If your arsenal of fuzz pedals is out of control, the Electronic Audio Experiments & Mask Audio Electronics | Eldritch Blast should be a good excuse for you to make it slightly MORE so. How could you possibly resist the temptation to get something that, according to the manufacturer, “sound so sinister that it could have only come from the outer gods”?
Built around a powerful, touch-sensitive octave/intermodulation generator, this is not your regular three-knob fuzz, but that doesn’t mean it ain’t heavy, massive and – to use fuzz lovers’ favorite word – grnarly.
Getting to the final circuit of the Eldritch Blast was a journey that started at the beginning of Electronic Audio Experiments’s pedal adventure, since it was born as an attempt to expand the company’s early Magic Missile Fuzz, an homage to the modern classic fuzzes of Devi Ever, Tim Escobedo, and all of the circuit-bending weirdos.
However, the final circuit differs substantially from the one of that early stompbox, and it seems to be keeping evolving with new features. This is a pedal where even knobs with familiar names do more than what you would expect them to do:
Gain: Controls amount of gain and low frequencies at input
More: Controls amount of signal feeding octave circuit
Tone: Active peaking filters working on the highs and midrange simultaneously
Bass: Active peaking filter centered around 100 Hz
Volume: Loudness amount
Splat: Shifts the dynamics and gating of the transistor stages
Mode: Changes transistors in the octave generator
Chaos: Adds uncertainty, gating and other artifacts to the fuzz
Engage: Master bypass
Left Footswitch: EQ on/off
Without further ado, let’s hear how it sounds!
Eldritch Blast is a massive fuzz built around a powerful, touch-sensitive octave/intermodulation generator. It is a sound so sinister that it could have only come from the outer gods…
The development of the Eldritch Blast has origins at the start of EAE. It is an expanded take on the Magic Missile Fuzz, an early design which is an homage to the modern classic fuzzes of Devi Ever, Tim Escobedo, and all of the circuit-bending weirdos on ilovefuzz.com. We teamed up with Alec from Mask Audio Electronics (MAE) to fine-tune the design, and came up with a result which significantly diverged from the original Magic Missile circuit. The end result is a heavy, yet complex fuzz with a unique octave up texture and an active EQ voiced for aggressive, harsh tones.
We’d also like to thank Dan from Audio Disruption Devices for the stellar art design!
Controls:
-
Gain: Controls amount of gain and low frequencies at input
-
More: Controls amount of signal feeding octave circuit
-
Tone: Active peaking filters working on the highs and midrange simultaneously
-
Bass: Active peaking filter centered around 100 Hz
-
Volume: Loudness amount
-
Splat: Shifts the dynamics and gating of the transistor stages
-
Mode: Changes transistors in the octave generator
-
Chaos: Adds uncertainty, gating and other artifacts to the fuzz
-
Engage: Master bypass
-
* (Left Footswitch): EQ on/off
Additional features include true bypass switching, 9V center negative power, and top-mounted jacks.
All Eldritch Blast units come with the standard warranty.
