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Mu-News November, 2019

Micro-Tron IV

Thank you to everyone for your support of Mu-Tron and helping us get back off the ground! We have been so hard at work with so many new things, we are so excited to start sharing with you. We have been able to move over to a new platform for our pedals. This will allow us to have better quality control, and allow us to make the pedals more easily so we can have a more steady in stock. With this new platform we are also able to develop new products in less time and we will be releasing more pedals frequently in the very near future.

The first pedal with this new platform will be the Microtron IV. Our most popular pedal is now even better. The new Micro-Tron IV is based upon the award winning Micro-Tron III and improves it with our very own MU Opto-Mod technology. These are some new parts which we have developed to be direct replacements for the original Musitronics Mu-Tron which are no longer made. We are very pleased with the amazing sound and the consistency of these devices. In the near future we will offer swappable options for even more curve control of your Microtron. Another feature is standard CV input to accept an expression pedal such as the Dunlop DVP4 without modification! Furthermore, you can send envelope control voltage to other units such as the Phasor III and Bi-Phase pedals. The Microtron IV will be available on 11/25 at 11am PST. 

Also on this new platform we have been developing the new Bi-Phase II, the modern, streamlined version of the historic BiPhase.  About a quarter of the size of the original units, the BP2 will also employ the MU Opto-Mod, technology for better calibration, tighter tolerance and swappable character control. New features like 4/6 stage and CV OUT will open up even more possibilities. The unit is more pedalboard friendly as it routes the signal from right to left and can run off 9V DC power. We are pretty excited for this one and we know you guys are too. 

Next up is the Boostron II. This amazingly transparent gain box just makes the world a better place. Based upon the same power section as the Microtron and Octavider, the Boostron II will have a choice of 3 classic preamp boost circuits. The Blaster is a JFET-based boost circuit from the legendary Stratoblaster. The Ranger is the Transistor-based boost circuit of the Dan Armstrong Red Ranger manufactured by Musitronics MU-TRON. Finally, the MU is something that kind of existed before: The sound of your guitar running through a Vintage Mu-Tron in bypass mode. Since they were not true bypass, the gain stage would bleed through the effect and do magical things to your subsequent pedals and amplifier. On the other footswitch there is a dedicated Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer compressor with squeeze and level controls. Running at the higher voltage, this compressor is so amazingly quiet that you may just leave it on.

Last in line is the Octavider+. Octave and Fuzz make such a fine pair and since a lot of folks may not use the bass-only feature of the Octavider, we figured “what the heck.” There are so many different fuzz circuits, but for historical purposes and general usability, we decide to marry the MXR Distortion+ and the Dan Armstrong Blue Clipper.  After some tinkering, we came up with a hybrid diode/LED circuit running at the same high voltage as the Octavider. With a single fuzz knob and a dedicated footswitch, the effect may be controlled by the volume knob on the guitar and may be used independently of the Octave effect. Turn on the octave, blend in some Green Ringer, engage the fuzz……… KILLER analog fun.

Thank you for your continued support of MU-TRON!

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Happy Holidays!

Mu-Tron Black Coffee Soup Mug

First of all, we would like to say thank you to everyone who has supported us thus far this year. We are looking to use this as a forum to keep everyone up to date on what we have going on. Want to win a Microtron III? We are looking for a new t-shirt design. Enter our art contest and the best entry will win a Microtron III! You can see more details under art contest on our website. Currently, we have Octavider’s, Boostron’s, and a handful of sale scratch and dent Boostron’s available in our store. There is also some new merchandise including coffee mugs and tumblers.

We are working on a new batch of Microtron’s and are hoping to have those completed by the new year. In production our Phasor III is coming along nicely. These look like they should be completed in early January. Our new optical chip sounds amazing and we are very pleased with how the pedal sounds overall. The all analog Phasor III takes the legendary opts-circuitry of the vintage Phasor II and Bi-Phase pedals and packs them into a compact 9-volt enclosure akin to the Micro-Tron III and Octavider pedals. In addition to re-creating the creamy phase of the Phasor II, the Phasor III also offers a 4 stage mode with a fixed feedback to get the classic rock tones that work well with overdrive and distortion harmonics. Finally, there is a control voltage input that will allow for real-time control of Rate or Depth to give the musician utmost expression and “Leslie Speaker” type of sounds. The pedal also supports control voltage out so that 2 or more Phasor III pedals can be linked to offer Bi-Phase and Tri-Phase types of applications.

In other news we are ramping up for NAMM and hope to see many of you there at booth. Mike and Rand are both excited to be there and show you what we have been working on. The new Phasor III will be there for you to try. There are a lot of pedal ideas in the works and we are heading into next year with a lot on our plates. The new year will hold a lot of exciting things for us and we are glad to have you along for the ride.