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Negens
Published on 02/10/08 at 03:48
It's a Fuzz pedal + Octaver with the peculiarity of blending dry (clean) and wet (effected) sound.
Analog.
No MIDI, nothing digital, just switch on and turn the knobs!
Guitar (or bass) input, amplifier output.
Powered by 9V battery or 9V transformer
Without being bad, the finish is not one of the best and smells of low cost eastern productions.
UTILIZATION
The configuration is very simple
A Volume knob, a Sustain knob (which, indeed, acts as a drive), a Tone knob and a Blend knob to mix wet and dry signal.
A switch turns the pedal on/off.
A Tone Boost switch that enhances the effect of the Tone knob, while increasing the gain
The pedal is really intuitive and easy handling.
One would hope that this reissue had introduced a further "blend knob" for the octave, because sometimes one might desire just a fuzz with a little less of its higher octave.
Similarly, leds of activation would have been welcome.
The manual is a bit lightweight. I've seen better from Fender
Having put the knobs in a recess, prevents from accidentally touching them. This is a good thing!
SOUND QUALITY
The sound is just that thing! It propels you directly into the 60's / 70's, into psychgarage-rock.
As soon as I checked the pedal, the first 2 riffs that came under my fingers were: Purple Haze of our beloved Jimi Hendrix and Interstellar Overdrive of Pink Floyd.
This is not a versatile pedal. Trying to integrate it within most modern styles can be quite a nightmare, although it may well find its place in genre such as post-rock and indie.
Fans of experimental rock, noise and lo-fi will be delighted by this pedal!
If you put this pedal before a wah-wah and a delay, crunch your amp and let the feedback sing ... you are in sonic heaven!
Sustain button does its job, although it is more akin to a 'more drive' function.
However, something weird happens at the end of the note, in that it break abruptly in a way that reminds a noise-gate.
Tone correction is precise and effective.
Blend and is frankly a good idea, that's exactly what I was looking in a pedal.
Like I said before, the Octaver sometimes is annoying, because it is always radical, and it can make weird noises one cannot tame. It is regrettable one cannot operate its level.
This pedal is also one of the few fuzz / overdrive / distortion that does not deteriorate dynamics and this is a plus point.
Warning! The pedal has a very limited field of use. My advise is to use is to givean extra flavor to a pedalboard that has already an overdrive. On the opposite, if you want to buy your first distortion / overdrive / fuzz pedal, direct you to something else, or you may be frustrated at not being able to just play with.
OVERALL OPINION
I have used it for 5 days.
What I like most:
- Sound
- The dynamic compliance
- The simplicity of use
- The dry/wet blending.<div>
What I like least
- the absence of leds
- Always the impossibility of deciding the level of the octave
- End of notes slightly truncated, like a noise-gate.
As a Fuzz pure, the only other pedal I've tried is the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff.
Neither better nor worse, they have their own characters.
What made me choose the Fender Blender is the possibility of blending wet and dry signal.
The price is OK for its quality!
That said, I wonder if I would not replace it with another fuzz without octaves.
It is quite possible that I will replace it with a proper fuzz, since this pedal does not exactly fit into my musical style! </div>
Analog.
No MIDI, nothing digital, just switch on and turn the knobs!
Guitar (or bass) input, amplifier output.
Powered by 9V battery or 9V transformer
Without being bad, the finish is not one of the best and smells of low cost eastern productions.
UTILIZATION
The configuration is very simple
A Volume knob, a Sustain knob (which, indeed, acts as a drive), a Tone knob and a Blend knob to mix wet and dry signal.
A switch turns the pedal on/off.
A Tone Boost switch that enhances the effect of the Tone knob, while increasing the gain
The pedal is really intuitive and easy handling.
One would hope that this reissue had introduced a further "blend knob" for the octave, because sometimes one might desire just a fuzz with a little less of its higher octave.
Similarly, leds of activation would have been welcome.
The manual is a bit lightweight. I've seen better from Fender
Having put the knobs in a recess, prevents from accidentally touching them. This is a good thing!
SOUND QUALITY
The sound is just that thing! It propels you directly into the 60's / 70's, into psychgarage-rock.
As soon as I checked the pedal, the first 2 riffs that came under my fingers were: Purple Haze of our beloved Jimi Hendrix and Interstellar Overdrive of Pink Floyd.
This is not a versatile pedal. Trying to integrate it within most modern styles can be quite a nightmare, although it may well find its place in genre such as post-rock and indie.
Fans of experimental rock, noise and lo-fi will be delighted by this pedal!
If you put this pedal before a wah-wah and a delay, crunch your amp and let the feedback sing ... you are in sonic heaven!
Sustain button does its job, although it is more akin to a 'more drive' function.
However, something weird happens at the end of the note, in that it break abruptly in a way that reminds a noise-gate.
Tone correction is precise and effective.
Blend and is frankly a good idea, that's exactly what I was looking in a pedal.
Like I said before, the Octaver sometimes is annoying, because it is always radical, and it can make weird noises one cannot tame. It is regrettable one cannot operate its level.
This pedal is also one of the few fuzz / overdrive / distortion that does not deteriorate dynamics and this is a plus point.
Warning! The pedal has a very limited field of use. My advise is to use is to givean extra flavor to a pedalboard that has already an overdrive. On the opposite, if you want to buy your first distortion / overdrive / fuzz pedal, direct you to something else, or you may be frustrated at not being able to just play with.
OVERALL OPINION
I have used it for 5 days.
What I like most:
- Sound
- The dynamic compliance
- The simplicity of use
- The dry/wet blending.<div>
What I like least
- the absence of leds
- Always the impossibility of deciding the level of the octave
- End of notes slightly truncated, like a noise-gate.
As a Fuzz pure, the only other pedal I've tried is the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff.
Neither better nor worse, they have their own characters.
What made me choose the Fender Blender is the possibility of blending wet and dry signal.
The price is OK for its quality!
That said, I wonder if I would not replace it with another fuzz without octaves.
It is quite possible that I will replace it with a proper fuzz, since this pedal does not exactly fit into my musical style! </div>