Rainger FX Shrinks and Evolves its Dr Freakenstein Chop Fuzz to form the Superb DFST-1 Stealth Mini Modulated Fuzz / Distortion

I’ve long been a fan of David Rainger’s output - while I don’t yet really have as many of his pedals as I should have - I have several of his on my wishlist - while those keep getting pipped by other priorities. With the brand new DFST-1 being a Limited Edition Run of just 240 units - there was no way I was going to let this one pass me by!

This is a Mini Enclosure pedal in a brand new Stealth Bomber shaped enclosure (with top-mounted jacks) - which also sports two underside blue LEDs which emanate a cushion of blue light whenever the pedal senses input.

Controls - Altitude (EQ), Overtone (Harmonic Overtones), Speed (Modulation Rate), Silence (Output), Awareness (Envelope Sensitivity), Pad : Guitar / Line-in, Mode : Step Modulation / Envelope.

The bottom right hand push-button allows you to flip between two Modes - Step Modulation and Envelope - which interact slightly differently with the controls - as labelled. And the left-hand Pad push-button caters for both Guitar and Line-in (Synth etc.) inputs.

This Fuzz / Distortion is surprisingly easy to dial in - and where the classic trio of Volume, Tone and Gain controls are here rather labelled Silence, Altitude and Overtone - they’re not exactly those conventional parameters - but near enough. And the Speed and Awareness knobs work alternatively for Step Modulation and Envelope Sensitivity.

This is a really cool and distinct effect - a sort of raspy swooshy fuzz -  you would probably file it as a Filter / Modulated Fuzz most likely - while it has a pretty broad range of uses. It’s certainly a cool and distinct fuzz and well worth acquiring as far as I’m concerned. I would for sure be encouraged to get one before they all sell out - 240 is really quite a diminutive amount all told. Amusingly - if you’re looking for the appropriate genre, David describes it as a full-on fuzz which bridges extreme rock with techno. I assume he’s meaning the rhythmatic impact of the Step Modulation in particular.

It’s certainly not priced as a mini pedal - at £229 - where I got mine from good friend Andy at Break the Machine. My German friend Andy at Effect Boutique also stocks them - while I don’t expect these to hang around for very long! Also for sale of course on the Rainger FX Webstore.

This is not your everyday Fuzz, and while some may find limited use for it - it’s pretty handy to have at least one such in your armoury. And as David Rainger says - this one mini pedal covers 3 generations of the Dr Freakenstein Fuzz! I particularly like it in Step Modulation Mode.

Any of you managed to snag one - or is this just a little too unconventional for most of you?