Full review of Adern Mojo

[Nestor]

There was a time where my excitement words would be for Celmo’s GAM, but that was until today...
GAM was a great achievement for its time, yes it was! It gave me so many good moments and lots and lots of hot takes for what I’m grateful. I was happy with it because I had found a way to play my guitar with some motivation for the first time. I remember back in the early 1990s that the few first attempts to build good amps before Celmo’s GAM for our platform where really awful. The noise of them all was unbearable and the luck of responsiveness was absolute. The sound had no dynamics at all. All they did was to produce a flat mass of bulky, thick distortion, and then others would be no more than a “volume knob” with a nice fake amp interface... In other words: Not a bit of musicality was possible! And they were expensive… Then came all the vst range of virtual amps, some quite interesting, but sounding pretty plastic, let say still too digital. You would guess easily in a production that this or that guitar was processed with some clinical vst plug, but at no effect despite all their spectacular interfaces, unfortunately they still would sound cold. Mojo has such a warmness that separates itself from all these cold and plastic vst amps quite a few miles ahead…

Yes, these attempt times are all over with Mojo!

Mojo is the achievement of a new standard. It is a superior step toward professional, pure, ULTRA DYNAMIC guitar playing in Pulsar. I can see it stepping into the best studios around the world to be part of any professional production without any problems. What I’m going to say is insane, but Mojo sounds quite like the Cornford MK II 50 cabinet, I can´t believe it! Here you have a link in case you don’t know this top of the sort baby:

http://www.master-guitar.com/cornford.htm

When I was up to try Alfonso’s new effort called “Mojo”, I was expecting a good amp of course, but when I tried it I was speechless, it overwhelmed my ears with delight drawing amazement and an uninterrupted green in my face through all the process. I played it for about two hours. Then I came back to play with it again even if I had no time to do it, and then back again, and again, and again.

I realized that Mojo had what I call a “bread quality” to it. What I mean by that? Well, bread is something you are going to eat always, and it goes with everything. It has this “innocuous”, gentle character for which it is so much appreciated internationally by all the cultures of the world. You can eat salted or sweet with it, or take it alone with a cup of coffee, or with some hot chili and a glass of red wine, or make a pizza if you like, well… with everything goes to reach perfection; it is the most versatile food in the world. Mojo is just like that. It is always in the table to go with anything you want to prepare. That is why Mojo and bread will always be there, on the table, ready to go with any meal. Mojo has this special long life quality, the more you use it, the more you like it. Its sound texture is so smooth, so warm and musical, just like the Cornford MK kind of cabinets as I said. It houses anything you want to play: mellow, sweet, aggressive, bluesy, hot, jazzy, experimental, well… anything. Playing the guitar with it is extremely addictive and inspiring. The interface is very well thought and gives you a great array of possibilities and precision control over the sound, very, very good interface and layout indeed.

I didn’t want to answer Alfonso too quickly. In fact, I took about 12 days to write this review because I felt this plug-in had something of much deepness and possibilities than I would have expected at first, I wanted to study it in depth with time and play a lot before talking to him, and then also build some demos as a conclusion. This plug-in deservers it!

My conclusion… well, what can I say you guys…

Well done! Mojo is an amazing work, fantastic sounding, extremely inspiring. The superb dynamics of it is only found in the Cornford MK kind of amps. Adern people, this truly is a high congratulation if you know what the Cornford MK range of cabinets are! How did you achieve this? Have you hired Harry Potter or something?

Trying to get into the technical side of things it is just too complex for me, and at the end of the day I’m a musician, not a programmer freak. So I will instate make a summary of it all in a single phrase that for me and any musician alike means everything:

The Mojo Amp is an extremely, awfully, exceptionally, exceedingly, dreadfully, extraordinarily musical amp for your guitar! Get it!

To show you this FIRST-CLASS amp which is Mojo and its sound potential, I have done 4 little demos. The songs will show you to some extent, how versatile and ultra dynamic the sound is. If you play guitar, I recommend to download the demo and try it for yourself.

You will find 8 demos in total even if I said they are only 4, that because I wanted to do what I would do in a real production. I always compare the original with the processed before choosing where to go exactly. So the purpose of giving you two demos is to show what you can do when having a superb unprocessed source-sound. I first record the guitar without any effects only using Mojo, and then add the effects in a second instance, if needed. So, the first one is always unprocessed and the second has some effects.

Please, pay attention to the guitar in the songs and see how ALIVE the sound can be, it is amazing!

I would recommend this extraordinary plug-in addition to anybody having a guitar and a Pulsar. It really is an important contribution to your music possibilities, particularly if you are a recording artist like me that play a lot of guitar in your productions. You will find yourself recording guitars with all the freedom of having a great means for it, even if you are without a Cornford MK II 50 at your back, but nevertheless, sounding like it!

