Norwegian pedal builder Fjord Fuzz has been getting quite a bit of attention lately, in particular thanks to UK store Andertones, which started carrying their products.
The Bifrost is one of their most interesting devices, a fuzz + delay circuit tuned for controlled self-oscillation.
The fuzz section is actually a preamp that can deliver a wide range of tones, from crisp, clean preamp ones to very heavy and spitty fuzz (it can also be entirely bypassed through an internal switch if necessary).
But what makes this pedal stand apart from the crowd is the fact that, with the aid of an expression pedal, it lets you do this classic analog delay trick (changing pitch by turning the delay time knob) without having to touch any knobs!
The time knob can be controlled via Expression pedal, while the feedback can be raised to its maximum setting by pressing the second footswitch. Also, to avoid out-of-control self-oscillation (which often causes deafening volumes), the Bifrost has a limiter that squeezes the repeats.
Also, using the expression pedal…
You can obviously also change the delay time on the fly wether or not you’re using self-oscillation or fuzz, and I find it to be a much more musical feature than a tap-tempo module. You have to bend and morph in and out of time and it’s a really wonderful thing. It allows you to add faux vibrato, flanger, chorus and whammy effects to whatever you’re doing and you never have to actually change the time knob, as its disconnected when you plug in the exp pedal.
Check out the video of the Fjord Fuzz Bifrost, we added it to our list of the Best Psychedelic Delay Pedals.
I’ve always found it useful adding a bit of drive at the end of my pedal chain, just before going into the delays and reverbs, so I added a very cool fuzz that takes you from crispy, clean preamp tones, to very heavy and bold fuzz. You can also disengage it completely via internal push button switch.
Furthermore, my favourite trick with delays has always been turning the feedback to max and playing the pitch with the time knob, but this leads to two obvious challenges:
1: the feedback becomes so loud you start worrying about blowing up your amp.
2: you have to actually bend over and fiddle your knobs with your hands.I fixed both of these issues. The feedback has a hard limiter installed, helping you avoid volume issues, but it also squeezes the repeats in a really cool way. This is important for one very special feature:
I added a secondary feedback knob switchable via foot switch and an expression pedal input for the delay time control. This in turn gives you hands free operation of the UFO crash landings of your dreams, and the limiter squeezes the delays in a way that makes the whole thing sound like some kind of broken theremin. It’s amazing.You can obviously also change the delay time on the fly wether or not you’re using self-oscillation or fuzz, and I find it to be a much more musical feature than a tap-tempo module. You have to bend and morph in and out of time and it’s a really wonderful thing. It allows you to add faux vibrato, flanger, chorus and whammy effects to whatever you’re doing and you never have to actually change the time knob, as its disconnected when you plug in the exp pedal.
So much fun. I expect you to get at least 10 new songs out of this thing.
