Basic Audio Tourbox Demos, Reviews, Etc.

[behndy]

HAH! ANGRY! sexxxy and ANGRY!

[John Lyons]

Ha! pretty neat. I have absolutely no idea what the signal chain/routing/momentary switching
was going on but that was fun. Can you explain the switch/loop system you have there?
(Maybe it's already in another thread but like I say, "I no nosing about eet"
Cool sounds in the video!

[MEC]

As far as the Feedback Looper goes it was kind of a mistake that ended up being pretty neat.
I set out to make a copy of the Fairfield Circuitry Operator (http://www.fairfieldcircuitry.com/O.html) with a momentary (shunt to ground) stutter switch. Once I got it all together, I realized that my momentary switch was always closed instead of always open and the pedal would only pass signal when the momentary was down. As you can imagine that wasn't very practical and I didn't leave too much room for adding a switch to reverse that switch . I disconnected the switch and, with alligator clips, connected the legs to different things until I found something cool. I ended up connecting the switch straight from input to output. Technically, I'm not sure exactly what it's doing but I think it has something to do grounding and allowing the signal to bleed back through the pedal.

The order of the Chain was:
Loop Out>Zippy>Gnarly>Fuzzmondo>Spooky Tooth>Squarewave+>Loop In>Output>Reverb>Powered Speakers.

[Dandolin]

Man--these demos are killa! Wish I could get my demoin' act together. Instead, more words. Tonight.

[Dandolin]

OK--this is a two-fer. I'm going to talk about the Spooky Tooth and Gnarly together. These two pedals were, for the longest time, what I thought of when I considered the Basic Audio lineup. To me they are both classics in the way they play with classic sound tropes--in this case the aggressive, trebly sounds of sixties garage and psychedelic fuzz tones--but add a far greater degree of sonic flexibility in attaining different variations than you could ever wring from any of the originals, which were by and large one trick ponies.


Don't get me wrong--these are not just two sides of the same coin, either by design topology or end sonic result, but certain of the similarities make for useful comparison in working out what each fuzz has to offer.

First, some generalities (hiss, boo). I think the common perception is that the Spooky Tooth covers the wider range of fuzz tones and is more tweakable overall than the Gnarly. I think I would agree to this assessment to a point. To my ears, the Spooky Tooth probably gets you closer to a wider range of the standout 6Ts fuzzes--Maestro Fuzz Tone, Mosrite Fuzzrite, Shin-ei FY-2 Companion, Orpheum, even in somewhat smoother settings, the Jordan Bosstone. It also gets more aggressively clangy tones like the Superfuzz. The Spooky Tooth would be an excellent choice for anyone who wants one fuzz to cover (as much as possible) the full range of fuzz exhibited on the classic Nuggets compilations.

That said, the Gnarly also would be an excellent choice for such duty. However, it also creates more tones that sound like what Nuggets would have been in an alternate universe--lower gain settings are grainier, often with more separation between the underlying fundamental and the fuzzed out harmonics. The Texture control, which morphs between two separate one- and two-transistor fuzzes in series, produces a number of out-of-phase sounding tones that exhibit strange attack and decay artifacts that don't quite match up with any of the classic fuzzes. In a very good way. One signature detail is that both of these fuzzes feature a Texture control--imho the one on the Gnarly often felt like a Bias control, and introduced more oddball and outrageous variations than the Spooky Tooth's which actually sounds more like a blend between two, three, or four different fuzzes, but does so more smoothly and controllably, with more easily replicable stopping points, and with less overall strangeitude.

Neither of these fuzzes quite brings the overloaded "brassy" tones that a fuzz like the Zippy does, but such tones crop up in spades if you hit the front end with a boost or overdrive, or starve the fuzz, or both. When it came to starving, I ended up spending less time starving the Gnarly because alot of the tones acheivable with the texture knob were very similar to the starved tones. Starving the Spooky Tooth brought more of the strangeness that I was hearing in the Gnarly, though overall, I still give the Gnarly the upper hand in that department.

