The Devi Ever Effects Thread - Fuzz ahoy!

[MaxMaps]

My search did not bring up a specific thread on just Devi Ever pedals so I thought we could share the info on these amazing and brutal noise makers made by the Queen of Fuzz herself in Portland Oregon.

Please:

-Share your thoughts on your particular type of Devi pedal, what you like what you don't like.

-How it works on bass

-Pictures of your Devi pedals in action or how they are chained up on your particular board.

And anything else Devi related.

[Chronicle]

I've got the Hyperion, Cherry Pop, and BIT. Love em all for the unique fuzz characteristics. Also love Devi's work of arts.

[MaxMaps]

I myself have the shoe gazer.

It is so brutal it pickes up the local metal station

[theunknowndude]

I'll share my thoughts on her pedals and what I have and my setups...

I play active basses pretty much exclusively, for this reason some of her better pedals didn't play nice with me at all (but they are awesome and I did need/want to 'try' them!)

my gripes would have to be theres no insane features/knobs such as bias (would help when using my active basses) or eq style tones (that said the tone knobs do provide quite a varied amount of tones and extra 'effects' depending on the pedal like octavia/scramble) but that said I do like them alot

first devi pedal I got was the bass fuzz (now super massive black hole but I beleieve licence sold to another maker to make now??)
it was awesome but to hard to work into my setups as it kept being overloaded and clipped making a weird volume fade attack occur, didn't work in my band/solo board so sold off

cherry pop bought on review, found it has INSANE lows (like blow a massive hole through your speaker lows) when using the tone and control knobs on certain settings... using in a solo setting this was awesome however couldnt get it to fit in the band setting, have taken off for the moment

bought the aenima and hyperion at the same time whilst impatiently waiting for the supercollider, I didn't notice the aenima clips I heard were with the old switch style pedals, the new one with the fixed oscillation means there is alot of noise, feedback etc... didn't work out as planned... hyperion was a different story, this is my favourite pedal to date and especially to survive a honeymoon period... has a nice throaty middy 'almost muff' sound into slight octavia/scarmbley range.

last pedal I bought as I wanted a fuzz/octave and after so much searching through unique brands I found what i was looking for because it was named the vintage fuzz master,... didn't realise what it was at first! it can get extremely noisy if I have all onboard eq up but was pretty controllable when I turned that down... can go from nice imitation ass master style sound to jimi hendrix octavia style... some people said it works well with dirt fed into it but this sounded 'choked' to me...

currently only have devi pedals on the solo board, almost want to buy another hyperion to put on the band board tho!
solo board will look like this (as I found the VFM lost some of its low end kick further in the chain): bass->VFM->PS3->noisebox->turborat->hyperion->SB7->BF3->DL8

I won't be buying any more pedals for a while I don't think but love the idea of getting an original dark boost (the reissue version doesn't quite turn me on) or the ruiner...

there's alot of people who say that devi's pedals all sound the same but that could be said of alot of dirt pedals... and some of the pedals are based on previous versions but with significant changes (such as things put in back the front or oscillation points put in...)

oh also forgot I have an eye of god too which is an awesome feedback loop pedal (for some reason just a little bit more insane than the other feedback loop pedal I have) the only thing I dislike is there is no bypass/feedback switch... anything in the loop will be turned off if the loop is off where as my road rage one you have a bypass and loop function so you can use pedals normally as well as chaotic sounds

sorry for the extra long post but I know a few people do ask how active basses and devi stuff sound!

[jrmy]

Definitely a Devi fan - at the moment, I have a Cherry Pop, Vintage Fuzz Master, and a Hyperion, though I have also owned a US and TP.

Cherry Pop - no longer in production. A variation on her popular Soda Meiser circuit, but with a tone control (and no chaos mode). As mentioned by theunknowndude, this pedal is capable of INSANE lows. I tend to have the tone control around 1 o'clock. Super awesome heavy fuzz.

VFM - scrambly disharmonic fuzz. When you keep the "control" knob down, it's actually pretty bassy and usable. Crank the control, and it gets trebly, scrambly and crazy-go-nuts. Capable of some sweet octave fuzz tones. Likes being stacked with other fuzzes - I do like it boosted with dirt, but also on its own. I have found that it can get some really nice B:assmaster / Brassmaster tones (without the clean blend, of course).

