DOD FX33 Buzz Box

quite easy to use ... one knob for octave, two for bass/treble, and one for volume.

this is the noisiest pedal i've ever used -- i don't even use it for my guitar... i also create some noise music, and i wouldn't be able to do it without this beast. i got ahold of a used one for big money ($100), but it was well worth it.

it's a DOD, and DOD doesn't have the best reputation for quality. i've had it for a few years, and the only thing that's gone wrong with it is that the pedal sticks (it's hard to switch on and off).

never dealt with DOD.

for noise, this pedal is essential. i've heard the same about the DOD meatbox, but i've yet to get ahold of one. for actual guitar playing, you might be better off getting a boss octave pedal -- they have a better rep than DOD.

but i wouldn't trade this pedal for anything.

Simple, as simple can be, you want to annhilate everything turn it on
if not steer clear!

What the hell do you think, this along with the meat box were part of merzbow's rig in the anlogue days get the picture. Musical clarity it aint but if the sound of tectonic plates shifting and tinintus are your thing its heaven. Stick this in a loop and you'll cream yourself.

Guitar I use a epiphone les paul, and Jackson kelly through a traynor mark 3 head into a 400 what hiwatt cab with various pedals including a meatbox, boss oc3, cry baby, little big muff and sometimes pod 2.0

If it turns on it works, if not how the hell would you tell???
dod marketed this using the statement "no its not broke - its supposed to sound like that"
maybe if its broke it would actually sound like a harmonic percoloator or something amazing, but thats not the point is it.

As for the pretentious twats who say dod are built poorly, ive never had a problem with this or the meatbox which are both vital in my setup. Dod are far more sturdy feeling than the overrated boss pedals aside from the plastic switch which is a little flimsy looking but never given me any trouble.

Never had to use it.

Its awesome.

One knob for the octave, two EQ knobs and one for Level. Turn the Octave (heavy) knob down and you have a pedal similar to the Grunge pedal (another underrated noise pedal with lots of good sounds, all of them awful, but nonetheless useful). This distortion is a bit more trebly than the grunge, but only slightly. Turn the heavy knob up and you get more and more noise as the octave comes in. It's easy to get lots of sounds with this pedal, all of them awful, so this pedal is very easy to use. It is only a stompbox after all, I don't see how any stompbox can get less than a 9 or 10.

I use a tele with a DM2, BD2, Rat2, EH Frequency Analyser and either this pedal or an MXR Blue Box.

This pedal is legendary for alternative guitarists and avant-garde musicians. The advertising campaign said "no it's not broken - it's supposed to sound like that!" Legend dictates that it was designed by Buzz from the Melvins, although it's not quite true. It was based on his MXR Blue Box/RAT sound, but he didn't design it.

The Buzz Box is a loud distortion and the psychotic octave that doesn't track. As you turn up the heavy knob you get more and more octave - from a slight overtone, right through to a burbling sound like a volcano erupting... The Octave noise gate fizzes and makes clicking sounds, the synthy octave jumps randomly from 1 octave down, 2 octaves down or no octave at all, depending how it feels at the time. The distortion fizzes and the octave jumps around behind you when you play leads. Play a chord and it's like an icepick in your ear. It sounds like a blown speaker, or a truck running you over. It's loud and nasty - but everyone knows that, and it's the whole point of this pedal.
This pedal is very cool to get horrid noises. On guitars it's useful for Sonic Youth noiseouts, in electronic music it's good for Squarepusher or Aphex Twin type interludes. Turn it on and make the soundman hate you. Turn it off and you're back to your normal sound. The audience will wonder what on earth happened there?

DOD pedals are quite reliable. The box is metal, only the switch is plastic. I've had loads of DOD pedals and none of them have died, although sometimes you have to be handy with a soldering iron. On the other hand very few guitarists actually USE their buzz box's, preferring to hoard them as collectors items, so they tend to be in immaculate condition mint in the box when you get them. The most annoying thing about DOD pedals is the different power supply to Boss type, so you need to use either a second power supply, or a battery. Take the battery cover off and keep it somewhere safe or you'll loose it very soon.

They are good at ignoring you. I've never got a response from them, so they get zero.

