Rainger FX Dr Freakenstein Dwarf Bass review

A bonkers but brilliant fuzz

  • £109

MusicRadar Verdict

An excellent, and highly usable, fuzz.

Pros

  • +

    Build quality.

  • +

    Some brilliantly bonkers sounds.

Cons

  • -

    None.

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It’s a golden age for boutique effects pedals. 

We say this every month and we know we’re in danger of boring people with this statement, but further proof of this fortunate state of affairs has come our way in the form of this new stompbox from the Rainger company. 

This unit, a bass version of Rainger’s existing guitar pedal, turns your instrument’s sound into a wall of overdriven noise, fully wet or mixed with your dry tone as you choose. A super-cool thumbwheel controls the volume, and yes that does mean that you can’t control it with your foot - the control is weeny. 

An accompanying overtone, essentially a kind of demonic scream, is managed manually via an old-school rotary knob. You can also set the overtone to sweep automatically, or control it via an Igor.

Does your live set require this kind of effect? Not if you’re in a trad-jazz band, that’s for sure - but the experimentalists of this world will have a field day. Did we mention we’re in a golden age for bass effects?