Sell me on ILF-approved dirt boxes

[tremolo3]

mini, fuck, smallsound, dirge, DBA, LASTGP and all those you guys sell or WTB in the BST section

I've tried and built some dirt boxes and I'm OK now with a Boss OD3 for low gain and a Turbo Rat for the rest.
I mostly use these dirt pedals on an indie/shoegaze project, but I'm not into the "_ _ _ pedal is for _ _ _ music" and I'm open to try new things.

So what am I missing? How diferent those things sound compared to more run-of-the-mill pedals?

Bonus for comparison clips.

[D.o.S.]

in short: the Mini and the fuck are the same pedal, basically, and they're both made by smallsoundBigSound. Dirge is on hiatus but I don't think he ever built a "signature" dirt box anyway, LAL make a wide variety of pedals that make gnarly sounds and so do DBA.

They sound, in some case, very different than more run of the mill pedals, but you're asking for sweeping generalities about very different companies and a wide assortment of pedals, so it's hard to give a good answer that isn't just "go listen to youtube demos, dude."

[tremolo3]

Yeah, I have indeed listened to some youtube demos, but the problem is that none of these demos include any other pedal that I can take as a reference.

[ThurberMingus]

The Mini - just get it. There are no "amazing" demos, but trust me. It sounds great, it's versatile, it has mojo forever. Brian is the coolest dude and he is in a sweet band.

The Elements - It does everything my Rat did but it sounds way better and has more toanz and controls. Plus Ryan actually has "ilovefuzz.com" printed on the PCB. It slays for shoegaze, and metal, and lawyer blooz.

Those are my only two dirt's right now. Together they make an insane fuzzy wall of debauchery. Oh yeah, they both slay on bass as well.

[D.o.S.]

Yeah, I have indeed listened to some youtube demos, but the problem is that none of these demos include any other pedal that I can take as a reference.

Oh, yeah, that's totally fair.

Here's a good one for the ss/BS pedals, it's on bass but it gives you some nice reference tones/ideas what each does to the signal:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b1EsA1XMgo[/youtube]

[lordgalvar]

There are a few for LAL that do kind of compare to other pedals. I don't think there is a whole lot overlap between commertial pedals here but there is some.

Anyway, here is my take on LAL:
46 -> Solid all around fuzz that can oscillate (though it's less a feature than a result of the design), but also get very compressed on high gain settings. It has a very full sound (probably of all the LAL) but it is also always the 46. It has a tone switch 1 is mid boost (sounds a bit thinner with more bite) and 2 is scooped bass/treble boost that sounds more evil. I would say that the sustain is medium. I use it for punk stuff and it can get a bit muddy with power chords. I know some people use it for stoner/doom-y stuff. It doesn't always work well with other pedals though (it gets crazy compressed with any added gain...mud)...It's something like people would use a muff, beebaa or super fuzz for, but with its own character. To me, it is my go to fucking-around fuzz (playing subhumans/rudimentary peni and the like).

88 -> It's a box of filters, gain stages, and feedback/oscillators that can be turned on and off and controlled by the "adjust" knob. It can do everything from raspy fuzz, different overdrive-y things, synthy (though I wouldn't call it synthy), full on osc fuzz. It's a little thinner sounding and less extreme than the 46, but way more versitile and fun. Elvind's video is the best for this one. It can really fit in anywhere if you try with it. And it works well with other pedals. It's like an Improbability drive, fuzz factory, or something but different and more easily dialed in and played with, again, a totally unique LAL take.

Lluna -> Probably the most mellow osc fuzz I have ever played. It interacts well with other pedals and has a nice timbre to it. It does oscillate, but it is controllable by the osc/gain knob. It has a voltage starve to make it a bit more lo-fi and, I think, it adds a nice tonal character to it (though there is a volume drop). It's got a nice tone but it isn't a full out fuzz like the 46 or 88. It stacks well but probably needs a boost. I think it would fit well in a mix in a lot of different settings.

Gomorrah -> This is a sub-octave fuzz with two modes: the first is a synthy suboctave bass with little to no dry mixed in and the second is "overtone mode" that mixes dry signal. The amount of sub-octave is increased with less volume/light picking from your guitar so it is kind of reversed in my head. The overtone mode is a nice raspy, thin character to it that will go to glitchy sub-octave with light picking. It will sputter and die but it isn't that hard gated. Sub-octave mode is pretty much a sub-octave mode. Sens controls how easy it is to trigger the different layers. This pedal stacks really well with modulation and is very dynamic. I think the overtone, hard picking sound has a nice fuzzy sound. It worked really well with my delays too because it didn't drown them with sustain. It's way more dynamic than something like a Blue Box to me and much more cutting. Mid-Fi Psych Byke and others are out there but they are all kind of to taste and dependant on playing style. I like that I can dynamically make it sound drastically different.

