Effector 13 No Fi

This thing only has two knobs, and if you spend a little time with it, you can get just the right amount of sonic decimation you desire.

This thing sounds great (with reference to destroying your tone). It is grossest distortion I have ever heard, and can do things that I only wished were possible before hand. I actually went to great lenghts to find a distortion that sounded like it had serious problems, and then I find the Effecor 13 website, and it's like my prayers have been answered. I have to say that the No-fi chaos is the neatest pedal for wierdness. If you put a volume pedal in front of it, strange things start to happen. It is SOOO reactive and bizarre when you have a low signal going through it

Its built like a tank with true bypass

Devi has bent over backwards to make these pedals both affordable and easy to use. Anything that you need, all you have to is send an email to effector 13, and then Devi will actually answer with the most in depth yet understandable e-mail possible

The pedal costs practically nothing and yet rocks my face clean off my head. I think that more manufacturers should take hints from effector 13 in that the pedals are all top quality, the help is better than any I've ever recieved, and the sounds are some of the wierdest (save 4ms and L.A.L) I've been able to find. This pedal is worth it if you do space rock, prog, noise, industrial, whatever

The main thig about this effect is that it comes in two versions, Brown and Yellow. The brown is definitely the most noisy and distorted, while the yellow is more about getting static noises. But don't expect clean sounds anyway, we're talking about shades of fuzz.
I had the opportunity to play the two gizmos and I think the yellow one is more usable, as the brown one really can get out of control. But then the latter is more unique for the same reason. NoFis are designed to destroy your sound, i.e. cut the lows, cut the mids, narrow everything in your signal and then add noise and fuzz.
Features two knobs, Volume and Intensity. The pedal makes no sound with the volume on 0. At ten, it's quite bold but it's doesn't boost the signal. The intensity knob controls noise and fuzz. It's less noisy at max than in any other position, specially when you mute strings.

As someone said to me "Why buy this? I can get you a crappy sound for free!". But this unit is definitely perfectly crappy, and it's easily tweakable.
My rig: Gibson SG Special ; Marshall El 84 20/20 ; Marshall 1912.
I initially found myself looking for it because I wanted something that could get me a lo-fi sound , like the old records, and really didn't like the Ibanez LF7. I was a bit disappointed at first when I saw that I couldn't use it to get a clean sound, as it always adds some fuzz, even with the guitar volume at minimum. Reducing the amount of volume or intensity on the pedals only leads to loosing sustain, and the sound disappears.
Yet, using it as I guess it is meant to be used, i.e. with everything to the max, for distorted solos and riffs, it really does the trick.
It sounds like a old destroyed fuzzbox that won't explode. When used in a solo, it can really sing.
It's even more fun to plug in a healthy distortion pedal in it, to play with feedbacks and hiss, modify harmonics with the knobs, and all cool analog tricks.
The brown one has more attitude on this regard, but I think the yellow one is more controlable. I read something in Guitar World about sounding like a 2,000 pound bee plugged in a wall of marshalls, and after running a Tech21 XXl at max settings in the NoFI, I know what it means.
Of course, talking about the sound quality of an effect designed to destroy sound is a bit of a paradox. Maybe one could get the same effect with a lot of bad gear misused. But this is definitely more convenient. I think with some experimenting it proves to be more than a one-trick pony. But it remains an extreme, experimental effect.
It's not really what I expected, but it's fine.

It's definitely sturdy. It may be used on a gig, provided the audience and your bandmates are prepared for it (mine are not)!

Never dealed with him.

I play mainly blues and classic rock, and then some other stuff. I've been playing for 14 years.
I bought this effect looking for something that could narrow my bandwidth and make me sound like an old record. That's not what it does in my opinion as it adds fuzz and hiss to the sound. But it would be unfair to judge it on my expectations about it. It sounds great if you want something that gives you extreme fuzz sounds.
I think it stands in the mix, at least in solo playing. This makes it a great value, as some high fuzz units make you disappear in a band setting, and only sound good in the bedroom.
It's not an effect I would keep on all the time, but it does bring a nice flavor to my rig. It's deliciously dirty.
If it was stolen maybe I'd try to stick pens in my speaker and pour beer on my amp and chew my cables to see if I can get a dirty sound for free...

It's kinda a one trick pony. I have the prototype unit that Devi built for his friend, and to say that it looks janky would be an understatement, but that doesn't concern me. You really don't need a manual for this unit as it either steals all of yr bass & some mids or it's in bypass mode. I ended up putting a big 70's radio dial on the level pot so that I can dial it in and out with my foot (I like doing that, a lot).

