edit: in addition to this following,
rickenbastard
OK, gonna write a little about the Monobius. This was definitely my fav of the box! Which is not to slight any of the others.... Pretty much resigned to getting all the RMAs at this point anyway
For a long time I purposely ignored the Monobius, because I had heard the legend of Polybius
and I figured I was just going to hold out for the big boy, so I didn't want to be tempted by the Mono. I know.
Luckily, Chankgeez knew better, so at some point I got to try his and realized the error of my ways
Could have saved myself some money going after an Elta Ring Stinger, because Monobius is by far the "dirty" ring mod for me. And I say dirty because it is easy to dial in nasty, raw, edgy, and, yes, always meaty, sounds. But the thing is, I can also dial the Monobius in to sound way cleaner than the Elta, or my belovely Mooseapotamus CA ringmod, or lordgalvar's Wilson Mycellium that I had once for a loverly loan. So, yeah, even before you get to any tricksiness, Monobius has hella range.
I got started with ringmods on the clean end of things with a Randy's Revenge and an MF-102--and I still lurve those for the ease of setting up purty bells and chewy tremolos, and they do have range of their own to get a bit nastier (moreso the Moog), but when I got to try the Moose and Mycellium it opened my ears to another soundworld and then I was hooked.
I snagged the Elta b/c it was a "steal" compared to its regular price, but it was still more than a Monobius I think. And, sadly, its sound just ain't doin' it to my earhole. It lacks the power of the Monobius, doesn't do clean stuff as well, and it's tricksiness doesn't even turn me on or seem deeper than Monobius.
The Monobius in full roar is like an enraged cyber-grizzly set loose in a nature selfie convention room. Full throated clangarwaar. Elta is like one of the conventioneerz' Mom, pissed that he didn't clean his basement room and take out the trash before biking over to the Doubletree on convention Saturday. Grating but toothless.
But, hey, this isn't meant to be a slag Elta or Ring Stinger thang (hell, maybe mine just needs to be calibrated better?) Well, not primarily. Cuz, see, the thing is, I don't really think the Elta is truly bad. It just doesn't come out looking so sweet compared to the RMA. Speaking of which....
So, yeah--there are bells and trems with a bit more 'tude than Randy and his crowd. There are also fuzzrwoar and harsh noise on tap of course--to me it joins the Outer Rings in the upper echelon of ringmod-as-noise-fuzz-in-excelsis, but it won' t leave you in the lurch when you want actual, you know, ringmod sounds.
As for tricksiness--there's more than one way to get complex or chaotic pulses running alongside clang and fuzz, and you get there by exploration. The controls are interactive, and at times surprising. I don't believe this is because of a messy control schema, but rather because of my need to get a better grounding in the circuit and how the ranges and interactions create different effects. In short--I do need more time to get to know Monobius (Chank, can I borrow yours before you send it back to Curtis?
)
So, that depth, necessity for exploration, is a feature for me, but I can see why others might prefer more simplicity.... I really think Curtis has hit a sweet spot in terms of number of controls, range and interactivity to bring out as much of the possibilities of the circuit without things getting too bewildering. Also, more time will tell, but I don't think this is a Fuzz Factory scenario, where it's frustrating to re-find your sounds--the three ranges are especially helpful in that regard.
What else? Ah, yes, in true RMA fashion, your bass remains intact
So, kudos on this one--Eris willing, 2019 is going to be a Monobius year for me. Holy shit, just thought: what would a Polybius year be like?
"In a moment of unparalleled genius, Noel Parachute headed off this potential disaster by unplugging the microphone."