If adding a longish delay to your fuzzed-out guitar tone triggers incommensurable pleasure, you owe it to yourself to check out this new pedal by Bardic Audio and Galvanize Designs: the Bootgazer.
It offers the two effects in one box, with a routing order option one stomp away (center footswitch called Order) and a separate footswitch for the delay section (Gaze).
The fuzz section (on the left) is not your generic fuzz either: it contains a three-channel parallel mixer with
- a Russian Muff, (controlled through the Gain, Tone and Smooth knobs)
- a Fuzzrite (Depth and Crunch knobs)
- a 20db Clean Boost (Clean knob)
This allows the creation of a variety of fuzz tones, that are then fed into the modulated Delay (or viceversa).
The delay section is equipped with trails and a modulation circuit.
As expected, the pedal sounds radically different when the order of the effect order is switched, so having that option on a footswitch opens up some dramatic sonic possibilities.
However, there are a few things to keep in mind:
It is important to keep in mind that the buffered section begins at the beginning of the delay to allow for trails. […] Due to the trails functionality, the user may experience clock signal of the delay in their bypassed signal. To fix this, either turn down the MIX, TIME controls, or both. For these two reasons, the Bootgazer might be best suited for a spot in a true bypass looper. As mentioned earlier, the buffer is at the beginning of the delay section, so with fuzz first in the chain, the fuzzrite can ‘see’ the guitar for optimal operation. The downside of this, is that the dirt from the fuzzrite bleeds into the clean boost. With delay first, the fuzzrite has a gated sound, but the clean blend us completely sterile. The muff is not affected by any of this.
Check out the shoegazing – or rather shoebooting – goodness the Bardic Audio Bootgazer can deliver in the video below.
The Bootgazer is the most rootin tootin fuzz/delay combo in the Midwest. The fuzz section contains a three channel parallel mixer with a Russian Muff, Fuzzrite, and clean boost. The delay section equipped with trails and a loaded modulation section that makes anything possible. The order footswitch allows the user to change the order of fuzz and delay on the fly, and believe me, it makes a difference. It is important to keep in mind that the buffered section begins at the beginning of the delay to allow for trails. There is minor eq sculpting in the buffered bypass that helps beef up the guitar signal. Due to the trails functionality, the user may experience clock signal of the delay in their bypassed signal. To fix this, either turn down the MIX, TIME controls, or both. For these two reasons, the Bootgazer might be best suited for a spot in a true bypass looper. As mentioned earlier, the buffer is at the beginning of the delay section, so with fuzz first in the chain, the fuzzrite can ‘see’ the guitar for optimal operation. The downside of this, is that the dirt from the fuzzrite bleeds into the clean boost. With delay first, the fuzzrite has a gated sound, but the clean blend us completely sterile. The muff is not affected by any of this.
Footswitches:
Boot – Turns on and off the fuzz section composed of a Russian muff in parallel with a fuzzrite and clean blend.
Order – Changes the order of fuzz and delay. The side which the led lights is the effect first in the chain.
Gaze – Turns on and off the delay section.Fuzz:
Gain – Gain control for the muff
Tone – Tone control for the muff
Smooth – Volume control for the muff
Depth – Gain control for the fuzzrite
Crunch – Volume control for the fuzzrite
Clean – Volume of clean signal with 20dB of available boostDelay: (with trails)
Mix – Blend control for the delay
Repeats – Controls the number of repeats in the delay. At higher settings, the
delay can oscillate.
Time – Delay time control from 30ms to 400ms.
Rate – Controls the rate of the delay lfo
Shape – Changes lfo shape from triangle to square wave
Depth – Controls the depth of lfo modulationSpecifications:
– Power: 9VDC center-negative power supply
– Input Impedance: 2.2M?
– Output Impedance: 100?
– Soft-touch Switching
– Top mounted jacks
– Buffered Bypass
– Handmade by in Dundee Michigan