Mojomaxpower 1:
Only Mojo amp
http://www.musicaliz.com/Mojo/Mojomaxpower-1.mp3

Mojomaxpower 1b:
It has a little delay and then a chorus in the first guitar and first solo. Then it has some echo, an overdrive, and a moving filter in the second quite percussive solo.
http://www.musicaliz.com/Mojo/Mojomaxpower-1b.mp3

Mojomaxpower 2
Only Mojo amp
http://www.musicaliz.com/Mojo/Mojomaxpower-2.mp3

Mojomaxpower 2b:
It has some extra drive, chorus and a little delay
http://www.musicaliz.com/Mojo/Mojomaxpower-2b.mp3

Mojomaxpower 3
Only Mojo amp
http://www.musicaliz.com/Mojo/Mojomaxpower-3.mp3

Mojomaxpower 3b
Some drive, little delay and chorus
http://www.musicaliz.com/Mojo/Mojomaxpower-3b.mp3

Mojomaxpower 4:
Only Mojo amp
http://www.musicaliz.com/Mojo/Mojomaxpower-4.mp3

Mojomaxpower 4b:
Driver, chorus, little delay
http://www.musicaliz.com/Mojo/Mojomaxpower-4b.mp3

Néstor

Cheers *** Cheers

[dawman]

That's what I call a REVIEW....
Nice to see you drop in and bring such beautiful gifts.
I especialy liked the Orleans style rendition of " As Time Goes By ".
You were definately in the pocket with the Upright.......

[Nestor]

Cheers Jimmy Alfonso deserves it! And I guess, all the Adern team too!

I wanted to do a short version of it, as you can see, this is not the full song of As Time Goes By, I too enjoy it very much. The guitar there is so sweet…
The band blues at the end is just a MIDI arrangement of a basic blues foundation.

[astroman]

I've called it ...your custom boutique guitar amp with Adern's MOJO... in another thread.
Thanks Nestor for confirming that I still can trust my ears.
Obviously you see it playing in the same league.
To be honest I only tried it with a cheapo Yamaha axe, not yet with my 335 copy (Hoyer 70s) or my current favourite, a chinese Western with D'Addario flatwounds - you gotta hear that

cheers, Tom

ps 3+4 are my favourites, every nuance of the touch is clearly pictured. Love that.
The chorus and delay versions don't do it justice imho.

[dawman]

Brotha' Man Astro............Hook us up with the Chinese Western w/ the Flatwounds.
I didn't know they still made those..

[Nestor]

I've called it ...your custom boutique guitar amp with Adern's MOJO... in another thread.
Thanks Nestor for confirming that I still can trust my ears.
Obviously you see it playing in the same league.
To be honest I only tried it with a cheapo Yamaha axe, not yet with my 335 copy (Hoyer 70s) or my current favourite, a chinese Western with D'Addario flatwounds - you gotta hear that

cheers, Tom

ps 3+4 are my favourites, every nuance of the touch is clearly pictured. Love that.
The chorus and delay versions don't do it justice imho.

Hey Astro, old friend, how are you…
Well, I agree with you, when I heard it back, I preferred the flat, original version in the 4th one.
Glad you like it too.
My guitar is not that good, it’s a 20 years old Yamaha RGZ 312, but I love it, it’s enough for me

[astroman]

well, this is a 100 bucks piece of plywood really, but turned out to be the most amazing instrument... it's definitely not the most brilliant Western, but I noticed an extremely even response over the whole fretboard with only slight deads or resonance spots.

This triggered the idea that it may come close to a semi-acoustic like the 335 but (for obvious reasons) with a more aggressive response. Then they had that (last... LOL) pack of flats in the shop and I thought 'ok, let's give it a try...'
The result pretty much surprised me, and it sounds great - even acoustic.

I currently use a cheapo pickup in the center hole, which will be replaced soon by a special ultra-flatt humbucker (a German dude builds those for expensive resonator guitars), that cost twice as much as the guitar.
I'm very happy that I didn't return the instrument as there also was a very good Takamine available. The latter would undoubtly be a better Western, but then it would be just that, a reasonably good Western like there are dozens.

But this ChinCheapo with it's embarassing red finish is a true individual - surely a production error, but a positive one
I'll post something with it, but I can't record anytime as it's a bit more noisy ...

of course using Mojo - I'm not as sophisticated as Nestor or Paul Martin, so I'll get along with the demo timeslice anyway.
Just dunno to which board I should register Mojo, otherwise I would have ordered it immediately.

cheers, Tom

...My guitar is not that good, it’s a 20 years old Yamaha RGZ 312, but I love it, it’s enough for me

I have an RGX 121 FP - and I will never understand Yamaha's scheme of instrument numbers
But these are good workhorse solidbodies...

[ReD_MuZe]

Alfonso rox

[Shroomz~>]

Mojo sounds nice..

[eliam]

...in the off topic section??

Someone please kick this thread in the announcement section where it belongs!!

[Nestor]

Thanks Eliam, there is a link over there...

[garyb]

yes, mojo is great! my favorite distortion...

