Den Tone Freaktone Fuzz

Very simple. One knob. That is what makes this fuzz sound good.

Using both humbucker and singlecoil guitars, through classAB amps. It is the most inspiring fuzz I have played in a long time, and I??ve played them all. There??s no bad sound or noise coming out of this machine...

Dennis Menard is the guy who reaches out...will be giged and recorded.

Best service provided.

One knob & an engage/disengage switch. Simple, or so you may think. One knob does not necessarily mean one dimensional. In fact, this little beauty is capable of soooo much more than it's clean & simple design would suggest. It will take some patience to find "your sound"

Waited a while before posting this review. You know how it is, you get a new guitar/pedal/cymbal etc. and you can find no shortcomings with it until much later when the new equipment buzz has faded. Well, after my cooling off period I'm still as impressed as I was when I first plugged this fuzzy beast in.

Counter clockwise seems to thin the sound down, clockwise brings on some real girth & when maxed out makes any single note picking on the lower strings nearly impossible to discern. A huge dynamic range from one simple knob. Monkeying with your guitar vol will ease back the monstrous fuzz to a more manageable level. I piddled around for a long time with my amp knobs/guitar vol and Freaktone knob before settling on a sound I want to keep. That's not to say all other sounds were bad. Far from it. This pedal responds exceptionally well to subtle changes in any adjustments you make. You can coax anything from Hendrix & Keef to Fu Manchu, Fireball Ministry, Thin Lizzy etc. If you cannot find a fuzztone that you love, then the problem is not with the Freaktone, it's with the player.

If you are looking for a pedal that will mask sloppy playing, look elsewhere. This baby picks up any and all subtleties. Don't get me wrong, this is not by any means a bad thing. It translates your playing very very well. In fact, it will force you to learn to play that much better. You have to. The dynamics are unparalleled. I've tried several other fuzz pedals and they don't respond anywhere near as well. When maintaining the same settings on your amp/guitar & Freaktone, it allows picking dynamics to go from a whisper to a wonderful scream. Thick rhythms & searingly creamy leads. What more can you ask for.

Equipment used:
Dan Armstrong Plexi guitar (stock, no mods)
Marshall 1960 lead 4X12 cab
Marshall MG 100 DFX head
Marshall JCM DSL 100
Crate Power Block head

Wanted to try the Freaktone through tube and solid state amps to see how it reacts. Unable to find any weak spots when used alone, it seems to perform equally well though both.

Only concern may be that it seemed to not respond as well when passed through a MXR Phase 100. Not a bid deal.

Man alive. This thing is solid. Capable of withstanding a bombing better than Osama Bin Laden. Truly road worthy.

Have not yet needed to get ahold of Dennis with any concerns. However, I know he is exceptionally helpful & easy to contact. Seems very willing to address any concerns or queries.

I like to play a huge variety of styles but love fuzzcore. This pedal fits in so very well. Been playing guitar for 15 years and drums for at least as long (longer if you consider all the damaged pots & pans)

Anyway, back to the Freaktone-

This pedal provides a huge range of possibilities to you sound palate. Highly sensitive to picking dynamics and subtle changes in amp settings make this pedal a must own. I'm glad it's part of my set up. In fact, it has made my other Fuzz pedals rather redundant. If you are lucky enough to be in possession of one of these pedals you know what I mean. You just need to spend some quality time experimenting. After all, isn't that what being creative is all about? If for some reason you cannot dial in a sound that you like, you may want to consider hanging up the guitar and picking up a set of drum sticks, or better yet, a mouth harp.

Anyway, gotta go. Feel like playing some Saint Vitus.

Very simple to use, only one knob.

I've tried this my Strat into a 62 Marshall Bluesbreaker head and a 4X12 cabinet. I haven't fully explored the possibilities this pedal has but it was easy to plug in and start playing nice, full fuzzy chords and great sustaining lead notes. I have yet to try it with my Les Paul Standard but from what I heard it should sound amazing.

No problems there from what I've seen so far. Clean construction on the inside and strong box housing everything.

No problems yet but the builder has been very nice to deal with. I don't expect any problems.

