ilovefuzz.com

I thought it might be helpful to compile a list of pedals that shape your tone. For the purpose of this thread, I'm talking about pedals that change the frequencies (equalization) and envelope (compression/expansion) of your signal. I realize this is a very gray area, but if possible let's try to avoid the very obvious graphic equalizers and transparent compressors. Basically I'd like to make a compendium of pedals that add a lot of tonal colorization. It should go without saying, but I don't mean distortion and modulation and that stuff. It might be cool to go into detail about what they're really doing. This kind of shit is great for shaping fuzz pedals.

Here's a shortlist I came up with to get started:

1. Catalinbread Naga Viper: treble boost pedal, Range (frequency), Heat (gain), Boost (output/level). A Rangemaster that you can control the frequency and gain of.

2. Guyatone Sonic Shaper: Level (output/level) and Shape (“adjusts point and level of harmonic emphasis”).

3. Snarling Dogs Vari-Tone: Tone Selector (5-position notch filter) and Volume Compensator (output/level boost knob). Also has Attack control with Snarl/Bite settings (uncertain what they do). Basically a Gibson-style Vari-Tone switch with a preamp in pedal form.

4. Dunlop Q-Zone. Volume (output/level), Q-Zone (q or range of frequency), Peak (frequency). Basically a one-band parametric EQ similar to a wah pedal that you can set.


ADDED 7/23/2013

5. Smallsound/Bigsound Sparkle Motion: Rangemaster that can also boost bass and midrange and bias. Input attentuation, EQ, treble/bass switch, bias, volume.

6. Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone: dirty, colorful compressor. Grit, Sustain, Blend, Treble, Volume.

7. Boss SP-1/Behringer SE200: kind of a one-band parametric EQ/treble boost thing. Balance and Spectrum

8. Pearl Thriller TH-20: Frequency ("Adjusts the point where the frequency is cut-off by the low-cut filter, 600Hz-7kHz"), Color ("Boosts the levels around the cut-off point of the low-cut filter"), Balance ("Mixes the direct sound and the low-cut sound"), Multipeak ("Boosts the frequency of the six points of the high frequency range").

9. Death By Audio Kill Kill Filter: Two-band filter with Volume and Gain boost.

10. Spaceman Mercury III harmonic boost: seems Rangemaster based with the ability to boost bass, middle, or treble. Boost, Tone (6 frequency settings), Harmonic control

11. Telenordia TF-1 Filter: " Six frequency center points...available for a boost of up to 18dB...The shape of the filter curve can be either low shelf, bell or high shelf, with the possibility of blending between the three configurations." Boost, Frequency, Blend knobs.

12. FuzzHugger Magic Meter: multi stage clipping overdrive pedal with active T/M/B control and a frequency tripler (!)

BONUS ROUND

Ibanez PM7: can be set as a static filter

ADDED 7/25/2013

Parked Wahs
Wilson Parked Wah
Custom Guitar Gear Jekekoh
Keeley Nova
Logan Sound Wah Anti Wah

EQ
Dr. Scientist The Cleanness
Earthquaker Devices Tone Job

dirts with lots of shaping
EHX English Muff’n
Dr. Scientist Elements

Here's a picture from Guyatone's site about what the Shape knob is doing.

smallsound/bigsound makes a really fantastic treble booster with variable input and output gain, tone, and transistor bias.

If you turn the depth all the way down on the Ibanez PM7 it turns into a static phase / filter. Manual knob controls the frequency, plus positive and negative resonance with a three way switch to control it. It might clip if you send a really hot signal through it, but yeah. The best cheap pedal ever.

Fromel - Shape EQ
Empress ParaEQ
Telenordia TF-1
Spaceman Mercury III
Dr. Scientist The Cleanness
BJFE Sea Blue EQ

Basically any EQ pedal...but you already knew that

Edit:
After rereading (and better comprehending OP) I think most of the Pigtronix line is what you're talking about here. Also Lovetone.

FuzzHugger Magic Meter

12XU2A3X3 wrote:smallsound/bigsound makes a really fantastic treble booster with variable input and output gain, tone, and transistor bias.

Yeah I used to love the sparkle motion as a general tone shaper when I had one. It's cool having a fuzz pedal on one sound then kicking in a filter/EQ pedal and having a totally different sound out of the same fuzz.

monkeydancer wrote:

12XU2A3X3 wrote:smallsound/bigsound makes a really fantastic treble booster with variable input and output gain, tone, and transistor bias.

Yeah I used to love the sparkle motion as a general tone shaper when I had one. It's cool having a fuzz pedal on one sound then kicking in a filter/EQ pedal and having a totally different sound out of the same fuzz.

Yeah I have monkeydancers old one! so to the above! I really like it

rustywire wrote:

After rereading (and better comprehending OP) I think most of the Pigtronix line is what you're talking about here. Also Lovetone.

i was gonna up pig too
the philosophers tone is good at finetuning the high end
and the grit takes the edge off a bit
but doesnt do much for low end
its not like a "stomp this and check this effect out" pedal
its either on the whole time or off
its the closest thing to an eq that i have
and because it does so much for givin me the sound i want
(drippy with o.d.,ballsy as fuck with fuzz,sustain/feedback forever)
its never gonna leave my board
when i was searching for the gnarliest growliest sound
badascan>devi e.b.>philosophers tone
it dont get any more disgusting than that
you know unless i knew how to actually play
and by itself with the grit
is the only way id play without an actual distortion/o.d. on

Boss SP-1 (and the Berhinger SE200), Pearl Thriller, and the DBA Kill Kill Filter probably...

THD Quintet, which is a passive Vari-tone type pedal. Eq pre-distortion is always great for fine-tuning the sound, especially with how you can dial-in your sound with a parametric mid-band. But you've probably got fuzzes that hate having active, buffered pedals in front and get cranky. The passive Vari-tone is perfect for these pedals. I paid under $40 new for the THD when they were running three times that. DIY is a more cost effective option than paying full freight.

Metal Zone

Earthquaker Devices Talons, and Earthquaker Devices Tone Job.

Dr. Sci The Elements/Cleanness
Stone Deaf PDF-1

Gone Fission wrote:THD Quintet, which is a passive Vari-tone type pedal. Eq pre-distortion is always great for fine-tuning the sound, especially with how you can dial-in your sound with a parametric mid-band. But you've probably got fuzzes that hate having active, buffered pedals in front and get cranky. The passive Vari-tone is perfect for these pedals. I paid under $40 new for the THD when they were running three times that. DIY is a more cost effective option than paying full freight.

Got a link to a DIY Varitone thing? I found something a while back that had some odd part, maybe it was a weird transformer or something and it killed my interest. Laziness. ha.