Studio Electronics CHAOS

Deceptively simple, few controls but...
The players below got into the controls perse, but this pedal has twists, turns, and out-of-this-world capability. Manual is simple & basic: the player must be creative and use his mind & ears.

Fuzz that goes to outer space, touch sensitive, full of variety.
But the synth-like and inverted sounds are one of a kind. Go to theier site, but this peda is no longer made. Maybe the ModMax will fill the void.

Made well, just tweaked/modded by the brilliant Tim Caswell of S.I.R. fame in LA.

Busy guys, but they'll get back to you if you are in trouble.

A specific pedal for unusual sounds: just out of the norm.

to put it simply: this is the most diverse distortion pedal I have ever heard. and I am a tone snob. yes, the grey dod 250 has a place on my board, the rangematser has a place on my board and the sun face has a place on my board... but they're all taking one foot off their pedistals for this beast. i pulled 'er out of the box a few days ago and plugged in my custom tele: incredible sounds ranging from smooth distortion with careful pick attack to grainy fuzz with octavia overtones. i played with the dials and switches that have all sorts of names--"hair," "dimension," "entropy." (rad)--and heard some slight changes in tonality; synthy smooth above the 12th fret on the neck pickup, swelly and round on the bass strings... when i switched to one of my hummer axes the hig-output pickups unleashed something nasty. i've never heard such tonal variety and depth pulled from one pedal. pick one note and the sound will morph and swell before your ears... meanwhile, bend another (without even picking) and the sound changes--ring modulation sounds and such, harmonic beats and dissonance. play soft and it one sound; play hard and its an entirely different sound. screw with your volume and tone knobs and the possibilites becomer even greater. the bottom line: this pedal is voiced like a choir. there is so much depth, so many strange and interesting sounds available to anyone willing to learn how play their guitar like a woman (finesse, my brothers), that it makes me sick thinking how to go about taming the thing. i ran scales for three hours yesterday just playing with the dials and never got bored... THREE HOURS. i haven't done that in years. so, yes, it is good; and yes, do yourself a favor and spend the $200. it's worth every penny.

The reviewer below captured most of the features. This pedal isn't plug and play; you need to tweak a bit.

The distortion has a lot of character. If the Entropy control is fully ccw, it sounds pretty "normal" - everything from low gain crunch to a high gain, slightly grainy distortion can be coaxed out of it. Pegging the Drive control causes squeal however.

No tone control (except for the Hair switch), but it is voiced exceptionally well, so doesn't really need one.

At any other Entropy setting, in combination with the Dimension and Hair switches, Drive level, pickup selection, the guitar's volume/tone settings, picking technique etc etc, you can get all the other sounds the pedal offers... octave up, faux envelope filter, mild ring mod, swells and other emissions I haven't yet discovered. It's all in the tweaking and your hands.

I don't know if this pedal can be compared to anything... maybe a Prescription Experience is the closest I can come to (having owned a couple over the years) but without the overt Hendrix-isms that particular pedal champions. The Chaos is more open to interpretation.

The Chaos is VERY well made - beautiful screening/paint, good quality components and the internal construction is extremely neat and well laid out. Absolute pro quality.

This is a pedal I can see players with a bit of a tweaker/experimental bent getting into - Torn, Gabrels, Cline, Sylvian, Belew etc. It's nowhere near as wacky as the Mid-Fi or Effector 13 stuff, but it is inherently more musical and usable in a variety of situations. The sweet spots are also quite easy to dial in once you grok the interface.

Based on my current state of bliss, I will probably look into buying one of the ModMax pedals too.

Super diverse three seperate knobs, controling distortion and gain with a drive knob, a volume knob and a knob labels "entropy" which acts as a preference blend unlike any other. The lower this knob, the more classic fuzz is expressed, crank it up and it creates a interesting and unique effect I will explain in the next section. "Hair" switch is a "edge" booster.

"Dimension" swich determines the entropy tones.
2cd for more organic fuzzes and higher octaves
3rd for synthier sounds

You wouldn't believe my set up if I told you but it is numerous and awsome and just a little short of being able to summon the power of god.

Okay kids I am the first one on the block to get one of these and I wish I could explain to you guys how utterly refreshing and brilliant this pedal is.

Its fully analog, the only way to fly. But what Todd Wolfgram has produced here is the most original take on anaolg distortion in years. In a box that is easy to use, not a boutique mammoth jerk off machine with an optical theremin and a fx loop. This is a new, unique vision.

The fuzz sounds are simular to the univox super fuzz when in a more classic setting, but turning the entropy up can bring about startling results. Eventually after each liitle step you find out that this guy has combined a blend knob, say on a blender with a phasing type ring modulator that extends itself with the notes them selves. NO joke.
This thing sings with you, reverberator with your sustain, but while NEVER FORGETTING IT IS A FUZZ PEDAL. It never leaves you in the dust with week sounds, it is always hairy and to some extent a terrifying pedal to use because of the unique drama it creates in the ear the listeners.

Belting back and forth in several tones! Up and down the vertical aspects of distortion this pedal explores timbre and color of the very concept of ananlog fuzz effects.

A huge metal box built to leep the foot away form the controls, which is something people forget about. (eh)

Don't buy this pedal if:

You like digital amps or effects. (trust me your not worthy) This is for people interested in the way sounds sound naked.

If you use and love BOSS stomp boxes.
If you use and love Marshall cabs.
If you use and love ovation or jackson guitars. (this isn't a ratt, so just go away)
If you use and love your ts 808 reissue. I know SRV is like your guy and what not, but he would hate this pedal, there are no blues to played with this baby.

I would love to stay a true eletist and just keep this pedal for myself and make sure no ever knows about it. But I think this pedal is a thing of the future, I think the sounds capable are for the true guitarists, not just the pedal geeks, but this could be the new standard in modern distortion. (don't quote I hope it catch on for purely selfish reasons) This is a machine capable of extrodinary depth, but use with caution and once you get it be careful who you let play with it. They'll shoot their eye out.