Kuro Custom Audio unleashes the magnificent 4-in-1 19 42 Fuzz + Filter + Envelope + FX Loop

I do love interestingly textured and smartly shapable fuzzes - and this is one of the very best of its kind - beautifully calibrated, and smartly combining a square wave gated fuzz with 70’s synthesizer style variable bands resonant filter, an envelope follower, and FX Send and Return Loop.

The rather unusual name ’19 42’ is not a reference to a year or date, but rather signifies the immaculate interaction of two highly complementary elements - I suppose a reference to the principal Fuzz and Filter abilities of this device.

Upon receipt of the pedal I queried Giulio as to why he didn’t just have the 3 footswitches per each of the core functions - i.e.  Fuzz, Envelope, Filter, but I had overlooked the FX Loop - and so we have Activate, Fuzz and Filter Footswitches - such that the first Activate - switches the pedal on and Activates that FX Loop at the same time. There is a separate toggle switch that allows you to separately activate / deactivate the Envelope filter - and I understand that Giulio ran the pedal through several different usage scenarios and this layout / switching combination worked best overall. For my own needs and preferences - and if I could make one tiny change - I would have the Footswitches as Fuzz, Envelope, Filter, and use the one toggle-switch for the FX Loop instead! While I understand precisely why the pedal functions as it does - and that probably makes sense to most!

It’s a beautifully textured fuzz - and everything works really neatly and elegantly. For me personally this is a warbly fuzz machine - while as mentioned - there are several different usage scenarios here - and you can still deploy each of those elements independently if you wish!

Controls - FUZZ } Fuzz (Gain), Volume, Fuzz Footswitch, ENVELOPE } ENV : On/Off, Attack (Rate of Onset), Send (Sensitivity / Trigger Threshold), Decay (Rate of Fade Out), Sweep (Movement) : Low-to-High Intensity > Null < High-to-Low Intensity, FILTER } Frequency, Resonance, Level, Filter : Low-Pass / Band-Pass / High-Pass, Filter Footswitch, FX LOOP } Send, Return, Activate Footswitch.

Rear Ports : Mono TS In, Send, Return, 9V DC [-] 140mA Current Draw, Envelope Out, Expression / CV In, Mono TS Out.

As mentioned - each of those functions can be engaged independently and I personally would find more use to have the Envelope foot-switchable - as this is principally a Fuzz for me - and I like to be able to vary that Fuzz output by layering it up and kicking in the Filter, then the Envelope Follower. As is I tend to have the Envelope mostly switched on, the Fuzz permanently on, and the Filter optionally switching in and out.

I love playing rhythm parts with a kind of warbly swell active via the Filter and Envelope.

My current favourite settings are as follows - which sounds amazing - and makes great use of all the core effects :

Fuzz @ Max, Volume @ Max, Envelope On, Attack @ 11 o’c, Sens @ c 3 o’c, Decay @ 10 o’c, Sweep @ Fully CCW, Frequency at c 3 o’c, Resonance @ Max, Level @ 3 o’c, Filter on Low Pass.

You get really cool little swells of the Fuzz - or conversely you could call them ’chokes’ - where the Envelope and Filter together beautifully texturally accentuate the rhythm of the Fuzz.

It’s a robust Fuzz voicing for sure - and at a minimum you can simply just shape that with the Filter acting as your main EQ. It’s more fun though when you activate the Envelope and bring in some movement - really sounds fantastic.

Giulio definitely has a knack for these sorts of pedals - and you’re getting maximum impact from each of those different functional areas / effects.

Will be interesting to see how other people make use of this pedal and how they best classify it - for me it’s most definitely a superior example of an analog Filter Fuzz. I also love how Giulio has designed this - the layout, and look and feel is just perfect - as are those knob choices!

The 19 42 is available for order right now from the www.kurocustomaudio.com/pedals/19-42/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kuro Kustom Audio Webstore where it goes for €349. These pedals are beautifully engineered and precision manufactured to the highest quality - and of course this one sounds as good as it looks!