Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
My Fuzz Imp Compact Pedals Trifecta has landed - Adventure SuperFuzz, Creature Stacked Fuzz, and Furia Grinding Chainsaw Distortion
I’ve been wanting to get stuck into Fuzz Imp’s pedals for a while - and as the stars recently aligned, a deal was struck - and 3 of the finest crossed the Atlantic!
I’ve actually been following Justus Gash for several years now - I always have my hands fairly full - while it was only a matter of time before I established proper contact and started my Fuzz Imp odyssey. These 3 pedals always suggested themselves - I’ve been particularly keen on getting in the Creature - while the other two here are right up my street too.
It was decided to go with an all-black set for stylistic reasons as much as anything, and those pedals are now on the board - and I will be doing individual deep-dives on each. This article is really just to introduce the cast and set the scene!
My featured 3 Fuzz Imp Compact Pedals are :
- Blooming Octave Adventure SuperFuzz - $149.99
- Creature Dual-Gated Series-Stacked Fuzz - $149.99
- Furia Grinding Chainsaw Distortion (with CueTheSun) - $169.99
All 3 are wholly unadulterated black-colorway standard editions, and are available for order from the Fuzz Imp Webstore. Justus hasn’t sent too many to the UK thus far - but my 3 came through very quickly indeed!
The 3 I selected are perfect for my preferences and sensibilities - where there will undoubtedly be further Fuzz Imp acquisitions coming down the line.
I was at one stage in 2 minds about requesting the metal knobs that Justus sometimes uses - but decided I really like the standard default plastic set.
If you pop off the back of the pedals - as you can see in the below visuals - you are greeted by immaculately arranged hybrid THT / SMT circuits - admittedly mostly SMT nowadays, but with a fair complement of larger caps. It’s really easy to identify all the component parts - and how many ’Q’ Transistors are present, and OpAmps, as well as the myriad Capacitors (C) and Resistors (R) these circuits require.
I will of course be doing deep-dive individual reviews of each of those 3 pedals, I’ve yet to decide on the order of approach - but likely in the order listed here. They will each go live on subsequent weeks!
Further summary details on each below :
Blooming Octave Adventure SuperFuzz - $149.99
Controls - Octave (Intensity), Blend (Preamp : Fuzz Blend), Active High EQ, Fuzz (Gain), Clean (Clean Preamp Volume), Active Low EQ.
Ports - TS In, 9V DX [-] 50mA, TS Out.
The Adventure is actually composed of 3 blendable circuits :
- Octave Up Fuzz
- Heavy Scooped Fuzz
- Clean Preamp
The 6 controls allow you to blend those effects in a highly granular way - to deliver as much subtlety or intensity as you require. The combination of 3 sort of gain stages gives you a very full sounding output! It's sort of inspired by the Boss FZ-2 Hyper Fuzz to a degree - which is of course a SuperFuzz variant!
Creature Dual-Gated Series-Stacked Fuzz - $149.99
Controls - Squish (Bias / Independent Noise Gate), Clang (Overdrive Gain + Lows + Oscillation), Level (Volume), Gate (Bias / Independent Noise Gate), Fuzz (2nd Fuzz Circuit Gain).
Ports - TS In, 9V DX [-] 35mA, TS Out.
A little like the Adventure SuperFuzz - in that you have a few gain stages here that you're blending together in various intriguing ways. Where it's all about the interaction between the Clang and 2nd Fuzz gain stages. Equally textured to the Adventure SuperFuzz - but an entirely different voicing and texture. Probably the most unique and 'flagship' of Justus's fuzzes, alongside its bigger more complicated brother - the Machina 2. You can see that the Creature PCB is labelled Machina 1 - which explains the relationship between those 2 flagship variants!
This is the one I'm most familiar with as such. The controls are somewhat unusually labeled - while the pedal is straightforward enough to deploy.
Furia Grinding Chainsaw Distortion (with CueTheSun) - $169.99
Controls - Loud, Dry Blend, Gain, Bass, High, Gate : HM-2 / Tighter, Voice : HM-2 / Mids-Shift.
Ports - TS In, 9V DX [-] 50mA, TS Out.
And this is the latest most recent release - and in very familiar territory for me. An extended range sort of HM-2 derived / inspired Chainsaw Fuzz - with a lot of additional versatility and range - as well as one of the meanest barks ever if you want to go full-on!
