vintage Fuzz Face . Classic Faces sound like they ’ re supposed to only with both controls cranked anyway , so why not just ditch them both and have a Bias knob for dialing in the perfect feel and response ? It ’ s a genius maneuver , in my estimation , and sets the Erupter far apart from the pack .
The EarthQuaker Erupter is designed to sound consistently ballsy anywhere in the signal chain , and with any guitar and pickup combo . As such , I took it for a test drive with a variety of guitars and pickup types , as well as several different amps , both tube and solidstate , and a handful of complementary pedals . I also tried it with bass , just to see what kind of rumble of which it was capable .
Upon plugging in , I was immediately struck by the Erupter ’ s gargantuan bottom end . It is seriously bold , even with vintageoutput single-coils . The low frequencies are so hefty I initially thought the circuit must have some Muff in its deep DNA . A little more investigation and singlenote noodling revealed a syrupy , violin-like Fuzz Face character , though , albeit one with considerably more guts and brawn than I am accustomed to . With all of this weight in the bottom end , my assumption was that the Erupter would be far too dark with humbuckers . I am pleased to say that this assumption was unfounded , however . It actually sounded consistently fat , yet biting , with everything I put into it , from hums and singles to P-90s .
So how about that Bias knob ? As expected , the Erupter doesn ’ t vary much in gain or perceived output when it is turned , but the feel and tone changes dramatically , from a gently starved , gated rip in the counter-clockwise direction , to a tight , modern roar as the knob travels clockwise . There ’ s a detent right in the middle , indicating what will likely represent an ideal blend of these qualities for most players . As with any great classic fuzz , it also has a symbiotic relationship with the guitar ’ s volume knob that results in a whole universe of tonal variations . Complex chords that tend to get lost when at full roar pop right out when you roll the volume back .
The Erupter has plenty of gain and output for any purpose , easily pushing every amp I tried it with firmly into face-melting territory . This being the case , it ’ s probably a little over-the-top for most gain stacking experiments . I experimented anyway though , and found it to be a richly cacophonous experience that yielded many more musical possibilities than expected . And of course I paired it with a wah , both before and after . I was pleased that it worked well in either spot , but my preference was for the more pronounced guttural sound of Erupter before wah .
As previously mentioned , I also hit the Erupter with my thudstaff , an ‘ 80s
vintage Fuzz Face . Classic Faces sound like they ’ re supposed to only with both controls cranked anyway , so why not just ditch them both and have a Bias knob for dialing in the perfect feel and response ? It ’ s a genius maneuver , in my estimation , and sets the Erupter far apart from the pack .
The EarthQuaker Erupter is designed to sound consistently ballsy anywhere in the signal chain , and with any guitar and pickup combo . As such , I took it for a test drive with a variety of guitars and pickup types , as well as several different amps , both tube and solidstate , and a handful of complementary pedals . I also tried it with bass , just to see what kind of rumble of which it was capable .
Upon plugging in , I was immediately struck by the Erupter ’ s gargantuan bottom end . It is seriously bold , even with vintageoutput single-coils . The low frequencies are so hefty I initially thought the circuit must have some Muff in its deep DNA . A little more investigation and singlenote noodling revealed a syrupy , violin-like Fuzz Face character , though , albeit one with considerably more guts and brawn than I am accustomed to . With all of this weight in the bottom end , my assumption was that the Erupter would be far too dark with humbuckers . I am pleased to say that this assumption was unfounded , however . It actually sounded consistently fat , yet biting , with everything I put into it , from hums and singles to P-90s .
So how about that Bias knob ? As expected , the Erupter doesn ’ t vary much in gain or perceived output when it is turned , but the feel and tone changes dramatically , from a gently starved , gated rip in the counter-clockwise direction , to a tight , modern roar as the knob travels clockwise . There ’ s a detent right in the middle , indicating what will likely represent an ideal blend of these qualities for most players . As with any great classic fuzz , it also has a symbiotic relationship with the guitar ’ s volume knob that results in a whole universe of tonal variations . Complex chords that tend to get lost when at full roar pop right out when you roll the volume back .
The Erupter has plenty of gain and output for any purpose , easily pushing every amp I tried it with firmly into face-melting territory . This being the case , it ’ s probably a little over-the-top for most gain stacking experiments . I experimented anyway though , and found it to be a richly cacophonous experience that yielded many more musical possibilities than expected . And of course I paired it with a wah , both before and after . I was pleased that it worked well in either spot , but my preference was for the more pronounced guttural sound of Erupter before wah .
As previously mentioned , I also hit the Erupter with my thudstaff , an ‘ 80s