| Okay, I just brought one of these back from Australia and seeing no reviews of it for bass anywhere, thought I'd post my initial thoughts. My wife took me fx shopping on my birthday down under and each store we went into, we asked for whatever weird Australian pedals they could offer. Most were the same stuff you can get over here, but it was still fun. I tried out all sorts of filters and stuff and my wife spotted the LAL Super Oscillo Fuzz and said "that has lots of switches on it, looks interesting." I almost didn't try it out but the salesguy got this sick grin and once he started explaining it, I was intrigued. After hearing it, my wife insisted I get it, as it really is like nothing else I've ever played through. (Fuzzes I've spent time with: Muff, Pod, 80s Rockman, Guyatone, Depth Charge, Mammoth, and B:Assmaster).
First, this is a pedal made by a noise musician and that's the mentality best brought to it. It is not a subtle effect, it is not a bass effect, you will not keep your low end intact (though the pedal is capable of some cruel lows), it won't always "cut through the mix" or groove nicely, but OMFG you can get amazing and wild sounds out of this thing if that's what you're looking for. The unit comes with no instructions and is very interactive and moody. It is incredibly fun to play around with.
Basically, you mess around with the dip switches (no I can't exactly say what they do except that they clearly switch different elements in and out of the sound) until you find something you like, then twist the knob for interesting effects. Tonight I tested it out with my Modulus Bassstar (EMG PJ pickups w/separate volume knobs) playing into my Eden WT 400 and out into headphones. No effect, super clean. With effect, wow. A whole wide range of fuzz options and touch sensitive to boot. At one point I got this wonderful torn speaker/melting face fuzz sound but where the notes also cut through. When I muted my strings or rolled off my volume, the unit would, well, scream at roughly e flat (with the dip switch setup I had, e flat was the highest note I could get -- I could go lower, including beneath my original note, but rotating the knob clockwise). I could also get this sick howl by leaving my J at about 25% and then rolling off my P at the end of a phrase. I started composing the heaviest thing I've ever composed. It might even be credible.
I know fuzzheads will be jonesing for sound samples but I'm a little busy in the next while, so it may have to wait until I get this song done with it. We'll see.
In the meantime, I would say that this pedal is for a specialized niche. Like truffles, it's a flavor not everyone's going to like and it's certainly not suited to many of the genres represented on this board. Without a doubt, I would say try before you buy or at least buy used so you're protected with resale.
But in a studio setting or in an experimental setup, this could be just the thing. It really is a work of art and I look forward to further experimentation with it.
Last edited by JES : 08-26-2008 at 11:14 PM.
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