DeLisle Fuzz Review

You may remember the name DeLisle from the past. Jer has been plugging along with his guitars and amps for a while now and like he said in the interview linked in the first sentence, he never stops thinking of new things and it's one of those new things that are sitting in front of me for review.

Jer was nice enough to send me one of the new DeLisle Fuzz boxes to review and send back and it's been a reminder that being a blogger and reviewer has its ups and downs and those usually coincide with getting new gear and sending it back.

There are two things that stick out most about this fuzz box: The touch sensitivity and the oddly addictive ability to take multiple notes and not only blend them together, but create a very choppy, equally pleasing and disturbing sound.

Playing with it, it reminded me of what a buddy said about the Fender Blender. He said one note at a time, maybe even two is fine but when you start adding more than that, they start getting lost and it all becomes a mess.

But I'm the type of person that LIKES that kind of mess. Ever since my first brush with playing a fuzz box, the thing that appeals to me most about them is the noise factor. I won't say that I'll be lining up for a dedicated noise box with bleeps, bloops, ringing, feedback, etc. because I think there has to be some musicality (at least to my ears) for any pedal to be good for anything, but I like the ability to make something that is a little more out there than your standard distorted guitar and fuzz seems to be the best way to do that.

Now, I'm not an electrician or pedal builder. I can only offer my completely amateurish explanation as to what causes this choppy sound when multiple notes are being played. One theory I have is that the strings are moving at different speeds based on the size of the string and the length of it at whatever fret you are putting it at and the fuzz box is taking those string movements and amplifying them to a much more audible level and you are left with the beautiful dissonance of the choppy music noise.

My second theory is that fuzz boxes are made with magic as well as cathodes, diodes, wire, and all that other stuff.

The magic theory is the most fun.

This box is good with that chop too. Don't get me wrong, it can do the most subtle of fuzzes if you want it to and we'll get to that in a bit but I'm not a subtle guy and I want to hear the absolute messiest, craziest, most raunchy tones a pedal has to offer and then back off to where I feel best using it in real applications. Because the chop increases with the more strings played, I found myself using more strings than usual for chords. A two finger power chord became a four finger arpeggio. I found myself playing songs more slowly than usual JUST for that awesome sound of the DeLisle grabbing those notes and chopping them up faster than a Top Chef contestant.

The touch sensitivity is great too. A ton of amp companies and pedal companies always tout being "touch sensitive" but often fall short of that promise. The DeLisle fuzz doesn't even mention being touch sensitive and succeeds in spades! Because it wasn't mentioned, it took me off guard and I realized that I needed to work on my pick attack and focus more on my picking than I usually do, but after I started getting used to it, it became easier and easier. There's a Tool lick that I often play when trying things out and at first, I thought the fuzz wasn't strong enough but then started hitting the strings harder and the aha moment came in and now I use my pick and the pedal to build up the volume and the fuzz. It's pretty amazing just how clean the notes can be, even with the knobs set for the craziest fuzz, when you pick softly and then as you start to pick harder you hear the hair on the notes until at your picking hardest, the notes are loud and fuzzy.

In essence, this pedal takes away the hassle of constantly working your guitar's volume knob (a plus when you have a guitar that has a volume knob that isn't all that accessible when playing).

Looks-wise, this pedal is awesome in its good looks. It's simple and understated with a black baked enamel finish, a name plate, four cream knobs and two switches on the top side. Neither the knobs nor the switches have words around them telling you what they are but the diagram is printed on the bottom of the pedal which may require a little bit of memorization but I like it. You're not only going to realize what each knob does eventually, but you'll probably make up your own name for each knob based on what your ears are hearing which is a pretty cool thing. A lot of companies try to come up with clever names for each knob's purpose and DeLisle is basically letting you do the same AND have a pedal that looks awesome.

And perhaps it's the bare bones appearance but this looks and feels like something you would see a pro using. As much as I like loud, visually striking things (I'm a big fan of colors and neon and lights and all that), this box looks so simple that you have to look at it and say "with looks like that, it HAS to have great tone" because it's not trying to appeal to you in any other way.

Clever.

One of the best things about this pedal though is the price. If you look around, you'll see fuzz pedals are ridiculously expensive, which doesn't make a ton of sense to me. A builder on the Fuzz movie (Fuzz: The Sound That Changed The World) said that all a fuzz box really is is a circuit that doesn't work quite right and I believe him, so why some fuzz boxes are upwards of 3-400.00 is a bit of a mystery to me. This one costs $109.00 and as far as I know there's only a small kid-sized handful of companies offering fuzz boxes for that price and even less with the same level of attractive guts as this one. The inside of the pedal looks immaculate and well made and there's even a battery clip in there to keep your 9V steady so while in transit it won't move around and damage the pedal. Good thinking, DeLisle!

I could go into the knobs and switches and the description of each one, but Jer already did a great job in his description which reads as follows (taken from the DeLisle website):

"Here's a rundown of the knobs: Roll the Edge control back to knock some fizz out of the fuzz. It will thin out the tone somewhat and result in more of an overdriven sound. The Range pot boosts the available output and changes the frequency characteristics. Dial in just the right amount of Fuzz with the Fuzz control. Output to the next link in the signal chain is covered by the Level Control. The rear of the Fuzz Box also features two mini-toggle switches--a Fat switch and a Limit switch. Flip the Fat switch to add some bottom end. The Limit switch changes the relationship between the Level control and the output coupling cap, which also affects the bass response. The Limit switch is effective when the Fat switch is off. (With the Fat switch on, all bass frequencies will be passed regardless of the Limit switch position.) There is also a internal bias pot.

It runs on 9V battery or adapter. The DC jack has a negative tip, so it plays nicely with other pedals/power supplies."

Personally, one of the most appealing things about this pedal is that even though it's a great stand alone fuzz, it also compliments other fuzz boxes as well. I have a Monster Fuzz from Pro Tone Pedals that isn't nearly as touch sensitive and the DeLisle and is more raunchy and the two play together very well on the floor. When I want a more mellow fuzz that I can control more with my pick, I click on the DeLisle and when I want just noisy raunch with insane highs, I click on the Monster and between the two, I'm completely content as far as fuzz boxes go.

In the end, DeLisle has offered up a unique fuzz that truly lets you be more expressive with your playing style with some pretty amazing fuzz tones that can be toned down to a more overdriven sound with the twist of a knob and is nothing less than a professional grade pedal at a garage player's price point. Yes, it's not $40.00 but when you listen to the sounds and look at the build quality, you'll be happy it isn't at the more boutique price point.

-Pappy