ilovefuzz.com

Yeah, there's an adjustable delay to notes you play, and it also pitch shifts them up and down, increasing in intensity alongside the delay. Past a certain point you get really ragged sounds along with clock noise, and past that it becomes a cooler sounding version of the "no delay" setting. It can be modded into a single repeat fuzzy delay, too. And it's the loudest pedal I've ever played around with other than the Blowing Up.

building it and seeing how the delay/clock noise and stuff works also made it impossible for me to be impressed wih the sounds of the AD4096

Damn I didn't even know about half these pedals.
The BUZZZ sounds badass I must say

Gojira fx Mangler, got one in the works.

But what you need is an Unplesant Surprise, because I'd love to hear you playing it on your YouTube channel.

I won't argue that the unpleasant surprise isn't awesome because it's one of the best fuzzes of all time and can do soooo many sounds, but I think it's the wrong fuzz if you are looking to stack it. Firstly because half of the rad sounds are too high gain to be stacked (I just got rampant squealing, which while fun isn't always desirable) and secondly because I found that when I set it to stack well it was too gated on its own. That's what I found
But if you ignore stacking - yes get one. It's so good I think you should reconsider stackability as a factor...

I'm actually gonna go out on a limb and say that the Gnomeratron is more stackable than you'd expect, because of the "clean blend." It won't cascade ye olde gain stages, but you can use it to create some really cool fuzz-on-fuzz textures. And damn does it feedback like a BOSS when you let it. And that decay on those notes? FORGET ABOUT IT.

Also, in a similar but different vein from the Unpleasant Surprise is the variety of Freakenstein fuzzes from Rainger. I'm not sure how well they stack, but they sure as hell are unique.

goroth wrote:I won't argue that the unpleasant surprise isn't awesome because it's one of the best fuzzes of all time and can do soooo many sounds, but I think it's the wrong fuzz if you are looking to stack it. Firstly because half of the rad sounds are too high gain to be stacked (I just got rampant squealing, which while fun isn't always desirable) and secondly because I found that when I set it to stack well it was too gated on its own. That's what I found
But if you ignore stacking - yes get one. It's so good I think you should reconsider stackability as a factor...

I sometimes use it as a low gain and very gated fuzz into The Elements (muff type setting)... and the war between the dying sound of the Unpleasant Surprise and the sustain of The Elements is very nice.

I actually use my Unpleasantness at the end of my chain. I turn the compressor switch up and the other two down, drop the onset to give me a glitchy broken fuzz tone with that crackly note decay, and then when I hit it with my mini, it turns into a roaring octave-ish fuzz with tons of low end.

Also running a delay into it is a lot of fun for even more glitchy tones.

Another suggestion would be the Demo Tape Fuzz.
It's my favorite fuzz!

Been wanting to try one of those. Even though the demos Ive seen havent been super impressive, the description and peoples impressions make me want to try it.

neonblack wrote:Been wanting to try one of those. Even though the demos Ive seen havent been super impressive, the description and peoples impressions make me want to try it.

This is how I feel too. Most of the demos haven't really impressed me but everyone here seems to be such a fan that I figure I'll have to give one a shot sometime.

sylnau wrote:But what you need is an Unplesant Surprise, because I'd love to hear you playing it on your YouTube channel.

neonblack wrote:I actually use my Unpleasantness at the end of my chain. I turn the compressor switch up and the other two down, drop the onset to give me a glitchy broken fuzz tone with that crackly note decay, and then when I hit it with my mini, it turns into a roaring octave-ish fuzz with tons of low end.

Also running a delay into it is a lot of fun for even more glitchy tones.

This. That sounds amazing.
I've been thinking that if I set the bias and gain a certain way on the mini that it would stack well with the unpleasant surprise

I keep my bias around 3 o clock for a little lo fi action and extra bass response (I play bass) but still plenty of clarity, and my gain between noon and 2 o'clock usually. Just adds a little grunge and grit, and stack well with pretty much everything. I put stuff before it if I want a little more squishy fuzziness, and after for a sharper attack and a hi mid boost.

I'll record a little clip on my phone tomorrow to give you some idea of what it sounds like. I can do bass and baritone guitar.

Posting to say I love my unpleasant surprise and I'm really happy no one bought it a month ago because it's a staple of my bass rig now. It can do anything from sputtery "bad" stuff to just being a fantastic, nearly traditional sounding distortion pedal. All with 2 knobs, 3 switches, and a smaller enclosure than some packs of gum. Also, I'm not huge on running it before dirt but if you really slam it with a dirt before (I love a Rat into it) it becomes a house shaker.