Euthymia Crucible Fuzz

i special ordered my crucible fuzz directly from erik @ euthymia; i did so cuz i wanted an ac jack added to the pedal (a $10 "extra" if you can convince erik you know what you're doing). when i received the crucible, i took it to my studio & put it in my "A"-team effects chain (w/buffer, compressor, eq, noise reduction unit, tube amp). try as i might, i just could not get the sound from this pedal that is heard on the mp3 clips on euthymia's site. one by one, i removed pedals from the chain that i thought might be the "offending" device. finally, i was down to just the crucible itself; even though i didn't really want to, i tried removing the 9-volt wall-wart from the crucible & installing an alkaline battery. at this juncture, even if it worked, i had defeated the whole point of ordering the crucible w/the ac jack. but even being powered by battery, i was still getting the same sound: a sorta dull, "swelling" attack to the notes w/a hint of upper octave or ring modulation. definitely NOT the sound i wanted from this pedal (which erik purports to be a fuzz face inspired effect). i finally gave up, thinking i had a dud on my hands. i decided to take the crucible home w/me. a couple days later, the thought occurred to me to just monkey around w/the crucible in my home (or "B"-team) set-up. late 70s gibson marauder w/stock bill lawrence pick-ups directly into crucible fuzz (powered by 9-volt alkaline battery) directly into roland cube 15 transistor amp. everything connected w/cheap cables i've owned for years that're a little chongered from cats gnawing on 'em. you get the idea: this is a totally bush-league set-up compared to my studio stuff. anyway, i power everything up, turn the volume & fuzz knobs on the crucible full-steam to the portside, & start whalin'. GOOD GOOGA-MOOGA! this is the sound i wanted all along! so what was the problem @ the studio? only the big hairdresser in the sky knows for sure. as you can see, it's a little difficult to give a rating for ease of use. at the studio, it would have to be a "1". but at home, it would be a "10". & let's not forget the whole matter of seemingly not being able to use the ac jack too (although in erik's defense, he strongly recommends using a battery for the crucible). i mean, i could get out my slide rule & whip up some crazy number for this category, but would it really be fair to erik? to the crucible? to the harmony central readers? i think not.

what sound am i getting w/this marauder > crucible > cube 15 set-up? rather than try to describe it (remember the saying that "writing about music is like dancing about architecture"?), go to euthymia's site & listen to mitch wyman's mp3 clips. that's the sound i'm getting. chords are thick as a beard of bees w/fuzz, yet single-note runs (especially on the top three strings) cut-pierce-slash-rip-slice-dice. y'know? of course you do.

i usually either leave this category blank or bemoan its very existence; not this time. as mentioned above, i special ordered my crucible & therefore talked directly w/erik miller himself. he was very friendly. do i really think this is important, that all pedal-makers come across as ghandi-like humanitarians who have hours upon hours of free time to indulge the unwashed guitar-playing hordes? no, i do not think that this is important. nevertheless, i would be remiss if i did not say here that i DID talk w/erik miller. he was very friendly. i got my pedal in the mail very quickly. cool.

couple things bear mentioning here: 1) the reason i went w/the crucible in the first place is cuz i already own another euthymia pedal that i REALLY like (the icbm fuzz, see my review of 11/22/05 if you're a glutton for punishment); 2) i have since purchased another fuzz face type pedal that has an ac jack (the homebrew electronics [tennessee] beer buzz fuzz) & it too functioned better when powered by alkaline battery & was fussy about which other effects it would "play with". so at the moment i have five fuzz pedals that're getting some kind of use: the crucible, the aforementioned euthymia icbm, the homebrew beer buzz, the homebrew li'l bastard brew fuzz, & the urso splinter. funny thing- none of 'em is what i would call a perfect "10"; they all have some kinda quirk that'll make you scratch your head. on the other hand, all five of them have their own sonic signature- there's no over-lap, at least the way i'm using them. but i digress. we're talking about the crucible. there's no way you could pry this thing away from me, "B"-team status notwithstanding. sometimes things don't work out the way you envision it working out. & sometimes you just gotta roll w/it.

totally old-skool!! two knobs, one for volume, one for fuzz. very simpleto use, and the fuzz control has a nice wide range so there's plenty of sounds on offer - all of which are very easy to find.

i play a gibson sg into a marshall plexi half stack. it's just fuzz and a tuner for effects as i like to keep things simple. this is a great sounding fuzz, very high gain and aggressive tone with great low end boom. its well suited to my gear (eg non-master tube amp and humbuckers).it's a classic sounding fuzz with loads of gnarly bite and good sustain. in terms of noise, it can like all silicon fuzzes pick up radio interference, but this isn't on such a scale as to be a problem. i play heavy rock in the vein of cavity/ kyuss/melvins/ stooges and the fuzz tone from the crucible is well suited to that.

here's my BIG problem though - this fuzz is just too damn quiet. the output is lower than most of my other fuzzes, and as a result it doesn't cut through with my band. it's really disappointing given how great the tone of this box is. due to this alone, i can't rate this pedal higher than a five. disappointing!!!!

certainly looks solid. i'll not gig it due to the output problems, so it's not going to get much abuse.

i've not dealt with euthymia, purely because the website doesn't have any contact details!! i'd been toying with the idea of getting a euthymia pedal for a while, and had a load of questions. for a small company i think it's essential that they are easy to contact (an email address would be great!) and unfortunately that's not the case. the website is very informative with great sound samples which certainly help, but to not have a contact isn't great, especially when the likes of zvex, keeley etc are so accessible.

