ilovefuzz.com

So after getting home from the holidays, I found a cute little package on my doorstep. Santa had forgotten to bring me any fuzz for Christmas, so I was hoping that maybe an elf was resolving the oversight. And I suppose I was right... if elves chase hopelessly after Samurai and live down South.



In my hot little hands, I held 1 (one) McSpunckle And Aardvarks! overdrive (as discussed in DIY), and 1 (one) McSpunckle Gnomeratron Mini... being McSpunckle, he gave me my choice of diodes for the MiniGnome, and I don't remember what I picked... LED & Schottky, I think. Anyhow, I've been messing around with these two guys, and I think they're pretty damned badass. I even went so far as to change the strings on my bass to record the demo! Now, for a bass player, that's dedication!

In terms of how the pedals sound & stuff... man, they sound gooooooooooooooooood. I've never been an OD guy, so I didn't really know what people were talking about when they discussed "transparent" ODs. Well, now I know. And Aardvarks! is fantastic on bass - it adds a nice heft to my signal without losing the original feel. And it's got three levels of clip (one mostly clean, one more cutting & buzzy, and one nice & full & bordering on fuzzy). The MiniGnome is a more focused version of the Gnomeratron VTF. I believe there will be many different permutations, but mine has knobs for Clean(ish), Fuzz and Gain, as well as a Gate control on the side, and an octave/muffy fuzz switch. Since I'm pretty sure that this is the LED/Schottky version, it's a little more tight & buzzy than my big Si/Ge version.

I recorded a single quick clip of the two - first the And Aardvarks, then the MiniGnome, then AA into MG.

[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/thewyrrejimes/mcspunckle-and-aardvarks-plus-mini-gnome[/soundcloud]

Deets: Fender Jazz (passive) into McSpunckle And Aardvarks! into MiniGnome into M Audio Fast Track Pro into Garageband

0:00 - clean tone
0:09 - AA! Cleanish boost, tone + gain max
0:20 - AA! Cleanish boost, tone noon, gain max
0:30 - AA! Cleanish boost, tone + gain noon
0:41 - AA! Trebly OD, tone + gain max
0:55 - AA! Trebly OD, tone noon, gain max
1:09 - AA! Trebly OD, tone + gain noon
1:19 - AA! Full OD, tone + gain max (mah fave of the ODs)
1:34 - AA! Full OD, tone noon, gain max
1:48 - AA! Full OD, tone + gain noon
2:00 - MiniGnome Muffy Fuzz
2:18 - MiniGnome Muffy Fuzz - less cleanish, more gain
2:31 - MiniGnome Muffy Fuzz - more cleanish, lower fuzz
2:48 - MiniGnome Octave Fuzz
3:01 - MiniGnome Octave Fuzz - more cleanish
3:19 - MiniGnome Octave Fuzz - more cleanish, higher gain
3:37 - MiniGnome Octave + AA! Full OD
3:59 - MiniGnome Muffy Fuzz + AA! Full OD (might be my fave of the two stacked)
4:20 - MiniGnome Octave + AA! Full OD gate down... with a side of sloppy noodling & a squeal of feedback at the end (this might also be my fave of the two stacked) (What? I can have more than one favorite! You're not the boss of me!)

So yeah... I loves 'em!

EDIT: per bronzetalon's suggestion, I recorded a clip of the Gnomeratron Mini pushing the And Aardvarks! Definitely some fun stuff - you can get insanely crunchy, insanely saturated, insanely insane... Since I did the more formal bit yesterday, I noodled through this one. And just to be a dick, I didn't write down my settings. HA! The first riff / segment is just the Gnomeratron for reference, the rest is all Gnome into Aardvarks.

[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/thewyrrejimes/aamg-noodling[/soundcloud]

You've got some McSpunckle on your face.

Also, awesome!

Mine look cooler. My mini gnome is set up the same as your except my default diodes are led and germanium I think. Plus my mini gnome has clipping diode sockets!

Nice Demo BTW

bronzetalon wrote:Mine look cooler. My mini gnome is set up the same as your except my default diodes are led and germanium I think. Plus my mini gnome has clipping diode sockets!

Nice Demo BTW

Nice! Thanks man... personally, I liked all of the color schemes... but I may be biased...

The gnome just sounds so good going into other overdrives. Right now I'm digging my messed up gnome with ge/ge clipping into a ehx hot tubes with light ovedrive into a CC/DC and I'm getting some really gnarly sounds.

bronzetalon wrote:The gnome just sounds so good going into other overdrives. Right now I'm digging my messed up gnome with ge/ge clipping into a ehx hot tubes with light ovedrive into a CC/DC and I'm getting some really gnarly sounds.

You're running your Gnome INTO an overdrive? Whoa... I didn't try that. I was going Aadvark into Gnome. I should try switching 'em around, too!

jrmy wrote:

bronzetalon wrote:The gnome just sounds so good going into other overdrives. Right now I'm digging my messed up gnome with ge/ge clipping into a ehx hot tubes with light ovedrive into a CC/DC and I'm getting some really gnarly sounds.

You're running your Gnome INTO an overdrive? Whoa... I didn't try that. I was going Aadvark into Gnome. I should try switching 'em around, too!

Oh man IMO you get way better sounds that way. But what you were getting in the clips were nice I just don't see the need with a regular gnome since I don't use the clean blend much if I want pre fuzz boost I'll just use the magic mode.

Those are HOT! Nice clip man! How much did both run you if you don't mind me asking?

I think the mini gnome is 135 right now but don't quote me on that. I have no idea what the and ardvarks costs but i would suppose something equal to or below the mini gnome (prolly below).

Really like that booster.

bronzetalon wrote:I think the mini gnome is 135 right now but don't quote me on that. I have no idea what the and ardvarks costs but i would suppose something equal to or below the mini gnome (prolly below).

Yeah, I'm not exactly sure - I got mine as payment for the artwork. I think they're pretty reasonable, though, from what I remember.

Bellyheart wrote:Really like that booster.

It's really sweet, man. I bet it would sound awesome pushing a big ol tubey amp.

Oh, and bronzetalon was totally right - Mini Gnome INTO And Aardvarks! is FARKING AWESOME! If I can find the time, I'll record clips of that tomorrow.

Yup, and it seems to react differently but good with all types of overdrives after the gnome.

Woah... missed this thread!

jwar wrote:Those are HOT! Nice clip man! How much did both run you if you don't mind me asking?

Gnomeratron minis are $135 with the octave up, and 120 without it. And Aardvarks! are $85.


Thanks for the props, guyses!

Edited that first post, adding a clip of Gnomeratron Mini into the And Aardvarks! Super fun...

MINI GNOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU MEAN IT CAN ACTUALLY FIT ON MY BOARD!!!!!!!!!!!! McSpunkle, I love you