Octavella -> This guy, I think, is the black sheep of the line. It is an octave up fuzz that gets high gain but it also has a feedback control that will create an oscillation that sustains for a bit then gates. It's somewhat like quickly filling and draining a cup of oscillation. It has similar stacking problems to the 46 but it is a noisy distinct fuzz that I love but I can't really fit it in (it's very strange). It's the only thing I heard that oscillates this way.

Steroid O.D. -> It's an overdrive pedal with a switched boost section and a limiter. Very low gain and low volume. I didn't like it on bass or with solid state. I think it would be best as a gain stage for something else without a huge volume boost. It adds a tiny amount of grit. Hot cakes, boss overdrive or even the Driving notion are probably better choices for most.

Devil Tail -> It's a distortion pedal. I wouldn't call it a metal pedal...probably something more like a UK82 (think Chaos UK) or something would use. It does have the EQ and I felt like it had a distinct character, but I would never say that it is signicantly better or more useful than a lot of other distortion pedals. I'll say its better than a DS-1 but there are probably a bunch of distortion pedals out there that are readily and cheaply availiable that could compete.

Tone Axe -> It is a divider fuzz with a gate. The jetalizer thing isn't that integral really. It's really nice if you want a heavily gated, great sounding, divider fuzz (like it is much better than my fuzzmonger because it has more than one useful setting). I always kind of used this on it's own, however I would run the 46 before this sometimes for a high gain and gate sound. Not a lot of divider fuzzes on the market (that I can think of off the top of my head).

Toxic Plant -> Distortion with ring mod. Didn't play well with other dirt but it nails that ring mod/distortion +other weirdness sound. It's a blast, but you have to play different and accomodate the abrasive, random nature. (this was actually what i wished I had back in my band because all I ran was a ring mod (completely wet) and a distortion).


These two ain't dirt but they kinda are on the fringes.
Angel Ring -> with full gain, it gives a nice bite and feeds well into amp gain. Adds volume because its a boost. UG's demo of this is the one to look at. Clean boosts are all over the place and some go into overdrive land. Too many to compare and I don't really know them that well. I like it much better than my Effector 13 Dark Boost because it does more...but
Cyber Psychic -> Turn off the osc and just use the gain and filter for a pretty good lo-fi dirt sound that stacks well...though it shouldn't be your only dirt. It's the only pedal like it.

If I ever get off my ass and make demos, I will make a LAL fuzz video. (eh, since I have no camera worth a damn, maybe I will just record it on my tascam).

Infanem:
Driving Notion -> It is a different take on the "overdrive". there are a lot of good tones in it and it's pretty easy to dial in. It gets raspy and stuff without ever going into distictly one territory of fuzz or overdrive. It's neat and unique. It is almost like separately gaining and charactering bands of signal with a pre and post gain. It's got it's own character.

141G -> It's like taking the Driving Notion concept into the oscillating fuzz arena. Pre and Post gain mixed with different bands of oscillation that are somewhat separately controlled. The gate switch turns it into a gated fuzz, but it doesn't gate all the way. Totally different character from anything LAL.

Improbability Drive -> It is what it is and it will always be that. Would rather have a Year 4545, 88, or a fuzz factory but it has a character of it's own.

[tremolo3]

lordgalvar, thanks for taking the time to write that!

I guess I could start with Driving Notion, Lluna and Mini/Fuck.

[Chankgeez]

88 -> It's a box of filters, gain stages, and feedback/oscillators that can be turned on and off and controlled by the "adjust" knob. It can do everything from raspy fuzz, different overdrive-y things, synthy (though I wouldn't call it synthy), full on osc fuzz. It's a little thinner sounding and less extreme than the 46, but way more versitile and fun. Elvind's video is the best for this one. It can really fit in anywhere if you try with it. And it works well with other pedals. It's like an Improbability drive, fuzz factory, or something but different and more easily dialed in and played with, again, a totally unique LAL take.