[dawman]

I use the PTeq 3.0 Rhodes and Wurly through it with the option of B2003's Leslie with a simple MIDI Prograsm change message from my controllers button.
I sound like I want now instead of the prissy clean perfectly recorded sounds which I have grown weary of over the years. I have the garage sound that I grew up rehearsing with as a punk in St.Louis back in the '70s'.
I can't wait to have a Guitarist rehearse using it. I even have the feedback plug from Softube for the lucky chap who tries it....

[astroman]

ok, here it is... Drums are looped, Bass, Guitar and Mojo live - couldn't resist to add Celmo's TapeEcho Sim in the 2nd run, no other FX except the STW MasterComp to make it a bit louder.
Yes, that IS a Western Guitar
comments on the bass are much appreciated (the tone, not the tune) as I can't monitor it properly here.
this is not a composition, so feel free to rip it to shreds as much as you like

cheers, Tom

[Shroomz~>]

Niiiiice....

[Nestor]

Hey Asto, that’s hot!

The bass sound is pretty nice here, as timber, it just lucks some definition, perhaps a compression or something like the Celmo BAM would do, which is very good for giving to it this edge I’m talking about…
But beware, perhaps Alfonso comes up with a killing bass amp and Adern gives him his blessing… I hope so!

[dawman]

Astro My Brotha'................

Now we should definately raise the forums Flag High......
Let the floodgates open.
Competition is good for the creative process.

[alfonso]

Hey Asto, that’s hot!

The bass sound is pretty nice here, as timber, it just lucks some definition, perhaps a compression or something like the Celmo BAM would do, which is very good for giving to it this edge I’m talking about…
But beware, perhaps Alfonso comes up with a killing bass amp and Adern gives him his blessing… I hope so!

Guys, I'm frankly confused from such nice words and reviews, I want to thank you deeply for all this interest and the great audio demos.
I must say that such a quality of sound is not too difficult to obtain when you can solve most of the problems thanks to Red's unique algorithms. There have been moments during the development where we had to overcome some otherwise unsolvable issues and Assaf was able to find new ways a la carte....

What I brought to the project is the fact that I'm an electric guitar player since 30 years, I have some quite nice amps and guitars, some of them modded, and almost a fanatic of tone. Nevertheless I've been studying for months what happens to a guitar signal after it goes into an all tube amp. I've not followed the path of emulating anything, nor the technique has been to make an abstract rendition of an analog circuit. That is not really the way to go i.m.h.o. when you are in a totally different technology, the goal is in the sound, not in the transposition of some schematics. I was concentrated to the sound. I still have a bit of pain in my leg because in almost all the process of development I've been loading, swapping, testing modules and tweaking values with a guitar plugged in the system...

A bass amp? No, not for now. I don't have that part of the knowledge which is the best I could bring for Mojo. I'm not a bass player and I don't know all the subtleties and the needs for a great bass tone in relation with what fingers do...nor I have a bass and bass amps, which should be definitely something to have in this case!

[astroman]

yes Alfonso, the device clearly reflects your experience
there are so many 'brand' amp emulations already, this is a very convincing approach.
No need for a dedicated bass amp imho - bass tone is much less depending on amp coloring than guitar. It's more about controlling a massive signal in a musical way.

Nestor observed it correctly, my bass tone in the 30 seconds nonsense above (btw thanks to all who liked it - I have no idea how I hammered that in...) is a bit muddy indeed.
Which is partly due to the recording process (Telefunken preamp, DBX comp to tame spikes before the A16, Scope clean output conversion and another conversion into the Boss RC50 Loopstation).
A direct record with proper leveling would likely yield more 'presence' of the signal.
But then this bass has Dimarzio 122 Splitcoils, known for tremendous power but a slightly dirty tone anyway- plus the 'Jamerson' version of LaBella 760s flatwound lashings.

Since it's a Frankenstein bass anyway I want it to cover a range somewhere between James Jamerson (Precision Bass) Motown sound and Talking Head's Tina Weymouth Höfner 500 Club thingy.

I didn't care much about about the bass part, except the fact that Mojo would be a perfect test scenario for a 'fake' band context.
As the linked example show, this isn't a solo bass sound - but great within a band (imho).

And as it's about music, thanks once more Alfonso for giving us such a fine tool.
Of course I never forgot that Red laid out such a smart fundament for you to walk on - thumbs up for him, too

cheers, Tom

[dawman]

That is not really the way to go i.m.h.o. when you are in a totally different technology, the goal is in the sound, not in the transposition of some schematics. I was concentrated to the sound....Alfonso D.-- 03/2009.

Experience with the hardware at hand, and the Human Ear are the best way to go, couldn't agree more.
I have several E.Piano libraries made by engineers who used schematics and scientific calculations, and they sound engineered. MoJo has provided the tones these chaps just never heard. They were probably just a gleam in their Daddy's eye when I was using a Stage 73 and a Twin.