Ugly Twin - Boosted Octave Fuzz

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So...what is the Ugly Twin???

First let’s start with “why” it is. Many moons ago my best friend Matt introduced me to a punk band called Pissed Jeans. I thought, “hmm that was nice” and then went on with my life. Slowly but surely, I kept coming back to them, especially the album “King of Jeans”. I listened to it non-stop. Then the album “Honeys” came out and the CD stayed in my car for months. I even got my wife to start humming along. At this point I was listening to everything they had on repeat and then something happened...I had found a band that spoke to me. I was in my thirties, working 9 to 5, taking my kids to swim practice, fixing up my house, going on date nights to Target, losing touch with pop culture, building pedals, playing shows, feeling like a rock star, and then coming home and taking out the trash. I was annoyed with adulthood and I finally had a soundtrack.

One song called “Chain Worker” off of Honeys had this amazing bass fuzz sound and it was a one of the many influences for me when I was building my first MBD. So naturally I emailed the band and said, “I make pedals and you guys rule”. I sent Randy (Huth, the Bass Player) an MBD and he loved it (and started using it live!). So, we started chatting and I made it a point to see them whenever I could. Then Randy hooked me up with Brad (Fry, the Guitarist) and we started talking pedals. I built him some things and he plugged them in and used them live on stage sight unseen!!! I was nervous as hell but flattered and excited and just all around floored.

So now to the Ugly Twin...Brad messaged me one night and asked if I could build him a Tone Bender. And I said sure...and then I didn’t. I ignored his request and built a boosted hybrid fuzz and I put it in a hilariously large enclosure. Thankfully he didn’t complain but instead wanted more features. So, I built him another one in a more reasonable enclosure with expanded EQ. He liked that one too. We started talking about how to refine it for production and I had everything ready to go when he asks, “Hey what about adding an octave effect?”. “Dammit”, I thought...that’s a good idea.

So, the Ugly Twin (named after a song by the same name off their album “Shallow”) is the fruit of our experimentation. What it is at the core is three effects in one (three of the main tones Brad uses to get his roaring and massive guitar tones) that could very well be the only fuzz you need.

Octave: This is your classic dirty analog octave up circuit. It’s dirty and mean and a little messy in all the right places. It’s made to turn your dirtiest guitar fantasies up to 11. You can get the classic tone-knob-off-neck-pick- up-octave sounds but leaving everything wide open and strumming a chord will send you into inter -modulating chaos. The “ugly” switch adds a preset boost in front of the octave circuit.

Boost: This is a classic discrete transistor boost. It’s great solo for pushing your amp into overdrive or distortion. It also excels at adjusting the gain into the fuzz circuit or to sit in between the octave and fuzz circuits to mediate any disputes they may (and will) have.

Fuzz: This is another classic vintage style circuit. It’s a great sounding hybrid fuzz (with Silicon and Germanium transistors) with the addition of a three band tonestack. You can get a ton of great amp like tones or simply dime all the knobs and stand the hell back.

Each pedal can be used independently. The circuits are stacked in series (Octave -> Boost -> Fuzz) but you can turn them on and off at will. Of course, the most fun is when you turn everything on at once!

Power: Use only 9VDC 2.1mm center negative (boss-style) power adapters. Isolated pedal specific power supplies are highly recommended. Damnation Audio pedals are designed for maximum headroom and ideal performance with a 9V supply. Going above 9VDC will damage your pedal and void any warranties. Damnation Audio pedals do not accept 9V batteries.

In the interest of continuous improvement, all specifications are subject to change without notice.

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