Balance: producer, hip-hop artist, movie sound designer, modular synth player, and member of Jogja Hip Hop Foundation.
While the pedal builders at Sehat Effectors are in the game for their love of the 6-string, theyāve since begun exploring what effects pedals mean to other kinds of instrumentalists.
This time, Iād like to share my perspective as a pedal builder on how our effects pedalsāoriginally crafted with guitarists in mindāare experiencing an exciting evolution in use. Our customer base spans around the globe, and as it turns out, many of them arenāt guitarists. Instead, our pedals are finding their way into the hands of non-guitarist musicians like DJs, synth players, movie sound directors, and even drummers. Yes, a drummer once used one of my fuzz pedals in a drum miking setupāquite an extreme yet bold experiment! This made me wonder: How did such a phenomenon come about?
Most of the pedals I build are fuzz effects and other experimental types, all primarily tested within guitar setups. But then I visited a friendās studio; he goes by āBalanceā onstage. Heās a well-known musician and producer here in Indonesia, and a member of the hip-hop group JHF (Jogja Hip Hop Foundation). Now, hereās the kickerāBalance doesnāt play guitar! Yet, heās one of my customers, having asked for a fuzz and modulation pedal for his modular synthesizer rig. Initially, I was skeptical when he mentioned his plans. Neither my team nor I are familiar with synthesizers, let alone Eurorack or modular formats. I know guitars and, at best, bass guitar. My colleague has dabbled with effects experimentation, but only within the guitar framework.
So, my visit to his studio was a chance to study and research how guitar effects pedals could be adapted to a fundamentally different instrument ecosystem. The following is an interview I did with Balance to get a deeper understanding of his perspective.
As a modular synthesizer user, arenāt all kinds of sounds already achievable with a synth? Why mix one with guitar effects?
Balance: Some unique sounds, like those from Hologram Effectsā Microcosm or the eccentric pedals from Sehat Effectors, are hard to replicate with just a synth. Also, for sound design, I find it more intuitive to tweak knobs in real-time than rely on a computerādirect knob control feels more human for me.
Are there challenges in integrating guitar pedals with a modular synthesizer setup? After all, their ecosystems are quite different.
Balance: There are indeed significant differences, like jack types, power supplies, and physical format. Modular synthesizers are designed to sit on a table or stand, while guitar pedals are meant for the floor and foot control. However, they share a common thread in the goal of manipulating signals, eventually amplified through a mixing board and amplifier. The workaround is using converters/adapters to bridge the connection.āIf youāre a saxophonist who buys a guitar pedal, itās yours to use however you like.ā
Are you the only modular synth user combining them with guitar pedals?
Balance: Actually, I got the idea after seeing other musicians experiment this way. Effects like fuzz or distortion are iconic to guitar but absent in synthesizer sound options. I believe signal manipulation with fuzz or distortion is a universal idea that appeals to musicians creating music, regardless of their instrument.
This brief chat gave me new insight and sparked my curiosity about different frameworks in music-making. While Iām not yet tempted to dive into modular synths myself, I now have a clearer picture of how fuzz and distortion transcend guitar. Imagine a saxophonist at a live show using a pedalboard with a DigiTech Whammy and Boss Metal Zoneāabsurd, maybe, but why not? If youāre a saxophonist who buys a guitar pedal, itās yours to use however you like. Because, in the end, all musicians create music based on their inner concernsāwhether itās about romance, friendship, political situations, war, or anger. Eventually, they will explore how best to express those concerns from many angles, and of course, āsoundā and ātoneā are fundamental aspects of the music itself. Good thing my partner and I named our company Sehat Effectors and not Sehat Guitar Works. Haha!
A Sehat Effectors Blown Face, atop a Marshall head and amidst other brand-name variations of the classic Fuzz Face.
While our columnist started out averse to the classic distortion pedal, they soon dove deep into its circuits to invent their own take.
Itās undeniableāthe Fuzz Face is the most popular fuzz pedal in music history. Although it wasnāt the first fuzz ever created, nearly every stompbox manufacturer has attempted to replicate its circuitry. Furthermore, almost every guitarist has, at some point, incorporated it on their pedalboard. The question arises: Why? Is it due to its distinctive enclosure shape? Or, the eternal clichĆ© question: Is it simply because Jimi Hendrix used it?
Well, I admitāIām not even a Hendrix fan! My dad used to play his songs when I was a kid, but thatās precisely why I rebelled against it, countering Hendrix with Circle Jerks and Rancid! As a guitarist, I avoided the Fuzz Face for almost two decades. However, everything changed when I met Keket, my partner at Sehat Effectors. I found that he listened to Hendrix and music Iād never heard of before. Strangely enough, we still had something in common: Neither of us liked the Fuzz Face! For the first time, Iād met a guitarist who found inspiration in Hendrixās songs, but didnāt like that pedal. And yet, thereās an expectation of me, as an effects-pedal builder, to offer my customers a version of the hallowed stomp. So, here, Iāll share my spiritual journey as a pedal builder lost in the endless labyrinth of the Fuzz Face.
