GEAR SPOTLIGHT
DEATH BY
AUDIO
EVIL FILTER
REVIEW BY DAVID A. EVANS
STREET PRICE $380.00
Death by Audio has
introduced a wicked new
pedal, the Evil Filter,
which combines an
enormously full fuzz and a
resonant filter. Imagine a
possessed wah-wah pedal
crossed with a resonant
filter which has mated
with the fuzziest of fuzz
pedals and you’ll have
some idea of the way the
Evil Filter sounds.
At first, I must admit,
the fuzz left me a little
confused. The Evil Fuzz
offers a Fuzz Output
control but nothing else.
And, my goodness, is this
pedal ever fuzzy. Heartier
souls might delight in the
Evil Fuzz’s full output,
52
but this tender reporter
needed to clean things up
just a bit. After hesitating,
I made the not-so-obvious
move of turning down
my guitar’s volume.
Presto! I had tamed
the fuzz . . . somewhat.
The Evil Fuzz pumped
out more than enough
distortion for my needs at
the low input level. Lower
input volumes produced
a darker fuzz, but with
greater Fuzz Output
I compensated for the
volume drop.
The pedal’s two fuzz
modes—square wave
and sine wave—offered
surprisingly different
textures. Not only did
How
To
Death
Master
by Audio
Your Jazzmaster
Evil Filter
TONE SPOTLIGHT
GEAR
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the square wave mode
typically produce a louder
fuzz overall, it produced
fuzz that seemed to take
on a life of its own. By
letting notes ring out,
the fuzz modulated,
grew more intense, then
fizzed out as the signal
died. This “bloom” is
sometimes highly sought
out, and I understand
why. The Evil Fuzz is great
at this bloom. The sine
wave mode produces
a thinner-sounding fuzz
up front, but as the notes
ring out, the low-end
becomes more prominent.
Generally, however, the
sine mode seems to pump
out more high end than