As predicted, we finally have an open release compact HalfLife edition of the EQD Sunn O))) Life Pedal

Back in December of last year EarthQuaker released a special KGR Iron Foundry Edition of the HalfLife - which was limited to just 200 units, and priced at $350. You could only buy it direct from the Sunn Webstore - said release occurred when I was already in Iceland for my Christmas vacation - so there was no way I was going to get in on one of those. I had long predicted that we would eventually get a compact edition - which has now officially happened for general release!

This is actually the 4th Iteration of the Life Pedal - where I own the handy V2 edition so far - the V1 and V3 were somewhat overly large for my preferences.

This is not my first ’compact’ Life Pedal variant as such - as Demiurge Instruments has been making a compact Doomy O))) for the best part of a decade already.

The Life Pedal / HalfLife essentially being a Rat Distortion + Boost + Octave. I have a few compact variants as mentioned - which also include the exceptional Sentimental Bob Tephra - which has obscene levels of gain - both on the Distortion and Boost sections. DIY style brands K Pedals and LokajAudio also release the occasional edition. And there are a few smaller builders active on Ebay and Etsy that make some too under a variety of different labels.

While I will of course always support the original release. So I will be getting this red edition of HalfLife too - even though I’m already well covered in that area. I feel it’s important to support the circuit originators too!

You get exactly the same controls as on my hereto favourite V2 EQD Life Pedal edition - just in a smaller box, and likely with a few more SMD components onboard - I would imagine the output profiles would be very similar too!

Controls - Amplitude (Octave Volume), Filter (Treble-Cut), Distortion (Gain), Magnitude (Volume), Clip : OpAmp / Asymmetrical / Symmetrical, Octave (Blend/Depth of Octave).

This is very much a known quantity and much copied as mentioned. I’ve always filed it with the other varieties of Rat - even though it’s its own category really.

If you like Rat Distortions - you’re quite likely to enjoy the extra boost and upper octave - which delivers a fabulous thick wall-of-sound texture.

I obviously love the Rat Distortion format in all its guises - and have around 60 of those in the collection already, I’ve no qualms about adding this EQD variant - which seems well priced at $259 per Sweetwater listing, and £249 in the UK per Peach Guitars listing - a fair price I feel!

The UK listed ones are on preorder, while they seem to be in stock already in the USA. I will make it a priority release for next month - June is already over-saturated!

You can read up more about the HalfLife on the EarthQuaker Devices Website.