Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
Celebrating Ritual Devices' Flagship Etched Series Quadfecta - Grimalkin, EVOL, Fay, and Rainmaker
It took me a few years to pick up this full set of 4 - where each of these is a revelation - they all deliver more than you might initially think, and they do it in such a clever way. Each one of these is far greater than the sum of its parts - and all those parts are high quality THT components.
My only tiniest niggle here is that I feel the Grimalkin could do with a little more output volume, while all of these sound amazing, and are all super versatile.
We essentially have 2 fuzzes and 2 modulations here - and none of those are anything like my existing variants of those types - they all deliver a little more and each one has something slightly unusual up its sleeve!
These are beautifully etched and enamelled - I frequently refer to them as looking like victtian era trinket boxes. Those geometric etchings look so good - and particularly ’in the flesh’ as such - and their intricate looks are matched by a unique delivery of the effects on board - normally a combination of 2 complementary circuit effects.
I recall when I first saw these at the 2022 Birmingham Guitar Show - I advised Wub to make this main logo a little more prominent - which he accomplished by way of a bounding box - which he’s carried through to all designs since then.
These are fantastic enclosure designs - entirely unique, and instantly identifiable as being Ritual Devices.
My very first Fay Phase Filter was acquired in 2022, and I picked up the final one - the Rainmaker at last year’s Kempton Park show. I’m delighted to finally own all 4 now - these are all very distinct and versatile effects for sure.
They are :
- Grimalkin Hybrid Octave Multi-Fuzz - £195
- EVOL Primal Hybrid 2-Stage Fuzz - £195
- Fay Phase Filter Modulation - £249
- Rainmaker Analog Vibrato / Tremolo - £249
All 4 are of course available from the Ritual Devices Webstore - prices as listed above. I would start collecting these now - if you haven’t already! They’re all very reasonably priced!
My good friend Wub will be exhibiting at the forthcoming Birmingham Guitar Show.
Further details on each below :
Grimalkin Hybrid Octave Multi-Fuzz - £195
Transistors onboard : 2 x 2N2222A Silicon + NE5542 Dual OpAmp.
Controls - Claw (Volume), Howl (Voltage Bias / Octave), Fuzz (Master Gain), Fur (Pre-Gain), Attack (Post-Gain).
A supebr wide-ranging hybrid fuzz which delivers all kinds of cool tones - from overdrive, to fuzzy-drive, to full-blown fuzz, and with an additional dialled in Upper-Octave. This one has so much gain range onboard - and is so versatile. Can get really raw sounding or else remain relatively smooth. This is one of the most versatile fuzzes there is - takes a little due diligence on the dial-in - but can be really rewarding if you have the patience to dial it in properly. My only very light niggle here - is that I would have liked slightly more output volume - in all other aspects it's a totally killer multi-format / multi-fuzz. Some really smart circuit engineering here!
EVOL Primal Hybrid 2-Stage Fuzz - £195
Transistors onboard : 2 x Π416A Germanium + 2 x 2N2222A & 1 x 2N3904 Silicon.
Controls - Volume, Stage : 1/2, Bleed/Gain, Colour : A/B, Tone, Mid.
An interning 2-Stage Dual Mode Fuzz - where Stage 1 is louder, more open and brighter in profile, Stage 2 is darker, denser and more aggressive - where that additional clipping results in a lower output - so you really need to crank the Volume for Stage 2. I typically prefer the more classic sounding Stage 1 option - which really delivers a killer classic fuzz voicing , while both Stages are useful and deliver a broad range of outputs between them.
Fay Phase Filter Modulation - £249
Controls - Space (Wave Peak Separation) : On / Off, Modulation Intensity : Smooth (Shallow Warble) / Deep (Pulsating Wobble / Throb), Input Buffer Tone-shaper : Light (Highs Focus) / Dark (Lows Focus), Clipping : Grit (Clipping Diodes Engaged) / Grain (Diode Lift / No Clipping), Level (Master Output), Rate (LFO Speed), Gain (Overdrive / Distortion for Grit, Saturation for Grain).
This mixture of Phaser, Filter and Saturator delivers the most incredible Uni-Vibe-esque voicing - really full flavoured and textured - so close to the actual Uni-Vibe but delivered in quite a different way. The core function of this pedal is killer, while I did not get on with the Grit mode in particular as it drops the volume and never quite compensates for that drop to my satisfaction. While the Grain Mode is superb - and really delivers this Uni-Vibe sounds for me - I approached this pedal very open-minded - and just serendipitously landed on those beautifully textured uni-vibe style tones!
Rainmaker Analog Vibrato / Tremolo - £249
Controls - Depth (Intensity), Freq (Speed / Rate), Level (Output), Tilt (EQ : < darker | brighter >), Texture (Dry/Wet Mix Patter > Tremolo > Vibrato), Engage / On/Off Footswitch, Speed Multiplier Footswitch - Slow/Fast!
This one was the last one in - but is wholly equal in prowess to the other 3. This houses a fairly unique combination of Analog Tremolo and Vibrato - which via the Texture dial takes you from subtle rain-like pitter patter, then to pulsing / pulsating tremolo, and onto lively fluttery and vibrant vibrato tones - so a kind of 3-in-1 in terms of deployment - with the first modulation very reminiscent of the pitter patter of gentle rain - and presumably from where the pedal gets its name! It's a very decent Tremolo and Vibrato for sure - with all kinds of in-between textures also - and a super handy Tilt EQ for maximum tone-shaping. You can think of this as either a Vibrato with extras, or a Tremolo with extras - it does both of those brilliantly!
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