Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
Gigahearts unleashes the Denton Mids-Boosted Opamp Fuzz with Clean Blend, a perfect Shoegazer Fuzz inspired by and evolved beyond the Deus Ex Machina
Key Points
Gigahearts’ Denton is an Opamp fuzz evolved from the Blakemore Deus Ex Machina. Ian reverse‑engineered and redesigned the circuit; the name nods to JC Denton and a Manchester suburb. The enclosure is bronze‑brown sparkle.
Controls: Amplify (Volume), Enhance (Gain), Filter (Tilt EQ), Merge (Clean Blend), 3‑way Mid Boost (500Hz / 1kHz / 1.5kHz), Focus, plus internal trim‑pots for Mid Boost volume and LED intensity. Clean Blend keeps the Deus Ex reverb‑into‑front shoegaze workflow.
Power: 9V DC [-], 100mA supply recommended; current draw <10mA. Pairing with Gigahearts RV‑426 is recommended. As of this post, the price was £150 for the Denton. As of this post, the price was £160 for the RV‑426. Sold on Gigahearts Webstore in small batches.
For electrical safety or pedal opening/modification, consult a qualified tech.
So a long and convoluted target mission of mine has at last come to a delightful conclusion! Readers will recall that back in 2023 I launched a mini campaign to get the Blakemore Effects Deus Ex Machina Fuzz revived and reissued. Blakemore Effects had been officially shuttered in 2018, and Blake Hickey had returned to the financial sector.
Here are the two articles from that somewhat fruitless endeavour :
It took me a while to track Blake down, and on initial contact he seemed keen enough to make just one more for me. But wasn’t about to start up Blakemore Effects again. I suggested he might want to partner with a local USA builder who could resume the build of those pedals - test the waters with a limited batch release etc. And he was going to go away and think about it. He said that for my pedal he would need to check his lockup for parts - and he would get back to me soon enough with further updates...
That was the last I ever heard from him - I even tracked him down to his new job, but my few emails went ghosted and unanswered, and it became quite evident that he no longer wanted any involvement with that project. I believe less than 100 Deus Ex Machina’s were made, perhaps only half that amount. They very rarely come up for sale on Reverb.com or Ebay - I had 2 proper opportunities, while the condition of each was far from perfect, and the pricing a touch on the ludicrous side. Only one truly came close enough - but someone else managed to snag it before I did - one of those instances where you think you have it secured in the cart / checkout, but then another party manages to check out faster!
In any case - besides the Spaceman Gemini III - this has been my longest target mission. A Michigan native - Mike, a reader of my blog, saw my original Deus Ex Machina post and sent me a picture of the guts of his pedal - which you can see on the related article. No one has yet done a circuit trace of the Deus Ex Machina - and those builder friends of mine I initially raised this project with didn’t seem to be that interested in doing the legwork required to bring this pedal to fruition.
That was until I became good friends with Ian from Gigahearts - who has the most amazing analytical and quick-fire problem-solving mind. He’s one of those who says he’s not sure a thing can be done, but then sleeps on it, and has a solution by morning!
So using a combination of the existing demos and analysing the gut-shot as best as he could, Ian was then able to kinda sorta reverse engineer and evolved the pedal wholly remotely - which is in a remarkable achievement! If you’re looking for a brilliant custom shop to get your pedal idea designed - there are few finer minds for that task than Ian!
Ian did most of the heavy-lifting for this project, I merely suggested it! - while he came up with the name ’Denton’ - which is the main cybernetic protagnonist ’JC Denton’ from the video game ’Deus Ex’. Denton is also a suburb of Ian’s hometown Manchester.
Ian came up with the new circuit, the name, legends and labels and a really attractive bronze-brown with orange accents sparkle colourway and cybernetic artwork. The pedal has to be seen ’in the flesh’ - it looks utterly gorgeous, and sounds every bit as good as it looks.
All the same controls from the original Deus Ex Machina are retained - just with different labels and some different values, and we get an additional 3-way toggle switch - which allows you to change the Mid-Boost frequency. The original was fixed at 1kHz, while Ian has stepped the options up and down the scale, so you get a choice of : 500Hz / 1.5kHz / 1kHz. All of those sound fantastic - while you need to adjust the Focus dial a little downwards for the 500Hz otherwise the output can sound somewhat honky! Unless of course that’s your preference!
The Denton Sound Design and Controls
What we have here is a fairly potent Opamp Fuzz, with a Filter Tone Control (Tilt EQ) and plenty of gain, with a Clean Blend, and a pre-gain Mid Boost section.
So at its core it's a sort of evolved Opamp Muff, where the Mid Boost can take it into adjacent sort of Tone Bender territory - and hugely enriches the output profile of the core gain circuit. The Clean Blend also made the inspiration Deus Ex Machina a darling of the Shoegaze Scene - where players loved to run a reverb into the front of the pedal for those glorious hazy and smeared tones. The Denton preserves and enhances all those abilities!
The Denton works brilliantly as a stand-alone fuzz, as well a an ultimate Shoegazer pedal - it has a wonderful verve and vibrancy. Ian has done an excellent job on the circuit design here. Especially considering the context of the pedal development.