I play nofi rock or make experimental noise in my room with feedback loops and a four track. I've used a DOD Grunge pedal for years to get horrible noises. It's stupidly over the top but not scooped mids like most "metal" pedals, so it stands out in the mix. If I want to play the Roobarb and Custard theme, or sound like a chainsaw chopping down an oak tree I use my trusty Grunge. The distortion in the Buzz Box is very similar to the Grunge. I also used an MXR Blue Box for the octave sound and thought I didn't need a buzz box because with a Grunge pedal AND a Blue Box together you can get just about all of the sounds of the Buzz Box, so it's debatable whether anyone need pay all that money for this rare pedal at all. To compare them: In the Buzz Box the distortion and Octave are in parallel (not series) so the octave is that little bit more disconnected, a little weirder. Plus of course you can turn both the distortion and octave on with one stomp, and also the Buzz Box is far rarer and therefore cooler to other guitar snobs. The Buzz Box isn't so heavily gated as the Blue Box and so it just destroys any signal that goes into it and feedsback like crazy. Which is good. The Blue Box has a warmer sound on it's own and is more musical, despite some volume and noise gating issues. I'm debating which one to keep because there's very little between them, they are near identical. To sum up: Buy a Grunge and an MXR Blue Box and you'll have a DIY Buzz Box and you don't need to pay all that money for the real deal. But the Buzz Box is still waaay cooler.

Back to the Buzz Box review: everyone who'd want one knows what it sounds like. It's horrible, and it does it rather well. It works as a sound source for noise music and it's a lot of fun. Having the real deal is better than Blue Box/grunge imitation I described, and this is the most disgusting pedal I've heard: forget the Fender Blender, Shin Ei Fuzz Box, the Fuzz Factory - this is genuine hell on toast. It makes all those look like a nice Disney movie. No real musical value, but it's good to keep handy. It tends to be an unpredictable beast, so having a sampler on hand is useful because you're unlikely to get the same thing twice. You can always keep it on your board to scare people, wake them up if they look like they are losing interest in your music, or inflict pain on the unappreciative audience only here to see the other band. Most people will turn it on at the end of the set to make a big din, and walk off stage with feedback ringing behind them.
The Buzz Box is the most horrid and out of control pedal ever made, and it's well worth getting if you see one. Lots of fun. It's by no means essential, but if you play noise, you'll probably already have at least one. An MXR Blue Box is a much cheaper and more reliable alternative.

I think it makes sense. 4 knobs. Thrust is your basic level control. If you turn off all knobs but Thrust this thing sounds like a standard heavy metal type of pedal. The other 3 knobs all introduce noise of various types. The Buzz and Saw knobs introduce a crackly buzz. Saw is in the upper bandwidths and Buzz is in the mids. The Heavy knob introduces the suboctave and a noise kind of like a geigercounter. You can turn up the Heavy knob gradually and you get varying degrees of uncontrollable atonal insanity. At higher settings the notes you are playing become completely obliterated, but at lower settings you can find a nice balance between music and insanity...

Yes, it's noisey, but that's the point!!!

Seems fine.

fiddle anddidle around w/ knobs it's just to make noise

crazy,unfilteredocive/fuzz drive noise for noise sakes i like pareingit w'my pitch shifter then just hold on it plays it self bottom line ;is its just silly. piss off your band mates or or really piss off some sound men/woman,no musical value what soever if you dig that sort of thing(smile)

it's a dod so tape up the battery cover,it still works

what??!!

made just for noise dose that well, just another flavor, crazy scare your cat fun

It is fairly easy to use when you get past the crazy names on the knobs. The manual gives a pretty good explanation as to what everything is and what it does. Even gives some sample settings to get you started.

This thing is all about noise. It is probably the Holy Grail of Noise Rock equipment. I'm not really a Noise Rock enthusiast, but I do like to experiment on occasion. I play in a Progressive Hard Rock band with a twist of Metal. You probably couldn't use this pedal all of the time......but, I like to use it to end a song or even a set. Just go berzerk and play off the wall crazy shiate. My setup goes a little something like this...Jackson PS-4> Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive> (sometimes)Buzz Box because it is a tone hog> into Marshall VS102R. Pedals are always subject to change in my setup. This pedal sounds completely and utterly shitty. But it is supposed to, so as far as that goes, it should get a 1 for the bad sound and a 10 because it is made to sound like crap and does it very well.

I would and have use it without a backup. But as you know, with DOD you have to kind of baby them in order for them to last.

I got this thing a couple weeks ago at a nearby music store. It had been sitting in the case since it came out. It is NOS. As you know, these pedals are no longer made. They have become quite collectible. I bought it with the intention of selling it to make some money, but while testing it out, I discovered some sounds that I loved. So it became part of my setup for occasional lunacy. If you can find them anywhere, buy it. If nothing else, hold onto it for a while and sell it and make yourself a little extra cash. I would buy another one if I saw it somewhere.

