Argentina's Sabbadius Custom Pedals Effects makes some suitably impressive and stylishly Striped Overdrives and Fuzzes in addition to its highly regarded Funky-Vibe Pedals
Most people rightfully associate Sabbadius Custom Pedals Effects with its superb full-size Funky-Vibe Uni-Vibe Style boxes - already noted as some of the very finest in that category. While Sabbadius also has a lot of other pedals that are worthy of your attention - including the above trio of colourful striped Fuzzes and Overdrive. I’m also particularly impressed with Sabbadius’s Triple Trouble pedal - Fuzz, Booster and Overdrive all in one unit.
For the purposes of this article I am focusing on the above referenced colourful trio - 1966 Germanium Fuzz, El Toro Overdrive, and the Rainbow Fuzz. Both Fuzzes have a smart variable impedance control to aid pedalboard positioning and compatibility with Wah-pedals. All three are 120 x 90 x 55mm or sort of BB-sized vertical Medium enclosures. Typically you would expect jacks to be top-mounted nowadays, but these at least have cool power-socket plugs on the side.
I feel these are all really elegantly styled, to match their formidable output. There are relatively few stockists around the world, although they include one of my absolute favourites - Canada’s Axe and You Shall Receive.
Here follow the individual pedal details :
1966 Germanium Fuzz (Germanium Fuzz Face) - $229.99
Controls - Output, Fuzz, Bias, Wah Wah Trick (Impedance).
This is a cool extended range Germanium Fuzz Face style circuit - with extra controls for Bias, and Impedance (Wah Wah Trick). The latter of which makes it slightly easier to place the pedal in the pedal-chain, and play with a Wah Wah pedal either before or after. No specific transistor varieties referenced - likely for reasons of greater manufacturing flexibility - nowadays we mostly see CV varieties, AC varieties, 2N404 and a variety of Soviet MП and П series. These sound pretty impressive in the demos - so the Transistors have been very carefully selected and well-matched.
El Toro Overdrive (TS808 Style) - $229.99
Controls - Tone, Drive, Volume.
A vintage accented Glassy / Texas Blues sounding TS808 style Overdrive utilising NOS Toshiba 1S1588 clipping diodes for an incredibly textured breakup quality. Delivers a little more nuance and output than the typical TS808 circuit - not that there is a particular lack of competition in that area! Still a compelling proposition - and will look very attractive on your pedalboard!
Rainbow Fuzz (Silicon Fuzz Face) - $229.99
Controls - Output, Fuzz, Wah Wah Trick (Impedance).
This is the sibling to the 1966 Fuzz - a BC108C Telefunken Silicon Transistor variety Fuzz Face circuit - with the same smart variable Impedance control - the 'Wah Wah Trick' knob - for more elegant pedalboard compatibility and placement. Does everything you would want a Silicon Fuzz Face to do with some operational advantages.
Final Thoughts
The appeal of this trio is in their crisp aesthetics and fairly minimal circuit configuration - for maximum output texture and optimal signal-to-noise ratio.
There's nothing majorly new here necessarily and these are 3 largely very ubiquitous effects categories - while there is some significant degree of elegance in these individual executions. Sabbadius weighs tone and texture above everything - meaning that's where it concentrates its focus - versus delivering those effects in the most compact of enclosures.
I would say all of Sabbadius's pedals are slightly over-sized for my own preferences - or rather more vintage-aligned towards those slightly larger enclosure formats - which is a part of the brand's chosen direction really. While I largely concentrate more on pedalboard practicalities, footprint and placement versatility.
Lots of players really love these pedals - and RJ Ronquillo does a solid job on those demos to showcase these pedals to the best of their capabilities. These are all worthy contenders in their respective categories and most will really like these for sure. Now available as mentioned from my good friend Scott Hager's Axe and You Shall Receive Webstore!
12 Degrees of Saturation 2023 Compact Edition
