Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

SoloDallas Orbiter Review

SoloDallas Orbiter Review

A classic-voiced, 3-knob fuzz with power and tweakability that surpass its seemingly simple construction.

A classic-voiced, well-built fuzz whose sounds, power, and tweakability distinguish it from many other 3-knob dirt boxes.

None, although it’s a tad pricey.

$249

SoloDallas Orbiter
solodallas.com

5
5
5
4

You’ve probably seen me complain about the overpopulation of 3-knob fuzz/OD pedals in these pages—and then promptly write a rave review of some new triple-knobber. Well, I’m doing it again. SoloDallas’ Orbiter, inspired by the classic circuit of the 1966 Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, stings and sings like a germanium Muhammad Ali. Mine’s already moved to my pedalboard full-time, because it delivers over-the-top fuzz, and allows my core tones to emerge.


But it also generates smooth, light distortion that sustains beautifully when you use an easy touch, punches through a live mix with its impressive gain, and generates dirt voices from smooth to sputtering, via the bias dial. All of which means you can take gnarly fuzz forays without creating the aural mudslides less-well-engineered Fuzz Face spinoffs can produce.

“Fuzzy forays are gnarly as desired without sacrificing tonal character or creating the aural mudslides less wisely engineered Fuzz Face spinoffs can produce.”


The basics: The 4 3/4" x 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" blue-sparkle, steel enclosure is coolly retro, abetted by the image of a UFO abduction on the front—an allusion to the flying saucer shape of the original device. Inside, a mini-pot dials in ideal impedance response for your pickups. I played through single-coils, humbuckers, Firebird humbuckers, and gold-foils and found the factory setting excellent for all of them. There’s also a bias knob that increases voltage to the two germanium transistors when turned clockwise, yielding more clarity and smooth sustain as you go. Counterclockwise, the equally outstanding sputtering sounds come into play. For a 3-knob fuzz box it’s a tad costly, but for some players it might be the last stop in the search for holy grail Fuzz Face-style sounds.

Fuzz, octave, and odd intervals co-mingle and clash with bizarre, mangled, musical, pretty, and often shockingly unpredictable results.

Scores of tones that span the musical and the ridiculous. Fun and ferocious fuzz. Octave can be used independently. Often intuitive in spite of its complexity. Tracks pitch shifts without glitches

Easy to get lost in the weeds if you don’t do your homework.

$249

Keeley Octa Psi
robertkeeley.com

4.5
4.5
3.5
4.5

I’d venture that most guitarists instinctively regard fuzz as a brutish, brainless effect (which is funny given how much energy in our community is dedicated to dissecting the nuances and merits of different fuzz types). Keeley’s Octa Psi, however, transcends mere troglodyte status by combining a fundamentally nasty fuzz voice in three switchable variations, and a web of octave and interval tones that transform the Octa Psi into a synthesizer capable of textures ranging from soaring to demented to downright evil.

Read MoreShow less

D'Addario's new Bridge Pin Puller and Tour-Grade Peg Winder are designed to make string changes a breeze.

Read MoreShow less

On this episode of the 100 Guitarists podcast, we’re talking about our favorite Lukather tracks, from his best rhythm parts to his most rippin’ solos. And even though he spends most of his playing time with the biggest names, we’ve managed to call up a few deep cuts.

Read MoreShow less

Friends and guitar legends in the making Tom Bukovac (left) and Guthrie Trapp map out some recording strategy for In Stereo, with an acoustic guitar and air drums.

Nashville session and stage MVPs craft an aural wonderland with their genre-defying instrumental album, In Stereo.

Working from a shared language of elegance and grit, Nashville guitar domos Tom Bukovac and Guthrie Trapp have crafted In Stereo, an album that celebrates the transcendent power of instrumental music—its ability to transport listeners and to convey complex emotions without words.

Read MoreShow less