Review Demo - Black Cat Pedals Monster K-Fuzz
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- Read the review: www.premierguit...
My first real exposure to the original Kay Fuzz came via Daniel Lanois’ soundtrack to the film Sling Blade. I was used to Lanois being resourceful, unbridled, and emotional in his playing. But there was something in the harrowing track “Orange Kay” that added menace to Lanois’ already emotive attack. The monster in the mix, so to speak, was the fuzz pedal that gave the track its name. And though I’ve tried to use octave-up pedals to approximate the textures Lanois conjured in “Orange Kay,” nothing quite delivered the frantic, time-ripping-at-its-seams, desperation that Lanois’ Kay Fuzz and it’s treadle-activated filtering evoked.
Black Cat Pedals’ Tom Hughes was one of the first to nail the Kay Fuzz sound and functionality when he built a clone into a standard wah enclosure. But the first-generation Monster K-Fuzz (as he called it) was very limited and expensive. Now the Monster K-Fuzz has returned. And while you’ll need to use or invest in an expression pedal to get true Kay Fuzz-style performance, the latest version also comes with new clipping, voicing, and gain features that broaden its usability and enable the pedal to work with a wide range of guitars, amps, and other stomps. This could be the most versatile Kay Fuzz-inspired pedal ever.
While there are many similarities in the basic circuitry of Monster K and octave-up fuzz pedals like the Shin-Ei Super Fuzz and Foxx Tone Machine, there are pronounced differences in tone and dynamics. One of the primary differences is that the Monster K is much smoother, less clipped, and less likely to glitch out in the high-mid range at most settings. That makes the Monster K well suited for the tone-shifting, volume swell-like effects you can extract with an expression pedal. The shift or curve of the fuzz frequency can feel relatively steep and abrupt when using an expression pedal. (I used a Moog EP-3.) But it’s not binary, on/off attenuation either, and if the contour isn’t exactly an elegant arc, the output still shifts smoothly. (This fast, steep filtering curve is probably most famously used on the Edge’s intro to U2’s “Elevation”).
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I sorta thought this was a Death By Audio pedal at a quick glance. And it kinda sounds like it too.
I'd like to see a comparison of this vs the Basic Audio Kay fuzz. I found this demo lacking, mostly because the reviewer didn't ever play single notes up high on the neck, which is what this pedal excels at as do most octave pedals. Chords don't really work and that's mostly what he played. For those of you who think this pedal sounds like crap, watch some of the Basic Audio demos of the Basic Audio Kay, David Torn makes it sound incredible. I haven't seen the Black Cat properly demo'd yet .
You are so right. Rarely have I seen a mismatch of more epic proportions between a pedal and a player. John needed to loosen up, add some more reverb, run it into a phaser or rotary or micro-verb, something washy and weird, run a loop on a texture, then play slide, and yeah just wail a bit. He can usually glide by on his chops, but this pedal needs some mulch to grow in, and just be its beastly self. You can either create on its terms, or crash into the gulch, like he did here. If I'm Black Cat, I want my money and my pedal back. First review by John where I thought he was off track and befuddled. Maybe his hair gel got lost that morning...
Basic Audio Blender... Have you ever seen THAT video? Possibly most intense one yet.. Weird imagery but remarkable visionary playing. Also, the one for BA Double Beat by Just Nick is incredible. Not his usual living room noodling...
Crazy pedal!
I kept wanting you to break into "Spirit In The Sky"…;-)
Who would demo this with an expression pedal, and not do the Elevation riff - at least in passing - unless, of course, it can't do it/sounds crap at reproducing the original's tone ... ??!
I honestly don't care what there demoing, I just come to watch John play.
I need a moist towelette after all that splattery goodness.
It's probably his Sweetwood that got you going.
Shit GOD DAMN I need this
It's funny how with fuzz pedals, one person's dream is another's absolute nightmare. Personally, I can't stand these Velcro gated "broken" fuzz sounds. But John always rocks it!
BC is a true boutique pedal...
Sick 🍺
this kid meaning the Point Break btw big muff and super fuzz!
brilliant!
