Some questions I've gotten by email:
What is it exactly? / I only kind of understand.The Upper almost became FuzzHugger's first octave up fuzz. But while experimenting with circuits (octaves, octave+fuzz), I kept coming back to wanting to let people build their own fuzz tone. I could've released a 6-8 knob octave up fuzz pedal, but in the end, how much cooler is it to add 3 knobs + octave to any fuzz?
Everyone's got a fuzz pedal or ten, so the Upper lets you add an octave (plus controls for sustain, texture, intensity) to any of them and find the one for you. Or change it up all the time!
By itself, it's slightly dirty, with octave up and some ring mod artifacts. Some settings want 1-2 notes only, but you can adjust it to accept chording. You can also get some nice cleanish and bell-like tones. A weirder take on a classic octave up, adjusted for extra dirt and flexibility...optimized for use with other pedals. You can adjust it to get dirtier, overdriven, or kinda nasty crap-out (by itself). You can fine-tune the octave intensity and texture, or adjust the octave out of it (but keep the slight dirt) like a semi-clean blend. Not just octave, but a cool dirt and texture machine!
The loop works with or without the Upper effect. This way, you can easily switch between:
1) The effect by itself (cleanish to overdrivey octave and such).
2) The pedal in the loop by itself.
3) Upper > pedal in the loop
Is it bass friendly? Which version is most bass friendly? Everyone's different. One person will rave about the Great Wall's bass response, and another will want more bass (difference in gear, and some people expecting the pedal to
add bass to a thin guitar).
There are a few bassists who like the similar (less expanded) mode in the Phantom Ring/Arcade. For bass guitar, I might have to build a custom one without the Frequency control. It's nice for guitar, because the octave (being an octave) can get a little bright. Probably not a problem on bass. So on bass, it might just make your bass' signal seem smaller. I'm no bass guitar expert. I could easily build one without the Freq control.
The Jr. version, which will probably be limited edition and/or availability, lets you pick the two controls you want. More info on that soon!
How'd someone order one already?I built that yellow sparkly Upper Jr. for a bassist (and ILFer). With Sustain and Bias controls, no Freq and no loop. He emailed me about building him one, so I did! Usually new pedals are ready a week or two before launch, so sometimes people email and I can build them one early.
It's being taken to a TalkBass get together this weekend, so we'll see what the bassist reaction is!
When will it be available? One week, tops.
Custom in stock, info on the site, some pre-orders, and hopefully a demo this weekend.
Price? Sorry for the delay on pricing. Final info this weekend along with that ^^. It's gonna be affordable as possible!
For $12, I will do that for you.
