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  • Devi Ever : FX Big Distortion Sound Machine

    By Phil O'Keefe |

    Two parallel fuzz circuits in one pedal for maximum sonic destruction

     

    Devi Ever FX is a brand that loves fuzz and has released numerous fuzz pedal variations since the company's founding by Devi Ever in 2003. Today we're looking at a new pedal in their lineup; in fact, this is the first new Devi Ever FX pedal released since Benjamin and Louise Hinz of Dwarfcraft Devices purchased the company.  Named the Big Distortion Sound Machine, this new pedal combines two previous Devi Ever FX pedals inside a single housing and throws in a few cool new features too. Let's take a closer look.

     

     

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    What You Need To Know

    • The Devi Ever Big Distortion Sound Machine combines two of the most popular Devi Ever fuzz effects in one pedal - the Torn's Peaker and The Ruiner - running in parallel. The input signal is split and routed to each of the two fuzzes, and their outputs are internally mixed together and fed to the output jack. Individual control sets are included for each fuzz.
    • Housed in an all metal case measuring 4.5" L x 3.5" W x 2" H, the Big Distortion Sound Machine is expertly constructed using quality parts and finished in a metallic gray-blue-teal color. The knobs are all clear. Switching is true bypass, and a bright purple LED illuminates when the pedal is active.
    • There is a long history in the pedal world of manufacturers giving some of their products rather suggestive or provocative names and graphics. The Big Distortion Sound Machine (BDSM) is bound to be referred to by its initials on forums all over the Internet, in keeping with that tradition.  What do you use for graphics on a pedal named BDSM? Kittens of course! Bright pink kittens. Pink lettering is also used for the control labels.
    • The original Torn's Peaker is a two-knob fuzz (volume and texture) with an emphasis on the mids and highs and a raspy, spitty sound and generally nasty disposition. And for fuzz lovers, those are all beautiful things! Capable of generating convincing torn speaker sounds as well as anything from light distortion to amp meltdown approximations, it's a wickedly wonderful fuzz. The Torn's Peaker in the Big Distortion Sound Machine is the deluxe version that you'll find in Devi Ever FX's Torn's Peaker / Aenima Hybrid. There are three knobs. Volume controls the overall output level of the Torn's Peaker side of the BDSM. There's plenty of level on tap to take you way above unity gain if you wish, and turning it all the way down effectively mutes the Torn's Peaker part of the BDSM circuit.     
    • The Zazz knob adjusts texture just as it does on a Torn's Peaker, and the TP/AE knob offers up gain and tonal variations when adjusted, swinging from the lighter TP style fuzzy overdrive-distortion when fully counterclockwise to a heavier Aenima style fuzz when turned up all the way, with many combination variations in between.  
    • There is also a "worse" toggle switch. Engaging this cuts the lows and low mids and clips the signal even more heavily, resulting in an even brighter and more heavily saturated sound. There's a wide range of fuzz tonalities and degrees of distortion available depending on how you have the Zazz and TP/AE knobs and the Worse switch set.   

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    • The Ruiner is also a combination effect that is essentially two of the Devi Ever FX Dark Boosts running together. There are two controls - volume and gain. The Ruiner's sound is a compressed, brassy square wave tone that will glitch and spit and high gain knob settings, especially with hotter pickups or when playing chords, although chords work fine with lower gain settings. The Ruiner's highs are pulled back and there is tons of low end, making it a great choice for use with bass. In fact, the Big Distortion Sound Machine is equally adept when processing bass as it is guitar, and I had loads of fun using it with my Bass VI. There is plenty of volume on tap to go way beyond unity gain if you so desire, and since the Ruiner's volume control is independent of the one for the Torn's Peaker, they can be used to adjust the relative levels of each fuzz, or even used to turn one or the other off completely.

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    • On the right side of the pedal you'll find the 1/4" input and a 2.1mm center negative power input jack. No power supply is included, and the manual takes care to specify the use of a 9VDC regulated power supply only; using anything else will void the Big Distortion Sound Machine's limited lifetime warranty. Devi Ever FX doesn't want to see batteries filling up our landfills, so no battery powering option is provided. There are no user-adjustable internal trim pots or switches.

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    • The output jacks are located on the opposite side of the pedal. Wait - output JACKS? On a fuzz pedal? Yup, there are two 1/4" outputs, and in this reviewer's opinion, it's a great feature. When Out 2 is used alone you get the mixed output of the two effects from that single output jack, but connecting a second cable to Out 1 splits the two, with each fuzz's signal routed to its own individual output; Out 1 for the Ruiner and Output 2 for the Torn's Peaker.
    • I connected my trusty Fender Princeton and alternately paired it with a SWR bass amp and a Vox AC15 and was knocked out by the cool stereo fuzz. Fuzz love indeed! The sound is massive, and can be made even more so by adding various other pedals to the individual chains. Put a short (50-100ms) delay with the mix full wet and no repeats along with a mild pitch vibrato and a tremolo set very slow and shallow on one side and you get HUGE instant doubling that sounds like two guitarists playing together very tightly. Lighter overdrive and distortion textures can be coaxed from this pedal, but the real fun of the Big Distortion Sound Machine is in the sonic annihilation capabilities.

    Limitations

    • The labels can be tricky to read, not only because of the stylized font and low-contrasting pink color of the text, but also due to the close positioning of the labels next to the knobs.
    • A single footswitch bypasses both the Torn's Peaker and Ruiner circuits. A second switch that allowed bypassing them independently would be a nice addition that might benefit some users.

    Conclusion

    The Devi Ever FX Big Distortion Sound Machine gives you all the sonic capabilities of both the Torn's Peaker and The Ruiner in one pedal. The two independent volume knobs allow you to balance the contribution each of the parallel fuzz circuits makes to the overall sound when running in mono. Running the BDSM in stereo with each fuzz feeding a different amp yields big beefy stereo tones and a wall of fuzzy goodness. Mono or stereo, the brighter tendencies of the Torn's Peaker compliment the woolier and darker textures of The Ruiner perfectly, resulting in a full-frequency sonic assault that will fill out the sound of even minimalistic two and three piece bands. While it won't be for everyone, the Big Distortion Sound Machine offers a lot of cool fuzz tonalities, including combination tones that neither the Torn's Peaker or Ruiner could produce on their own, and is a great addition to the pedal collection of fuzz aficionados everywhere, whether they play guitar or bass.

    Resources

    Devi Ever FX Big Distortion Sound Machine ($200.00 MSRP)

     

    Devi Ever FX product web page

     

     

     

    Devi Ever FX Big Distortion Sound Machine demo (Guitar)

     

     

     

    Devi Ever FX Big Distortion Sound Machine demo (Bass)

     

     

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