Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
Holy Island Audio's Angel Teeth is a fantastic sounding, massively evolved DOD250 Distortion with Extra Clipping Options, Upper Octave and Fuzz!
Key Points
Holy Island Audio Angel Teeth — an evolved DOD250 Distortion with extra clipping options, Upper Octave and Fuzz. Controls: Volume, Gain, Fuzz On, Clipping (LED + Ge / No Diodes / Si), Upper Octave On.
With core distortion it behaves like a potent DOD250; No Diodes clipping is favoured for harmonics and texture. The pedal functions as a three-gear DOD250: Distortion (no diodes), add Upper Octave, then add Fuzz. Notes: DOD250 began as an MXR Distortion+ copy with Germanium diodes; combining Ge with LED avoids volume drop and adds sustain.
As of the Reverb listing, the price was £115 (plus £6 delivery); arrived boxed and like new.
I can’t explain why I’m so late to the Angel Teeth - it’s been on my wishlist for a while (years!). I actively collect evolved and extended range DOD250’s - so this one was always going to be a perfect fit for me. And indeed - I have been meaning to get it for a while - I always expected to pick one of these up at one of the guitar shows - but Gwion’s batch schedule didn’t seem to sync up with my specific pedal-chasing needs.
I was expecting to review the Spectral Fire and Micro Mountain Mover first (recently landed) - but I spotted this one on Reverb.com - and it made sense to snap it up - and review it first!
Controls - Volume, Gain, [i] Fuzz On ↓, [ii] Clipping : LED + Ge / No Diodes / Si, [iii] Upper Octave On ↓.
With just the core Distortion active - it’s already a really potent and great sounding DOD250 - particularly in No-Clipping Mode - which is my favourite clipping setting here - while I like each of those - they all have their uses!
For just the 250 voicing and No Diodes clipping I have the Volume on 3 o'c, and the Gain @ 4 o'c - that delivers the best harmonics and textures. So I pretty much default have the clipping selection in the middle - and then I ramp up from there. First I add the Octave (turn Volume back to 2 o'c), and then add the Fuzz for the most incredibly textured / searing fuzzy output.
So for me it's essentially a 3-gear DOD250 Distoriton / Fuzz - Distortion on its own (no diodes), then with Octave, and then with Fuzz - sounds superb every which way!
I really like the other clipping options too - obviously Silicon is stock - while the DOD250 was initially a direct copy of the MXR Distortion+ - with the same Germanium Diodes - where it later swapped those to Silicon to fully differentiate the two circuits. Combining Ge with LED means you don't suffer a volume drop - and the LED adds further sustain too. You often see that combination in Rat circuits too - in fact you often get a somewhat cocktail of clipping diodes with a mix of Ge, LED, and often Silicon too!
For pure vibrant richness of texture - the No-Diodes win out every time - across Distortion, Octave Up, and Fuzz.
This is such a simple but potent pedal - very much the archetypal Holy Island Audio pedal. And I'm delighted I've finally got one. I'm up to 3 Holy Islands super quick now - with the next priority target still the Blast Radius - hopefully that is not too far away.
I grabbed my Angel Teeth from Reverb.com - where it was listed for £115 + £6 delivery - in wholly pristine condition - like new really - it looks immaculate and came in box with all the original contents. I really like the look of this one - white print on top of a mottled hammered finish - an all round fantastic pedal - at a totally bargain price!
Obviously this one had my name on it! It's ever about being in the right place at the right time - and this Angel Teeth perfectly aligned itself with my concurrent needs! I'm delighted to finally be catching up with Holy Island - it seems a long time since first encountered Gwion at the Stourbridge Pedal Expo back in 2022! The intention has always been there, and finally that intention has delivered results!
Demos
