FC Four Eyes vs DBA Apocalypse

[synthezatory]

What's your pick and reasons if you're down to these 2 pedals? Initially looking for versatility but will go for the sound. Any other 'swiss-army-knife' fuzz pedals out there? pretty sure the apocalypse is one of them. Thanks!

[StopReferencing]

Keepin' it positive: Fairfield Circuitry's build quality (read: reliability) and designs are very impressive.

[futuresailors]

Gnometron VTF! It's the whole goddamn Swiss Army.

[Holy Schnikes]

Gnometron VTF! It's the whole goddamn Swiss Army.

Word. Particularly the Deluxe which may not be offered anymore, unsure...



As for the other two, I love the Four Eyes. It's definitely versatile, huge range of tones with that 3 band fuzzed out EQ and Q control and while it's capable of some standard fuzz tones, it leans more towards the weird in my setup. The coolest feature is the expression/cv control, lets you really take advantage of the weirdness and use it in ways most fuzz pedals aren't meant to be used.

I'm sure sylnau and phantasmagorovich will add some valuable info to this thread eventually, they've been regular Four Eyes users awhile longer than myself.

Onto the DBA, I think the Apocalypse looks really cool and sounds good in demos but I've yet to try one. People will chime in on lack of build of quality and ridic prices associated with DBA, both of which are legitimate complaints. However, I've owned several DBAs and only had one issue in the past which was immediately covered by their lifetime warranty so no worries there. Never been to blown away by their fuzz pedals weirdly but the Echo Dream is absolutely fantastic.

EDIT: One real problematic issue with the DBA stuff I've owned is INSANE OUTPUT, like nothing I've ever heard. Overkill in most instances so keep that in mind.

[fuzzmax]

i'm waiting for an apocalypse......i'll give my thoughts about it. the pgs demo really rocks.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Never tried the apocalypse but I agree with Schnikes about the four eyes, that thing is versatile as hell, and sounds really unique.

[sylnau]

Four Eyes, it's one of the best fuzz I ever tried... so much sounds in that little box.
No time to elaborate more tonight, but if you have some question... let me know.

In some setting you can have a broken speaker with some sub octave... I'm in love.
But you can also get straight fuzz sound as distortion.

[synthezatory]

The good thing about the apocalypse is that we can switch around 5 different sound modes, I seem to like few of them from the demo (2, 4/octave and 5), not sure if it's really that good in real life though. While I found the 4 eyes is interesting, I'm not sure if it could be more versatile the dba in terms of sound shaping.. i don't know, maybe i'm just talking outta my behind. That's why the swiss army kind fuzz is asked to be added to this discussion

[Holy Schnikes]

The DBA does look versatile but reminds me of their IOS and all of it's settings, most of which I disliked.

Saw an Apocalypse YouTube demo recently and it sounded so good in every mode. Then one owner commented that it's so fucking loud he can barely push it and then the EQ goes to shit. Also noted most modes, beyond the octave, just sounded like more gain/drive was added to the last mode. For $270, that one review really turned me off cuz I could totally relate with my past DBA experiences.

[synthezatory]

The DBA does look versatile but reminds me of their IOS and all of it's settings, most of which I disliked.

Saw an Apocalypse YouTube demo recently and it sounded so good in every mode. Then one owner commented that it's so fucking loud he can barely push it and then the EQ goes to shit. Also noted most modes, beyond the octave, just sounded like more gain/drive was added to the last mode. For $270, that one review really turned me off cuz I could totally relate with my past DBA experiences.

THIS is Exactly the way i take on the research. It only takes one or two bad reviews to kill the mood, reconsider and (most of cases) leave. Any other contender?

[Holy Schnikes]

Well, it's not a fuzz but the Dr. Scientist Elements is probably the closest thing to a swiss-army-knife dirt I've ever owned and it really excels in every setting. Goes from a clean boost to light OD to crunch to hi gain to thick fuzzy/distortion all the way up to the perfect super tight palm mute distortion. Has an active 3 band EQ that's really powerful and toggles to further fine tune that EQ and the overall gain structure. Simply badass, especially the high gain, but not all out weirdness involved. Expression control for mix is very nice tho.

As for fuzz:

Gnometron VTF as mentioned. The earlier Deluxe is insanely tweakable.

ss/bs Poly-Grace if you can find one. Rules. Hard.

EQD Hoof Reaper is cool with the tweaked muff plus bender plus green ringer octave in between.

Blackout Twosome gets a buncha praise as well.

The Earthbound Audio Beast is super, pimped out muff with a lots of EQ control and two separate oscillation footswitches.

The Fuzzhugger AB Synth 5k or 6K (think that exists now too?) is incredible with an insane oscillation mode.

The Infanem Second Voice Deluxe looks so good I preordered without even seeing a demo based on the original Second Voices and the explanation of added features.

Lastly, another non-fuzz suggestion would be the standard Fuck OD, goes from pretty clean all the way through really thick and heavy, sounds nice and wide open with great EQ and plenty of low end. Also has the momentary stomp feature to give you the broken speaker sounds/crackle at will.

Plenty of cool fuzz, tons, but those are a few of the most versatile (going from normal to insane) I can conjur up off the top of my head.