Talk to me about the Pharaoh

[zRobertez]

All this is good good things to hear! I'm deffy down.

what does diodes out mean?
thats the second time ive heard that term

what it means to me is a lot less gain and fuck tons more volume. I have an od with a similar switch.

[Holy Schnikes]

Yeah, just means the silicon/germanium clipping diodes are removed from the circuit via 3-way toggle. It provides the least amount of gain but heaps of volume and awesome heavy tonez. Silicon adds more gain but reduces output a bit, germ even more gain and less volume. The Pharaoh has TONS of output tho, unity in germ setting is around 2-3 o'clock on the dial.

[myrrh]

Coming home from work pretty tired this is what I read:

Pharaoh is my tuner, volume pedal, and E600D or Sunny Day Delay

I was all How does he do that?

[dubkitty]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl5dZxA-rZY[/youtube]

[wdinc01]

. Nothing is heavy enough for me)

you should come over and
let me cook you a steak someday

ILF summer BBQ?

ILF+BBQFUNFEST2013

I'm down

[zRobertez]

WHOA! 'nother question!
How necessary (ie fun/worth it) is it to get a version with the germanium option?

[AxAxSxS]

I really like the germanium setting, It's smoother to my ear. I pretty much leave it on that all the time.

[univalve]

I also tend to use The ge Setting The Most.

[Butch1970]

If all I could use was the GE side of this pedal, I'd still be quite happy!

[ryan summit]

i always use the no diode select on the toggle
i got the badascan though
no diodes and hi on the other toggle
i think if i used it less
id probly use the germ setting
alot muffier,no?

[zRobertez]

So its totes worth

[wdinc01]

Totes. And as mentioned, you can pick up on of these used for around $100 with all the options. There's always some up on TGP. And if you look around you can probably find some in a custom color if you so desire. Mine is orange.

[Holy Schnikes]

Coming home from work pretty tired this is what I read:

Pharaoh is my tuner, volume pedal, and E600D or Sunny Day Delay

I was all How does he do that?

Lol, I wish.

[benjuro]

Only things on my current board longer than my Pharaoh is my tuner, volume pedal, and an E600D or Sunny Day Delay I like to rotate. I srsly haven't pulled it off ever since getting it years ago. The sound is unlike anything else, heavy as hell but not super high gain. This pedal taught me that high gain doesn't always equate to heaviness, a very valuable lesson! Just a HUGE sound with tons of bass that actully holds together. Tone controls are powerful and it's the best fuzz I own when it comes to stacking, retains it's lowend goodness while letting the added frequencies blend right in. Something like the Algal Bloom that brings more high end heavies is a perfect match when stacking or simply boost the shit out of it with a good OD. Oh, the low gain settings are great too but I find myself in high gain mostly, silicon or diodes out.

Also, like benjuro mentioned, you haven't truly experienced a Pharaoh (or any BAT pedal for that matter) if you haven't run it at high volume. That's what these pedals were designed for, plain and simple. So many fuzz pedals do low volume very well but when you get a chance to try 'em in a band situation, that tone you grew to love in the bedroom is no longer present at realistic volume levels. BAT stuff only gets better with volume and Mark designed the entire lineup to perform in that fashion.

My other favorites would be the Revelation Superbass and Ritual. I'm may prefer the Rev over my Pharaoh and I absolutely LOVE my Pharaoh. The Ritual is a nastier option with a hint of velcro heaviness, lots of gain, lots of volume. Neither of these pedals sport tone controls, a far cry from the Pharaoh, but they honestly don't need 'em. Voiced perfectly IMO, sounds like your guitar tone only heavy as fuck. Again, low gain on the Rev is killer too.

And in the interest of full disclosure, I don't play doom.

Yeah this is what I was TRYING to articulate, hahaha. Superbass just barely--BARELY--bumped my Pharaoh from my board.
The BAT stuff is definitely designed for real life real volume jams. Tones change in a very radical way with lots of volume, and so many pedals that sound awesome when your girl is sleeping upstairs sound like tin cans in front of a roaring amp.
Germs is good to have for sure for another flavor, but I'm with Schnikes--I use mine with diodes out 90% of the time, and it is the most glorious wide-open sounding heaviness ever.
I seriously wrote Mark like a gushing love letter after I jammed my Pharaoh for a few days. In this case, less gain can actually be far heavier...
and I do play doom

[Holy Schnikes]

I seriously wrote Mark like a gushing love letter after I jammed my Pharaoh for a few days. In this case, less gain can actually be far heavier...

Haha, I did the same exact thing. I have a feeling we're not alone either, Mark probably has an email folder full of tone-based love letters from grown men all because of the Pharaoh.