Straight outta New Zealand, Red Witch Pedals have been producing some incredible guitar and bass gear since their inception in 2003, and their latest offering is nothing short of a sonic tsunami, raging through your amplifier like a bat out of hell. Marketed as a bass pedal, but fitting in comfortably in the guitar realm as well, the Zeus Bass Fuzz Suboctave is a pedal that’s sure to turn some heads, rattle some eardrums, and shake up what you thought music was all about, or could be, as well.
The Zeus starts off with two mic controls, Octave and Fuzz. Obviously, these only come into play when the designated side is activated via the left or right footswitch, but you can use them BOTH at the same time as well, if your heart desires, for a whole new world of possibilities. With each of these controls, all the way to the LEFT will result in only your guitar’s dry signal coming through, then as you turn slowly to the right, more and more of each pronounced effect will come shining through. The Sputter control is sort of a fuzz gauge, allowing the player to shift from smooth, warm and fuzzy fuzz to all out, splattered, squelchy, kick-you-in-the-fuzz fuzzy sounds, and a vast array in between those two extremes.The final big knob control is the Fuzz, which adds in or takes away fuzz from the output, but also works in conjunction with your instrument’s Volume knob, so you can roll it back for cleaner sounds, and crank it to get down and dirty.
There are two small toggle switches present on the Zeus, too. The Lightning Switch beefs up the grit of the pedal, doubling your gain in an instant, and great for using on leads or giant walls of feedback when the mood strikes you. The Ear Toggle on the right hand side boosts the treble frequencies in the pedal, bumping them up to add a bit more brightness into the overall tone. The Zeus lets you customize it even further by opening up the back panel and revealing TWO internal trimmers as well: both are Master Volume trimmers for the Fuzz and the Octave sections, respectively, and allow you to set the levels exactly where you need them to be, for a truly unique tone-shaping tool to add to your arsenal.
All in all, the Zeus Bass Fuzz Suboctave provides a little something for guitarists and bassists alike. With a vast range of tonal options, all sounding different depending which instrument you’re playing, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more versatile, accessible and sonically pleasing octave pedal out there. Check out the videos below to see our takes on how the Zeus can be utilized marvelously on either guitar or bass. Thanks so much to Ben, Julie and everyone at Red Witch Pedals for sending this incredible little monster our way – if you haven’t already, make sure you stop by their website for more pedals, more demos and some insight into one of the premier pedal companies functioning today.
Specs:
Independent Analog Fuzz for bass
Independent suboctave for bass – 100% analog
Independent wet/ dry mix for each
Internal Fuzz master volume trimmer
Internal Octave master volume trimmer
Ultra Unique design – nothing like this on the market
Full frequency response
True Bypass Switching
Gorgeous Chrome Enclosure
Review and Guitar video by Mike B, Website
Bass video by Max F, Soundcloud
Demo Rock pedalboard by West Coast Pedalboard
