SOLIDGOLD FX
IMPERIAL FUZZ BC183
REVIEW BY DAVID A. EVANS
STREET PRICE $175.00
SolidGoldFX’s new Imperial
fuzz pedal has a menacing
appearance—it’s almost
as if it were a long,
black Cadillac driven by
mysterious men in black. It
might appear, suddenly on
your pedalboard, perhaps
after a disturbing encounter
with another, lesser fuzz
pedal. And like those shiny,
black Cadillacs piloted by
men in black, the Imperial
might make you forget
about other fuzz pedals for
the moment. It will truly be
the Emperor of the land of
fuzz, or at least the King of
your pedalboard.
38
GEAR REVIEW
//
The Imperial excels
at producing thick,
compressed-sounding
fuzz. The Imperial also
sounds big, perhaps as
big as the empire of fuzz
the pedal’s name suggests.
To get an idea of this
sound, simply imagine Billy
Corgan’s distorted tone in
songs such as “Mayonaise”
or “Hummer.” It’s as if those
particularly loud and low
notes push the circuitry
to its limits. The pedal
seemed to even out
dynamic changes of this
writer’s playing, although
not to as large a degree
as an actual compression
SolidGoldFX Imperial Fuzz BC183
effect might have done.
The Tone knob features a
surprisingly smooth taper.
The knob allowed for
pleasingly minute transitions
from, say, a more “neutral”
equalization setting to a
brighter or darker one. As
for the sound itself, the
highs are definitely bright
and tight and also take on
a pleasing electro-sizzle
thinness. In practice, the
noon position seemed
ideal for most chording
and single-note work. The
Imperial demonstrated
a pleasing evenness of
transition between the
darker tones and the