LOVE THIS PEDAL the most unigue pedla i own and i own over 300 its real easy to get a good sound out of it it can be a bit noisy if the buzz is turned up a bit you want to plug this thing in with all of the knobs turned down then work your way up

i use it wit a vox and a tele the octave effect is just unreal its got distortion blended in and i just love it i cant think of any artist it can copy right now the only artist i would try would be 311
or incubus (i just got the gonkulator to copy glass) but the sound is just great octave distortion hard i use it alone i did use it wit an ibanez echomachine and it did work well wit it i dont know how usefull my review can be but i have to tell the world that thisa is probebly dod most obsure and most best pedal ever next to the gonkulator and corrosion and death metal

well mines been modified wit a new stomp switch cause thats the problem wit dod the footswitces are not the best for this i give it a 9 i would use backup without it

dod has great customer support u can talk to a live person and they will send you spare parts their customer support is a lot better than ibanez and boss

i been playin for 20 yrs and would use this pedal to play harder stuff i am thinking about buying a bacup since these thing are gettin rare i cant compare it to nothin right now its in a class all it own i do like the modified switch it has it is going to help me create new and intresting new music

I tryed to control it but it controled me. It has a strong spirit and a mind of its own. All the knobs have useless names that do not help. I don't a couple of the controls are as standard as "gain", "tone", etc.; therefore they just picked fun nicknames.

I give it a perfect ten for being the shitties effects pedals I've ever known. I like to use it to destroy the end of a song. There are a multitude of sounds you can get out of this thing. All such sounds are wretched. Its hard to get the same nasty sound twice(either that means i'm to undisciplined/lazy to play with enough regularity or it is a magically irrational machine that taunts me find a way to use it in a way that i get consistent results).<--(i dunno)It makes chaos happen so i just use it for that. I wish i could make it stop feedbacking sometimes,(it likes to make this earbleeding high frequency sizzle) esp sense this happens on 90% of all settings. It doesnt fit with my other fx cuz I have to adjust everything so it doesnt hurt my ears. It is so horrible it frustrates me trying to use it for something. The beauty is it so trashy it sykes me out and I go apeshiton the guitar.

I will never trust any shoddy made dod pedal, but I give it a 2 cuz it isn't dead yet.

Go and find one it will fuck everything up. At the store they wanted a $100 for it but i just played on it for a couple hours and then they knocked off half the price. They said they wanted to get rid of it real bad. So now its my gremlin and i feed it after midnight every night with a glass of water.

OK morons.....all you dumbasses saying that this pedal sounds like shit....your right...it does sound like shit....IT IS SUPPOSED TO SOUND LIKE SHIT!!!! If you like stuff like that, thats great. But if you don't like stuff like that, don't whine that it has no tone and that you can't get get certaind people's tones out of it!!! This pedal is for the adventurous only!!!! Not for tone purists!!! Trying to get a tone purist to like this is like trying to tell a 14 year old that his Metal Zone going into a Crate practice amp sounds shitty!!!! He won't listen!!!! So, please...take this warning!!!

Very straightforward, even with the dumdum names. Its easy to get this thing to do what it does, hard to say what that is.

I want to meet whatever freak designed this thing. Possibly the greatest pedal ever built. Of course I think everyone I've played it for other than me hates it.

DOD pedals are pretty poorly/cheaply built but they don't seem to give me many problems.

Amazing pedal, probably least useful as a guitar distortion box unless you want to sound like king bizbit flower hour. Run it on the stereo bus of your mix!!

Hmmmm....The control knobs have funny names. To anyone who is uninitiated with this quirky DOD tradition - the company released a series of pedals in the mid nineties that had weird names and wierder controls to match their equally strange sounds. If you have a manual of course, then only a few minutes of trying out the suggested settings is needed before you begin to realise what you have let yourself (and anyone within a four mile radius) in for. BE WARNED - this pedal is loud with a capitol LOUD! I'll explain later about the extent of madness contained within this pedal. Personally I think the BuzzBox was easy and fun to use. The controls all react with each other too, another true DOD tradition. What I mean is if you add more treble to the sound you don't just get a little more of a cutting sound - Oh no - You get a disgustingly SCORCHING sound that threatens to singe off your pubic hairs give it half a chance. Even your low E tuned to C sounds unrecognisable with the treble cranked.

