Question about Crowther P&C

[StudioShutIn]

Hey...as I've mentioned in other threads..i'm in the market for some pedals..thinking i'll probably go with a fuzz/distortion of some kind.
I've been looking into the Prunes and Custard recently and just wondering...is this the best example of this kind of fuzz, or are there other pedals
out there that do a similar sound, that I should keep in mind before deciding?
It seems pretty unique, but I think I remember reading in the TAFM appreciation thread that it can get some similar tones...any insight here?

[StudioShutIn]

Bump?....really, nobody has any advice here?

[oldangelmidnight]

I've never played an official Prunes and Custard but some of the sounds I liked from the demos online, I've been able to get with my Ab-Synth with master gain. Check out the Ab-Synth 5K.

[Dandolin]

This is my favorite corner of effectdom.

I just went P&C after gassing interminably for a Studio Electronics Wolftone Chaos, which I think is very similar to the Crowther, and partly think still might bump the P&C off the tangled web'o'boxes and wires that is subbing for my pedalboard at the moment--if, that is, I can ever score a used one--it is unavailable and quite rare. The best demos of the Chaos are on the Studio Electronics site, here: http://www.studioelectronics.com/produc ... Pedals.php.

That said, I'm still ecstatic with my new high fiber dessert box. This demo sounds the most like it, imo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNcbNcthAZ4.

Also in the running are the WMD Geiger Counter, which can be mercurial if you don't take notes on your latest head 'splodin' settings. I've gotten mine close to the tones from the Prunes and Custard, but in my opinion it is a much deeper and more chaotic box at heart, and its best features are elsewhere from the synthibloom and sweep and ring-inter-mod the P&C dishes out.

Honorable mentions also go to iheartfuzz' own Copilot FX for the Caracol (and to a lesser extent the Terra Fuzz, for some very nice bloom and decay characteristics). On it's own, the Caracol produces a slightly toned-down version of the harmonic generation displayed in the Crowther. Pushed by another gain source, the similarities become clearer. Add in an external audio source to modulate the input and the Caracol becomes a freqie noise box.

Which leads to the Subdecay Noise Box, which is more extreme in the harmonics generated and the ensuing glitcherama than the Crowther--another brand of synthiness entirely, but definitely related to my ear.

I own the Prunes and Custard, Geiger, Caracol, Terra, and Noise Box (and the Wolftone Chaos' more air-headed other half, the Helium, which is a more straightforward octave fuzz and very, very loverly).

Also on my exploration list are the Spencer Amps Subzombie, Paul Trombetta Design Mini-Bone (in many ways a different beast and more focused on messing with note attack than decay to my ears, while the pruney one does different things to the attack and much more to the decay than the Trombetta), and other Jordan Bosstone derivatives. There are many more--I think the Fuzzhugger Velcroar edges into this territory when I voltage starve it, and I'm sure some of the Devi Evers would as well, though I haven't settled on which of the many mangled flavors I'm going to try first. Also, the lifetime achievement ought to go to Tim Escobedo's DIY Uglyface for inspiring so much of this madness, along with his Jawari, which I'd lay odds played some role in the formulation of the Chaos and maybe was also inspirational for the octave droney goodness at the heart of the Caracol, too.

Good luck with your hunt.

I don't think you'd at all be making a wrong step with a Prunes & Custard--lot's to explore there.

[Dandolin]

Oh--I forgot--the Source Audio Soundblox Multiwave Distortion gets some very nice synthy, filtery bloom and staccato beep on the foldback distortion settings. It is digital, though, and apparently converts your signal to digital even in bypass mode (although I might be wrong about this) so you'd probably want to throw it in a tbp loop for when you're not using it. Also, the other sounds for which it is advertised--low intermodulation distortion etc.--all sound somewhat harsh in the treble regions to me and not in a good way like the Geiger Counter. I don't say this to per se slag the pedal because it's digital--in past I have happily used plenty of digital gear, and I still use a HOG, a DL4 and a Korg Mini-Kaos Pad with no qualms. It's just that this pedal's implementation didn't seem suited for more mainstream dirt sounds unless you ran it through another dirt pedal, which tended to ruin the point of the multiwave concept. For me, anywyay. Foldback sounds are awesome though, and it is what initially sent me sniffing around the Chaos and P&C.

[StudioShutIn]

Oh wow...um...consider my mind boggled!
I may have to send a PM to discuss all of these tasty fuzz possibilities further.

[Dandolin]

You got it.

[symbolique]

I was a bit ho-hum about my Double Hotcake when I got it, tweaking tweaking tweaking to get it sounding good. I nearly put it up here on the FST board, but have no found a sweet spot. Pete Crowther makes some seriously nice hardware, but you need to work with it a bit.

His true bypass switches are so gentle, only Empress FX have come close.

He's also really good on repairs, etc, but the problem being he is here in NZ for all you top-o-tha-world fuzz-lovers.

[SmallEQ]

Oh--I forgot--the Source Audio Soundblox Multiwave Distortion gets some very nice synthy, filtery bloom and staccato beep on the foldback distortion settings. It is digital, though, and apparently converts your signal to digital even in bypass mode (although I might be wrong about this) so you'd probably want to throw it in a tbp loop for when you're not using it. Also, the other sounds for which it is advertised--low intermodulation distortion etc.--all sound somewhat harsh in the treble regions to me and not in a good way like the Geiger Counter. I don't say this to per se slag the pedal because it's digital--in past I have happily used plenty of digital gear, and I still use a HOG, a DL4 and a Korg Mini-Kaos Pad with no qualms. It's just that this pedal's implementation didn't seem suited for more mainstream dirt sounds unless you ran it through another dirt pedal, which tended to ruin the point of the multiwave concept. For me, anywyay. Foldback sounds are awesome though, and it is what initially sent me sniffing around the Chaos and P&C.

It does not convert to digital when bypassed. Also, the pro version is kickass because you an eq out any hashness and save up to 6 presets.

/fanboy

[Dandolin]

You are correct of course--it says active analog bypass on the webpage. My apologies. Pro version does look pretty awesome.

[oldangelmidnight]

Also on my exploration list are the Spencer Amps Subzombie

The Subzombie is excellent. It's criminally overlooked. One of my favorite sounds in the world is when it's set to the crazy out-of-phase blooming hyper-fuzz and the guitar volume is rolled way back.

[StudioShutIn]

I checked out the demos of that on the Spencer Amps site and..I dunno...seems a little more than I need...the 3 fuzz circuits that can be blended and combined is kind of interesting..but I will most likely just get the Prunes and Custard and some kind of modulation effect to go with it and make it all swooshy.