Heavy Electronics El Oso Fuzz

OhValhalla · #1 09-02-2011, 11:22 PM

Has anyone tried this pedal? I can't seem to find any reviews of it besides the one Bass Club Chicago video on youtube. By the sound of the video, they sound great. Let me know what you think of it if you own one!

OhValhalla · #2 09-08-2011, 03:00 PM

Since it appeared that no one had tried this pedal out, I went ahead and bought it on a $20 off sale. It arrived today and I thought I'd post a little review for anyone who was interested in this fuzz.

Mine came in colors Green/Gold (they must have known I was from Wisconsin!). I did like the original Brown/White color scheme.. but they're just colors so it wasn't a big deal. It is a very small box, contrary to how it appears in pictures. I was expecting something of muff size, but it is very small. Something like 3x4 inch. The overall make of the box is outstanding.. all metal but not too heavy, knobs sturdy etc. The only one complaint I have on the make is there seems to be something rattling inside when I move it.. could be a ground wire that is floating, but I'm not sure.

Now to be frank, the sound for me was perfect. It captures exactly what I want out of a fuzz. Retained low end with tubey warm distortion on top. The most important aspect of the sound is the mix knob, which I'm sure most of you fuzz experts are quite familiar with. It allows you to mix how heavy your bass sound is in comparison with the fuzz. So if you have it turned all the way up: it is just your bass, and all the way down: it is just the fuzz. I personally like the mix 3 to 5 oclock, so that the bass is very present, with a strong fuzz heard just above the sound. It can definitely tone way down and become more like a subtle tube overdrive that could always be on. To me, this pedal is as close as you can get to the bi amped sound (One bass amp clean, one guitar amp fuzzed). It especially sounds amazing on bigger rigs like my 2x15 acoustic, because you can clearly hear both sounds stacked.
I can't really speak for the fuzz heaviness of this pedal yet, because I haven't tested all its settings and I'm not much of a crazy heavy fuzz type anyhow. It did seem like it could get very buzz-sawy and borderline synthy with the mix turned down and the gain up. However, there is only three knobs so I can't imagine it can do everything the very expensive fuzz pedals can do. That isn't even necessarily a bad thing to me, because I never use those settings regardless.

For $150 new and a lifetime warranty of repairs and mods, I can't imagine getting a better deal on a fuzz of this caliber. This is really the best sounding bass fuzz I have used, but to be fair I'm not that experienced with high end fuzzes. But I can attest to the solid sound this fuzz creates and for that I am proud of this pedal from a local box maker across the state line.

I'll add more as I test this pedal out more. Let me know if you have any questions or requests. Hope this helps anyone!

Oh and one thing I should add: I tested this out on my Alembic Epic with flats, so it does indeed sound great on actives and flats.

Insouciance · #3 09-08-2011, 08:12 PM

I am sorry I missed this post! Heavy Electronics are made in Minneapolis and are in a few stores here. I have played with El Oso before and can honestly say you will not regret your purchase.

It is what I like in a distortion: just distorts your signal plus the clean blend. No tone knob. Does not go into fuzz territory, which is important to me. My favorite sound I got was to crank the distort knob, and set the clean to where I could just make out what my bass was doing, so I could play chords and still hear everything, BUT it was very distorted at the same time. Wanted one, but I have 4 dirt boxes right now. Moar drrt never hurt anyone though.

OhValhalla · #4 09-09-2011, 07:37 PM

Yes I probably am incorrectly calling this pedal a fuzz, but I'm not too keen on these definitions. I'd say it can get into mild fuzz and heavy overdrive so I suppose that makes it a distortion.

As far as an update on this pedal goes: I'm loving it even more than before. One thing I should note though is that it reacts quite differently to actives and passives (Common for effects pedals though). Not to say that it sounds better or worse, just different. On an active it will react based on your preamp volume. With the preamp low and amp high you can get the distortion very light and vice versa. Most pedal users are familiar with this though.

Also slight bump for a great pedal that I think needs more exposure!

heavier · #5 10-19-2011, 12:15 PM

OhValhalla,

Maraca Pedal? It's probably a pick in there. yellow dunlop?

S

blindrabbit · #6 02-12-2012, 01:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhValhalla

I'd say it can get into mild fuzz and heavy overdrive so I suppose that makes it a distortion.

It certainly sounds in the YouTube videos that it can get into fuzz territory.

Based on the limited videos and reviews out there, it sounds like this pedal has some outstanding tone. Does anyone else have experiences to share with it?