Well this is another tough question. You see the deal with the BuzzBox is this - The answer to this question will differ significantly depending on who you ask. In the words of Paul Simon - 'One mans ceiling is another mans floor...' Likewise, Some people will turn this pedal on and think 'Oh shit - what have I done?'. Some will think 'Thats an ..erm...interesting sound'. Others,like me,will be over the moon at what it does. This sound of this pedal is ugly. Its Butt ugly. Its sooo ugly my cat won't stay in the house when I use it! To the question is it noisy? You bet your arse it is!
I use the BuzzBox with a Tele into loads of other wierd pedals through a Carlsboro amp. For more info and pics checkout http://nadzb.tripod.com/thepedallair/
The pedal produces a massive,brittle distortion plus a two octave down pitchshift. It looks like a wasp and sounds like one too in some settings. It does a very cool fart noise and combined with a whammy pedal it can do the sound of those super cool little MicroMachines from the Sega game! I use a DOD Envelope filter with the BuzzBox.I can safely say that you get the most convincing duck impersonations using this combination. A cool trick it does is to pick up your voice when you speak and to transmit it through your amp - thats how loud it can go! You can run a mic through it too - ever seen the 'wizard of oz'? Wanna know how to sound like the Wizard? Buy a Buzzbox and find out.
You may know that Buzz Ozbourne AKA King Buzzo of the Melvins designed the Buzzbox so if you want to hear this pedal in action listen to some Melvins stuff.
As you may have gathered the FX33 is a weird pedal and will suit the experimenting types amongst you down to the ground - needless to say though - Boring blues types or Shredders need not apply!

DOD have always served me well. Good switch,Nice metal box and everything seems sturdy enough.

I've only ever emailed DOD once. I was begging them to reissue this thing cos it was my holy grail for ages. They sent me some shitty email back and I wasn't impressed. As luck would have it I found a NOS BuzzBox a few weeks later and snapped it up. Personally I've heard alot of people complaining about DODs customer service and judging on the the reply I received from them I'd say the criticism was justifyed. Bollocks to em.

I LOVE THIS PEDAL. It is my favourite stompbox of alltime and I will never let it go. It took me ages to find too. The BuzzBox is now assured of cult status amongst alternative guitarists due its early deletion in about 1996. The fact I found one in 2001 still new is a one in a million chance. The pedal is rapidley becoming a collectors item so if you want one - act fast. Its full of ridiculous noises and inspires me no end. Some will say its not very useable - true, but the sounds it does do can make even the tamest of songs a monster gonzo distortion noise fest from hell!
Long live the BuzzBox - The alternative guitarist's TS-808??? I reckon it could well be.

You better take some time out of your day to hang out with it. It definately needs love and attention in order to get back beautiful(planned) sound. Controling it just takes getting used to it. The manual is great, and done in the fashion of the Melvins' humor.

I'm playing on a Fender strat(saving up for an Ampeg Stud) running it through a 100w Marshall head, a vintage Crate screamer. For as for an effect unit I'm using my trusty Digitech Rp 12 multi. Extremely noisy when mixed with just about any other wave deflector effect: chorus/wah/tremolo/ ect. Extremely noisy but that's what makes it even better. The best thing about this baby is that if you mess around with the 4 knobs long enough you have about 10 different distortion pedals in one, making it sound like the: Turbo,Grunge,Death Metal, MetalZone, and it gets heavier. I heard that the no talent jamoke in Limp Bisquik uses one. I'm a huge Melvins head and as far as distortion goes this comes pretty close to Buzz Osbourne's heavy crust mess. The quality is as much as you can expect from a DOD pedal, but I guess you could link the Box to something that could clean it up. Like the SonicBoom from Ampeg.

I depend on it like I depent on my boner in the morning. it's always there now, but it won't be one day, and when it's not, no big deal I'll get an other... I guess that analogy won't work. Once again it's a D O D! don't expect too much, just take care of it.

This doesn't even apply.

I love this pedal it's all me as far as distortion, if I want to switch to clean I just play off of my Digitech multi. but for every thing else it's fine. Noise yeah but so what. When I crank it up on the week ends the neighboors complain. At first they thought I was running some type of industrial machine in my room. I'ts part of my guitar set up now officially. The only thing I absolutely hated was the way it was "decorated" they should of just left the god-forsaken color prime gray, and the writing is abominable. I hated the way it looked so much I went as far as scraping and re-painting it dark blue. Who ever designed the "look" was not thinking of Buzz. Every thing else: the sound, the manual, the names of the knobs where on the Money; and that's what matter's I guess.

Tricky to find something that will actually work. You get some weird, messed up crap with all the knobs maxed. It's cool.

SG-->tubescreamer-->THIS-->Sovtek 100w head/ampeg cab
It's really loud with the heavy up more, and lesser when that and the saw are down. That part sucks. You're going to have to find somethng you like in here, but it won't be wuick to occur. I guess you can get Melvins crust, better with the neck pickup.

The switch is sketchy, but if it dies on you, it shouldn't be a pivotal piece of you're sound anyway. Use an adapter.

DOD's ok.

Most people try and sell these for ~$100, so I wouldn't get another. The weird digital tracking isn't really that pleasant. You can definatly get some crazt shit out of this. Go ahead and push the level and heavy up, all else down, and play weird bass up high on the neck. Bending strings and weird feedback.... Pure alchemy. I just wish it blended better with the rest of the stuff I try to do with other pedals or around it when it's off, or lowering the guitar volume knob. Whatever.

