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Electro-Harmonix Lizard King Review

A Godzilla-sized bass octave fuzz that is capable of doomy devastation—or more nuanced sounds that fit in mellow, organic musical settings.

Electro-Harmonix Lizard King

4.4
Tones
Build Design
Ease of use
Value
Street: $129

Pros:

Surprising selection of hazy, subtle bass-drive tones that transcend doom and desert rock.

Cons:

Interactive controls can make some tones elusive when fine-tuning on the fly.

Our Experts

Charles Saufley
Written by
Charles Saufley is a writer and musician from Northern California. He has served as gear editor at Premier Guitar since 2010 and held the same position at Acoustic Guitar Magazine from 2006 to 2009. Charles also records and performs with Meg Baird, Espers, and Heron Oblivion for Drag City and Sub Pop.

Bass octave-fuzz effects aren’t typically for the timid. And as its name suggests, theEHX Lizard King largely trades in Godzilla-huge, cityscape-leveling sounds that lift bassists above Bonham-aping drummers and desert-rock guitar players that don’t have to answer to the neighbors. But there are shades of low end beyond simply menacing in the Lizard King.


Electro-Harmonix Lizard King Review by premierguitar

A big part of that flexibility starts with the sun/shadow switch. Sun mode features a mid-boosted fuzz bookended by enhanced treble and bass in the clean side of the blend. The shadow mode features flat bass and treble response and a much tighter fuzz. Each mode can be radically reshaped by the octave, blend, and tone controls, which, in various configurations, span warm overdrive with a little fuzz and fizz, glowing at the edges and thuggish realms. Many of the tones in the latter range are predictably chaotic, belching strange, colliding overtones that can sound quite tattered at more aggressive blend, tone, and octave settings—especially when you play down low on the neck. The same tones can be tightened up by playing in higher positions and especially at the 12th fret and above. The most cohesive of these tones can sound devastating while doubling, say, an SG and a Big Muff. But using subtler, hazier, and more modest octave fuzz textures can provide hip juxtaposition to mellower sounds from acoustic guitar to electric piano and synth string ensembles.

Electro-Harmonix Lizard King Octave Fuzz Pedal

Lizard King Octave Fuzz Pedal
Electro-Harmonix
$129.00