This past January at Winter NAMM 2014, we filmed an impromptu demo of three stellar fuzz boxes from our friends at Earthquaker Devices. These fuzzes simply pack too much tone to be contained in one quick glance, so we were eager to give them the full shootout treatment. Take a look at the video above for a deeper look at the how the Earthquaker Park Fuzz, Fuzz Master General and tried-and-true Cloven Hoof sound side by side.
Earthquaker Devices Park Fuzz
Based on the Park Fuzz Sound pedal made by Jim Marshall's Park company in the late '60s, the Earthquaker Devices Park Fuzz was designed in collaboration with the resurrected Park Amps brand. This is a vintage-blooded effect through and through, easily pulling off that '60s Santana/Hendrix thing with a healthy dose of compression on the top. Unlike a true vintage fuzz box, however, you don't have to contend with power and volume issues, not to mention the price tags that '60s stompboxes are fetching lately.
Earthquaker Devices Fuzz Master General
Also based on a classic fuzz from the '60s, the Fuzz Master General channels its particular character from an Ace Tone Fuzz Master. Being a modern pedal, though, it includes a three-way switch to choose between germanium, silicon and no diode clipping. This feature alone makes this a very open-ended fuzz box, while the highly reactive tone knob expands things even further with some juicy octave-up harmonic content. This is a great pedal for someone looking to dive into all manner of skull-shattering, harmonically drenched fuzz tones.
Earthquaker Devices Cloven Hoof
As part of Earthquaker's popular Hoof lineup, the Cloven Hoof makes the perfect fuzz box to measure the newcomers against. Perhaps even more than the Fuzz Master General, the Cloven Hoof brings a huge array of fuzz tones to your board, from meaty to jagged and everything in between. The inclusion of the shift knob adjusts the mid-range content of the sound, which adds a useful layer of tweakability to the normal fuzz, tone and level parameters.
EarthQuaker Devices