Spring Reverb 6-9V (100mA preferred)

Simble Overdrive 9-12V

Sky Blue Overdrive 7,5 – 18V

Snow White Autowah 9V

Snow White Bass Autowah 9V

Stone Grey Distortion 7,5 -15V

Sweet Honey Overdrive 7,5 – 18V

Sweet Honey Overdrive Deluxe 7,5 – 18V

Tiny Orange Phaser 8-10V

Predriver 9V Twimble 9V

Big Tweedy Drive 7,5 – 12V

Dual Blue Delay 8,5-12V

Kosmos 8,5-12V

Little Tweedy Drive 7,5-18V

Loud´n Proud 9V

Double Moon 8,5-12V

Supreme 8-12V

Super Black 8-16V

The Green Wonder 7 – 18V

I found a Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay (or other Mad Professor pedal) for sale on a website in China for $50, is this a real Mad Professor pedal?

No, it is not, that is counterfeit, you can’t never find a real Mad Professor pedal for that price. You can tell from the printing and how the pots are placed that is it not a real deal. Also on this fake pedal the DC-jack is on left side, we always place it on the right side. The fake pedal has also polarity on top of the pedal. We do not make pedals in China, so there is no possibility for a "leak" of the real thing.

Where can I get my Mad Professor pedal fixed?

Please contact first your local dealer. We have a policy to give a new pedal to replace your defective one if the pedal is under warranty. If you need help, please contact tech@mpamp.com.

Tube assignment for Old School 21RT amplifier

V1 (nearest to input) Input stage and Gain.

V2 Cathode follower that drives tone stack.

V3 Tone stack recovery and tremolo.

V4 Phase inverter.

Tube assignment for Old School 51RT amplifier

V1 (nearest to input) Input stage and Gain.

V2 Gain / Boost and tone stack driver.

V3 Tone stack recovery and loop send.

V4 Effects loop return and phase inverter reference voltage.

V5 Phase inverter.

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