KMA Machine's new Chief Disruptor Fuzz / Distortion aims to be the Ultimate Extended Range Big Muff Experience

I’m no stranger to extended range Big Muff style pedals - with several of those on my roster already and per my last mid-size Muff roundup / capsule collection feature. Those include the Toneczar OTP, TX Animalizzer and of course KMA’s very own Dead Stag. It will be interesting to see therefore how the new Chief Disruptor compares to the Dead Stag sonically and feel-wise - and whether it is seen as a replacement or an addition / alternative to that.

Controls - Voicing / Gain Structure : Tight / Vintage / Heavy, Lows, Highs, Blend Order : Pre-EQ / Post-EQ, Master Volume (Level), Disruption (Gain), Clean Blend, Mids Cut / Boost, Top Boost : Off / On, Mids Frequency, Mids On Footswitch, Engage / Bypass Footswitch.

Both Disruptor and Stag have 3-Band EQ with Parametric Mids - which are optional via a second footswitch on the Disruptor. The Stag has a Smooth / Sharp voicing toggle alongside a High / Low Gain Switch. By contrast the Disruptor has a Pre-EQ / Post-EQ Blend Order control, a Clean Blend knob to match that, Tight (Modern) / Vintage (Classic) / Heavy (Saturated) Gain Structures. And a Top Boost toggle-switch. So there are significant difference between them. A big thing with Big Muffs is what they’re voiced after at their core - i.e. which variety their 4-Transistor circuit or Opamp topology follows - and how many variants the pedal can cover - with the Tonexzar OTP and Animalizzer in particularly being the reigning champions of versatility up to this point.

Both the Stag and Disruptor are designed to overcome the limitations of traditional Big Muffs - tackling the compromised, typically scooped nature of the classic Big Muff EQ, it’s sometimes muffled and limited (volume) output. The further additions of Clean Blend and Top Boost add a degree of versatility rarely found elsewhere - and in combination with 3 quite distinct voicings / EQ and Gain Structures. With Tight being a modern voicing, Vintage the original classic core Muff flavour, and the Heavy Mode providing additional ’beef’ and saturation for even more punch.

The Disruptor certainly looks like it will join the Animalizzer and OTP on that lofty pedestal  - I will know fully when I get my hands on my own unit in the next few days or so. The demos certainly sound very promising - while the current incumbent on that slot - the Black Arts Priestess will be very hard to shift. I’m expecting great things here though.

Considering how wide a feature set the Disruptor has, a price tag of €199 / £179 equivalent seems very reasonable - available right now from the KMA Machines Webstore and major dealers. This will be my 6th KMA Machines gain pedal after the Fuzzly Bear Silicon Fuzz, Minos Germanium Fuzz, Dead Stag Fuzz / Distortion, and Wurhm and Guardian of the Wurm High Gain Distortions.

How tempted are you?