Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
4 Hangman fx pedals have landed! - the Lord GermFet Dual Overdrive, the Atomic World Ender Fuzz-Chopper/Drone, and the Luma Express Light-sensing Expression and Switch Box Micro Pedals
This has been in the works for a while - where I’n delighted to report that I’ve finally got my hands on these exceptional Black, White and Gold Hangman fx pedals - which sound as beautifully richly detailed as they look. These are exactly the type of full-flavour extended range pedals that I so love!
There’s at least one more that I have my eye on - the Tyrannosaur MegaDriver which I will look to pick up next time around. In fact Hangman fx has a new pedal out next month - that I should be getting my hands on also for launch! Perhaps I will get both of those remaining targets at the same time!
This is the first of the hands-on articles for these - and just an overview / introduction to the 4 that I now own - as pictured - where I will be following up with detailed individual reviews on first the Lord GermFet and then the Atomic World Ender. The Micro pedals are relatively straight-forward to explain and will be covered in this article.
The first pictured Lord GermFet - is a Dual Overdrive pedal - with a 3 x Germanium Transistor Overdrive on the Left Side, and a JFET Fetzer Tube Emulation style circuit on the Right Side. Considering that you’re using 3 Germanium Transistors - which is in effect Tone Bender territory - these have been biased for somewhat lower gain output - and the individual Channel Gain never goes much above Mid-Gain really, while you get a little more when you combine both the Channels - each Channel sounds wonderful on its own - and together you get into power fuzzy-drive and proto-fuzz territory - a wonderfully assured and versatile overdrive - with unique character - and really smart controls.
The second compact is the Atomic World Ender Fuzz-Chopper/Drone - I had taken to calling it a Fuzz-Trem - but the ’Chopper’ moniker is far more apt as it accurately describes how the core Fuzz voicing is chopped / sliced up - so more of a stutter than a tremolo. And where the ’Speed’ dial can go very fast - into Drone and sort of Ring Mod territory. While the Chopper Side only works in combination with the Fuzz. It’s one of the most full-featured Fuzzes out there - with 3 variable controls and 3 x 3-way Options switches - for a huge range of useful tones and timbres!
The first of the pictured Micro pedals is the Switch Box EXT. Remote channel switcher - where an internal dip-switch on the compact pedals allows you to target either the Left or Right Footswitch / Channel. As I’ve said many times before - home players largely prefer to have the footswitches close together (Chase Bliss etc.) - while gigging musicians typically prefer more of a separation - which both the compacts in the above visual are enabled for.
Finally, the Luma Express is a Light-Sensitive Expression Pedal - with Manual Mode (first switch DOWN) as well as the Light-Senstive Mode (first switch UP), the second switch allows you to select between 2 different Resistance / Taper settings - where the UP setting is recommended for Hangman fx pedals, and the DOWN setting for other brands / pedals. The Luma works brilliantly with the Speed control of the Atomic World Ender!
All the featured pedals are available on the Hangman fx Webstore - which site works well for North American customers (USA & Canada), but doesn’t work reliably for other countries - which means you need to contact Paul directly - like I did through his Hangman fx Instagram Page!
Further details and videos on each pedal below :
Lord GermFet Dual Overdrive - 3 x Germanium Transistors Overdrive + JFET Fetzer Tube Emulation style Overdrive - $240
Controls - GERMANIUM SIDE } Output, Gain, Tone (Hi-Cut), Voicing : [L]ow / [H]igh / [V]intage, Germanium Drive Footwitch; JFET SIDE (Fetzer Valve+) } Output, Gain, Presence : Twangy / Thick & Bold, JFET Drive Footswitch; ORDER : GERMANIUM <> JFET.
Side Port - EXT. Remote Switch Port can target either footswitch courtesy of internal dip-switch.
I typically associate Germanium Tranistor Overdrives with being of the Harmonic style of Overdrives - with lots of beautiful Harmonic Artefacts in the mix - and that's exactly the case here - while this leans a little more into the subtler Mid-Gain side of things than the fuller bloom of fuzz and fuzzy-drive. With many Germanium Drives you get a distinct Fuzzy-Drive voicing - while this one really doesn't get into that territory properly until you combine it with the JFET side - with the two voicings combined you're easily into both Fuzzy-Drive and Proto-Fuzz territory but not really a full-blown fuzz by most means.
The Vintage Voicing setting is a little too subtle for me - where I prefer to operate on the Low and High Voicings.
I'm quite accustomed to Fetzer style circuits - like the right channel of the GermFet - that is not quite as full on as the Fetzer on my Brelliot TODP - but is still formidable.
Within my setup I don't really need the EXT. Remote pedal for this one - as I'm well accustomed to Chase Bliss style footswitch proximity. I did have the Switch Box connected for a period - before I moved both micro pedal onto the Atomic World Ender!