as i said, i play heavy rock with an old-school sound, and in many ways the sound of this pedal is perfect. i've been playing in bands around ten years and own a couple of guitars, a marshall and quite a few fuzzes. if this pedal was stolen i'd be annoyed, but wouldn't buy another.
what i love - the tone. this is one of the sweetest sounding fuzzes i have used, with a great balance between highs and lows, excellent sustain and just wonderful aggressive bite.
what i don't like - the volume!!! a fuzz this good has to be amp-destryingly loud!!!! not meek and mild.

very easy to get a great sound. likes a cleen guitar signal so i put it first. it has no tone nob so that saves time and tone

i`m using it b4 a boss OD1 ibanez comp and a few delays phase etc into a mesa blue angel. i have a fairly noisy rig and the fuzz dont contribute harshly to the overall din. NO RADIO STATIONS on mine, just thort i`de mention that.
it really does hat a big muff is supposed to do. i no longer need to search for a fuzz. i have my fuzz now, thanks!

its green, looks very well made, good parts well made neat inside etc, i added a cardboard battery protector, i got this baby second hand so i cant comment on what would normaly haold the battery in place. no pops no crackles no unexpected warbles or hiss.

i like his site

i love this pedal. i play improv stuff and need to have a real fuzz sound on tap. i havent been utterly happy with any fuzz i have owned so far, big muff, boss FZ2, nick greer black fuzz etc. i like the nick greer pedal but it gathered some noise from improper use, he offered to fix it etc (nick greer has great customer service by the way)but as i have said
i love this fuzz.

Has a knob for volume and a knob for fuzz, which would give you the impression that there is nothing to it. But I think to get the best sound out of the pedal, you have to do some tinkering with the pedal levels, guitar levels, amp settings, etc. It's not like a typical distortion pedal where you plug in and mess with it 5 minutes and that's it. With this pedal, you got to dial it in to achieve maximum satisfaction. It even comes wth a manual, if that tells you anything.

Set-up:
Strat/SG>Crucible>VWah>EHClone>FoogerRingMod>AmpegReverberocket2

I like to crank the fuzz/vol. all the way, and then back the guitar volume off a notch or two for the bulk of my sound. If playing a lead, going full volume will give you a searing lead tone, with plenty of the crispy swirlys flying around it. Full guitar volume/full fuzz is too much for chording (even barre chords are too fuzzy for me at full-on) but it's perfect for leads. It's like classic rock fuzz but meaner. Really throaty and full.

The Crucible is hand built by one guy, Erik Miller, and it's a total professional job in every way. The casing, the graphics, the circuit lay-out, all of it super clean and tight.

The guy who builds these things endured a sleep deprived phone call from me, and got one shipped out to me in time to use on a demo I was playing on. He's the man. Also has very good site as far as informative sites go, with good sound samples.

I play in a psychedelic rock band, and bought this fuzz after an intensive search locally and over the internet for a new distortion/fuzz sound. This pedal beat out alot of other good pedals. It has just the sound I was looking for..classic; but more intense then your average fuzz.

fuzz good say caveman

not for versatility, but for good old fashioned fuzz intensity, a solid 8. an 8 for me is really good. there is probably a fuzz out there with more unashamed, vile, ballsy, nasty grit, but i don't hear it anywhere. with fuzz at 3:00 guitar will clean up and brighten, with fuzz all up, guitar volume will bring you down to a brighter fuzz/ overdrive. with fuzz at max, as you turn fuzz volume up, the highest settings interact with fuzz to create ultra super nasty sweet fuzzy goodness like mama done never heard!!! works best with clean or cleaner amp. set amp bright, fuzz is bright, bassy amp, bassy fuzz. i guess she's pretty versatile after all, though for me she is for all out fuuuuuuzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!! for the record, i play a strat style guitar, and with fuzz on, and guitar volume either all the way up or all the way down, i hear radio stations. very faint distant radio stations. unless you're anal retentive, these won't affect a thing. if you are anal retentive i recommend dulcolax or the like. very quiet even at hi volume. sounds great at apartment levels, way better at gig levels. me play 60's garage psyche pound big drums many angry neighbors guitar noise.

brand new seems very well built but what do i know. very simple electronics inside, i guess simple is good. i have no worries.

never dealt with Erik.

a 8 based on it's endless amounts of sustain, and xtra fuzzy goodness. again 8 for me is a very high rating. me play string thing for many long years i know. have, and have had, and have played many fuzziz. this is very very very nasty good time fuzz make ears sore beg for more. bad qualities would have to be no tone knob, which may ruin the sound anyway, and that it doesn't clean up to a more naturl sound instead of brightening up. although i find the brighter backed off fuzz useful as well. yep i like it just fine.

Two knobs, volume and fuzz. Plug in and adjust fuzz to taste.

Radio signals come through with a Strat volume knob turned down. Fuzz-wise, I love the sound, spitty, fuzzy and high gain. Based on the Silicon Fuzz Face, but with more gain. Cleans up well with guitar volume knob for very mildy overdriven sounds. Tone gets brighter as it cleans up. Really heavy fuzz at max settings. Would be a great alternative for Stoner Rock, etc... Aside from radio signals, pedal is very quiet. Back off the fuzz knob and you can get convincing BOG tones. I use it with a JV Squier Strat w/Custom Shop '69 pickups through a Marshall BB reissue or Trace Elliot Velocette.

Seems very sturdy and well made. I've only had it a couple of months, but I'm sure it would be gig-worthy.

Haven't had to contact Euthymia, so no comment on CS. Erik did send me a couple of guitar picks long after I ordered the pedal that had the company logo. Nice gesture.

EXCELLENT value. At $125.00 for a handmade pedal that sounds this good, it's one of the best deals in fuzz pedals. If you're looking for a SI fuzz, try this pedal. Would make a great alternative to other popular pedals for Stoner Rock, Psych, Garage, etc...