In the process of creating our pedal that we came to call the Blown Face, I experimented with all sorts of variants of transistors and technologyāfrom the highly sought-after germanium NKT275 version, to different types of germanium and silicon transistors from various series; then delving into the SMD/SMT versions that many dislike. I even took on digital emulations. In this journey, my main issue with the Fuzz Face was that its volume, at least with my simple setup, is too low for my liking (remember, Iām a fan of Circle Jerks!). This issue is even more pronounced when considering my bandās context, which also leans towards that same musical style. My ears have become accustomed to heavy and loud distortion, especially as a musician who frequently plays small gigs.
When I finally did develop the Blown Face into something loud and explosive, that still wasnāt enough. I wanted to replicate the original Fuzz Face enclosure, which, of course, I wanted to make my own using the sand-casting method. I also brought in features like the bias knob and a toggle switch that lets me turn it into a Tone Bender MkII, since, fundamentally, the Fuzz Face is descended from the Tone Bender Mk1.5. By adding a transistor to the input stage, it instantly becomes a MkII.
āWhy is Stevie Ray Vaughan great? Because heās heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix, but still manages to find his own style.ā
So, what is the point? Well, Iām not a purist! Iām not trying to sound wise here. As a builder, I simply believe that being yourself isnāt a bad thing. Even though, weāre quite sure there are pedal builders out there who better understand and are far more inspired by the Fuzz Face than Sehat Effectorsālegends like Analog Man with their iconic Sun Face, and other big names like Dunlop, MXR, Fulltone, Wren and Cuff, JAM Pedalsā¦. Theyāre all great almost by definition at this point. Why is Jimi Hendrix great? Because heās Jimi Hendrix! But, at the same time, why is Stevie Ray Vaughan great? Because heās heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix, and still manages to find his own style. This kind of analogy will always go on.
In diving into my Fuzz Face journey, my objective was simple: to see where the labyrinth would lead. Fuzz Face is a temporal anomaly. In an era where guitar-effects technology is advancing rapidly and has even reached sophisticated digital emulation, the pedal has managed to carve out its own unique, lasting existence. In my opinion, it should have been included in the Voyager Golden Record, sailing through a universe that is believed to have no end and is continuously expanding. Eventually, it might reach another Jimi Hendrix, whoās billions of light years away from our beloved Third Stone From the Sun. Or, perhaps it could land in the hands of an extraterrestrial being in a galaxy we havenāt yet named. Though, that extraterrestrial being might pick it up and say, āWhy is this thing coming to me?ā
Fantastic freaks that annihilate preconceptions about how pedals should look and sound.
The effects pedal industry is boomingāor was, before the coronavirus. Still, we carry on and continue to create new music and new sounds. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of different stompboxes available. Musicians and producers are clamoring to have an arsenal of sounds at their feet. What was once only possible in a recording studio can now be fully realized in almost any environment, thanks to pedals.
So, people are experimenting with sounds more than ever, and weird sounds abound, but it seems that most stompboxes are relatively plain-looking: mostly rectangular metal enclosures, usually painted or printed with some very cool designs, but stillā¦. What does one do when one wants a pedal that looks as unique as it sounds?
They go a-hunting for strange stomps! There are pedal makers popping up who are building wild, non-traditional pedals. Some are fairly large companies that you might already know, while others are smaller operations that deserve to be better known. This article aims to share some of these wild units and their makers with our readers. We think youāll be amazed by these creations!
ScrewedCircuitz
Canadian company ScrewedCircuitz is Dan Roleau and Kassia Lebeau, and synthesis is their gameāaimed at recording, live sampling, and the spontaneous creation of freaky, haunted-house type atmospherics. Dan builds the circuits and Kassia does the design of the enclosures. They have many strange creations, but the Ring Mod Skull pedal is one of the visually strangest. It offers a passive ring modulator with eight oscillators, lo-fi pre-amplification, and feedback loop optionsāall built inside a replica of a human skull!
There are controls for each of the eight different oscillators in the Ring Mod Skull. Each knob controls oscillator pitch independently. Each oscillator has its own switch that gives the user the option to flip between resistors and diodes, in order to create two different sounds within the matrix mixer. Courtesy of Dan Roleau and Kassia Labeau or ScrewedCircuitz
āWe love matching the enclosure to our sound,ā says Roleau. Hence, also, the Harsh Noise Coffin Synth, which is a tiny device shaped like a wooden coffin that sounds like a box full of snakes ā¦ until it starts to whoosh and whoop.
āWe were inspired to create something dark, atmospheric, and harsh all-in-one,ā Roleau says about the Ring Mod Skull. āThe pedal is based on our very first Zombie-Head Synth, which was noisy as hell and freaked everyone out because of the realism of the enclosure. The Skull circuit is handmade from scratch using whatever components were laying around at the time. We added cool LEDs because ā¦ well, because why not? Who doesnāt like āem? We aim to please ourselves before anyone else, so when someone appreciates our work itās a bonus.ā
Almost all ScrewedCircuitz effects and sound circuits are built inside of unique, one-of-a-kind enclosures. Plastic toy organs and locomotives, repurposed keyboards, and Walkman cassette players are all fair game, although builds like their Lo-Fi Sampler, Lo-Fi Looper, and some of their other sound twisters come in conventional enclosures.
Prepare for some uneasy listening, but hang in through the end to hear the full range of buzzing, grinding, hissing, warbling, and even vaguely threatening sounds that come from this little box of horrors.