DOD Carcosa | Analog Fuzz

The DOD Carcosa Fuzz is a doorway into an alternate fuzz universe, where classic tones of legend coexist with splattered and shattered Pollock abstractions. Combining the Carcosa's wide-ranging AFTER bias control with two toggle positions creates tones that range from porcine fatness to dessicated shards. This versatility makes the Carcosa Fuzz a good companion for dirty or clean amps. True bypass, tons of output, and the visage of the King in Yellow sets the stage for fuzzy madness.

The DOD Carcosa Fuzz has an exaggerated mid-range and treble character that help it stand out in a mix. It has been designed to cut through a dense and heavy band but still have great note articulation with chords. However, when extreme bias (AFTER) ranges are selected many wild and over-the-top sounds are possible.

In general, the usage of the Carcosa is dependent upon how you like to run your amp. If you run your amp dirty, then HALI mode will keep the lows tight and the HI-CUT will allow for increased high-frequency detail for use as a treble-booster. This makes the Carcosa excellent for use as a fuzzy lead boost.

If you run your amp clean, then DEMHE mode will boost the low-mids and this mode pairs especially well with American twin combo amps (with the amp's bright switch disengaged). DEMHE mode also sounds great with British amps on the edge of breakup; the Carcosa can thicken and drive the amp into saturation.

Wide ranges of fuzz voicings are possible with the Carcosa. When using lower counterclockwise bias (AFTER) settings the Carcosa responds very well to volume knob changes and pick attack dynamics: Cleaning up in a controlled and pleasing manner like classic overdrive fuzzes. Once the bias (AFTER) is set for higher clockwise ranges then the gain and attack characteristics become less-responsive to volume changes and more aggressive fuzz tones are available - all the way up to strange sputtering synthy hornlike tones.

In most uses the Carcosa's HI-CUT control will rarely go above noon, the rest of the HICUT travel is meant to make up for loss of attack and the extreme sag caused by higher bias (AFTER) settings.

A final general rule is that adjusting the BEFORE and AFTER controls in opposite directions can yield a wide array of immediately controllable tones. For example if you set the BEFORE control @ 3:00, set the AFTER control @ 9:00, or vice versa. But don't be afraid to experiment, some fantastically horrific sounds can be found in the extremes.

Most guitarists/bassists will favour placing the Carcosa at the beginning of their chain of effects, so start with that placement.A typical effects signal chain will consist of Distortion and Fuzz effects first then Modulation effects (Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Tremolo, etc...) next and then finally Time based effects (Delay and Reverb).

Placing the Carcosa towards the front of your chain or effects will preserve the vibe no matter the pedal combination that follows. That being said you may wish to experiment with different effect placements.