Crazy, insane fuzz but with controllable oscillations
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 6:39 pm
I just picked up my first Devi, an outrageous Truly Beautiful Disaster. The insane part comes from the reversed knobs which I find extremely annoying as opposed to endearing and quirky, as well as the audible output which goes from crazy ass cool to sometimes crazy ass annoying. Hey, those could both be compliments! 
I've tried to do my due diligence previewing various fuzz pedals online (thanks YouTube!) but didn't quite hit the mark with this one. Or I simply need help using it.
Here's what I'm looking for in a funky fuzz pedal:
* Works with bass, e.g. doesn't suck *all* the lows out
* Goes from mild fuzz to fuzz-of-doom (just so I can theoretically have one fuzz pedal on the board, though I'm thinking that's simply not going to ever happen)
* Can provide fizzy decay
* Can provided heavily gated decay
* Can provide all the weird oscillation overtones these types of pedals are known for
* But can do that in a much more controllable manner, specifically I'm hoping to find a pedal that doesn't just oscillate all day long on it's own when not specifically receiving input (e.g., me physically playing)
* Then I leverage all those features into my effect chain(s) to generate a wide swath of synth bass fun, and ambient and raw industrial noise
I can stick another dirt afterwards to provide the disgusting fuzz-of-doom. Check! But it'd be great if I could do it on a single pedal, and when I stick a fuzz after the TBD it really eats up all the gate/decay from the TBD.
I can get the fizzy decay. Check! Though it's hard to control when also implementing heavier fuzz directly in the pedal, you get that motorboating sound sometimes. So I sometimes find myself turning another fuzz on after the TBD, then I lose a lot of the fun nuances from the TBD as noted above.
I can get the heavily gated decay. Check! Though sometimes it comes across weak overall so I have to thicken it with another fuzz after the TBD. But it rocks in this department. But if that's all I end up using it for I should've just bought a Bit Fuzz or something less expensive and smaller footprint.
I can get all the weird oscillations I could ever want (and then some) but not in a really controllable way. I'm thinking there's simply no way to really control them well. But I have no particular use right now for hearing oscillations during breaks in playing.
I'm absolutely not dissing the pedal. I've had hours of fun with this thing. And the few people that've heard it drop their jaws with it's uniqueness as they've never heard anything like it. I'm just not convinced it's what I was really looking for and based on the fact there's a ton of other Devi pedals out there somewhere I think there's most likely one that'd fit my wants and needs better. Maybe one of the Manglers (actually wanted a Bit Mangler but simply couldn't find one anywhere). Or two of the smaller individual pedals, though I'm unsure on which.
Or maybe I simply need some help using it more effectively. I've tried pedals before it, after it, and in the loop. I have a ton of stuff to experiment with. OC-2, Digitech Bass Synth Wah, BOSS PH-3 Phaser, Big Muff, Pigtronix Disnortion, Bad Monkey overdrive, Bassballs filter, BOSS DD-20 programmable delay, BOSS GT-6B, BOSS LS-2 to experiment with different mixes and to provide a couple separate on-demand effects chains via A-B switching, and lastly an nifty on/off toggle I installed into a cheap bass to experiment with stuttering the output via the toggle. I just sold off a TR-2 Tremolo (sucked at least 1/2 my volume) which I never had a chance to try in the loop which might have proved interesting. But too late now.
One thing with the TBD I haven't successfully explored is the loop and eye which is obviously the other 1/2 of the pedal. I've played with it, but haven't done so with any particularly great results. Based on my brief exploration there it seemed to add to the uncontrollability as opposed to helping provide additional sounds. However, I've found no documentation or particularly helpful videos proposing some good ways to exploit the loop and eye.
In conclusion, I've managed to squeeze a few totally usable sounds out of the box. But I'm feeling like I could probably have a different box do the same, and maybe more if it's a bit more controllable.
Ahhhhh, 1200 words later (whos counting?) and you can now reply.
I've tried to do my due diligence previewing various fuzz pedals online (thanks YouTube!) but didn't quite hit the mark with this one. Or I simply need help using it.
Here's what I'm looking for in a funky fuzz pedal:
* Works with bass, e.g. doesn't suck *all* the lows out
* Goes from mild fuzz to fuzz-of-doom (just so I can theoretically have one fuzz pedal on the board, though I'm thinking that's simply not going to ever happen)
* Can provide fizzy decay
* Can provided heavily gated decay
* Can provide all the weird oscillation overtones these types of pedals are known for
* But can do that in a much more controllable manner, specifically I'm hoping to find a pedal that doesn't just oscillate all day long on it's own when not specifically receiving input (e.g., me physically playing)
* Then I leverage all those features into my effect chain(s) to generate a wide swath of synth bass fun, and ambient and raw industrial noise
I can stick another dirt afterwards to provide the disgusting fuzz-of-doom. Check! But it'd be great if I could do it on a single pedal, and when I stick a fuzz after the TBD it really eats up all the gate/decay from the TBD.
I can get the fizzy decay. Check! Though it's hard to control when also implementing heavier fuzz directly in the pedal, you get that motorboating sound sometimes. So I sometimes find myself turning another fuzz on after the TBD, then I lose a lot of the fun nuances from the TBD as noted above.
I can get the heavily gated decay. Check! Though sometimes it comes across weak overall so I have to thicken it with another fuzz after the TBD. But it rocks in this department. But if that's all I end up using it for I should've just bought a Bit Fuzz or something less expensive and smaller footprint.
I can get all the weird oscillations I could ever want (and then some) but not in a really controllable way. I'm thinking there's simply no way to really control them well. But I have no particular use right now for hearing oscillations during breaks in playing.
I'm absolutely not dissing the pedal. I've had hours of fun with this thing. And the few people that've heard it drop their jaws with it's uniqueness as they've never heard anything like it. I'm just not convinced it's what I was really looking for and based on the fact there's a ton of other Devi pedals out there somewhere I think there's most likely one that'd fit my wants and needs better. Maybe one of the Manglers (actually wanted a Bit Mangler but simply couldn't find one anywhere). Or two of the smaller individual pedals, though I'm unsure on which.
Or maybe I simply need some help using it more effectively. I've tried pedals before it, after it, and in the loop. I have a ton of stuff to experiment with. OC-2, Digitech Bass Synth Wah, BOSS PH-3 Phaser, Big Muff, Pigtronix Disnortion, Bad Monkey overdrive, Bassballs filter, BOSS DD-20 programmable delay, BOSS GT-6B, BOSS LS-2 to experiment with different mixes and to provide a couple separate on-demand effects chains via A-B switching, and lastly an nifty on/off toggle I installed into a cheap bass to experiment with stuttering the output via the toggle. I just sold off a TR-2 Tremolo (sucked at least 1/2 my volume) which I never had a chance to try in the loop which might have proved interesting. But too late now.
One thing with the TBD I haven't successfully explored is the loop and eye which is obviously the other 1/2 of the pedal. I've played with it, but haven't done so with any particularly great results. Based on my brief exploration there it seemed to add to the uncontrollability as opposed to helping provide additional sounds. However, I've found no documentation or particularly helpful videos proposing some good ways to exploit the loop and eye.
In conclusion, I've managed to squeeze a few totally usable sounds out of the box. But I'm feeling like I could probably have a different box do the same, and maybe more if it's a bit more controllable.
Ahhhhh, 1200 words later (whos counting?) and you can now reply.
