Rock Fabrik's Mind Abuse Ultra High Gain Distortion is an All-Rounder Full Metal Monster!
Ever since I first came across Brett Kingman’s review of this pedal back in 2017 I’ve always wanted one. While various circumstances have conspired to get in the way over those intervening years. I’ve actually featured it on the site no less than 7 times - so I’m obviously a big fan!
I’m very honoured that Rock Fabrik deemed me worthy of the first and only polished silver edition of the pedal to date - the artwork is normally printed onto a black powder-coated enclosure - while mine shines like a supernova! The visual doesn’t really do the gleaming enclosure proper justice.
From the start things seem fairly conventional - with 3-Band EQ plus Volume and Gain - and a 3-way Gain Structure / Mode Toggle Switch which engages various parameters at the same time - including mid EQ shift / Scoop Depth, Gradient and Width.
The 3 CVM Modes are based on the output of 3 legendary amps - Classic Mode is a 5150 Brown Sound style, Vintage Mode is akin to a Hot-Rodded Marshall Stack, and Modern Mode has more of a Mesa Rectifier Scooped Distortion style.
The EQ controls though - despite their conventional labelling do not behave like normal EQ’s at all, and take a little while getting used to. These EQ’s impact on the balance and harmonics of the distortion - and significantly alter the texture and timbre of the output. For me the Middle control works closest to conventional while the Bass and Treble behave somewhat differently to what I’m used to. It’s a little like mapping over cause and effect as you sweep trough those dials - so where on conventional EQ’s I tend to have the Bass and Treble up at around 2 / 3 o’c, here it seems the EQ is set in relation to the Mode selected - meaning that different Modes will for most likely have quite different settings - and you can’t just flick the switch to change from one to another - you typically have to reset the dials to your preferences.
Rock Fabrik explain that it’s the structure of the distortion that you are changing with those controls - meaning often thicker and more compressed / denser when Bass and Treble are dialled up and more open when dialled back. The Bass control sets Low Bass Frequency Range, the Treble sets High Treble - or Fizz / Sizzle, and Middle seems to impact in a more conventional way for me - while as you can see by my Presets below - the settings are quite different for all 3 Modes.
Much like on the Blackhawk Sauron - each mode has an ideal EQ tuning, and you can’t always successfully flip from one to the next and expect optimal results. A great starting point here is with all dials at 12 o’c which sounds pretty decent right away. Then it’s just a matter of sweeping the dials until everything sound just right! This means sometimes lower the dials to get more sharpness and attack which for some can be counter intuitive. It’s very much a tune-by-feel sort of pedal!
Controls - Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble, Gain, Mode : Classic / Vintage / Modern.
Rock Fabrik report that the Mind Abuse has around 90dB of gain on 1kHz, which doesn’t translate to total volume gain. While every again stage has 20-30dB of gain, but after each stage that gets clipped or divided. So basically massive amounts of gain and volume as such.
Input Impedance is 1M, Output Impedance is 150ohm, Current Draw is around 80mA, and the Dimensions of the enclosure are typically BB-size - of 120 x 100 x 50mm.
Preset 1 - Brown Sound Abounds
My slightly heavier tuning of EVH's celebrated Brown Sound - with lots of sizzle and punch - sounds glorious - particularly with a little Flanging added.
Settings : Classic CVM Mode - Volume at 3 o'c, Bass at Max, Middle at Minimum, Treble at Minimum, Gain at Max.
Preset 2 - Chewy Big Stack
A Thumping Heavy Marshall Stack Flavour with plenty of interesting Mids action.
Settings : Vintage CVM Mode - Volume at 3 o'c, Bass at Noon, Middle at Noon, Treble at 2 o'c, Gain at 3 o'c.
Preset 3 - Righteous Rectified
Full-on Punchy Rectifier Action with just the right amount of attack.
Settings : Modern CVM Mode - Volume at Max, Bass at Max, Middle at 11:30 o'c, Treble at Max, Gain at 3 o'c.
Demos
Final Thoughts
So when I first got the Mind Abuse I wasn't sure I would like it quite as much as I do now - as I initially struggled to figure out what the EQ controls were doing and very early on ended up with some let's say non-ideal sounds. Once I figured out that the EQs were unconventional and that they seemed to react to each CVM Voicing / Mode switch - I then just tuned things in by ear and feel - ignoring any previous conventions for sweeping, active or passive controls.
For sure the EQ's are distinct - but there is a sort of logic within them on a per voicing basis. As I mentioned - you cannot simply apply the same settings and then just flip the Mode and expect everything to sound great. Each Mode has to be fine-tuned for optimal results - and what you get - with a tiny bit of patience - is amazing searing and full-frequency Metal tones.
For sure one of the very best sounding High Gain Pedals on the market - with a huge degree of variety onboard - and superb genre coverage. You can make it sound as brash or as refined as you like - and the 3 Presets I came up with all sound totally killer.
I had heard so many great demos of this pedal that I knew it had to be killer - I just struggled a tiny bit early on as things did not work exactly as I was used to. But such is the pedal game - there are always new challenges around the corner - and some of those longer-term turn out to be the best experiences of all.
I think it's important for people to be aware that some of the controls are unusual - while there is such a raft of evidence out there of great tones from this pedal - it's just a matter of your figuring out how to get the best results for yourself.
I'm very lucky to have got two absolute killer super high gain Metal Pedals in the same week - the Mind Abuse and the Sauron - both of those are absolutely amazing and wholly worthwhile on their own merits. They each are distinct and unique and don't actually massively overlap in how I deploy them. Both are well worth having in your collection. With the two of them there is no high gain genre that you cannot cover. Just state of the art high gain pedals - each beautifully calibrated for ultimate prowess.
Do we have any Mind Abuse fans among you?
