1. Overview
2. Initial thoughts
3. Video Overview
4. Samples
5. Picture Gallery
6. Construction and cosmetic concerns
7. Conclusion
8. View All

From the maker:

Audio Monk FuzzPotion:
The Audio Monk FUZZPOTION pedal is modeled after one of the most notorious Japanese fuzz boxes of all time. Audio Monk scientifically evaluated many original versions and sourced parts specifically for recreating the original sound. After that, the Audio Monk added true bypass switching, an on/off switch, and independent foot-switchable fuzz and notch-fuzz settings (Twiggy and Wiggy). The Audio Monk then reached into the deepest regions of his brain to come out with a fuzz circuit that acted equally as well for guitar and bass… YES BASS!!! There’s no competition, this is the best bass fuzz/distortion pedal available.

Features:

• Two amazing fuzz sounds in one box
• Bass sounds are over the top, and bound to break glass
• Powers off of a single 9v battery or pedal board/wall wart adapter (not included)
• True Bypass
• Fuzz/distortion so destructive you’ll rule the world!

Initial thoughts:

Out of the box all I could see was how big this pedal was. It seemed tall and wide, and with just two knobs and two switches I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why it needed to be so damn big. I plugged it in (and it happened to be in the twiggy mode) and I though: “yeah this sounds alright, but hardly worth the price.”

Then I changed it to wiggy mode. Dear lord, the earth shattering massive low end blasting fuzz death crushing mayhem of my colon blown spooge and brain matter explosion! When I woke later from my 20 minute jam, I thought… maybe he has something here.

I’ve exchanged some banter and questions with Mr. Monk and he was kind enough to respond to a interview request. While being a little elusive about things in general, I did find out that the Fuzzpotion is designed to share some clipping characteristics with the Shin-ei Superfuzz (univox superfuzz, etc).

Video Overview

Samples

Positions for Testing (in o’clocks):

1. volume: 10, fuzz: 9, Wiggy
2. volume: 3, fuzz: 3 Twiggy
3. volume: 10, fuzz: 3 Wiggy

Note: Headphones or good speakers required. Bass samples!

P Bass

Position	Sample
1	1
2
3
1	2
2
3
1	3
2
3
	Mix

Active J

Position	Sample
3	1
	2
	3

Fretless

Position	Sample
3	1
	2
	3

Short 5

Position	Sample
3	1
	1.5
	2
	3

Picture Gallery

Construction and cosmetic concerns:

Ok, the pedal is big. I’m willing to accept that. Looking at the excellent tight wiring and perfect board mounting inside this box, I belive the size was a conscious choice. Additionally, I imagine it would survive nearly any punishment you could dish out and still function. The paint on the box is a little thin and turning it over on my desk a few dozen times has added some scratches revealing the metal below.

No free battery with this pedal but it can be powered with either boss style 9v or a battery you supply. Though there is no battery clip and the ‘compartment’ is a piece of wrapped up packing material. No activation or mode leds on this pedal either. What you see is what you get. Oh, I personally think it looks pretty badass as well.

The extremely solid construction combined with some missing elements that many live players would consider essential leave me scratching my head a little. How do I rate this thing?

Conclusion:

I may have the perfect love/hate relationship with this pedal. The wiggy mode is AWESOME, I mean the nasty bassy goodness of… you get the point. The twiggy mode is good too, but I find it unusable in a live situation because there is a significant drop in volume between it and the wiggy mode. If there was a volume unity between the two pedals it would kick it up one more notch. The next issue is the lack of LEDs as status indicators. It bothers me, call me spoiled, but its’ a feature that just seems necessary in modern equipment. Add an on/off and a wiggy/twiggy status led and this pedal gets kicked up one more notch. Because I’m being greedy, I see no reason that in a box this big we couldn’t get some kind of flip out battery compartment that would let me leave my screwdriver at home.

So where does that leave me? 2 LED’s, a battery box, and some unity problems away from a fuzz pedal I would be willing to recommend to anyone. As it stands, if you are looking for a crushing fuzz to do some recording in the studio you can’t go wrong with this badboy. If Audiomonk wants to talk about producing a BassFuzz.com edition of his gloriously frustrating pedal with some of my suggestions, I would buy it in a second. E-mails will be sent!

Not having any previous experiance with the superfuzz or inspired/clones I know I’ll be looking around to see what I can find.

Note: A rating of 5 = acceptable and should considered a ‘good’ basic score