Megan’s Makoyii Demo

Our friend, Megan, released her Makoyii demo.

Megan has one of the most unique demo channels out there. Megan implements a range of effects, instruments, and compositions that truly make her demos an experience.

We wanted to share our perspective of the demo and the sounds we heard.

0:00 Intro jam

Megan begins the demo with a Fender Deluxe Reissue, which is cool because our main platform amps that we design pedals on is a Fender amp. We usually use either a ‘68 Bassman or ‘68 Custom Reissue Deluxe.

The rhythm guitar comes in with some space provided by the Ghost Ridge in its spring setting. One of the biggest things when it came to the Makoyii is that it had to play well with others. We didn’t want something that would completely wash out delay or reverb.

The whole “plays well with others” concept continues as Megan now runs the Makoyii through our Pretty Bird Woman chorus/vibrato. For the panned right section, she’s using the Pretty Bird Woman in the vibrato mode. One thing that I would like you to pay attention to here is that she’s getting close to the 12 o’clock mark on the gain. In this higher gain setting, the Makoyii is still allowing her to arpeggiate chords without turning the chorded notes into a big ole bowl of mush.

For the solo, Megan combines the Makoyii and Caroline Shigeharu — we always welcome a friendly pairing. The Makoyii has the ability to adapt to pedals that come before or after. Megan’s order (Shigeharu into the Makoyii) is a perfect example of what a boost or dirt pedal before the Makoyii can do. In this setup, the Makoyii transitions its gain structure from distortion to fuzz territory as noted in the massive sustain and subtle low-frequency texture. Oh and Makoyii provides the perfect Frusciante tone (more on that one later).

1:52 Dark fuzzy distortion

Okay. Now this one is getting into what we love to call edge-of-fuzz territory. Like a plane making its transition from ground to air, this is where the Makoyii begins its transition from distortion to fuzz.

It’s fun to experiment with various pickups in this setting. For single coils, you’ll get this growl that reminds me of Jimi’s Manic Depression tone. As for humbuckers, the extra output further pushes Makoyii into fuzz territory but with a little bit of midrange focus.

2:31 Compression and grit (Eddie by RHCP)

As a fellow Chili Peppers and John Frusciante fan, one of the first things I told Megan was, “It [Makoyii] has compression, drive, and verge of fuzz tones — it’s the perfect Frusciante pedal.”

Well, Megan didn’t disappoint with this section. Megan highlights the compression capability of the Makoyii. When you dig, in the notes are slightly compressed. Reduce the dynamic in your playing and the Makoyii follows.

In this gain setting, the Makoyii also has some grit sprinkled on the top to help it pop. It’s a beautiful mix of clean and dirt.

3:06 Gets pretty aggressive too!

We talked compression previously. Compression is a theme through the Makoyii. Gain and compression are constantly doing this dance with each other. At this point in the gain, Megan is between the crunch and solo range of the Makoyii.

As she digs into the guitar, the notes distort but with the help of the adaptable compression, you hear something that sounds tight and punchy. We always thought the dirt on the Makoyii had this post-studio mix thing going on and I think this section highlights that sound pretty well.

4:04 Chords with a lofi sound

Jangly grit. It’s the best way we can describe this gain setting. You’re getting this gritty tone with a little bit of sparkle added. It’s a lovely mess. There’s something so special about being able to play a full chord (jazzy chords included) through a dirt pedal and every single note in the chord rings out without getting mushy.

In addition to Makoyii, Megan adds the Pretty Bird Woman in vibrato mode for a tape-like warble. The depth is deep enough to hear some pitch shifting and the rate is slow enough to make you a little seasick.

Go and Make Noise

Thank you for taking the time to read this demo breakdown.

Megan is such a great friend and musician. It was an honor to have her demo our Makoyii. I highly encourage you to subscribe to her channel.

If you’d like to learn more about the Makoyii visit here.