The Whimsy Machines Sweet Tooth, whose prototype was seen at our 2024 Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit, is a distortion pedal as peculiar as the name of its maker.
In a few words, it’s a LED-induced distortion that can do all sorts of things from subtle to radical (including wavefolding!), followed by an EQ section inspired by the venerable Pultec EQP-1A, an evergreen studio rack unit.
Those wondering what LED stands for don’t need to look it up: it’s the same word you use when describing LED lights. As a matter of fact, the red “lamp” on the left is the thing that’s distorting the signal, getting brighter the more distorted things get, following your performance’s input and the amount of Drive. (The identical light on the right just tells you when the pedal is on)
The EQ section of the Sweet Tooth can at once Boost and Cut low and high frequencies (a counterintuitive feature found in the original) and allows circuit customization by letting the user swap low and high-pass capacitors in the boost and cut circuits.
The toggle switch on the left lets you choose between a more refined and responsive overdrive voice (down position) and a wilder, wavefolding mode—perfect for guitarists who enjoy pushing sonic boundaries and embracing chaotic, noise-driven textures.
Check out the video!
