Big Ear Pedals has Collaborated once again with Squatch Design Co for a Limited Run of 10 Wood-Facia Editions of the Loaf Fuzz
I’m delighted to have got my hands on one of these limited edition Loaf Fuzzes. Funnily the one I’ve been after for the longest time has eluded me so far. The first Big Ear Pedal that was on my wishlist and that I still want is a Squatch Wood Facia edition of the Woodcutter Distortion. For me there’s nothing more fitting than to have a Woodcutter in a wood-facia enclosure.
I am actually quite the fan of wood-facia pedals in general, and have 4 of the Bogner Rupert Neve range in Bubinga Wood Editions. I feel that the lovely organic and resonant tones derived from those Neve Transformers are just perfectly reflected by the wood-facia - so I kind of collected the set.
In fact Squatch Design Co has collaborated quiet a few times with brands as diverse as Pelican NoiseWorks, 3 Leaf Audio, YellowCake, and of course Big Ear Pedals. I’ve noted that Mattoverse Electronics also do wood-facia specials, but I’m not 100% clear if that’s a collaboration or something done in-house. In any case I feel I have a few more wood-facia pedals to add to the collection. These all tend to be very limited batches - meaning you need to react very rapidly when they materialise - definitely a case of if you snooze you loose
Big Ear Pedals with Squatch Design Co : Cedar-Facia Loaf Fuzz : #5 of 10, March 2021
The Loaf is actually a rather wonderfully balanced mid-gain fuzz - superbly harmonic and keeping the low-end frequencies fully intact. Grant has really got the calibration perfect here - which on my example consists of 2N2222A + 2N5089 + 2N3904 Transistors. I of course like most types of fuzzes, but currently seem to be particularly into the more mid-range types with complex and rich harmonic detail.
You have the simplest of controls here - Fuzz, Volume and Tone - with plenty of range to suit most. I must say I'm rather fond of this one! Note that the wooden box the pedal comes in is rather fragile - with its match-stick-width hinge struts - I snapped the top right off in trying to get it out of the packaging - fortunately strong wood glue was able to fix it back to full working condition.
Big Ear Pedals with Squatch Design Co : Walnut-Facia Woodcutter Distortion : 15 made, September 2019
These were made in September of 2019 and somehow slipped under my radar. In fact I later had the opportunity to acquire one second-hand on Reverb.com - but someone got there before me. In any case I was rather overcommitted at that time, having spent the monthly budget and even bought a few additions - so it was as well as I missed out really as otherwise I would have been acting somewhat irresponsibly! However I feel that if you should own any wood-facia pedal - then surely the Woodcutter should be the logical choice.
This is a classic Rat style circuit - an exacting replica of the famous 'Woodcutter' builder then based at the ProCo / Rat Distortion company. This of course uses legacy Motorola LM308N IC / Opamp, and comes with the typical 3 controls, while Filter is renamed as Tone, and Distortion renamed as Gain, Volume is of course Volume.
Lots of people are of the opinion that this is one of if not the very best of the authentic vintage style Rat circuits. And even though I have nearing 30 Rat-style pedals in the collection - I will certainly be making accommodations for at least this one more!
So fingers crossed that I get another opportunity to complete the set! Any of you readers into wood-facia pedals?
Previous: 9 of the Best Subdecay Effects Pedals
