Rainger FX perfects its Dr Freakenstein Fuzz in its most potent and compact iteration to date - featuring multiple dimensions of playback and killer new custom knobs

The Rainger FX Dr Freakenstein / Chop Fuzz is its most celebrated circuit - which dates all the way back to a very custom enclosure 2009 edition which came in a plastic casing, had no footswitch, and of which only 50 were made. The key focus for many of the earlier models was the fairly unique (for pedals) Knife / Blade Switch which turned the power to the pedal on. This was a key feature of the larger sized Dr Freakenstein Fuzzes until those parts became impossible to source in and around 2020/21.

The newest iteration as the headline says is the most compact and potent version of this fuzz to date, and where the new layout doesn’t miss the iconic knife switch at all!

At its core this is a Gated Dual Modulation Fuzz with a hard SquareWave Chop Modulation, and a softer TriangleWave LFO Modulation with Dual Speed options.

I tend to approach this pedal in 3 key sections per the 3 main columns of controls, as follows :

CORE GATED FUZZ + OVERTONES

Right-hand column + Hi/Lo switch on rear of enclosure
Controls : Overtone, Volume, Hi/Lo rear switch, On/Off Footswitch
Expression : Momentary Overtone / Frequency Intensity Stabs via Igor connected to ’Overtone’ port on rear of pedal

NOTE that the Hi/Lo switch changes the colour of the VU display - Hi = Blue, and Lo = Green - which correspond to different frequency ranges / EQ for the Overtones

SQUAREWAVE HARD CHOP MODULATION

Middle column knob and light-up switch
Controls : Rate, Chop On/Off switch
Expression : Momentary Chop Stabs via Igor connected to ’Chop’ port on rear of pedal

TRIANGLEWAVE SOFTER LFO MODULATION

Left Column light-up switch, 2 Speed knobs, and Speed Change Footswitch.
Controls : LFO On/Off switch, Fast, Slow, Slow/Fast Footswitch

So at the minimum you can just activate the right-hand column controls for the Core Gated Fuzz - and then you can add the Chop and LFO Modulations - first I would suggest independently and then try to figure out the best combination of all 3.

The combinations of Option and Range switches variously unleash further flavours and textures - and with two Igor expression pads connected you can control those primary and secondary effects somewhat more granularly. There are 3 expression ports on the rear of the pedal - one each for Overtone and Chop, and a third for CV cable input. All 3 ports can be deployed simultaneously - so you really need 2 x Igors to get the most out of this!

Hopefully the David Rainger demo of this pedal will emerge relatively soon (yes indeed!) - as he is the absolute master of this format and can uncover interesting tones and textures like no other. The first time I visited his Willesden Junction studio - he was testing / noodling on a single one of the new Chop Fuzzes for nearly 90 minutes - I kind of wish I had recorded the session as there were so many cool sounds that came out of that device then.

I’ve only had my Chop Fuzz for a relatively short period, and am not quite as adept yet at unearthing all those killer tones David demonstrated so easily for me - there’s obviously a knack and a learning curve. It has to be said that you need some patience and due diligence for this pedal - as it’s so much about the dial-in. You need to develop a sort of safe-cracker precision as when you’re seeking those interesting Overtone and Fast LFO harmonics - it often involves the minutest of movements to hit the sweet spot. Like trying to dial in a favourite pirate radio station back in the 90’s!

With David’s help I’ve included the key Intervals on the Fast LFO dial.

You will for sure spend the most time on the Overtone and Fast LFO controls - in tandem with the Hi/Lo range push-button switch on the rear of the pedal. The Chop and the LFO are more about timing and rhythm patterns - and it takes quite a while to dial in the Chop satisfactorily when you also have the LFO active. The Chop is so dominant that it kind of can overshadow everything else - so if you want a flavour of the LFO to come into that too - you need to find the exact right combination. It would probably have been nice to have had some kind of Intensity / Mix control for the chop - just so you could soften that slightly when using the LFO in tandem,.

I tended to have Volume at max throughout - while all the other dials varied enormously - 2 o’c - on the Overtone dial sounds especially good to me, and it worked to have Chop at between noon and 1 o’c mostly albeit that dial and both the Fast and Slow knobs - and of course the Main Overtone knob varied enormously. I found several sweet spots, but apart from the huge sound at 2 o’c I have still to lay down where all the sweet spots lie. Winding Overtone down fairly low, and winding back the Volume knob of my guitar also gave me some cool starved tones - where I really had to dig in - for an exaggerated gated effect - where the Fuzz signal cuts out really quickly - actually really cool sounding too. There really are so many tones and textures to be discovered here - the tricky thing is memorising exactly where all those sweet spots occurred - which is still a work in progress for me!

I would say this is most definitely an Intermediate level pedal, as you do need some patience and due diligence to get the most out of it. If you’re prepared to spend some time with it - the results are superb - but you do need to take your time to get to know all those intricate and interesting intersections - and it will be slightly different for each pedal - because of parts variations. I’ve already liaised with David - and we definitely need some recommended ballpark settings here as there’s just so much to get to grips with.

I spent two afternoons with the team a Willesden Junction - which besides David of course - includes Martin Simpson, Prav Rao, Baptiste Bernon and newest member Matt Ayres. Rainger FX Alumni Patrick Smith (Intensive Care Audio), and Nuno Maio (Lusithand Devices) also put in very occasional shifts - while their own brands are very much keeping them very busy nowadays. All the Rainger FX staffers seem to have side projects - so we should expect to see some other equally individual and distinct pedals evolving eventually, and several of these also play in bands!