Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
Rockwright FX's Phuzzmaphobia Pulse Width Modulation Fuzz is a superb compact evolution of the super rare smallsound/BigSound Blarg o-tron o-tron
This goes back to a demo that my good friend Pedal Experiments’ Phil did back in October of 2024 (2nd one below) - of the smallsound/BigSound Blarg o-tron o-tron.
He was in contact with Lucas from Rockwright around about the same time - they got to discussing the circuit, and decided to collaborate on an evolved compact edition of that circuit - which is what became the Phuzzmaphobia.
They weren’t the first to evolve the Blarg o-tron o-tron as the now alas defunct Dominican Republic’s Copilot FX did various ’Trek’ editions of that same kind of circuit over a decade earlier. While I feel the Rockwright one is the best for me! There is a large scale Copilot FX Custom Trek with 8 knobs, 3 toggle-switches and 2 switches which is the most expansive - but I’m much keener on the compact editions.
I may try to pick up one of the 6-knob Compact Trek editions - which is a tall task as there are currently none in circulation in the wild - will surely be a long-term waiting game.
In the meantime I’m very satisfied with the Phuzzmaphobia - I have the Neon Yellow edition - which is not quite as pretty as Phil’s Sparkly Edition - but close enough. Looks cool, and is really well put together.
Controls - PWM Duty Cycle / EQ, Level, Depth / Intensity of Modulation, Wet>Dry Blend, Mode : I Hard Trem / II Soft Trem / III Random Glitch / IV Random Modulation, Rate / Speed, Bypass / On Footswitch, LFO Modulation Engage Footswitch.
Ports - 1/4" TS In, 9V DC [-], 1/4" TS Out, PWM EXP.
This is a pretty unique Modulated Fuzz - with a significant expanded range. You can get some very edgy tones here - but also more classic searing fuzz tones. Oscillating / Modulated Fuzzes are always a great combination - sort of adjacent to Trem-Fuzzes - I have quite a number of those, and am a huge fan of that genre.
I like all 4 Modes here - and as I prefer full-on and full-fat sounds I tend to have the PWM and Blend controls dialled somewhat back. My current favourite settings are PWM @ 9 o'c, Level @ Noon, Depth @ 3 o'c, Blend @ Min, Modes : All 4!, mostly 'I', Rate @ 2 o'c, LFO Footswitch on in bursts!
The Phuzzmaphobia is another super handy addition to that mostly oscillating-fuzzes capsule collection! I paid just £95 for mine via the Rockwright FX Reverb.com Store. This is one of my all-time favourite fuzzes - it sound immense - and has volume in spades!
Lucas has a really cool version of the Moon Rock Fuzz up on his Reverb store now too - I may need to come back for that also - but I first need to land the equivalent Imbrium from my friend Ian at Gigahearts FX - which project is already in progress!
Here below are Phil's demos for the Phuzzmaphobia and the original Blarg o-tron o-tron.
Demos / References
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