The DOD Chthonic Fuzz (pronounced: THAH-nik) is a fat, sludgy, fudgy fuzz pedal built specifically with single-coil, P90, gold-foil, and DeArmond-style pickups in mind. It works with PAF humbuckers too, but its character really shines through brighter guitars into clean, bright amps. Starting from a classic single-knob '70s fuzz circuit, DOD added a subtle tone control (Lustre) and a separate gain control (Fuzz) to create something simple but powerful — earthy, dark, and from a different dimension. Straight-up transistor clipping via a pair of 2N2222 transistors gives you the guitar volume knob clean-up you'd expect from a classic fuzz, but the Chthonic has its own personality. Think of it as a classic fuzz from an alternate universe — a psychotic dark companion to the DOD Carcosa Fuzz.

Placement: Run the Chthonic first in your chain so it can interact directly with your pickups and volume control. Rolling back the guitar volume slightly gives the best results — back to 7 or 8 cleans it up to a smooth overdrive, and back to 5 yields sparkling clean tones. Keep the input cable short and avoid buffers before it, as they will affect the tone.

Setup: Start all controls at 12 o'clock and adjust from there. If the result is too extreme, dial back the Fuzz and Lustre controls. All settings will vary depending on your instrument's output, your amp, and your playing style.