Collaborating with another pedal builder is always an opportunity for learning from a like-minded colleague, but also a creative and fun experience. The Bardic Audio Devices & Dirty Haggard Audio The Thing seems to be the product of a successful dual brainsplosion of that kind…
In a few words, this device is a fuzz with a dual phaser (a 2-stage and a 4-stage one) that allows you to route the three circuits in different ways with a variety of (mostly psych) sonic results. There’s also a simple two-way EQ section that’s always after both effects.
The fuzz, an original op-amp/LED circuit by Dirty Haggard, is controlled by the Gain and Fuzz knobs on the bottom left, while the two-way EQ Hi and Low knobs are placed right above them, followed on the right by a Dry control that allows reintroducing some of the clean signal.
The right half of the pedal is dedicated to the two phaser circuits: each phaser has Rate and Level knobs and a toggle switch that changes the phaser’s position in the circuit – pre or post-fuzz. That means that with the fuzz turned on, you could have a phaser placed before the fuzz and one after it, or two phasers both before or after it.
The Dry/Fuzz switch on the left, when in the up position, changes how the signals are mixed, in the way exemplified by the diagram below.
Dry Fuzz switch diagram
Here’s the first video of this pedal:
Bardic Audio Devices & Dirty Haggard Audio The Thing, Builder’s Notes
The Thing is a monstrous collaboration between Dirty Haggard Audio and Bardic Audio Devices. Inside this thing is an acidic fuzz ready to melt faces and a phaser + eq that can make it all an otherworldly experience. The phaser has two channels; one two stage and the other 4 stage. The low and hi eq controls have two controlled frequencies at 85 and 155, and 870 and 2.2K Hertz respectively. The phaser and dry signals can also mix individually post or pre fuzz. The possibilities for experimenting are endless.
Don’t be scared, The Thing is ready to play.
Specifications:
– Power: 9V center-negative power supply
– Input Impedance: 1M?
– Output Impedance: 100?
– Mechanical True Bypass Switching
– Top mounted jacks
– Current Draw: 50mA