4 knobs, heavy, buzz, saw, and thrust. dumb names. if you have no manual, well, screw around with it.

ahhh! what the fudge--? at first i thought it was broken or something, but it's what it's supposed to do. if you like weird stuff, i mean, weird scary stuff, it's a 10. if not, 1.

play this through a chorus, flanger and wah. it'll scare off your cat. trust me.

metal case, older switch, stupid battery cover. would i use it on stage? only to scare the audience away.

they're alright, but don't count on them.

i play ska. it won't work for that. i play punk. it won't work for that either. now i play it when i bring my guitar to church, when i play with the band. i don't play it during the songs, i just play it when we're fooling around. and when i play it, everyone stops and looks at me, and i just smile and keep playing.

Most sounds are very funky and pretty good, but some can be painful. After a little bit of work (I didn't get a manual) you can pretty much end up with some phat tones.

I use this into my Heavier setup, which is currently Danelectro DC-3 or Ibanez RG-570 into Crybaby|EH Big MUFF|DOD Death Metal|Dano Chorus|Roland JC-120
It is sheer fun
No practical purpse (Korn and Limp Bizkit found one, but I can't) With the heavy knob down and the buzz (dist) and saw (treble) up, and the heavy (octave) around 10 o'clock, you get a great punk distortion. even With the heavy all the way down, you can't really get a non-octaved sound. But who cares. This rips on Punkish/metallish solos, and is a good plaything otherwise
Very noisy but that adds to the effect!
Good with another lighter distortion (Big Muff) on, and heaven with chorus
Really freaky with wah!

This is not the kind of effect that you use all gig. I can depend on it being freaky; I've had no reliability problems with it, but it DOES sputter in and out with the heavy knob cranked (that's part of the effect) It has been pretty good with batteries

I got this at an awesome price. I use it in my alternametal band much more than in my punk band, but the distortion with light octave is a winner for dual guitar solos. I really think it's a fun little box, and I prefer it to the Blue Box. The Blue Bopx is alittle more calm and predictable, this is more crazy and evil.
I compared it to various octave dividers, but this is the only one that was as crazy.
A collector's item, I bet!

Yeah, four knobs y'know. Manual = funny
you cant go wrong here - anything you do with this pedal activated and with the correct leads plugged in will result in a serious top quality dose of anarchy

Bluebreakers & jazz men beware. This thing is in my opinion destined to join the ranks of the 'super noise' mythical pedals that everyone wants cause they sound so repulsive and esoteric, but no one can get. If anyone had this, a Fender Blender, a Univox superfuzz, an Ampeg scrambler, a Bee Baa,a PE Experience, a funny cat, a micro synth, a Zvex fuzz factory, a frequency analyser & an attack decay (delay?) on the same pedalboard im sure they could take out the world - get my drift - serious noise - serious unpredictability - serious fun
Pro tone squier strat w/Dimarzio airzone bridge HB - Marshall 100 watt VS combo This pedal without the octave mixed in very much will scream like no other single pedal ive known - not even the fx69 To say the effect of this pedal is weak is quite possibly the worstunderstatement one could make in a lifetime. When i jumped on this in the music store i thought someone had stuck honey on the circuit boards of the amp! I havent heard any major label guys who have used this pedal at all - I know that the guy from Skunk Anansie has one (but he has one of everything) MY FRIENDS RECORDED USING THIS BOX AND NEARLY DROVE THE ENGINEER INSANE. blending this sucker with phasing of other socially acceptable effcts is always good, But for real jockstrap creaming sounds, try running it with a grunge pedal! Combinations in the way they are connected and the relative volumes of the two are a key concern here - sometimes you can get it so the face knob on the grunge does whammy pedal upstaging siren feedback stuff! woah baby. This pedal also reacts heavily to what pickups in what positions you drive it in - several crazy sweet spots. I dont really do this new rock thing, I got out of rock just at the right time about a 18 months ago - just before everything turned to shit. Billy Corgan, J.Mascis, Page Hamilton are demi gods

It aint crapped out on me yet, but as everyone knows, DOD needs to employ some new industrial designers

