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wwhhhaatt « wild »
Published on 07/12/11 at 13:44The fuzz probe is an analog noise making fuzz pedal. This is a twisted take on the classic fuzz design with a copper plate hooked to a stability (stab) control that allows you to change the texture by hovering your hand or foot over the plate.
Typical simple ZVEX interface with a single true bypass stomp switch, standard 1/4" input and output jacks, 5 knobs to adjust the sound. It runs off of a 9v battery but you can also purchase a plate that allows you to use a 9v DC power supply.
The controls are volume,gate,comp (compression),drive, and stab (stability)
UTILIZATION
Like with most Zvex pedals it is easy to set up and get a sound out of the pedal. Also like most Zvex pedals the best way to go about learning the pedal is to just start twisting knobs. The manual is written well enough to get you the general idea of what the controls do but they are so interactive with each other that it really needs to be heard to understand.
SOUND QUALITY
This is another effect pedal that is useful in many applications. I mainly use mine with guitar but have had great results processing vocals and drums through it. There are many different fuzz tones available but I bought this for the disgustingly over the top sounds it can produce. I typically set the drive pretty high and comp midway then adjust the gate so it barely contains the noise. Stab is adjusted depending on how I want the probe plate to react. Higher stab settings give you less control with the plate and slightly more predictable results. I say slightly because this pedal seems to sound different day to day. Some might see this as a down side but being more of a special effect in my set up I appreciate the unpredictability of it. Whatever your settings are you can almost be sure that your source signal will be mangled in the meanest of ways.
OVERALL OPINION
If you are looking for a fuzz pedal to use as a constant drive sound you might want to look elsewhere. There is no tone control or anything to help smooth the sound of this pedal out. You can mess with the controls a lot and get it somewhat stable and "normal" sounding but I don't think that is what it was intended for. It is pricey as well for something you might not use too much but that it how it is for a lot of Zvex gear. You are paying for the weirdness of it and the quality that it is built to. I have thought about selling it but every time I do I plug it in and decide to keep it. I think if I ever did get rid of it I would probably end up buying one again because there is nothing like it.
Typical simple ZVEX interface with a single true bypass stomp switch, standard 1/4" input and output jacks, 5 knobs to adjust the sound. It runs off of a 9v battery but you can also purchase a plate that allows you to use a 9v DC power supply.
The controls are volume,gate,comp (compression),drive, and stab (stability)
UTILIZATION
Like with most Zvex pedals it is easy to set up and get a sound out of the pedal. Also like most Zvex pedals the best way to go about learning the pedal is to just start twisting knobs. The manual is written well enough to get you the general idea of what the controls do but they are so interactive with each other that it really needs to be heard to understand.
SOUND QUALITY
This is another effect pedal that is useful in many applications. I mainly use mine with guitar but have had great results processing vocals and drums through it. There are many different fuzz tones available but I bought this for the disgustingly over the top sounds it can produce. I typically set the drive pretty high and comp midway then adjust the gate so it barely contains the noise. Stab is adjusted depending on how I want the probe plate to react. Higher stab settings give you less control with the plate and slightly more predictable results. I say slightly because this pedal seems to sound different day to day. Some might see this as a down side but being more of a special effect in my set up I appreciate the unpredictability of it. Whatever your settings are you can almost be sure that your source signal will be mangled in the meanest of ways.
OVERALL OPINION
If you are looking for a fuzz pedal to use as a constant drive sound you might want to look elsewhere. There is no tone control or anything to help smooth the sound of this pedal out. You can mess with the controls a lot and get it somewhat stable and "normal" sounding but I don't think that is what it was intended for. It is pricey as well for something you might not use too much but that it how it is for a lot of Zvex gear. You are paying for the weirdness of it and the quality that it is built to. I have thought about selling it but every time I do I plug it in and decide to keep it. I think if I ever did get rid of it I would probably end up buying one again because there is nothing like it.