Inside the pedal you will find 2 Trim-pots
- Mid Boost Volume Trim
- LED Intensity
Both of those are set back a little, while being the sort of full-on player that I am, and also for Clean Pedal Platform efficiencies - I like always having a little more in reserve. So with the Mid Boost Trim fully cranked up I could leave Amplify (Volume) @ 4 o'c, while I mostly like to fully crank the Amplify and Enhance (Gain) controls! I just get better sound and feel that way.
Controls - Amplify (Volume), Enhance (Gain), Filter (Tilt EQ), Merge (Clean Blend), Mid Boost Centre Frequency : 500Hz / 1.5kHz / 1kHz, Focus (Mid Boost).
9V DC [-] 100mA supply recommended, while current draw is normally less than 10mA. 1/4" TS Input and Output Jacks.
The Denton is a really easy pedal to dial in, and most won't need to have Volume and Gain fully cranked like me - I just like it that way - it tends to reveal a few more harmonics and textural artefacts. It's a fantastic sounding pedal in any case with a tonne of range!
Dialling the Denton In and Preferred Settings
As mentioned, once I've cranked the internal Mid Boost Trimmer, I then tend to set both Amplify and Enhanced to Max, Filter / Tilt EQ mostly stays in the middle - swaying a little one way or the other on occasion - but typically just dead centre for me! The Filter / Tilt EQ is really very potent!
When I don't have a Reverb (RV-426) going into the front I will entirely dial back the Merge Clean Blend control, while with the RV-426 on duty I have it mostly set at between 9 and 10 o'c.
As mentioned, the core / sole Mid Frequency for the Deus Ex Machina was the 1kHz one, while I often prefer 1.5kHz. Initially I felt that the 500Hz frequency was way too honky - but that was because I simply set the Focus dial to high. Generally for 500Hz I prefer Focus @ around 9 o'c, and for 1kHz and 1.5kHz I have the Focus @ Noon, occasionally up as high as 3 o'c!
Obviously if you don't want the Mid Boost - you just dial out the Focus control. Same goes for the Merge / Clean Blend. Which all means that this is just a superbly versatile and really magnificent sounding Opamp Muff / Fuzz / Distortion.
At times it sounds like it's entered Tone Bender territory - that is the magic of the Pre-Mids-Boost. Generally you have a lot of range at your disposal here.
This is a perfect pedal execution for me - as it wholly embodies great looks and sounds alongside very elegant ease of use.
Fuzz fans, Big Muff Fans, Tone Bender Fans, and Shoegaze fans should all love it!
An Ultimate Shoegaze Pairing : Gigahearts RV-426 RVB into the front of the Denton
I've mentioned several times that the Shoegaze community in particular had latched onto the original source pedal - the Blakemore Deus Ex Machina. Whose legacy we're hoping the Denton will extend.
Combining the Gigahearts RV-426 (£160 / $220) into the front of the Denton delivers the most amazing shoegazy tones.
I mostly leave the Denton's Merge dial @ 9 o'c so I can engage the RV-426 on-the-fly.
My RV-426 settings are as below - you can read more via the RV-426 Spacey Reverb Feature.
My Preferred RV-426 Settings - Boost @ Noon, Mix @ Max, Filter @ 9 o'c, Regen @ 3 o'c, Decay @ Max, Dry-Kill @ FCCW (Off), Rise-T @ Max, Decay Size @ Large.
As far as I'm concerned the Denton is a perfect creation.
It's definitely scratched my Deus Ex Machina itch - and I can finally put an end to that pursuit!
Funnily - for the Spaceman Gemini III which I had been chasing for nigh 10 years - I acquired the Coriolis Effects Grissom Young Dual Fuzz II first - an improved take on the Gemini III - with exactly the same NOS parts onboard. So that pursuit then came to a similar end. But soon after that - Ian (yes that same Ian) spotted a Gemini III on the Richer Sounds website - which looked to be in shonky condition - but once I had cleaned it up it looked pristine - like new!
So perhaps after I've snagged this Denton : Deus Ex improvement, I will end up also with a Blakemore edition too - either way I'm not really bothered. Life is often like buses - with are either all much delayed - or all turn up at the same time. Actually similar happens with pedal launches. They are never that elegantly spaced out - it often seems live everyone had the idea to launch pedals in the same week!
As far as I'm concerned the Denton is the mission, and the mission is complete!
Acquiring your own Denton!
As of this post - these are now officially for sale on the Gigahearts Webstore - superb value at £150 / $200. There were quite a lot of people clamouring for a Deus Ex Machina revival - so I would imagine there would be quite a few lining up for the Denton. Once they are aware of its existence.
Ian makes his pedals in relatively small batches - and I expect the first batch/es to sell through very quickly!
The Denton looks and sounds gorgeous - it's versatile and easy to use. And it will appeal to a variety of different players - across a number of genres.
I think everyone that picks up one of these is going to be very satisfied, delighted even! The sparkle finish on that Bronze-Brown enclosure is really so striking!
Props to Ian for his genius on this mission - it's definitely a Mission Accomplished!
Demos