No - DODs warranty seems flaky & covers about 3 components total

This thing is now discontinued. That is good because if everyone went whoopee & bought them then the world would be a demented place
Pkay, this is a rip off of MXRs blue box but ive never heard a blue box do this stuff - this pedal rips, farts, screeches, swirls, spatters, chugs, cuts out like a stopping motorbike, buzzes, does syth tones, dual ocaves, mess, sizzle, whine - YOU NAME IT Other people I have read can only compare this to the much heralded fuzz factory - i couldnt possibly comment but its good to see DOD putting something out that was genuinely twisted (even if it didnt live very long)
I havent found any application for this yet & ive had it for 2 years. The possibilities this could lend to song arrangements or sampling for dance cuts or even making new music based around this unit are mind boggling.
Someone like Fripp, Belew or Gabrels should aready have one of these - not digital so it cuts out at the wierdest times, the octave tracks like a race driver having a seizure

Oooh baby there's a trick to this one, so you'd better be readin on theres. The 2-octave-below feature doesn't track well, it needs massive input filled up with gain! So if yer gitar is a quiet stick of cardboard it'll suck. Use a booster of some sort before it(distortion pedal, eq booster, whatever) and then it works kick butt! Personally I put a DOD Juice Box and DOD Meat box before it. I dig this tone more than MXR's Blue Box. But you know, the catch.

The distortion is ok, but without the octave on is lame. Combined with octave produces growly rockin good quality usable tonage.

Respect your pedals man. What are you rich?

Don't think twice about e-mailing DOD, they'll help. Not much to say here.

Super duper boost your gain before it gets into this pedal, and you're set. Man the tone is all there. Hendrix could jam it with this, not the Melvins(its named after melvins guy). You get my basic gist so buy it and try it if you want its discontinued you know.

Four knobs, explained in the manual, but if you can't figure this thing out in 5 minutes, you've got some other issues... The only thing is that the heavy knob produces some EXTREMELY different sounds depending on where you set it. So you have to set it just right, about a 7 second project. I use it set just to where the notes are starting to get pretty raunchy, then use the barely defineable blasts as a bridge or intro, whatever. Makes a great contrast, everyone stops playing, and it's just this weird noise...

There are two basic sounds you can get out of this: Distortion/Octave tones, and then, well, farts. Past 12 on the heavy, this thing... ah, read the other reviews, they describe it funnier. I'm using an Harmony Explorer into a small Peavey amp in my room, and a Fender Ultimate Chorus for shows. This pedal does have some noise to it, especially on the distortion end of the heavy knob, but if you bought this you wouldn't really be expecting some smooth, ultra-quiet overdrive. The distortion on this is the same as a Grunge, but the 2-octave down notes add some of the heaviest sounds I've ever FELT. I can get a lot sweet Tom Morello (RATM) sounds out of the distortion, and with heavy past 12, Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit) all the way. Again, it's loud, raunchy, and crackling with noise, but I still give it a nine because it's FUN.

Ya, it's DOD, read any review, they just don't break. I would (have) gigged without a backup, but I use an adaptor, and don't know what the battery drain is like without one.

Never dealt with 'em, probably won't have to.

I bought this pedal knowing how messed up it was, and so I'm completely satisfied. If you're looking into getting one, some advice: Try it out first, it's NOT just a distortion, it's very different than anything else out there. And it's certainly not for everyone That's why it get's a 5, it's about 50-50 love it or hate it. If it's not you, it'd get a 1. For someone like me, it's a ten. Also, buy one used to save money. The cheaper you get it, the more likely you will love it your money's worth. And don't let people rip you off just cause they're discontinued, they're still tons of them around. I got mine for $60 w/ almost no arguing. I would definitely buy it again, and even though it fills a very small niche, if you have that niche, this will do it for you. Plus, it's so different it'll get you creating, and that's a good thing.

This pedal is pretty easy to use, 4 knobs ...Heavy (two-octave-drop octavizer), Buzz (distortion), Saw (treble), Thrust (output level).

Well, the manual says this thing was inpired by the Melvins' King Buzzo, so, needless to say it's designed you give you a heavy ass distortion. I can use this for KoRn/Limp Bizkit sounding stuff, but this pedal is not limited to just that as past reviews may lead you to believe. This really kicks the shit out of my DOD Grind Distortion pedal which I'm in the process of selling...

As long as you don't weigh 300 some pounds and try to pull off a hard ass jumping stomp to hit the footswitch you'll be all right.

Never interacted with 'em.

This is a cool pedal in my opinion but I think that if you pay anymore than $60 for this, you're a dumbass. People try to sell these used as "collector's items" for $90, $100 (I got mine brand new for $47); that's bullshit. If you pay that much for any DOD pedal you must of road the short bus to school when you were a kid.

You can easily figure out the levels of crappiness you want to crank out

If you want an octave pedal, but all you have is this thing, you might be happy. The "Heavy" setting, up to about 11 oclock, gives a decent octave. It's a really noisy and tinny pedal.

the battery clip...