The pedal has some awesome tones in it. But I get the feeling that John doesn't really like what it's capable of. I have seen him do this before with pedals. Also, he said he was going to stop talking, but then didn't. Regardless, he actually did settle on some great sounds once he was done expressing his distaste. So thanks for at least trying to be objective!
He's a great technical player, and I am guessing likes to showcase his chops as much as anything he's playing. This pedal does not allow him to easily do that. It sounds busted up in a really great way, but it's not his bag. This is a beast that drags you along, you don't ride it tall in the saddle-- but you have to be willing to let it go wild and get scraped up. I'm surprised he hasn't played slide on it yet, as he's an amazing slide player. His "psychedelic" cheer at the end was pretty half-hearted. I don't think "keepin it fuzzy" is his deal, based on his whole look. I really enjoy John's reviews and dig his playing, but this pedal just befuddled his ass...
John Bollinger, your voice and accent; you sound exactly like actor Timothy Olyphant; I'd not be surprised if you grew up two miles apart.Just watched Sling Blade this morning and noticed the original Kay Fuzz was featured in the scene where Karl's contemplating Doyle's murder, and even gets a mention in the credits, along with the rest of Daniel Lanois' score.
my problem with fuzz is ..how do you know when its broke? other then a indicate light or no power.. I think I could drop this pedal down the stair well and make it sound better. or not I wouldn't know. ?
stratonut By deciding for yourself.
You don't understand how to use fuzz. Some you can tame, and some are wild beasts that drag you through broken glass... One has to be willing to let this beast run... You can reach amazing emotional texture zones...
John is great, but this is not a good demo. It's not a good fit for him.
Why so brittle? Warm fuzz is where it's at, this just sounds like a broken digital pedal.
One fuzz can't do it all; if you want creamy, try Wampler's Velvet Fuzz.
+Mojo Bone thanks, I will check it out.
+ Mojo Bone I checked it out, it's also brittle as all hell, why on earth did you think I'd like that one either? My current fave is the Fulltone GT-500 which is warm, valve-y sounding and doesn't have any of the digital flabby sound I'm complaining about in this video. With that said it's not a gated super heavy fuzz for which I'd choose the Way Huge Conquistador Gated Fuzz which isn't brittle or digital sounding either.
Wildeheart79, maybe fuzz ain't your thing; I don't think of the GT 500 as a fuzz; they make a 69 and a 70 for that, so they probably think similarly. never heard the conquistador, have to check that out.
+ Mojo Bone Fuzz is most definitely my thing, I never play without it. The GT-500 can get plenty fuzzy if you stack the distortion with the OD/Boost but it stays consistently warm and valve-y sounding throughout the range. Whilst I would conceed there's no way to give it that gated fuzz sound a la "Spirit In The Sky" or something that's where the Conquistador comes in. My personal split would be single string lead stuff through the GT-500 and power chord rhythym through the Conquistador and you're covering the whole spectrum. I just don't see a place for these brittle digital sounding fuzz's anywhere in that and especially not this specific one which I still maintain sounds like broken digital pedal to me which is never a good thing!
Your description box refers to the "Shin-Ei Super Fuzz" ... I presume this was meant to refer to the Univox Super-Fuzz ... ... ??!
Same thing.
Univox, Crown,Shin-yei, Companion etc all made Super fuzz peds.
I wish Boss would just bring back the hyper fuzz.
GCF
Alberto Hervello
wow , they invented what it sounds like when Hendrix's guitar is literally burned to a crispy strip of bacon at MONTEREY ... The end of WILD THING ... Delicious FATASS GRINNNDY SRCOUNGEY MUD !!!
Wouldn't want it any dirtier... you're WRONG!
CptnMayo My first instinct would be to go dirtier.
horrible
Definitely not my cup of Fuzz
Stop yappin' and play some riffs dude!
If he knew how to use it properly, he would stop yakking. This pedal kicked his ass.
This is not fuzz......this is garbage
horrible
I must love garbage then!
best garbage ever! Freakin rocks.
the radical kindness Man if this does it for you. ..then rock on brother!
It's not the Fuzz.
Watch the overview of this pedal by ProGuitarShopDemos.
You will see that this pedal is a true rock, in fact.
Crap
Demo or pedal?
@@harveycan5820 , Oh, sorry, The pedal, demo was fine as I remember.