What else? Well, what else is that neither of these pedals is limited to the aggressive or outrageous fuzz tones that are their primary calling card. Rolling back the Fuzz Gain either on the fuzz itself (not possible on the early versions of these pedals I'm guest-housing) or with the guitar's volume control, brings in a broad range of more mainstream distortion and overdrive tones. The Gnarly in particular has a very nice, crisp crunchiness that is unique, and not closely related to most of the range of "amp sim" type distortions that are so popular nowadays. If I had to compare it to an amp, I'd say that it's Fendery without the often flubby bass that rolls in as you push the gain beyond medium overdrive range--sort of like a Black Face Fender if the lower gain overdrive characteristics could be maintained through to a much higher gain level. The Spooky Tooth brings an even wider array of distortion and overdrive tones into play--overall the rollback characteristics are smoother, and truer to the underlying guitar tone with less of the (artificial but often appealing) added sparkle common in vintage fuzzes.

At very low gain levels, both fuzzes exhibit a graininess that is very attractive to my ears; the Gnarly in particular produces some very unique sounds that I imagine would really scratch the itch of those itching for a "fuzzy overdrive."

After spending time with these, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that more folks would end up picking the Spooky Tooth, especially if they're looking for one fuzz to cover a wide range of tones. You could probably tell, though, that I lean slightly towards the Gnarly which just feels a little more like home to me.

[John Lyons]

Will you have my baby Daniel?
In some way you already have with these reviews.
Shit howdy!

[theactionindex]

Seriously awesome reviews dude. Whenever I've tried to review anything I usually run out of words to describe it and end up reverting to back to my default "uhhhh...it's awesome and it gives me a toanboner!"

[Dandolin]

^^Thanks. mang--I really loved all your demos!

[Eric!]

It's gun' be my turn! A report from down-undah! I even have a passive 6-string fretless to play through them, too, for comparisons! Were scheduled to be here yesterday, so I'm hoping they're at my doorstep in the morning I've been fairly fuzz-deprived lately (except for my trusty 4545), so this is gonna be fun!

[phantasmagorovich]

This has been a fun read!

[John Lyons]

It's gun' be my turn! A report from down-undah! I even have a passive 6-string fretless to play through them, too, for comparisons!

Cool! Looking forward to it. Bass in your face.



Did they show up?

[Eric!]

favorite toanz: zippy->spooky tooth

[Holy Schnikes]

After theactionindex and MEC's superb video demos and Dandolin's pro-style write ups along with insane fuzz history knowledge and accurate comparisons/descriptions, I don't feel like I have too much to add but I'll give it a go.

First off, I'll add the build quality and cosmetics on every Basic Audio box I've ever seen is beyond impressive, top notch in every way. They feel rock solid and I'm sure those of you who received that precious tourbox took a look inside at least one pedal. WOW! Amazingly clean layout and superb build, something to see. All the pedals packed a shitload of variety and volume with very little noise and the ability to behave well with most everything I paired 'em with. Many settings offered a very natural tone, just adding dirt, grit, or fuzz to your sound while retaining the lows and clarity. Boosting was blissful, opening whole new realms of sound possibility. Same goes for volume adjustments although it took me awhile to finally experiment with that. As soon as I thought I'd figured things out, I discovered the volume change added so many new tones it's like a different box. I also liked that the fuzz could be composed and tight(ish) or loose and crumbling on the tail end of notes, on the verge of just running wild. I underestimated the wide array of capabilities packed in these little guys, to say the least.

I think MEC mentioned it earlier but I was drawn to the Squarewave+ and Spooky Tooth right off the bat because of the simplicity of dialing in the HEAVIES! It wasn't until after I was done raging out with these two that I became aware of the huge array of tones each could put forth. They'll span the range of light grit to OD punch to distortion (smooth or nasty) suitable for all types of rock badassness to full on monster fuzz. Also accessible were various octave and synthy tones from mild to weird depending how you set it, but crushing and useable in every sense. Stunning really, some of the few pedals I've tried in such a small footprint capable of convicingly producing tones as far apart as old school Rolling Stones type stuff all the way through to modern day stoner/sludge/doom heaviness. Seriously, felt right at home regardless!

