Obstructures and Electronic Audio Experiments follow up their monolithic Boost collaboration with an equally impressive and imposing Octave Fuzz in the same format
I had meant to cover the OxEAE Boost pedal closer to when it was released back in April of 2021 - but never quite managed to complete that mission - so it was essential that I also include the when featuring this latest collaboration between Obstructures and EAE.
For the visual I’ve placed the two ’monoliths’ on a suitably brutalist architecture background - as that is the aesthetic this very distinctive enclosures reminds me of. In fact I’m also somehow subconsciously reminded of Pink Floyd’s Division Bell album artwork when I look at that visual!
The straight up but angular enclosures with those slider controls are really very distinctive and individual and do inspire thoughts of brutalist architecture and industrialisation. The form factor is a little over-sized as I would qualify it - quite a bit bigger than a compact enclosure (60mm x 112mm x 31mm or 66mm x 121mm x 40mm), where these OxEAE types are 89mm x 171mm x 51MM - which has to be said is not a particularly pedalboard-friendly format!
Both pedals have identical control topologies - those 4 sliders - with some overlap on controls - 2 largely the same and 2 distinct for each circuit.
I feel these look really cool and sound equally impressive - while I do have challenges with their over-sized dimensions - so these qualify more as nice-to-have than essentials for me. Each one is priced at $299 and is available for order on the Electronic Audio Experiments Webstore and at leading dealers when there are pedals in stock. The nature of this collaboration means that they are made in relatively small batches - such that you will find them frequently out of stock - as is the status right of this moment. You will need to keep an eye on Social Media and Reverb.com to be sure of snagging one when a new batch comes online!
Here follow the individual details :
OxEAE Fuzz (Upper Octave Fuzz) - $299
Controls - Level (Output Volume), Texture (Upper Octave Level), Gain (+80dB), Weight (High Pass Filter Cutoff - Tight > Bassy).
As with most fuzz circuits of this nature there is a great deal of interactivity between the various controls - in particular the Texture and Weight ones - in fact Gain will also significantly adjust the character and timbre of the circuit - meaning you need to adjust several knobs in tandem. Still a relatively straightforward control topology - and for sure one that I would enjoy deploying - once I figure out how and when I could deploy this with the already heavily congested pedal / signal-chain. A wonderful piece of industrial design either way - and as I'm quite the fan of brutalist architecture - there is something about the look of these that really appeals to me. This is a great sounding octave fuzz - I just wish it could be a little bit more pedalboard friendly!
OxEAE Boost / Saturator - $299
Controls - Master (Output Volume), Filter (Passive Low Pass Filter), Gain (+46dB Gain), Focus (Input Treble Boost : 0 - +26dB boost for high mid frequencies).
The one that launched this partnership is a really clever pedal which combines a discrete opamp gain stage with a treble booster circuit in front. So very much a dirty boost / saturator - but one where the combination of high output Gain and High Mid Frequency boosting saturation - makes for some pretty cool overdrive sounds too. As I mentioned previously - I love the looks and outputs of these pedals - I just wish they could be a little bit smaller. Of course they would loose a little of their imposing nature when shrunk down to compact dimensions - but so much easier to fit on your board! Both of these are incredibly cool to have - while their size poses a challenge for most!
