Blackout Effectors is an effects pedal company that recently relocated from Canada to Asheville, NC. Their pedals are unique takes on overdrive, fuzz and phasers that are "Handmade with Precision and Balls." This is another company that I just totally lust after. All of their pedals just get into my veins and I get swept away (why don't I have enough cash?!?). The Musket is the first pedal that I have had the pleasure of playing through and hopefully not the last (::cough:: Whetstone ::cough::). This pedal is well loved over on Talkbass.com and for good reason.
From Blackout Effectors:
The logical progression from then to now, the MUSKET is based
on one of the raunchiest, best selling fuzz circuits of all time
-taken three giant muffy steps further. With the addition of the
PRE, FOCUS, & MIDS controls, the MUSKET is able to traverse
the decades,, the continents and the many iterations of the
classic 4-stage fuzz circuit - from emulation to beyond. If you
need fuzz and need it to be massive…..
And bass players, look no further. The Musket brings the
thunder to perfectly compliment your lightning. You'll
find the Musket on pro bass player boards
the world over.
CONSTRUCTION:
"Handmade with Precision and Balls" pretty much sums up this pedal's construction. Solid circuit design and discrete soldering points (definite care in construction). The knobs are sturdy and turn smoothly. Foot switch: good to go.
GRAPHICS:
There have been many different graphic versions of this pedal over time, and they kind of give a history of the evolution of the pedal, circuit design and of Blackout Effectors as a company. The original graphic design was the "Red Rifles" edition, which was an homage to the builder's grandfather if I am not mistaken. The current version of the Musket (version 2 as far as the circuitry goes, but the third or fourth version graphically), is similar to the "Red Rifles" design, but it is all black and white. My Musket was the first version of the circuit with the mountain of tone graphics (which incidentally is my favorite one they have released as of yet). I think that the second version of the circuit is one that incorporates a greater degree of control through each knob (especially the MIDS and FOCUS knobs, which we will get to in a minute).
Also, something that I think is a really cool touch about the style of this company is that on the inside of the pedal cover, they paint an artistic representation of the number of the pedal (mine was #157, I believe). Sometimes this is just the number painted in a cool way and sometimes there is a kaleidoscope of awesome in there. It just depends on who was working the day the pedal was finished and how creative they were feeling (the custom Storm Trooper is definitely up there on my favorites-list). A really cool touch in my opinion. It's really little touches like this that make independent builders stand out from the crowd.
TONE:
Here is the "balls" part. BEEF. For a muff based circuit, this pedal has an incredible range of tone. The bottom three controls are the traditional muff controls of Fuzz (saturation), Tone and Volume. Pretty much standard issue as far as sound goes. The top three controls are what really make this muff circuit stand out. The PRE control knob acts like a pre-gain boost stage in front of the circuit (sort of) that lets you have greater control over the range of the FUZZ knob. At a minimum PRE setting, the overall saturation of the fuzz circuit is pretty tame. When the PRE and FUZZ knobs are both maxed - STAND BACK!!!! Now you have a fuzz pedal that has complete control over the saturation sweep and you don't have to always set it on the maximum saturation setting to get a usable tone like you do with older muff circuits.
The MIDS knob works really well with the TONE knob to shape the character of the pedal. While the TONE knob is a sort of traditional muff-based mids sweep (counter-clockwise being really scooped, traditional muff tone), the MIDS knob will boost or cut the middle frequencies in pleasant new ways. This is the main feature on this pedal to help keep the bass from getting lost in the mix. Cranking the MIDS knob will give you an in-your-face snarl that demands your attention.
The FOCUS knob is an interesting and welcomed touch to this circuit. This knob will take you from articulate crunch (clockwise) to sloppy low end awesome (you guessed it counter-clockwise). For bass players, the focus knob really needs to be set in the left side of the knob's range (the sloppy side). Not specifically because great gobs of sloppy molasses fuzz is awesome, but because as you get progressively further clockwise on this knob, the low end starts to disappear almost into lo-fi territories (for a bass). Killer.
I felt that this pedal's primary sound scape isn't necessarily focused on the DOOM side of things, however. What I mean is that it wouldn't be my first choice for the heavy DOOM breakdown of a song (a la hammering down on the low B) or the slow drone of a stoner / doom metal type of band. This pedal has a snarl and a bite to it that I think is better suited for quick riffing and that "Every Time I DIe" in your face kind of bass tone, which it excels at. Different strokes.
Killer.
Also, the Musket is also available in a dual pedal format with another of Blackout Effector's killer fuzzes the Fix'd Fuzz called the Twosome Fuzz.
Please go checkout the awesome clips and videos over at Blackout's webiste:
NOW.
-Colin (mothertonegear@gmail.com)
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