Black Arts ToneworksDestroyer Fuzz Pedal

\m/ buy a compressor or something to control this creature its wide open no volume \m/

I didn't buy mine from Amazon, I got it second hand from a studio. Since last month, I've made it a rule to buy used gear so it has a soul. But who cares, what about the pedal?I first tried a couple mass market fuzzes. All sucked. Then I tried an MXR Sub Machine. Not the tone I was looking for it, but keeping that. Went with the Pharaoh Supreme and thought it was weak sauce. A Supercollider somewhere along the way, and another boutique I forget. I stopped when I found this.If you're not a fan of Sleep, Electric Wizard, Kyuss, etc...move on and get the pharaoh instead. And no, The Sword isn't included in that list...that's pure hipster crap. To get an idea, lookup "Vinum Sabbathi" by Electric Wizard. While listening, imagine the sound of that bass and guitar as if it were a single guitar.First what it doesn't do:- This isn't for "Satisfaction" by the Stones. You can maybe squeeze the live version of "Hey Hey, My My" from Neil Young out of it, but that's about it for classics.- This isn't for the clean channel of your amp. This will instantly max the gain stage. Keep your axe low til you know how it works. Use a pre-dirtied drive channel if possible. This reduces the amount of headroom that can be overdriven.- no battery or rubber feet :/- This can easily introduce noise into a daisy chain power supply. Use a branching system (one lead per pedal). I personally use a Dunlop something, it has individual leads. I also use a Big Joe lithium rechargeable power pedal.- This doesn't have a tweakable interface. It has one knob, and that knob applies to the right side (Ritual). It controls how much nasty you get.- I can tell it's going to be hard as hell to record and mix this tone with even a condenser mic easily.What it does:- combines two classic, but deprecated, fuzzes from black arts toneworks. On the left you get The Oath pedal. It's simply an on/off. On the right you get The Ritual, it's an on/off with a nastiness knob. I keep mine at noon. Each switch turns on one of the LED "eyes" of the undead Norse dude on the front.- The signal flow sounds to be serial stacked (feeds into next). I haven't popped open the back to observe if the order is indeed left to right. I build most of my own pedals so I'm not sure why I haven't. Maybe laziness, that feels right. But, honestly, with that much fuzz, who would know if it's serial, parallel, or something entirely different. It's pure sludge with nuance.- the oath side (left) provides me more of a boost fuzz. It's what overdrives the gain stage. It comes out set to max. You use your guitar volume to set the gain. I would describe its tone as old school, ring-heavy fuzz. Lots of compression.- the ritual side (right) to me sounds silicone-ish. It clips like a diode distortion, with a sizzle that can do accidental harmonics. I think that Earthbound Audio has a similar tone stack for its Supercollider.- together it's the exact mayhem I was looking for (after spending hundreds of dollars).What does it sound like?I ran this pedal through two amps and axes.The amps were a 6L6-based Mesa Express 5:50 combo and an EL34-based Orange Rockerverb MkIII 50 head with matching Orange closed-back 2x12. The axes were a 2008 Fender Strat American Deluxe and a 2016 Gibson SG Standard (High Performance model).The Strat has samarium cobalt noiseless single coils with a coil tap switch. It's always in D standard for the good Hendrix style tunes (think Voodoo Chile Blues...NOT the rock Voodoo Chile, which is Eb standard and doesn't compare).The SG is new and stock. It's always in C standard. It has Les Paul (490R and 498T) humbuckers, not P90s.I described both disparately different axes and amps in detail to arrive at a single point: each guitar and amp combination sounds exactly the same when this is on! It's hilarious. When you roll back the volume, or engage just one side, you get your individual nuance, though.The onslaught is pure ring mod, feedback, blowup-speaker sound. The fuzz goes from a wail to a compressed metallic grinding gear at random. It's intense.No guitar player worth their salt uses distortion pedals anymore. They all clip the same. With the return of beautiful fuzzes (and ODs), there is simply no reason to not have at least one decent one. Fuzzes carry a flavor, where distortions rob it (unless preamp tube-driven).Just realized this review is longer than any description for the pedal. I'm done. I will be getting the Sarcophagus next (another great 2-in-1), and I'm hoping I like it as much.

One of most brutal sounding pedals I've ever owned. The left (Oath) side delivers an insane volume spike with a thick, bottom heavy fuzz. Seriously, the first time you engage it, you will be caught off guard with just how loud this thing is. I play it into a clean amp but it pairs equally well with an already overdriven one