Tone Axe -> It is a divider fuzz with a gate. The jetalizer thing isn't that integral really. It's really nice if you want a heavily gated, great sounding, divider fuzz (like it is much better than my fuzzmonger because it has more than one useful setting). I always kind of used this on it's own, however I would run the 46 before this sometimes for a high gain and gate sound. Not a lot of divider fuzzes on the market (that I can think of off the top of my head).

Thanks fo' reminding me I wanna both o' these pedals.

[lordgalvar]

Part 2?? I've had too many fuzzes....

M.A.S.F. (much better at other things, but make more dirt than other pedals )
Biloma -> It's an envelope fuzz that is very similar in dynamic to the LAL Rattle Crow (as UG expertly showed) but combine with the character of very early Effector 13 devices like the Super Silicon Transistor Tri-Fuzz. It is very heavy on the treble and harsh. I can't think of anything like it, but I wouldn't call it useful. It does, however, stack well. It can get very gated and choppy.

Life Convulsion -> It's supposedly a harsh octave up fuzz that I didn't find to really be that over-the-top. It gets kinda muddy on power chords up by the nut, but it gets useable down around the 12th fret (which, I guess, is to be expected). To me, it is kinda weak and lacks character that the 46 and Octavella have in droves. It's an ok fuzz and is probably in the super fuzz realm. UG did a great job at demos on this guy and he likes it more than I do.

Epilepsy and Thornoscillator -> Wait for the Eivind demos. Never had them, but they seem like the top of the MASF dirt line.

Paranoid and Lavender Head -> Meant to be specific sounds based off of bands styles. Paranoid is obvious and Lavender Head is supposed to be that 1960s-1970s fuzz/Eddie Hazel sound. I dunno, I don't like designs like that and there are too many pedals that do this (Catalianbread's whole company pretty much). Never had either of these though.


Effector 13 (these are all old, but the ones I used)
Super Silicon Transistor Tri-Fuzz -> A very thin and weak sounding pedal that was actually awesome but I never felt like it cut in a band mix. Nothing sounds like its thin treble gate or osc mode. But it really only did that. The knobs weren't useful and there are a ton of better osc fuzzes. But the gated modes were awesome for lo-fi chop.

Truly Beautiful Disaster -> I am sure it changed a ton over it's life, but the one I had (probably 2004ish) just didn't really work in a band context. There was oscillation and sub-octave but it was hard for notes to really sound like anything other than muffled gas. The blue box is a much better choice but they may sound totally different now.

Silver Crank -> I think I had one of the earliest ones. It was ok if you liked what it sounded like, but it just had one sound. I'd honestly rather have a muff or something for a full bodied riff fuzz (but 46 is my tops). I also don't know how much it changed over the years (I think I got it in 2004).

[lordgalvar]

Thanks fo' reminding me I wanna both o' these pedals.

Both are two of my all time favorites. I played the hell out of some Tone Axe. Don't know why I put it away even.


I am also going to give a big shout out to the LAL Thunder Boxx...it really does give a hi-fi sound to anything almost. It doesn't sound that cool in description, but in person it really adds something to a lot of fuzzes.

[UglyCasanova]

This is awesome, lordgalvar! I'm sure to read through these properly when I have the time.

[lordgalvar]

This is awesome, lordgalvar! I'm sure to read through these properly when I have the time.

Heck, I was going to suggest that you comment too. You, Pepe, Eivind, and UG have the dirt on some dirt too. Why isn't there a cheese "smilies" icon?

You guys know more about the flavors like Malekko, Seppuku, and DBA. I've only used the fuzz war. I was only trying to list the more original circuits I've used (not the clones and stuff). Oh, and I am sure you could add to my 141g description. Just like Eivind to my 88 description.

[Strange Tales]

Has anyone ever used the MASF Starry Wisdom? I was thinking of getting one.

In reality I really just want a Year 4545 though, keep on missing them though.

[lordgalvar]

Has anyone ever used the MASF Starry Wisdom? I was thinking of getting one.

In reality I really just want a Year 4545 though, keep on missing them though.

I think Mudfuzz. They're really isn't much information out there about it other than Boris using one. It sounds kinda weird to me from the demos I have heard

[OddKnowledge]

For a more direct comparison to the original post, i have a Mini and some version mod OD-3. For low gain, i could honestly use either on my board depending on how i feel. I tend to stick with the mini because i can get od-3 tones from the mini, but i can't get mini tones with the od-3... if that makes any sense. The Eq and the bias on the mini give me more options.