Thanks for the reverb, Magic Dumpster

Everyone needs a stompbox.
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MrShake
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Thanks for the reverb, Magic Dumpster

Post by MrShake » Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:58 am

(I posted this elsewhere, but it was a fun effect story, so please forgive my cross-posting. I don't want to spam the internet, I just thought y'all would enjoy this one. Relevant to our shared interests here on OSG)

We just had to vacate our practice space. It was a bummer, but there was a Magic Dumpster out back that I'll be sad to leave. When I needed a mic stand with a round base, it provided one the next day at practice. When I needed a big clean beater amp for down 'n' dirty live gigs, it provided a surprisingly nice Crate 2x12 combo that I've fallen for. Over the years, it gave me a set of old PA speakers, an '80s DOD rack preamp, a 15" speaker cab I use to this day, drum hardware, etc. I once saw a Marshall head of some kind in there but was unable to take it, and I still wish I had.

Last month there was a filing cabinet NEXT to the dumpster. In the top drawer was a half a case of Miller High Life, our Cheap Band Beer of choice. Nothing a disinfecting wipe and a red cup can't cure. The Mrs. says we're a punk band, we can't be above free dumpster beer.

Nothing's ever been wrong with any of it other than its being dumpster-adjacent, and I don't dig deep into wet stuff. I just see what Magic Dumpster is offering for the day. Because I usually need it. And... "Boston Rock will provide".

On our final trip out of the building, a sad day, my wife sees a trash barrel and peeks inside the big black plastic trash bag sitting on top.

"It's all cables and gear," she said. "But how about this?" she asked, before pulling this out:

Image

She didn't know EXACTLY what it was. But she's no dummy. She says it was the "Alesis" that told her to grab it, 'cause she's got gooooooood taste.

No power cord. Get home, look it up, see it takes an AC power supply, I bite the bullet and order one. Wait 3 days, fire it up, and the thing works perfectly.

Now, I'm an aging shoegazer and ambient/electronic guy. I love me some Alesis rack reverbs. My Midiverb II and Quadraverb both need a trip to the shop for some minor issues, but I love those algorithms. This, while made later, is cut from the same cloth. AND it says right in the manual to go ahead and plug and instrument right into it. AND it's tiny. The halls and plates are luscious and the adjustment knob takes it to just about infinite decay. Other than in/out levels, you get a Mix knob and a knob to adjust one parameter - for the reverbs, it's decay time.

And, on top of all that, it does the MBV/reverse reverb really well, too. When I looked these up, a thread from 15-20 years ago came up where it seemed like everybody around OSG was snapping these up.

Tiny enough to mount on top of a pedalboard, toss a TB loop switcher on top of it, and it's trem-dip heaven. Put it at the end of the chain and I'm into Seefeel/Aphex ambience. And it's about the same size as a Strymon or something.

Image

So tiny, useful, and lives in that "lower-bit rack reverb" realm I love so much. It's gonna pull double duty as a floorboard guitar reverse machine and an outboard mixer reverb for my acid house stuff.

...until I snatch up another one.

So, thanks for all the stuff, Magic Dumpster, and so long. Thanks for one final "this is exactly for you, Mikey" gift.

We're gonna miss you.

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Re: Thanks for the reverb, Magic Dumpster

Post by MrShake » Thu Feb 02, 2023 8:33 am

Image

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Re: Thanks for the reverb, Magic Dumpster

Post by DeathJag » Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:01 am

Holy cow! Awesome story! Is this dumpster in Allston or Brighton? I used to practice in a rehearsal space in Allston the mid 2000s.

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Re: Thanks for the reverb, Magic Dumpster

Post by Embenny » Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:58 am

Man, what a great story. I love that nickname - it was truly a magic dumpster.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.

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Re: Thanks for the reverb, Magic Dumpster

Post by ryland » Thu Feb 02, 2023 10:40 am

Looks almost exactly like the one I sold on Reverb about 6 months ago!

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Re: Thanks for the reverb, Magic Dumpster

Post by sal paradise » Thu Feb 02, 2023 12:55 pm

I love everything about this post. And the reverb sounds awesome from giving it a google. Amazing score

Except maybe you two drinking the discarded cheapo beers… :-X

There’s no way you’d catch me drinking random beers someone else threw away*

*honest
I have nothing to offer anybody, except my own confusion?

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Re: Thanks for the reverb, Magic Dumpster

Post by thenewromance » Thu Feb 02, 2023 1:23 pm

If they were still sealed... :whistle:

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Re: Thanks for the reverb, Magic Dumpster

Post by marqueemoon » Thu Feb 02, 2023 1:58 pm

Nice. I’ve practice space trashpicked a few useful things over the years, but nothing as cool as that.

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Re: Thanks for the reverb, Magic Dumpster

Post by Jonesie » Thu Feb 02, 2023 4:45 pm

All I ever found at my old practice space in Framingham was a distractingly large penis pump. I did not bring that home.

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Re: Thanks for the reverb, Magic Dumpster

Post by MrShake » Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:53 pm

Jonesie wrote:
Thu Feb 02, 2023 4:45 pm
All I ever found at my old practice space in Framingham was a distractingly large penis pump. I did not bring that home.
Are you sure it wasn't just an oversized slide for playing that 8-string bass you've been thinking about?
thenewromance wrote:
Thu Feb 02, 2023 1:23 pm
If they were still sealed... :whistle:
Bingo! I mean, they were in a box, in a drawer, and couldn't have been there more than 4-6 hours, based on when we found them. I've got my pride, but not for free beer at band practice.
DeathJag wrote:
Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:01 am
Holy cow! Awesome story! Is this dumpster in Allston or Brighton? I used to practice in a rehearsal space in Allston the mid 2000s.
I suppose I was gonna be coy, cuz I didn't wanna sound the alert that stuff wasn't as well protected as it was a month ago, but it's been all over the local news, so yeah, it's a place over a bit west of Allston Prime, I think it's technically in Brighton. Quite possibly the same place. One of my favorite memories there was plowing through the exterior door and not seeing someone coming in. I won't name drop, but I just about flattened one of my teenage rocker crushes who was coming in. Felt like a total dope. And the guy I was with, 15 years my junior, couldn't figure out why I was wigging out so hard after we walked away.
Embenny wrote:
Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:58 am
Man, what a great story. I love that nickname - it was truly a magic dumpster.
Thanks, it truly was.

But the magic lives on in this little reverb box...

And my apartment, which is now packed with gear.

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Re: Thanks for the reverb, Magic Dumpster

Post by OffYourFace » Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:14 pm

The ol' Sound Museum??!! The end of an era! I had a space there in the early 2000s. Please PM me the person you hit with the door :D

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Re: Thanks for the reverb, Magic Dumpster

Post by sessylU » Fri Feb 03, 2023 3:52 am

Was mostly hoping that this was going to be about you using an empty dumpster for reverb like this guy did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8GcHoSIPDg

I'd probably buy a Magic Dumpster Reverb if it came in pedal form.
a total idiot jackass

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