Ah the mighty Battering Ram from Wounded Paw FX.
Wounded Paw FX is an effects pedal company based (see what I did there?) out of Toronto, Canada. They make a couple of different products, some of which are specifically geared towards the bass guitar (see: Attack Goat, Bass Fuzz) and most of there other pedals at least work well with the bass. They also make several non-effects pedals that are highly useful, such as four channel mixers and routers, blend and mute pedals and expression pedals. Super cool company and my experience with them was smooth. Although, since this company is based out of Canada, you will have to deal with a longer than average wait time if you are ordering from America when the pedal is crossing the border, because it will probably get stopped at customs. Just be ready for that.
From Wounded Paw:
| The Battering Ram is an Overdrive plus Fuzz pedal which works equally well for guitar or bass or anything else you want to plug into it. Stomp on the OVERDRIVE switch and you turn the pedal on and activate the Overdrive section. It's a smooth overdrive which can go from completely clean to growling distortion via the DRIVE knob. The LO switch adds in the lower frequencies to make it full-range for bass or other instruments. The HI knob lets you either boost or cut the highs to dial in the tone you want. The LEVEL knob on the Overdrive side controls the output volume of the Overdrive section only. Overdrive plus Fuzz means that while the overdrive is on all the time, the fuzz can be added on top of the overdrive, without affecting the overdrive's volume or tone. This is a parallel processed pedal which means the fuzz section works from the clean input signal and gets mixed with the overdrive instead of one section following the other like in 2 stage pedals. The FUZZ section is switched on via a second stomp switch and has it's own LEVEL knob to control the Fuzz volume separately from the Overdrive. The fuzz sound is snarling and raspy and can get right out of control if you crank up the SUSTAIN. The deep lows are filtered out to keep it tight and bright. The TONE control goes from high-end cut to flat to a mid-cut, high end boost. And for another set of sounds there is the OCT switch to change the fuzz section into an octave up fuzz. Crazy. This pedal can be used in a number of ways. Have the overdrive on all the time for your basic tone and stomp on the fuzz for that important bridge, chorus or solo. Or use both sections to shape your total distortion sound. Use the overdrive for the lower frequencies to keep the growl without getting muddy and use the fuzz for the searing top end. Or keep the overdrive section tame and use the fuzz section with the octave switch on to add that one bit of octave up. Heavy Duty 4.7" x 3.7" Aluminum Enclosure True Bypass Bright Blue and Red LEDs  CONSTRUCTION: Superb. This thing is build like a tank. Strong true-bypass switches, sturdy knobs and stitches, quality metal jacks. GRAPHICS: The enclosure is professionally silk-screened and has a textured feel to it. Definitely sturdy and won't chip or scratch easily. TONE: As stated above in the message from Wounded Paw, this pedal is more like two pedals in one box, rather than one big circuit, if that makes sense. There is the overdrive side, and there is the fuzz side. The left foot switch, which is labeled "overdrive" should probably be labeled "bypass" instead because that is what turns the pedal on and off completely. This switch engages the left most three controls (Drive, Level and Hi) as well as the "Lo" switch. The low switch is a must for bass players in my opinion, but you can get some sweet Chris Squire-Rickenbacker snarl from this pedal when the low switch is not engaged. The Level knob is self-explanatory and there is a ton of volume on tap. I got some great drive tones out of this pedal even though I felt that the low-gain-just-a-bit-of-break-up thing was not it's forte. This has some snarl and it likes it that way. Then there is the fuzz "side" of the pedal which is engaged with the right foot switch labeled "fuzz." Convenient, huh? It is important to note that this switch cascades the overdrive section of the pedal into the fuzz side of the pedal and that the controls on the left side of the pedal effect the fuzz tone as well. Think of it more like having a separate overdrive and fuzz pedal one after another on a pedal board except that they are hooked together. The fuzz controls are the right most three (Level, Sustain, and Tone) and the "Oct" switch which engages a subtle octave up signal into the mix. I love the fuzz in this circuit. Awesome. Here's the rub, and the main reason that this pedal (though fantastic) is not on my board at this moment. Overdrive side: killer. Fuzz side: killer. Finding a tone that suits both: problem city. I love the overdrive side of this pedal, and I love the fuzz side too, but the problem is that if I got the settings on the overdrive side to where I wanted them, I felt like I had to compromise the settings on the fuzz side. Or if I set up the fuzz just the way I wanted, the overdrive wasn't really what I wanted either (since the overdrive is cascaded into the fuzz tone). I know that this is inherent in the construction and design of the pedal, but if there was any way to release a deluxe version of this pedal where there was an overdrive side and a six knobbed version of the fuzz on the other side, I would buy it again, no questions asked. Then again….maybe I just didn't think to use this in all the ways it could have been used. Like having the overdrive side on all the time as is described in that bit from Wounded Paw above, and just kicking in the fuzz side for the heavier bits…even if it is not as beefy as a Muff or whatever, it may still just be used as a really gnarly overdrive. Hrumph. I may have to find one of these used now and try it out again. And I thought these reviews were supposed to help my gear addiction!! Check out Grygrx's review over on Bassfuzz.com for clips and video. |
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