Scobby Bott · #7 02-14-2012, 02:24 PM

Heavy Electronics seems to make some great stuff. I think they're really shooting themselves in the foot by not putting more clips out there. I'd really like a chance to try out an El Oso, but don't think I would ever buy one with so many more versatile distortions getting some great hype lately. However, I am waiting on their Grind Fuzz which I just bought on eBay, based solely on that single badass song sample on their website.

blindrabbit · #8 02-14-2012, 02:43 PM

I listened to the one clip of their Grind Fuzz with bass too, and as best as my ears through little headphones can tell, I prefer the sound of it over the El Oso - and that's no slight to the El Oso! It sounds like a fantastically warm fuzz that doesn't lose any bottom end or definition.

Please, when you get the pedal, post some clips and/or a review. I too can't believe why there isn't more out there about these pedals - they seem to sound so good!

Scobby Bott · #9 02-14-2012, 03:48 PM

Will do, blindrabbit! I can't wait to sag the voltage on that thing and hear how freaky it can get.

In the meantime, here's the EP that Grind Fuzz sample came from. If you're interested, there's a really wicked demo recording of the same song on just drums and bass. I have no idea why they didn't use that version on the Heavy Electronics website instead.

bassboysam · #10 02-14-2012, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blindrabbit

I listened to the one clip of their Grind Fuzz with bass too, and as best as my ears through little headphones can tell, I prefer the sound of it over the El Oso - and that's no slight to the El Oso! It sounds like a fantastically warm fuzz that doesn't lose any bottom end or definition.

Please, when you get the pedal, post some clips and/or a review. I too can't believe why there isn't more out there about these pedals - they seem to sound so good!

+1. I preferred the grind fuzz as well.

Insouciance · #11 02-14-2012, 05:14 PM

I have emailed him a couple times and he mentioned being a bass player, and said all of the pedals are equally low end friendly.

Scobby Bott · #12 02-15-2012, 04:08 PM

Just got my Grind Fuzz and man, this thing is one mean, freakin' dirty warthog! Bone-crushing might be the best way to describe it, and I don't think I've had this much fun on my rig in a long time.

That being said, I do have a couple of issues with it which I may address with modification (hopefully through Heavy Electronics) in the future. First of all, this thing sounds HUGE and I'd really like to be able to rein it in a little. As I've probably made obvious by now, I truly fell in love with the distorted bass tone in the Grind Fuzz's sample recording on the Heavy Electronics website. It's now apparent to me that it was achieved with a decent portion of the original signal, and I really wish this pedal had a clean blend. Of course this is just personal preference, and could easily be remedied with an effects loop. I just wanted to clarify for anyone else who was looking into buying one.

The actual issue with this pedal is that it has a voltage pot on the side which can be operated with a guitar pick or screwdriver to sag the circuit. My problem is, after playing with it, I don't think of it as some monster you only want to unleash when the moon is full. It's actually quite a versatile tool for creating some really wonderful gateish sounds. I think this feature should be just as accessible as the level and gain: in a knob on the top of the pedal.

Anyway, I've gone on long enough about this in a thread for a completely different pedal. I'll be sure to start a new one whenever I get around to recording some clips of my new baby in action!

blindrabbit · #13 02-15-2012, 04:27 PM

Can't wait for the clips...

I did notice on their website a couple of days ago that they are open to doing custom builds. What you are suggesting sounds pretty reasonable - blend and a voltage knob. Just make sure if you get that done that you order two, because I may need to take the other one...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scobby Bott

Just got my Grind Fuzz and man, this thing is one mean, freakin' dirty warthog! Bone-crushing might be the best way to describe it, and I don't think I've had this much fun on my rig in a long time.

That being said, I do have a couple of issues with it which I may address with modification (hopefully through Heavy Electronics) in the future. First of all, this thing sounds HUGE and I'd really like to be able to rein it in a little. As I've probably made obvious by now, I truly fell in love with the distorted bass tone in the Grind Fuzz's sample recording on the Heavy Electronics website. It's now apparent to me that it was achieved with a decent portion of the original signal, and I really wish this pedal had a clean blend. Of course this is just personal preference, and could easily be remedied with an effects loop. I just wanted to clarify for anyone else who was looking into buying one.

The actual issue with this pedal is that it has a voltage pot on the side which can be operated with a guitar pick or screwdriver to sag the circuit. My problem is, after playing with it, I don't think of it as some monster you only want to unleash when the moon is full. It's actually quite a versatile tool for creating some really wonderful gateish sounds. I think this feature should be just as accessible as the level and gain: in a knob on the top of the pedal.

Anyway, I've gone on long enough about this in a thread for a completely different pedal. I'll be sure to start a new one whenever I get around to recording some clips of my new baby in action!