If you pay more than $20 for this, you've been SKREWED. I've been playing for 3 years and I am VERY undiscriminating when it comes to pedals, but I'm sorry. This pedal is AWFUL.

4 knobs pretty easy. Just got to find out what the damn names are. Heavy ( 2 octave down and full efect and background ), Buzz ( Distortion amount ), Thrust ( Amount of all ), Saw ( Treble )

It's a good pedal. But it's pretty fucked up. I get a lot of Wes Borland sounds. ( Limp Bizkit ) If you are looking for a octave or a distortion pedal but looking for a messed up sound get this pedal. I use this for tapping strings and using it when I switch my toggle switch for that synth sound a lot of times though I use it with some natural harmonics. But like I said it's a messed up pedal. I also interacts well with other pedals on different settings. I use it with a Ibanez 7-string RG7620 with a 60.-10. gauge string and a Marshall practice amp and 4X12 cabs with a Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier for shows. The best setting I use for this is: Heavy 15%, Buzz 65%, Saw 5%, and Thrust 50% with this tuning: A one step down down.

It's pretty reliable most DOD's are.

Never dealt with them

This pedal is all right. If you are looking for a octave or distortion that is just hard-edged and clear do't get this. If you are looking for a sound something like Tom Morello or Wes Borland you should get this. I play in a band like Rage Against The Machine, KoRn, Limp Bizkit ( mostly them ), and White Zombie put together. So my band is pretty much aggro-rapcore. So for my heavy experimental sound I give this a 10.

there's probably no way to get a good sound out of this unit, but if you bought it in the first place you probably weren't expecting conventional "good" sounds... or were very clueless. it has 4 knobs, with those stupid names which you have to look up in the manual. the manual itself is almost insulting, it's like a bad guitar magazine.

i'm using it with a pretty standard setup (ie. strat into fuzzbox into processor into amp). the pedal is pretty hissy if you turn up the tone ("saw") knob all the way up, but i never do anyway since you shouldn't really need to go over 12 o'clock. the effect is _very_ noticeable. with the mix ("heavy") knob above 12 o'clock, all you get is noise, really. down from there you start getting some usable octave tones.

it seems pretty sturdy, except for the flimsy plastic battery cover..

haven't dealt with them. it's supposed to come with a warranty though, yet i still haven't been able to find it.

i play heavy-ish rock. the distortion itself is pretty normal, except for the unusable range of the gain ("buzz") knob. all the way down it sounds like, say, a maxed-out ibanez classic metal. up from there, it really doesn't make a difference. the octave is useful, yet it's not an everyday effect. i'd never buy this pedal again. i didn't compare it to anything... i just wanted to add something new to my rig since i was getting kinda bored.
don't waste your time with this pedal. it isn't worth it.

I push the pedal, and a fart comes out. Turn the dials, and you get a different sound. wooo......... It's too easy...

heheheh. When I first got this pedal it was like I just got a nuke. What am I going to do with it? I take the Heavy knob to the max and in the manual it says it makes a "demonic" sound. I think it sounds like a fart. This is the coolest piece of shit around. If you play really high on the neck on the high strings quickly, you get a really neato nintendo sound. You can also get synth drums out of it by flatpicking quickly the high e string open and on the 12th fret (loosely) with the heavy to the max. I love it.

There is nothing that could go wrong with this pedal. The only trouble is you can't really rip a nice solo with it. This is why: Our friends at DOD made it so that you can't fully turn down the heavy knob. This means that if you play at 250 db or higher, you, without a doubt, will hear the heavy slightly in the background. When turned all the way down, the guitar-to-heavy ratio is 14:1 so you can hear that annoying shit fart sound. Besides that, it's cool.

WTF?! why would I need customer support? It's reliable, and easy to use.

I've been playing for a couple years now, and this is a very cool pedal, but I'm not too interested in it anymore. If anyone wants to buy it from me for around 125 then go ahead and email me at LeBoneur@aol.com if you're into experimental rock and have an extra dist. pedal this is the pedal for you. It has so many quirks and stuff you won't know what to do with it. I am switching to Boss so I have to sell this pedal. It's a collector's item now as well......

If you play around long enough, you may find a setting that you can use (or maybe you will just fool yourself into thinking so). Very touchy controls.

This thing is the craziest effect I've ever heard! I can get a decent distorted octave sound, but all the other setting are useless (except for the novelty factor). I would think twice before actually using it in a real band situation. I got it just for fun, and out of morbid curiosity. I never did get any Melvin-like sounds (I only have three of their albums, so maybe I missed something). In most settings, it doesn't even sound like a guitar. More like a 747 farting after a chili cook-off! But I like it (in a perverse way). Destined to be a collectors item!

