~Freakshow Effects Tourbox Reveiws~ - Topic Powered by eve community

Justin from Freakshow Effects just sent us a UNIQUE tourbox of his toneful, artsy effects for us all to check out.
I just started playing them and they're all pretty awesome sounding with tons of creative sounds to be had.

Here's a link to his site:
FREAKSHOW F/X

From the get-go, it's clearly obvious that Freakshow FX is all about substance and style.

I open up the rather large box that the pedals were shipped in thinking this guy's either super-cautious or has a serious affection for bubble-wrap!
But how surprised (and wrong) was I when I opened the large box to reveal the reason for the box's prodigiousness ... this totally original and uniquely decorated tourbox:

A vintage-store 1940's suitcase, handpainted just for the tourbox.

Like I was getting at, everything at Freakshow FX seems to be about blending substance (tone) and style (art).

Logo close-up:

Inside the box, a gaggle of glorious goodies:

A fuzzy blanket for a fab fuzz tone:

Gramdma Freakshow's hand-typed instructions, prices, advices, and disclaimer:

Next up was my test of the pedals.
I rigged them up as so:

Suhr Strat and/or Goldtop Les Paul (alas, not mine but borrowed, thx Bruce!) into the
"9" Boost > "Brown Rabbit" Distortion > "Maharashi" Fuzz/Ring Mod > "Digilog" Delay,
going into a Vox AC15.

First off, all the pedals responded well to either the Suhr's single-coils or the LP's mini-'buckers.
Each guitar would drive them in a different way, but none of the pedals reacted adversely to either gtr.
Cool.

First off, the "9."

Here's a close-up
(and man, how I do love that LED in the skull's eye!):

Just as Justin claims, it fattens up the Suhr's single-coil pup's really well.
Fat and juicy, but also smooth, without any harsh artifacts.
It packs a hefty volume boost, driving the AC15's tubes into a big overdrive tone.
It also served well as a boost to the other pedals, creating different textures
within those individual boxes.
I didn't get the chance to test it, but I'm sure it would serve equally as well last in the chain,
boosting right into the amp.
For comparison, I also plugged in my Klon and the boost side of my Box of Rock,
two of my favorite boosts.
The "9" sat right with them and did it's own subtle thing too.
Lastly, you've gotta love the size (and of course the artwork) of this thing!
Tiniest boost on the planet, but certainly not tiny on tone.

Next up, the "Brown Rabbit:"

I didn't speak to Justin yet, but I believe the BR to be his take on the old Proco Rat.
Well it's a great take on that venerable pedal.
I don't know all the particulars of what goes on inside,
but there's a three way toggle that gives you different drive options.
Hard left seems to be stock Rat tones, straight up (my fave) gives you a lot more volume and openess (with less crunch) and then hard right looks to bring in 2 LED's as clippers, thus greatly increasing the overall crunch and thickness of the tone.
Once I adjusted the volume for each respective setting, I found them all to be useful, with subtle and not so subtle changes to be found.
I really liked the straight up setting the best, as it has such an open and punchy tone happening that is so immediate and ballsy.
It's like you have the traditional Rat sound, yet with lots more ummph, less congestion.
If you want that thicker sound, but still more power, then I found the hard right setting
to provide a LOT of creamy texture and sculpting of the mids.
Perfect for recording!
Nice thing is that when I compared the Brown Rabbit to my 1984 Rat,
I found the BR a lot less noisy at any of the toggle positions.
And at the center and right positions, a lot punchier too.
I would also add that the BR has the "Rat sound,"
but also has a certain amt. of this smooth thing happening,
which I very much enjoyed.

Next up, the "Maharishi:"

This pedal was such a blast to play!
I could not even begin to tally here all of the different, wild tones this thing can make.
It sounds vaguely similar to an Ampeg Scrambler,
or maybe an old Fender Blender,
but at times it's equally like an Octavia or a Foxx fuzz.
In any case, it shrieks, cries, screams, burps, modulates between octaves, compresses, releases, etc...
in random chaotic beauty.
Then again, I was able to get a reliable, simple octave fuzztone out of it every time
with the knobs set a certain way.
So while it is an obvious boon to recording or to bedroom jamming,
it equally has a place on someone's pedalboard for some Jimi-inspired tones.
Once again, love the artwork here too!

Last up, the "Digilog:"

I'm an admitted (but recovering) delay junky.
Used to have two in my rack back in the daze and
still have both an analog and digital unit on my pedalboard for their unique offerings.
Well, the Digilog did not fail to impress this fanatic of the echo.
Three of the knobs serve the traditional thing controls: delay time, feedback, and mix.
Then there's a toggle, which doubles the delay range from minimum-300ms & 300ms-600ms.
Nice.
But there's a few things that set this delay apart.
First off, the voicing.
It's voiced to have an analog sound, even though it's a digital delay.
So the repeats are a lot warmer and sit in the mix much better.
But I found it to be more than just that.
Once you get into all kinds of delays, you can hear
the differences between analog delay (BBD chips, ala the Boss DM2) and tape delays (like the ol' Echoplex).
Well I found the Digilog to be a lot more like an Echoplex than a BBD-type delay.
The delays trail off in a long, dreamy wash of tone that is neither too clear or too murky, just like an Echoplex.
Last cool feature is the right footswitch on the pedal,
which is an instant self-modulation control that creates runaway echoes!
What a nice feature to deliver full dramatic effect to a part.
It seems you have to have the feedback up a bit for it to best engage the effect, but once you do, look out!
Fortunately, the effect stops (or fades off) when you release the stomp-switch.
So there's a lot of control there too.
This pedal also has the most haunting and beautiful artwork of the bunch.
I could certainly write a thesis on my interpretation of what the artwork is trying to say,
but I'll leave that to the individual.

I also took my first shot at a webclip.
I'm a recording engineer
but with no web-recording tools other than my old Canon G2
(which has lo-fi audio and is limited to 31 seconds),
but here goes anyway.

I have the Digilog on the whole time, step on the Brown Rabbit for crunch, step on the Digilog stomp for self-modulation, then the Maharishi for some sitar-buzzzz.
The "9" was off, but still lookin' at me with that one creepy eye all lit up!

Freakshow clip #1

Thanks to Justin and the artists at Freakshow FX for the tourbox.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: cubba,

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Posts: 4542 | Location: Queens, NY | Registered: March 23, 2002

jaydee

Celebrity

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