Review - PE Depth Charge

Prescription Electronics Depth Charge
($220 + shipping from www.guitarcrazy.com)

Let me start by saying that I love the smooth fuzz sound of the EHX Little Big Muff, but its mid-scooped tone needs too much of a volume boost to make it heard in a full band setting, and it became overwhelming. So, the hunt was on for an alternate and I decided to give the PE Depth Charge a try based on clips I've heard...

This is the best example I've found:
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Size: Same as an EHX LBM (and dozens of others). All connections at the top of the enclosure.
Power: 9VDC (standard Boss type)
Controls: Volume, Gain, Blend, Tone, True-bypass stomp switch
Test Setup: Fender 57RI P bass (passive, rounds), Ampeg BA112, Sony studio headphones.

(For the purposes of this review, "minimum" means all the way left, and "maximum" means all the way right.)

Based on the Maestro Brassmaster circuit design, this pedal is definitely fuzz - no doubt about it. The gain ranges from an almost gated sound (Woolly Mammoth-ish) to very full and intense. If you want mellow, tubey OD this ain't it. If you want biting, buzzing, or synthy fuzz, this is a good place to look.

The magic of this pedal is in the blend and tone controls. The blend control does wonders for dialing in the amount of punch from your original signal you want to compliment the fuzz. With the gain turned up much at all, you really can't dial in a totally clean signal with the blend control, but a middle setting (10-2 o'clock) seems to work well for keeping note definition amoung the mayhem. Maximum blend settings take away from the punchiness, but it's still very useable.

The tone control will give you a range of sounds from gritty and harsh to pretty smooth. As the tone knob is rolled up, more high-end content is added to the signal filling out the sound and giving it nearly a Big Muff flavor. It was nice to find that minumum settings never sounded muted, and maximum settings never lost bottom end presence. Depending on your needs, the tone control makes this a pretty versitile fuzz unit.

Initially, I was testing this pedal direct into my SS Ampeg practice amp. Although I liked the sounds just fine, things got really lovely when I put the Depth Charge in front of a SansAmp set for an SVT sound. The SansAmp added a warmth and that was missing from the initial setup. This makes me hopeful for great things when I run the Depth Charge with my SVT-CL rig.

I have yet to use this pedal in a full band setting, but I expect good things based on what I've heard so far.

I've seen pics of this pedal in orange and silver. Mine showed up in dark green with a green LED. I think it looks fantastic.

And, yes, the "Muse sound" is in there.


4 out of 5 bassists think this pedal rocks.

Thanks, jetpack. If it ends up being brilliant in a full band setting, it'll get 5 out of 5.

Boo - Unfortunately, I don't have my recording setup complete (yet), but the clip I linked gives a pretty good idea of how it sounds.

Feel free to use the rating system

Dragonlord...

FUZZES:
EHX Little Big Muff - I used this guy for smooth, thick fuzz and still love it for playing solo, but as mentioned in my review above, it got lost in a band setting due to its slightly mid-scooped sound.

Z.Vex Woolly Mammoth - Very industrial and sterile sound. It's fantastic if you're looking for that sound, but it wasn't a fit for me. Huge bottom end response.

Frantone Lo-Tone - Smooth and thick fuzz, but very muted tone - not enough high-end bite to be heard in a mix.

NOT FUZZES:
ProCo Rat 2 (Keeley modded) - Despite the mod, the bass response was lousy. Useless for my needs.

SansAmp Programmable BDDI - I still use this for recording to replicate my SVT sound. With a SS amp, it does a good job of adding tubey warmth. There are lots of good sounds in the SAPBDDI, but since going to an SVT amp, I've found other pedals I live better for dirt.

EHX English Muff'n - This one has been the only permanent resident of my pedalboard. I love it for gritty OD.

SpankyPants said:

Eric, you may want to consider a Skreddy Mayo with flat mid switch. It's a muff clone with the mids. It's smaller, but WAY more expensive.

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Spanky, dude, give me a chance to get tired of the Depth Charge first.

The problem, I think is that neither pedal, does "subtle" very well. The start of the clip I posted gives an example of an increasing amount of fuzz blended into the signal.

I haven't used the B:assmaster, but from what I understand, it does the blend thing pretty well. Hopefully, Malekko will chime in on this.

benevan said:

Huh?!?! Are you sure you're referring to the right pedal??

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Yep. That's the way I heard the Woolly Mammoth when I had it. Subsequent clips of the WM have confirmed it. I'm not the only one who has described it that way. It's a lovely beast if that's the sound you're looking for, but warm and organic it is not.

MysticBoo said:

I A/B'ed the Wolly Mammoth and the LBM in the same store. The Mammoth was cool, but it's definitely not a warm fuzz like the Muff, and ~$220 is a lot to ask for a pedal like that.

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$220??!! Jeezz. The only one I could find cost me $300. My credit card company wasn't thrilled when that charge got credited back a few days later.