Seems well built, but I am positive I will lose the battery-lid soon. Surely the people at DOD know that removable battery lids are a dumb idea! Why don't they at least give us a roll of duct-tape with each pedal until they think of a better idea?

If you are a sick bastard, you will like this pedal. There are sounds in this pedal that just.....shouldn't be released! Hours of fun! BUT, I could never really see using it much except for an occasional lead. Like a Big Muff, it's not something you would want to use on every song.

it only took me like 3 min. to figure it out because at first i thought it was broken, its got a really wicked sound. controls are: Heavy (2 octave down control, background or full-on effect), Buzz (Amount of distortion), Saw (Trebel, output level), and Thrust (Overall amount).

this box is probably the crazyest box i own, satan lives inside it. the sound quality is great, very little noise and good feedback control. i play a Fender custom strat with EMG pickups and a Fender sunburst Telecaster through an old Marshall M-20 Lead amp. This box is great with beefy drop d riffs and low stuff and it adds another dimension to solos and sounds good with wha also. With the buzz box you can get a great Korn, Limp Biztkit, and almost a Tool sound and when you turn the Buzz down a little bit, you can get a nice Tom Morello sound. This is my current, everday setting for the buzz box: Heavy 10-15%, Buzz 65%, Saw 5%, Thrust 40-50% and try this setting with this tunning: CGCFAD

Well its DOD, this thing can stand a beating. I haven't had any problems with DOD except my Envelope Filter, but thats a whole different story...

I play thick, muddy, heavy rock and hardcore music and the buzz boz is a match made in hell! I also own a Digitech RP6 which is a piece of shit and i wouldnt mind setting it on fire.. I really love the 2 ocatave down along with a thick distortion. this pedal is in a class by itself. Oh and one more thing, i sure do like butts.. If you own a DOD FX33 Buzz Box, isnt it grand?

took me a while ta figure it out, but once ya get the hang of it, it's smooth sailin'.

I love this monstrosity. Never have I been so grateful to an FX company.(I'm still pissed at them, see below.)I also have to credit it's inventor, Buzz Osbourne. It sounds like a vacuum cleaner being mangled by howler monkeys. Yeah, it sounds gawd awful, which is why I've made it a pemanent addition to my growing array of noise pollutants.

I've had it for 3 months and the battery clip is broken. No warranty. Damn.

see below

Overall, I think it's a pretty nifty little chunk of gunk. I don't like the fact that the battery clip broke,and,DOD's webpage doesn't have any info on it. In fact, they don't even acknowledge it's existence. I've heard that there 9 volt adapters for both digital and analog boxes, but they don't give any indication as to what adapter I'm supposed to use.

I didn't get any instructions, but after a while, I found some REALLY cool distortiuon out of it. The names are a bit weird, but cool. I have mine set up like this: Heavy-3 Buzz-7 Saw-6 Thrust-as loud as I need it! I think that those are the control's names, It has been so long since I had looked at them.

If you are using this on a Heavy setting (Unfiltered Octaviser) at more than 5, you can only play one note at a time without a huge buzz sounding, but as long as you keep Heavy down, it is a really good distortion that rocks.

Works fine, you know DOD

N/A

I would buy it again, but I think that this one was tampered with because the new Buzz Boxes are completely Buzz. With the one I have, I think that someone messed with it because it is more of a distortion, the new ones are like a weird effect.

The "Heavy" setting adds a note an octave or two lower even when it is turned down to 0. It also screeches a lot, but if you tweak it just right, you can get some great distortion.

If you like loud, annoying feedback and high screeching noises, this is perfect. You can also make it sound like a volcanic eruption.

I've never had any problems with mine shorting out, or any other DOD product.

If I were to go back and buy it again I would have bought the DOD Grunge Distortion pedal instead (FX 69). It has the same distortion without the high feedback and low grumbling heavy.

This is the first pedal that I actually needed to read the instructions. The first time I tried it I thought it was broken! It's actually easy to use just tricky to actually get a good sound out of. I don't really care for DOD's "cute" labeling of the controls. "Heavy"=Octive/Distortion mix, "Buzz"=Gain, "Saw"=Treble level & "Thrust"=Output level.

This is the NASTIEST fuzzbox I've ever heard. It's basicly a "Grunge" pedal with an octavizer that takes the distorted signal & drops it 2 octives down. You can't turn the "Heavy" control much past 1/3 on without sounding like a Dragster instead of a guitar! I couldn't resist for the price.

It's just a kooky pedal! Hours of fun in minutes! I don't think I'd use it very often, It's more of a "Special" effect, although with the octive level turned down it's useable just as a extreme distortion pedal. I'm not planing on retiring my Big Muff anytime soon though.