FEA Photon Fuzz

[ZombiCrow]

This thing is great looking, and as an aside, I recently got the updated-circuit Dual-Band distortion, and it has good deal more drive now, and in my opinion is far less subtle at its extremes, and more usable to me! Between that, the Phat Phuk, and the Mad Professor Blueberry, things just got pretty exciting in my basement. The Photon is probably not far away, either...

 

[FreaqyFrequency]

A large majority of my GAS has been killed since my most recent acquistion, but I'll throw it out there:

I want clips.

 

[behndy]

rarrr. WANT. 'bout to list my Fuzzrocious white Rat Tail and Munch The Muffin one off. soon as they sell i'm a ordering one of THESE.

 

[Matt Dean]

Yeah, I think I'm with you Ben... tonight I had a vision of a photon fuzz sitting next to my dual band distortion.

 

[behndy]

well, honestly, it's your mad love (i heard what you do it at night. filthy little man) that got me all geeked about FEA stuff. but i'm good on OD's. ocatave fuzz? ****ing GIMME.

for defo ordering this sharpish.

 

[boomertech]

Thanks for the compliments!!

Do we know is this is based on an already existing fuzz circuit?,...or is it Frank's own design?

This is a multi-stage fuzz circuit. The first fuzz stage sounds similar to the hundreds of other hard diode clipping circuits (with the bite control at minimum). The second fuzz stage is an optical-FET clipper that is engaged by the bite control. This FET clipper aggressively flattens the signal peaks further and can add a flavor of square wave fuzz (depending on the drive and bite settings).

Does anyone know if the octave-up/full wave rectifier distortion circuit is the same on the dbd?

The octave up in the Photon sounds different from the octave up in the DBD because of the way they are implemented. The octave in the DBD is before the distortion circuit and in the Photon it is after the fuzz circuit and EQ… so, the Photon’s octave distortion can be much more pronounced.

-Frank

 

[Wud]

And so it continues...
Why me?
Why Fuzz?
Where is my wallet?

 

[Matt Dean]

Thanks Frank... BTW, I am (at this point) not sending in my DBD for the upgrade, because I like it's darker, low gain character.

 

[buglen]

A large majority of my GAS has been killed since my most recent acquistion, but I'll throw it out there:

I want clips.

Here's the first clip, with a very fuzzy / dry tone mix: Invalid Link Removed

I'll work on putting a few more together over the next few days. Right now there's a lightning storm so all my gear is unplugged, but tomorrow is supposed to be a better day for weather.

 

[behndy]

very interesting. i like how articulate the bass stays with the fuzz sorta "behind" the sound.

damn it. ordering one soooooooooon.

 

[Matt Dean]

Here's the first clip, with a very fuzzy / dry tone mix: Invalid Link Removed

I'll work on putting a few more together over the next few days. Right now there's a lightning storm so all my gear is unplugged, but tomorrow is supposed to be a better day for weather.

Nice.

More... ?

 

[Eric!]

THE GAS NEVER ENDS IN THIS PLACE.

 

[8strings0hair]

So after playing with it for a couple of days, I thought I'd give a quick review:

It's a very inspiring pedal. Loads of sounds in there.
The main thing is this: almost every control interacts with the others. For example, if you're cutting mids, you have to tweak the drive to compensate, which in turn interacts with the Bite control, etc...
I personally love it, as you need to spend a little time with the unit to get a feel for the particular interactions (and I haven't even fiddled with the internal trim pots).

It came out of the box with a really gnarly fuzz tone, but I have found my personal fave: a lot of dry signal blended in and just a touch of hair added, and as a bonus, when you step on the octave it just gives you extra grit and cut. Fantastic.

As a disclaimer, I should point out that I tap on an 8 string guitar (tuned to low E like a bass), so a bass will definitely be a different experience.
But between the great EQ and the versatile colors of fuzz this thing can coax, I'm sure my low end brothers will dig it too.

 

[behndy]

thanks for the quick review homie! really looking forward to this thinger.

 

[buglen]

Nice.

More... ?

Next one: Invalid Link Removed

Light on the drive, medium bite, heavy on the lows and mids, with no dry mix. What I like to call the "mud-butt" tone.

 

[Eric!]

It has that heavy OD sound while maintaining a fuzzy icing. Nice!

 

[buglen]

Next one: Invalid Link Removed

Light on the drive, medium bite, heavy on the lows and mids, with no dry mix. What I like to call the "mud-butt" tone.

This one has the same settings as sample 2, but with the pre-fuzz filter changed from 220Hz (default) to 55Hz so you can hear the difference: Invalid Link Removed

 

[Matt Dean]

Thanks buglen for the sound samples. Could you do one with some high-gain madness?

 

[buglen]

Thanks buglen for the sound samples. Could you do one with some high-gain madness?

Max-gain; moderate-octave; cranked EQ with mids rolled back just a bit; and no dry: Invalid Link Removed

Enjoy!

 

[behndy]

KILLing me here. i was about to order this thingy then a friend hit a tight spot.

must.... clear....... funds........