the relationship between the knobs and
switches, the tones started mutating thick
and fast, and I found dozens of really musical, if unorthodox sounds.
The one hitch may be in trying to recreate them. Getting the same tone twice
isn’t always just a question of recalling
the position of each knob and switch.
And what felt like the same notes or licks
on the guitar would often yield different
effects each time—even with identical settings—as the Tornita! picked up nuances
in attack and intensity.
It didn’t take long to embrace the chaos,
and I had hours of fun exploring the different squeals and squawks emanating from
my axe. I found that with the guitar volume
full up it was possible to play lines over
the feedback, and that reducing the Bias
brought out more arpeggios.
The Tornita! is a blast for creating
unusual-sounding passages for recording
projects. And editing some parts yielded
inspirations for whole songs. For live appli-
cations, it’s worth taking the time to learn
which settings yield predictable, repeatable
results (changing the position of the 5-way
on the Strat, with the guitar volume all the
way up, was one of my favorites), but a big
part of the fun of the Tornita! is the surprise
factor for both you and your audience—if
you’re willing to take a few chances.
The Verdict
Tornita! is not for everyone. If your music is
more experimental in nature, this pedal is a
must-have, but if you just want the straight
fuzz sound, you might opt for Trombetta’s
Fudge fuzz or any number of more traditional fuzzes instead. Should you want to
combine the far-out with the traditional,
Trombetta’s FeederBoneMachine offers a
version of Tornita! combined with a Mini-Bone in one pedal.
The effects world is rife with distortion
and fuzz pedals, making it hard to come
up with something new. Paul Trombetta
has not only come up with fresh noises, he
manages to make them sound great. The
Tornita! pushes the envelope of what a
distortion/fuzz can do and fuzz freaks and
outer-limits players alike should rejoice.
Buy If...
you want thick, musical fuzz and
want to create strange effects with
guitar knobs or pickup switches.
Skip If...
you just want fuzz.
Paul Trombetta
Design
Street $229
paultrombetta.com
or use a mobile device to download
audio clips of the pedal at
CLICKHere…
premierguitar.com/aug2011