Hyperion - capable of some really beefy, creamy, Muff-like tones, with an interesting stutter decay. Not the best on the low lows, but really badass nonetheless. For some reason, I end up riffing for hours whenever I use this pedal at home.

US - I do kinda regret trading this one. Cutting velcro fuzz with a REALLY cool hiccupy decay. Absolutely no bass tones, but if you're looking for something to cut through a mix on a lead line, it can't be beat. Possibly the loudest / gainiest pedal I have ever owned.

TP - another nasty trashy treble machine. There are a few variations out there, but mine had a master volume and control, with no chaos function. Could dial it back into some cool evil tones, but it was pretty hissy. I may have to get another one someday.

[theunknowndude]

oh yeah just seeing the bit about cherry pop discontinued... one other 'fact' about devi's, she does do limited runs on lots of things and change the line up around,... some of them from simple things like having chaos mode switches in some pedals to the pedal being discontinued, sometimes replaced with a better version other times dissappearing for good...

if you see something you want I dare say grab it

another thing to notice is, spend too long looking at the website/forums and you see something else noticable,... like how my dream pedal of all in one has been found by the truly beautiful disaster but I'm trying not to add any more pedals to the already big collection lol

[Bootzilla]

I have the new dark boost (devi design made by fuzzhugger) with the voltage starve. It doesn't boost the low lows but more the lows/low mids. If I have the tone knob down it doesn't seem to change the sound at all if you keep it clean. If you move up the control it starts to get dirty really soon on bass (It seems to get increasingly dirty with the amount of low end you put into it). The overdrive is not earthshaking low (it doesn't really ad low end) but it feels like it's oriented on the lows and sounds a bit fuzzy. When you turn up the VLOT control the overdrive seems to be more mid oriented with less lows. It is very sensitive to your playing dynamics but it is a bit difficult to keep it on the edge between overdrive and clean. When it is just barely overdriving it gives a very smooth barely breaking up tone. The low notes get dirty way sooner than the high notes but you can control this a bit by playing higher notes harder. Also the clipping circuit seems to add undertones more than overtones or something. This adds more "presence" in the lows/low mids. The first time I tried it I found it too fuzzy (not subtle enough) when overdriving and not muddy enough (I like mud) when clean. Now I appreciate it more. If you search on "dark boost" or something there is a thread with soundclips so you can hear the character of the overdrive.

So in short you can use it for:
-Clean boost
-Just a bit of warm fuzzy breakup on lower notes (and extra warmth on higher notes)
-Fuzzy overdrive
-Fuzz (or very heavy overdrive or somthing) if you crank the control knob.

Note: On guitar this is a very different animal. On my strat it adds smooth lowend and makes it very bassy. On guitar it clips not nearly as fast on bass and when it does it is warmer and smoother. I absolutely love it on guitar.

[Jacob J]

I've got Bass Fuzz, which I bought from "theunknowndude". Haven't played it much yet, because assembling of my pedalboard is still in progress, but so far I can say it's great. Works well with my P-Bass. I also lent it to friend who plays guitar and he liked it pretty much,but....I think he has broke it. He was powering it with some random Korg adaptor he found in my rehearsal room (I didn't notice that), although there was battery in it...At beginning everything was fine, but later we went to another room, he plugged the adaptor and pedal stopped working. When in bypass, signal was flowing through, but engaged it wasn't working, only led was on. I'm electrotechnical analphabet, but I'm not sure if that adaptor had correct polarity (later I checked it and there was negative polarity symbol on the sticker). So guys, can you tell what went wrong? What is correct power supplying for Devi Ever pedals?

Thanks.

[bigchiefbc]

Huge Devi fan. Some work great on bass, others not so much (I use them on synth and guitar as well).

OK - great stuttery, sputtery fuzz pedal. Loses a lot of bass. I use it a lot more on synth.