I also got some amazing noise and bass fuzz drones going with a looper, delay, and verb. Some tones were really hard to pin down as to what instrument would be responsible, synth? bass?? guitar??? I'm a huge fan of that quality. The Clamp control on the Squarewave+ was awesome, so many variants on the already wide array of clipping options. Really smart design feature that added immensely to that pedal. I also loved the diodes out setting, super punchy and authoritative! I thought I had a good handle on both until I started boosting 'em and tinkering with the guitar volume and realized I'd only cracked the surface. I WANT BOTH OF THESE, BADLY!

The Gnarly was also superb, reminded me a lot of the Spooky and still incredibly versatile regardless of sporting just the 3 controls. The Texture (I think it's labeled?) was superb and changed things up quite a bit. Dialed it in a bit nastier, which sounded incredible but reigned it back with volume control. Sounded killer but I'd probably go for the Spooky personally.

The Zippy was awesome although I never had a chance to try it on bass. Again, some really smooth, synth like sounds that could sustain forever, just snaking note to note all weird-like. Very cool and even cooler when paired with the delay and verb. You could also dial it in plenty harsh, upper register brassiness. I've never owned a fuzz that copped tones quite like the Zippy and were that simple to dail in, but I'd like too.

The Fuzzmondo was a high gain son of bitch, some really mean tones but not quite as open sounding as the those from the Squarewave+ or Spooky. Kind of squashed or compressed sounding. User error though as once I got to dialing, my volume knob in particular, I began to understand this one better. I think it it had one more control, pregain, it would really serve that circuit well. Pair that with the volume knob and again, you'd have a massive array of options.

My only complaint, and this is really more of a preference, would be to have top mounted jacks and power so I could squeeze as many BA pedals on my board as possible. Beyond that, shit was perfect!

John, incredible stuff and thanks again for the opportunity to participate.

[John Lyons]

Awsome, thanks Shannon!
FUzzmondo has a 4th knob now (dedicated fuzz knob, pre circuit)


Thanks for the detail in your review. I'm glad you touched on the
variable cutting and fat settings. That's a big one for me.
Being able to dial in the amount of sludge vs cutting fast attack
and midrange helps tune in a pedal to your setup and style.
Not so much a tone control as a "feel"...how it responds...

"My only complaint, and this is really more of a preference,
would be to have top mounted jacks and power..."
It would be nice but it's just not possible in a small box
and with the way I build them. The pots/Knobs would have to be moved
lower towards the switch and that looks strange and is clumsy being so
close to the switch...

Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate the feedback, good or bad.

Other tourbox dudes...
I'm not looking for anything verbose. Just let me know what you think of the
the pedals. Some of the reviews are very in depth and I appreciate that, but
just say what you want about the pedals in your own words, no pressure.
The reason I'm sending them out to you guys is to get feedback, see what you think,
tell others what you think...
Thanks!

John

[Holy Schnikes]

Awsome, thanks Shannon!
FUzzmondo has a 4th knob now (dedicated fuzz knob, pre circuit)

Sure thing John, my pleasure!
That 4 knob Fuzzmondo should be killer!

Being able to dial in the amount of sludge vs cutting fast attack
and midrange helps tune in a pedal to your setup and style.
Not so much a tone control as a "feel"...how it responds...

Exactly, not a simple high/low cut or boost but an overall change in feel and sound, perfect for tailoring.

"My only complaint, and this is really more of a preference,
would be to have top mounted jacks and power..."
It would be nice but it's just not possible in a small box
and with the way I build them. The pots/Knobs would have to be moved
lower towards the switch and that looks strange and is clumsy being so
close to the switch...

Yeah, I realized that once I opened one up. If I had to choose, I'd go with a smaller sized enclosure every time too. Can't have it all.