Well let's see it's supposed to make yr guitar sound like it's playing through an old transiter radio (ie crap, and it does that magnificently. The only down side is that it doesn't like any of my basses no matter what I place before this thing. Even with my Ibanez Overdrive II>Pq-401 Parametric EQ, CS-505 chorus & AD-80 analog delay this thing refuses to work with them. So that sucks but why would you want that anyways? One trick that I do like is using a DOD fet preamp before this with my Jaguar and turning on the high pass switch instant Gang Of Four/Bauhaus/Contortions Jank. I use a lot of Solid state Lab Series amps, an old Kustom amp,and when I do coffee shop gigs I only use this pedal and an old Watkins Copycat with my Silvertone U-1, into a Vox Pathfinder. I can't make a dog cry with this

As janky as this thing is I don't worry about it breaking because A. I know how to use a soldiering iron and 2. I huff gasoline.

Devi Ever is a great guy, He even put up with me maddly insisting that He had a Neverdrive on order for me during one of my Manic fits & I bought this directly from him.

Im all over the place. I play guitar/bass/synths in a Noisewave/industrial project. I also play G/B/S for a Discopunk band & I also play guitar/pseudo bass in a thrash/street punk & a sludge group (that has relocated w/o me to New Orleans). I have to be the height of fashion and w/o this pedal I'd be lost in a world of sh*t, but hey I'd just buy another one or make my own out of alarm clock parts. I like that everyone that I demo this to is thrown off by the utilitarian design and one of my friends just plain hates it altogether. I do wish that the Noise knob did more (ah-hem anything).

Oh and this thing is way better than the Ibanez Lo-fi, for what I do (ie rawk it 1978 style)

Bonehead simple to use. Two knobs..done.

Trick question! This thing is supposed to destroy your sound and give the illusion that your guitar sound is emmanating from an AM radio...think Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. This is a widely used studio effect that was imitated (poorly) by the use of eq pedals before the advent of this and the Ibanez Lo-Fi. I bought the Ibanez and took it back in a day because it was very metallic sounding. Dino from Fear Factory may use it live, but mine didn't sound like I had hoped. I found his pedal and ordered it. He waiting list was worth every second!!! Amazing! Now I have a studio effect at my shoetips! Produces that megaphone, lo-fi, gold record through walkman headphones sound dead to rights!!! It's my favorite pedal I own and I have a cubic ton of pedals worth thousands of dollars!

not much can go wrong and it's built like a Mechanized, German-built, cybernetic cockroach! It will outlive Keith Richards and fruitcake!

Are you kidding me? I couldn't have had better contact if I placed a homing device on Tim's ear like they do on Animal Planet! I was always aware of the status and he must have answered 30 questions from me and always was a friendly pleasurable guy. ON another order he even offered to build a pedal from a different chassis to make it fit my needs!!!! Try to get Boss or someone else to do that!!

I play many styles but mostly heavy heavy rock like Perfect Circle. This pedal allows for amazing dynamics, a more professional stage show and incredible creativity!

A complete no brainer. One knob for volume, one volume for noise!

I run this in the effects loop of a Peavey Triple XXX with several other pedals, and I play a Schecter 5-string baritone. For what it's SUPPOSED to do, the sound is great. I mean, it sounds like crap, but that's what it's supposed to do. It basically destroys your bass and mids, emphasizes your attack, and adds noise. Very responsive to your playing... the harder you play, it becomes a sort of lo fi fuzz. I found the noise floor knob on mine didn't do anything noticeable but whatever setting it is stuck at if it IS broken is fine for me. Very responsive to other effects as well.. I like using mine with delay. Beware though, if you run a distortion through it you will get LOUD ear piercing feedback. Naughty, just the way I like it :)

I doubt anything could possibly hurt this thing. It is stronger than a Boss pedal. If anything should ever happen to it I know Tim will help me out so I would gladly gig without a backup.

Tim is my main MAN! He is a very cool person to deal with and updates you through every step of the process. For a while he even had a page set up where everyone could track the progress of their orders.

I play a combination of alternative metal and atmospheric, shoegaze inspired rock. I'm very into the Deftones and A Perfect Circle. This is a GREAT tool to have if you are playing in a band, it gives you an entirely new dimension to play in. Especially for solos, introductions, and maybe a clean riff that pops up only once in a song. If it were stolen I'd definitely buy another one. The only product you really can compare this to is the Ibanez LF-7 and this kills it IMO. The only feature I wish it had that the LF7 has is eq.. bass and treble cut controls. That would give the No Fi so much more versatility than it has currently. Other than that, it is a great pedal to have and I would recommend it to anyone needing to add something special to their sound.