REVIEW > CLOUD 9 AUDIO
the In control—which effectively strangles
the signal strength driving the fuzz—works
with the Haze control to produce everything from nasty, spitting fuzz to super
overdrive. Using a combination of Fender
Strat and Concert II with the Fuzz Bubble
in the middle, it was easy to conjure up
some sweet “Voodoo Child”-like sounds,
which had me fixated for about an hour as
I tweaked the settings. Going to the neck
pickup and slightly rolling off the guitar’s
tone control gave me a massive, thick, violin tone. And even with the tone down, the
clarity was intact and sustain off the charts.
Notes soared and sang effortlessly and endlessly as they transitioned into harmonic
feedback. The Strat was a real winner in
this combination.
Moving back to the Les Paul I spent time
with the Tone switch engaged, cutting out
some of the low end. In this setup, I experi-
mented with the Haze knob and found a lot
of shades of fuzz that went from downright
rude to more pleasant, softened, almost
compressed and slightly darker overdrive.
Delivering a smooth texture that retained
note definition while still sounding like a
fuzz, this setting was probably my favorite.
The Verdict
I really enjoyed the Fuzz Bubble from both
an engineering and performance perspective. As the first pedal from a new company,
it’s impressive, and it’s clear that the Fuzz
Bubble benefits from being developed
under a sonic microscope. But it’s the combination of the overdrive and a character-rich and very manageable fuzz that creates
a 1-2 punch worth much more than the
admission price!
Rating:
Buy If...
you want a versatile, dual overdrive/
fuzz pedal with modern features.
Skip If...
two knobs are all you need for
your overdrive, or your pedalboard
is already full.
Cloud 9 Audio
Street $180
analogalien.com
or use a mobile device to download
audio clips of the pedal at
CLICKHere…
premierguitar.com/may2011
Your pedals are worth it.
www.pedaltrain.com
PEDALTRAIN
170 PREMIER GUITAR MAY 2011
premierguitar.com