I will provide more details for my individual reviews of this pedal - including my preferred settings.
Note that the lower larger White LED accompanies the Left Channel typically and the smaller Red LED
accompanies the Right Channel. The White LED Lens has historic fragments embedded within it - for mine its tiny fragments of medieval armour - where earlier versions have had Meteorite or even Dinosaur Bone Fragments. Certainly a nice to have - while I'm not sure it's part of the decision-making process for acquiring one of these.
If I were to be super critical - I would mention that the pedal legends are fairly illegible within those artworks - and I have a number of suggested remedies that I could recommend for that. While the construction and attention to detail on the pedal is first class - those Black and White designs with Gold Accents look amazing in the flesh - including the gold plate for the serial number - which is impossible to photograph well as it's so reflective!
My early experience with these Hangman fx pedals has been quite superb - once you figure out the controls - they are very intuitive. The Lord GermFet is very easy to navigate and dial in - and you will discover myriad killer tones within - with ease. A wonderful pedal by every measure - and relatively well priced too for what you're getting - the packaging and every deft touch here is excellent - a genuinely great ownership and operational experience!
The Atomic World Ender - Gated / Non-Gated / Octave Fuzz + Chopper / Drone - $240
Controls - FUZZ } Fuzz Output, EQ Range [H]igh / L=[L]ow / [M]ids, Tone (Dark>Bright), Clipping : LED / None / MOSFET, Gain, Mode [OCT]ave Fuzz / [G]ated Fuzz / [NG] Non-Gated Fuzz, Fuzz Footswitch; CHOPPER / DRONE } Chopper Speed, Fine Tune (for Speed / Drone), Chopper Depth, Chopper / Drone Footswitch.
Side Ports - Expression (for Luma Express), EXT. Remote Switch Port can target either footswitch courtesy of internal dip-switch.
The Fuzz on this is incredible - really richly detailed and properly versatile - while the first thing to mention is that the right-hand-side is most definitely a Chopper / Slicer / Stutter rather than a stand-alone Tremolo. It basically works off the Fuzz-side and Chops that up as fast as you like - the Speed dial has a vast range - which at its peaks is Drone and even Ring-Mod territory I suppose.
This one took a little longer to get used to than the Lord GermFet as its control topology is slightly more expansive and complex - and I kept having to access my own labelled visual to remind myself of all the different settings options. Turns out I like each of the 9 different options (3 x 3) in a wider variety of combinations. As a first encounter - this Fuzz hits you really hard - in the best possibly way!
This is truly a fantastic sounding fuzz - and it's so versatile in its delivery. It's obviously a cousin to Rainger FX's Chop Fuzzz - which you can operate with 2 'Igor' expression pedals (note to self to see if the Igor Expression Pads work on the Hangman fx pedals - and vice versa with the Hangman micro pedals.
The Atomic World Ender is also a slightly more distant cousin to say the Chase Bliss / Abracadabra Audio Ayuhuasca, and the Stone Deaf FX Rise and Shine. In fact I did a separate article on Trem-Fuzzes and Oscillating Fuzzes - which article re-run would certainly include this Atomic World Ender.
So basically I'm very well versed with these kinds of Choppy Fuzzes - and I rally like that format - where this is most certainly one of the best.
It has somewhat different settings to the Rainger FX Chop Fuzzz - but it reminds me the most of that - even though overall those pedals are very different. I've long love the Chop Fuzzz - while this Atomic World End Fuzz-Chopper is a little more granular in control - particularly on the Fuzz side - which is exceptional on its own!
More details coming with the individual more in-depth review - where I will also reveal my favourite settings.
The Luma Express Light Sensitive Expression Pedal - $80
Controls - MODE : Light Sensitive (Up) / Manual Knob (Down), Resistance Switch (% Resistance) : Up for Hangman fx Pedals / Down for ohter brands.
This one is excellent for controlling the Chopper-side of the Atomic World Ender - works a treat really, while I'm mostly quite happy adjusting the Speed dial - with my very dextrous big toe! It's a great super compact option (Micro size) - which works particularly well with the World Ender. You can use on you other pedals - but you will need a 1/8" > 1/4" TRS Adapter! Ot makes deploying the World Ender a lot of fun - and is pretty much an essential accessory for that pedal!
The Switch Box EXT. Remote Switcher Pedal - $30
Part of a current trend where home-players like having the two footswitches relatively close together - but where live / gigging musicians tend to prefer more of a separation between the footswitches - hence a lot of builders are including remote switch jacks / ports on their pedals - to give that option! In the case of Hangman fx each of those connected pedals has an internal dip-switch - which allows you to target either of the 2 footswitches. I'm so used to these dual-footswitch compacts that I really don't need or use a remote switch for any of those really - but it's nice to have the option. Also depending on where the pedal you wish to engage sits on the board - this can be really hand for those purposes!
