GEAR IN REVIEW - TC Electronic Mojo Mojo and Dark Matter
TC Electronic widely known for rack effects has gotten into the overdrive pedal game with the Mojo Mojo and the Dark Matter.
The Mojo Mojo is a low to medium transparent gain pedal featuring bass , gain , treble and volume controls. Having seperate bass controls give you much more tone shaping choices than the standard tone control you see in so many overdrives. The Mojo also has a voice switch that shifts the low mids to give you even more tone shaping control.
The Mojo is not another TS mod this is a flat EQ , low compression , open and amp like gain. In our tests we find it behaves best on a lightly breaking up amp but sounds great on a clean amp as well. The Mojo gives it a nice open harmonically rich gain push. Great for heavy rhythm comping or singing leads. The voltage increase inside the pedal increases headroom and dynamics.
The gain blends with your amp not changing your base tone. It can be dialed in for classic American overdriven amp tones. I found myself wanting to play Tom Petty and Clapton tunes. Awesome amp like bite. Any amp gain lover will like this drive and be able to find his or her own sweet spot.
The gain blends with your amp not changing your base tone. It can be dialed in for classic American overdriven amp tones. I found myself wanting to play Tom Petty and Clapton tunes. Awesome amp like bite. Any amp gain lover will like this drive and be able to find his or her own sweet spot.
The Mojo is a serious contender in the high end overdrive market but comes in at far less than 150.00 bones.
- True Bypass - zero loss of tone
- Drive, Level, Bass and Treble controls - total control of your overdrive sounds
- Voicing switch - for an awesome mid-shift
- Easy battery access - makes changing batteries fun! (well, almost)
- Small footprint - save precious pedalboard space
- High-quality components - only the best will do when it comes to tone
- Road-ready design - ready to follow you wherever your playing takes you
See Tore TCs Product Manger put the Mojo Mojo through its paces....
The Dark Matter is more distortion based and is rooted in low to high gain plexi territory. With the same dual EQ, voltage ramp up and voicing as the Mojo where the Mojo was more of a natural American amp style drive. The Dark Matter nails low gain plexi type gains. Very amp like it is hard not to think Angus in the lower gain registers. As you ramp up the gain EVH brown sound and classic plexi tones are easily found in the Dark Matter. Where this trumps many distortions on the market is that it sounds more like an amp channel instead of a pedal masking the amp. Pick dynamics and volume rolls off on the guitar retain the tone and give up the rock.
Tore demoing the Dark Matter
- True Bypass - zero loss of tone
- Gain, Level, Bass and Treble controls - total control of your distortion sounds
- Voicing switch - for an awesome shift in bass response
- Easy battery access - makes changing batteries fun! (well, almost)
- Small footprint - save precious pedal board space
- High-quality components - only the best will do when it comes to tone
- Road-ready design - ready to follow you wherever your playing takes you
TC says the key to both of these drives acting amp like and having tons of dynamics is a voltage increase inside the pedal that is unique to both of these drives. With the the dual band EQ and mid switch both pedals share serious tone tweakers can shape the gain as needed.
They both sound amazing. Both amp like and full of dynamics. Both very unique tonewise but sharing layout and features. After trying both they both earn a spot on the pedal board.
For more information see TCElectronic.com
