Beebadoobee Built
Ask Beetronics why they chose to explore the realm of fuzz and overdrive in a single pedal and the likely answer will be “because we could.” Indeed, Beetronics tends to march to its own drum. With just a single footswitch, there are limitations to Beetronics’ take on the concept. Most players that use fuzz and overdrive use two different pedals, or a larger pedal that uses two footswitches to access the two circuits together or independently. Here, you have to use a toggle on the pedal’s crown. But for players that love saving space, having one little pedal that can cover it all is an appealing proposition. Another is how the Nectar’s tones often seem to blend fuzz and overdrive, creating complex dirt sounds.
The Nectar doesn’t mark the first time Beetronics dabbled in fuzz/overdrive fusion. The Royal Jelly runs the two effects side by side, in a much larger three-footswitch, seven-knob pedal. Nectar takes a more economical approach. Apart from the fuzz/drive mode toggle, there are knobs for output volume, “honey,” which controls the gain, and “taste,” which is a dark-to-bright tone knob. All are mounted on the pedal’s crown, which can make it tricky to see your settings on the fly, but it’s easy to navigate the controls by feel after a little practice. The Nectar is a very what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of pedal, with no secret settings or hidden controls or sub menus.
Beetronics pedals are very nicely built. And they have made it a signature of sorts to creatively stretch the meaning of “printed” in printed circuit board—adorning it with a floral graphic similar to the one on the plastic plate on the pedal’s face. Checking out this nifty internal touch is, however, the only reason to remove the plate. There’s no battery connection inside and the pedal is run by an external 9V DC supply only.
Bouncing the Beebop
The core tone in the Nectar’s fuzz mode, which I’m guessing many players will use the most, is rich, creamy, dynamic, and full of sustain. It strikes me as voiced to appeal to a wide range of guitarists and playing approaches. And at the risk of over-egging the metaphor pudding, it is undeniably honey-like, rather than a reproduction of the harsh, edgy, Velcro-like tones you associate with early fuzz boxes. Such smoothness—some might hear a balanced, contemporary distortion— means the Nectar works across genres without sounding too vintage, which is a good thing, in my opinion.
That said, the Nectar’s fuzz mode can sting when the taste knob is up high. With some guitar/amp combinations, you might even hear traces of harshness. But it is mostly appealingly sweet and luscious at heart, and there is so much range in the gain control that you might be tempted to skip the drive mode. Right up to around 10 o’clock on the honey knob, the fuzz maintains a thick, clear, edge-of-breakup response that’s very dynamic and definitely well south of true fuzz in terms of gain. It’s an appealing overdrive alternative.
As rich as the fuzz mode’s low-gain sounds are, the drive side’s fat-boost and low-gain overdrive sounds offer a practical alternative to fuzz mode. Real breakup, predictably, happens much deeper in the honey control’s range. And when you max it, the drive mode gets aggressive, with a throaty bark reminiscent of, if not precisely like, the MXR Distortion+. It’s a gutsy sound and adds character and muscle to any guitar you put in front of it. In drive mode, the Nectar also stacks well with other overdrives. I love how it meshed with a Marshall-like JHS Angry Charlie and a Tsakalis Six (which approximates the Paul Cochrane Timmy, Marshall Bluesbreaker, and Analog Man King of Tone) without devolving into a muddled mess.
The Verdict
With a tonal range that bridges brawny boost and a particularly delectable fuzz, it’s hard to avoid wishing the compact Nectar’s two modes were footswitchable rather than toggle activated. Still, the sounds alone, which mostly manage to avoid glitchy, spitty fuzz and tend more toward the smooth, creamy side of drive, will appeal to a lot of players that like their gain devices more predictable than unruly.
Heavy Hitter
The Zoar is housed in EQD’s standard enclosure and built around a 6-control layout, which has become a familiar sight on the company’s pedals. Here, they control gain, weight, level, bass, middle, and treble. Input and output jacks flank the center-negative 9V input on the crown of the pedal, and there’s a red LED indicator alongside the silent-action footswitch. Most of the controls are self-explanatory, save, perhaps, for weight, which governs the low-end content in the distortion signal. How you set it up plays a big part in shaping the pedal’s overall voice. So, too, does the traditional-looking 3-band EQ which EarthQuaker configured to feel and respond more like a traditional low-pass filter.
The Zoar can be powered by anything from 9V up to 18V DC, and higher voltages enhance the pedal’s dynamics, articulation, and frequency range. The non-latching, relay-based, true-bypass footswitch—called a “flexi-switch” by EQD—enables either standard on/off operation with a single tap or momentary operation when you press and hold.
Rhymes with Roar
Unlike some distortion pedals—and fuzzes in particular—that are nearly all-or-nothing, the Zoar’s gain knob has a gradual curve that yields many subtler drive colors. From around 3 o’clock to maximum, it’s pretty thick and heavy, and very fuzz-like at the highest settings. This is where the “Audio Grinder” part of the pedal’s name makes the most sense, and where the meanest, dirtiest sounds live. It’s great for sludgy chord work or foundation-rumbling riffing. It’s a heavy tone for sure, but one I can imagine using across indie styles, too.
There is an impressive plurality among the pedal’s tones, thanks to the wide-ranging EQ and the girth delivered by the weight knob. From razory and tight to flabby and bovine, there’s an entire world of high-gain, fuzzy distortion available. The Zoar’s noise levels aren’t bad overall, but noise becomes significant in silent passages if you have the gain maxed.
Reduce the gain, tweak the other controls, and the Zoar becomes appealingly nuanced. Where so many distortion and fuzz pedals are virtually unusable with their gain controls at the minimum, the Zoar behaves a lot like a good low-gain overdrive or a fat, semi-clean boost. Set this way, it lends lots of texture and liveliness to the tone as well as just a little hair that stops short of outright distortion as most of us imagine it. At 11 o’clock, you’ll hear a bit more clipping that’s more within the realm of overdrive than distortion, but you can construct many variations on that, thanks to the bass, middle, treble, and weight controls. More variation still is available via use of the 18V power option. It increases clarity and crispness as well as more detail and greater range in the already respectable touch sensitivity, which might make this mode many players’ favorite powering option.
The Verdict
sparkle as it does to generate all-out distortion and fuzzy textures. There’s a little noise with the gain knob at full tilt, but few medium-high-gain drives escape that fate, and the tones are sweet enough that you probably won’t notice anyway.
Bohlinger Tries the EarthQuaker Devices Zoar | First Look
EarthQuaker Devices Zoar Dynamic Audio Grinder Distortion Pedal
