Fuzz Review: Skreddy Zero

Who: Skreddy Pedals

What: Zero

Price (MSRP/PAID): $225

Battery: Yes

Power Supply: Yes 9V Center Neg (Boss Style)

Size: Approx. 2.75” wide, 4.5” tall, 2” deep (jacks/knobs etc included)

Available from: Used ?

Marketing

Create your own unique soundscapes inspired by this vintage-style, 4-silicon-transistor distortion/fuzz/sustain stompbox. The Zero’s™ exciting tone is optimized using the finest available new components and some sweet-sounding new-old-stock parts. Modern features include DC adapter jack, LED on/off indicator, and true bypass switching.

Hugest fuzz of its size!

Skreddy Pedals™ Zero: Cutting and articulate, yet thick and smooth; this high-gain fuzz retains amazing note clarity with chords, tears it up on riffs, and soars with sweet harmonic sustain on solos.

Classic, over-the-top distortion with no woofiness. Doesn’t get lost in the mix, yet has plenty of bottom and a velvety-smooth high end.

Sounds like a cranked up, distorted, high-gain amp, with an obscene amount of volume available. Versatile; it merges with your own personal style of playing.

Comments:

This pedal is out of production, but apparently a small batch escaped the Skreddy pedal labs and were made available to tonefactor for part of their ‘black friday’ sale 2010. Being the hound that I am, I was able to pick one up to give it a go!

I’m glad I was able to get one at a normal retail price of $225 and not have to pay the steep ‘skreddy tax’ often associated with his pedals on the used market.

The pedal is designed to get the particular muff sound that the Smashing Pumpkins were able to cox out during their alt-rock masterpieces of the 90s and there is a tone of sizzling gain and harmonics at work here. That said, most of this is actually lost on bass unless you are willing to cut the majority of the lows out of your signal (something that is quite easy to do with the tone knob). On the deep end of that tone knob, it’s a pretty full range pedal that one could find use for on bass, but beware the massive mid-scoop that seems present here as it will likely make you disappear in a live mix (unless soloing).

This is a fine pedal that really nails the sizzling muff madness… on guitar. Based on the fact that the Zero is normally only available via used channels, I’d recommend avoiding and looking at something a little more common if you enjoy muff style sounds.