Lerxst Amps Snow Dog Octave Fuzz

When the crew at Lerxst Amps sent us the two pedals they designed with Alex Lifeson of Rush, we were, needless to say, stoked. The By-Tor Overdrive Boost was the first one, and it turned out to be an incredible amp-driving powerhouse. Today’s effect is the complimentary (if you know your Rush songs) Snow Dog Octave Fuzz. A completely different pedal and sound from the first one, the Snow Dog gets really dirty, adding elements to your sound that will blow the vintage doors right off the roof…

With this latest creation, Lerxst revisits the early part of Alex’s tone journey when he was a young player inspired by the fuzz-driven guitar heroes of the late 1960s. Looking to make a bold statement with his own playing, Alex found himself chasing the sounds that he was hearing on records by Hendrix, Beck, Page, and more. “My introduction to fuzz was before I had any on my face,” he says. “My first pedal was the glorious Fuzz Face and ‘In A Gadda Da Vida’ never sounded better!”

The Snow Dog builds off of a beloved silicon octave fuzz circuit from the early 1970s while updating the effect for the needs of the modern player. The Fuzz section of the pedal has a wide gain range that runs the gamut from subtly satisfying vintage fuzz sounds to thick sustain that can be dialed from the pleasantly muffled to screaming leads with the turn of the tone knob. There is also plenty of volume on tap to provide an added kick to even the cleanest of amplifiers.

The Octave section of the pedal combines multiple semitones to create The Snow Dog’s signature upper octave sheen. When used without the fuzz, it can add subtle synthy textures to your core guitar sound as well as a slight gain boost. When combined with the fuzz section, The Snow Dog reaches its final form as a searing octave fuzz that can cut through any mix while still retaining its thickness and texture. Just like By-Tor, the order of the two sections can be changed via toggle switch, resulting in two distinctly different octave fuzz sounds.

There’s no denying the classic rock sounds the Snow Dog Octave Fuzz is capable of creating, but there’s another element here as well, providing you with a wild, unusual canvas from which to musically paint a masterpiece. Even Alex himself says “It can produce the most horrific fuzz in the Universe!” Thanks once again to MojoTone and Lerxst Amps for sending these beauties our way to check out – be sure to visit their websites for more gear and info, and don’t forget about our Snow Dog demo video below – cheers!!

Affiliate Links:
Sweetwater – https://sweetwater.sjv.io/MX05KP
Vintage King – https://vintagekingaudio.sjv.io/nLGZd7
StewMac – https://stewmac.sjv.io/P0X7BQ
Amazon – https://amzn.to/3FN04Mq