GEAR SPOTLIGHT
SUBDECAY
PROTEUS MKII
REVIEW BY S.P. BURKE
STREET PRICE $179.00
Filter effects are truly the
yelping alien madmen of
the pedal world. Even the
modest wah pedal can
be applied towards pure
sonic mayhem when used
correctly. Simultaneously
giving us control and yet
no control, the greatest
irony is that that madness
comes from nowhere but
us, from player to pedal
engineer.
The Subdecay Proteus
MKII is an improved
version of Subdecay’s
original Proteus pedal,
which itself was a refined
version of the Prometheus,
the company’s earlier
filter pedal. As stated on
50
GEAR SPOTLIGHT //
their website, the Proteus
was meant to be the
anti-Prometheus, using
the same filter circuit
but with an emphasis on
being user-friendly. It’s
understandable, since
the original Prometheus
possessed no less than
five knobs and three
switches. With three knobs
and two switches, the MKII
version is built for off-the-
cuff experimentation.
Encased in a sleek blue
chassis, the three knobs
from left to right include
a Depth knob that
controls modulation, a
Frequency knob for the
filter’s resting point, and
Subdecay Proteus MKII
a Resonance knob for
the “Q” setting (i.e. the
intensity of the filter).
The Proteus MKII also has
a second switch for tap
tempo that samples your
playing and varies speed
depending on a three-way
switch (1, 2, or 4 times
the tempo). Holding the
tap tempo button for a
second clears things up
for a new tempo, and the
LED switches from green
to red to let you know it’s
engaged, perfect for live
performances. There’s also
a second two-way switch
that lets you choose
between Low-Pass or
Band-Pass filtering.