Dark Boost - awesome boost/overdrive pedal, really adds a lot of thump to my signal (though as someone already said, it might be more low mids that it's actually boosting)

LP - Great overdrive with a record-skipping artifact in it. It can be modded to have a flipswitch to remove the skipping, which turns it into an Electric Brown (which I am in the middle of doing).

Improbability Drive - Incredible fuzz pedal, has a very raspy, nasty tone to it. Most of the settings drop some bass, but I'm generally using it in contexts where that doesn't matter. In some settings, will start doing weird arpeggiations, flipping up and down octaves unpredictably.

Custom Twin with Hyperion/Aenima (being built right now) - I have owned both of these pedals separately in the past. The Hyperion is a great fuzz, can do muff tones, and can also do some scrambly subtle octavia as well. The Aenima is a really trashy distortion. Sometimes can even sound a bit like a Rat. Noisy and ill-behaved, it can turn off some people, but I love it.

I have also previously owned the following pedals - Bit, Vintage Fuzz Master, Never Drive, Destructo Noctavia, Soda Meiser.

[gnasher1993]

I had the Legend of Fuzz and kind of regret letting go of. In retrospect though, it sounded quite similar to my Mastotron so I'm not upset.

Thinking of getting another Devi pedal soon, thinking of the Torn's Peaker or finding a Year of the Rat.

I want an Improbability Drive more than any of them though

[MaxMaps]

Originally Posted by gnasher1993

I had the Legend of Fuzz and kind of regret letting go of. In retrospect though, it sounded quite similar to my Mastotron so I'm not upset.

Thinking of getting another Devi pedal soon, thinking of the Torn's Peaker or finding a Year of the Rat.

I want an Improbability Drive more than any of them though

!!!!!
Huge deal, if for one post go to Devi's own board and vote on project Pandora's Box. What ever design gets the most votes will be the next pedal Devi makes!

So far from what I have read people are voting for.....

-Heavens Gate

or

Improbability Dive v2
---------------------------

The Shoe Gazer is the only pedal that I have walked out of the store with after 10 min of playing.

It is hot, I mean the Torns Peaker side is loud and it starts to clip and distort after you turn the dial past noon on both the volume and texture side. Just turns your bass into a sonic buzz saw.

The SodaMister side has about a 50% volume drop =/ . I have not emailed devi if this is something that she or another builder could fix but even past noon on my amp it sounds like you have it on mute.

But using the SodaMister side as a boost to the Torn's Peaker side it turns it into one of the nastiest sputtery fuzzes I have ever heard

I don't know about most devi pedals but volume definitely effects the amount of distortion and effect you get from the box. I am trying to learn not to crank my basses volume to full blast.

-------------------

I have heard really good things about the Hyperon on bass so I may just buy it and AB it against my other fuzzes or just become the next grygrx and start collecting them.

I demoed the Godzilla and was not that super impressed with the results on bass. I would have to pick it up and do some extensive ABing to the shoe gazer.

I am gasing hard for a bit mangler just so I can make noise.

[Mudfuzz]

Hi, I'm a big Devi fan as well.

I have:
2 Cherry Pops [for now]
SMBH
OK
Disaster Fuzz
a Peep
and a custom dual pedal with a KP and a DB in it.

I am also waiting on a Workhorse fuzz

The only one of the grope I have that doesn't work great on keeping lows on bass is the DF, but I knew this before I bought it. I still like it on bass sound wise and it works cool in a blender.

The OK, SMBL and Cherry Pop are all gated and are incredible for synth sounds when run through filters. The Cherry Pop is a little active unfriendly if you have you bass control all the way up, it makes the gate luck down on your lowest notes in a funny way.

The KP and DB are some of the best ODs there are for bass IMOP and together just killer settings can be had even over the top fuzz.

[gnasher1993]

...I'm definitely going to be getting a couple of Devi Ever pedals in the next month or so; could you recommend two that sound very different from each other so I can get different sounds without too much crossover between the two pedals.

I was thinking of the GZ and the Torn's Speaker but I'm not sure.

Any ideas?

[Verminaard]

I'm seriously considering getting a dark boost and a hyperion, any idea if that's a rulin' combination gents?

