that lets you morph between settings
on the fly, but its most powerful tool for
creating distinctive filthy textures is its
multiband distortion processing. This
function splits the input signal into ten
frequency bands, distorts each band
individually, and then recombines them
at the output. The result is a whole slew
of distortion textures that sound unlike
anything most guitarists will be familiar
with, from highly articulate crunch, to
synthy buzz, to unapologetic square wave
harshness. The Multiwave also does a
sweet octave distortion, as well as some
more normal sort of distortion tones,
and it’s both MIDI capable and “Hot
Hand Ready.”
Z. VEX BOX OF METAL
Nearly everything Z. Vex does caters to
the noise-curious segment of the guitar
playing market, and despite the Box of
Metal’s name, this box will do a lot more
than metal. The BOM is an untamed
“Wyld Stallyn” of a distortion machine,
and a must-try for every player who feels
like too much gain is never enough. As
Mr. Vex says, “The BOM does NOT clean
up.” Designed to resemble a high-gain
tube amp, it does indeed do a standard
metal chunk extremely well, but the real
fun of this pedal lies elsewhere. With its
metric ton of gain and output, a powerful
three-band EQ, and a footswitchable
onboard noise gate, the BoM gives
the adventurous guitarist all the tools
necessary to make a truly vicious and
unseemly racket. For an excellent
demonstration of this pedal by a true
modern master of vicious guitar noises,
head on over to YouTube and search
for “Nels Cline Box of Metal.” Prepare
to be violated.
DR. SCIENTIST ELEMENTS
Canada’s own Dr. Scientist is another
company that seems hell-bent on
creating tools for fearless tone explorers.
The company’s Elements distortion/fuzz
pedal is a revelation, just as capable of
sounding warm and sonorous as nasty
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