I've been playing for 35 years, all kinds of music. I've been looking for a good 60's fuzz pedal for certain songs and this one is the best I've found so far. I love the one of kind paint job. I wouldn't change a thing on this pedal.

One knob, doesn't get any easier than that!

guitar-Dean '79 V
Amp-Peavey ValveKing Royal 8
I have owned distortion/fuzz pedals from ZVex, Electro Harmonix, Boss, Effector 13, MXR and more.. and none of them sound and "feel" like this pedal. It is so "open" sounding, every little harmonic and nuance of my playing is there. It has honestly made me a better player, and has made playing even more fun. I play a lot of "riff rock" or "stoner rock" with a lot of bluesy leads- this pedal PERFECT for that. The sustain is so long it is mind blowing! Pack up your Big Muff and put it in the closet, this is THE fuzz pedal!! True bypass too!

Only 2 weeks old but so far so good. Seems to be very well made. More sturdy than a lot of mass produced pedals.

Dennis is friendly and answers emails very fast, unlike Zvex for example.

I have to give it a 10, it is that good, and this is coming from a long time pedal addict. One thing you should know about.. with true bypass pedals or no pedals after this there is some noise(nothing extreme, don't worry), but that's what I mean by "open" sounding, everything is there. It makes it so easy to play. Putting a buffered pedal after it like a Boss for example completely gets rid of the noise, but will also lose some of its mojo. The AnalogMan Peppermint Fuzz is the same way.

Maybe the smoothest, best sustaining fuzz I have ever heard. I'm not sure that Freaktone is the best name for it, that seems like it would be over the top, but it's not. One knob easy to use, I love one knob fuzzes.

I guess I already answered this one above. Sounds awesome with a small tube amp and very good with a SS amp. Not noisy at all.

Built like a brick sh@@house. Raco box construction should be extremely dependable.

Great guy to deal with. Stands behind the product 100%.

Good for 60's, 70's rock, blues etc... Not for metal (at least I don't think so).

Well, I guess you could say it's easy to use, in that it only has one control. However, it's very difficult, if not impossible, to get a good sound out of.

I play a strat into a Marshall. This thing completely emasculates the low end from my tone, and leaves me with a very thin, tinny, whiny, unusable mess. This doesn't yield a sound close to any artist I have ever heard.(or would want to hear).

Don't know about reliability, haven't had it long and will never, ever gig with it.

Jury is out on this one.

I play usual strat fare, Hendrix, SRV, Trower, etc., in my own humble fashion. This is step in the wrong direction. Plus, the enclosure looks to be an electrical circuit box, and the input and output jacks are very inconveniently located on the top (?). Weird.

My own fault, I should I have forked over the bucks for a serious pedal instead of buying this on ebay, trying to save a few $. I'm ld enough to know better.

Very easy to use. Only one knob that controls volume. Easy to get a great fuzz sound out of it.

This pedal does one thing, big, warm 60's fuzz. It's a one trick pony, but what a great trick. It sounds excellent with my Gibson Melody Maker through a Mesa/Boogie .22+ 1x12 tube combo. Big crunchy chords or great fuzzed out leads. I've used other fuzz where the bottom end tends to dip when I stomp it on. Not so with this fuzz. It stays warm and full. I also use it for bass, an old P bass into an SWR Basic Black combo. Huge, gnarly bass fuzz sound with no loss of bottom end. I love how this pedal sounds.

I opened it up and it looks very well made, point-to-point wiring. I just got it but I'm not worried about it. It's solid. I'll give it a 9 because it's not time-tested.

Dennis Menard made this and was very helpful when I contacted him for info. I don't expect any problems, but his customer support seems great.

I'm primarily a bass player but I play guitar sometimes, been playing for 20 years. I was looking for a fuzzbox I could use for both that would keep the warmth and bottom end when engaged. This is it. It sounds awesome with gutiar or bass. Perfect for 60's garage, punk, grunge, etc. I can adjust the tone with the amp. Dennis Menard made this by hand with NOS analog parts from an old schematic he had in a folder. No one knows what that schematic was from, but it's great. The box is hand-painted. If it were stolen I'd get another pronto (if I could find one).