[steevdeadman]

I have a Electric Brown > Ruiner (2 Dark Boost circuits in series) the EB is my whole sound, I leave it on all the time to add a lil edge to my clean tone... the ruiner is choked up and very gated sounds super synthlike.

I've also had a Soda Mesier (which I miss), Super Massive Black Hole (Bass Fuzz), Truly Beautiful Disaster (Dark version) and I am waiting on a VFM to be delivered next week. I love Devi's stuff... they are well built and always sounds AWESOME!

[tigerbass]

Originally Posted by Verminaard

I'm seriously considering getting a dark boost and a hyperion, any idea if that's a rulin' combination gents?

I have been GASing for these as well!

[groooooove]

used to have a hyperion.. loved its aggressive tasty fuzz.. but the low end loss was too much. it definately did not like actives.

[metalmariachi]

I’m the original Devi fan, been collecting her fuzz since ’03.

I the order I got them.

Silver crank now called the 33; Gated upper mids and highs very raspy.

Dark Boost original volume only; this does boost the low end and lower mids, very thick.
Cuts volume if after any buffered pedals, boost un-buffered pedals and adds low end.

Dark Boost early 2 knob; Nice low end, this one with the drive control is nice, easy to go from boost to overdrive. I’ve also heard that this one has more low end than the newer ones, but don’t know for sure.

Dooms Day Device; gate on and off, bass/treble switches. Very touchy controls, mostly mids and top end. Goes into self osculation very fast. Has a unique sound when you can control it.

Aenima older chaos switch version, purple circles. With the chaos control off you can dial in a nice smooth warm mid range fuzz, rolls off some of the top end.
This one I gave to my son

Aenima; older Lloyd graphics no switch very top end heavy, al bite and noise, I added a chaos switch. This smoothes out the fuzz and eliminates the noise.
Slightly less top end roll off than the other version, accented more in the upper mids.

Karaoke Party (KP); nice low mids overdrive, sounds really good and sits nicely in the mix.

Soda Meiser (SM); with a fresh battery or a power supply you’ll get mostly upper mids and top end regardless of the switch position. Snappy biting fuzz. Lower the voltage and every thing smoothes out, moving down into the mids.

Destructo Noctavia (DN); Big loud nasty upper harmonics fuzz, sounds horrible with bass by it’s self.
Follow it with a Dark Boost and its still nasty but in a good way. Sounds like your amp is blowing up.
Follow it with a SM running on low voltage gives a nice smooth mid heavy fuzz with just a bit of bite on top, nice ringing harmonic over tones (an accidental discovery).

I’ll add the others at a later time.

MM

[Achtane]

I just wanted to add that you can get perfectly accurate Excitebike sounds by doing slides up the neck while using a Shoe Gazer; well, it's good for 8-bit-esque sounds in general.

I really like mine -- it's super high-gain and able to completely saturate you with noise. With the "more fuzz" engaged, it's absolutely ridiculous. You get feedback hell even with all the strings muted. Flick the back of the neck and watch out.

[MaxMaps]

Originally Posted by Achtane

I just wanted to add that you can get perfectly accurate Excitebike sounds by doing slides up the neck while using a Shoe Gazer; well, it's good for 8-bit-esque sounds in general.

I really like mine -- it's super high-gain and able to completely saturate you with noise. With the "more fuzz" engaged, it's absolutely ridiculous. You get feedback hell even with all the strings muted. Flick the back of the neck and watch out.

That is what I have come to love about the shoe gazer, it truly is a unique pedal.

gnasher1993
Question for the Devi experts...
...I'm definitely going to be getting a couple of Devi Ever pedals in the next month or so; could you recommend two that sound very different from each other so I can get different sounds without too much crossover between the two pedals.

I was thinking of the GZ and the Torn's Speaker but I'm not sure.

Any ideas?

The Torns Peaker is an animal and it dominates any pedal combined into it. My small time with the GZ is too inconclusive but it is a lot tamer than the TP.

I would say out of the devi pedals that I know, a GZ and a Hyperon would be my vote.

Also the idea of a Dark Boost and Hyperon sounds FANTASTIC.