Lizard Queen

[Chistopher]

My cheapo Lizard Queen showed up yesterday. One of the few pedals that exists that can still be had for less than $30.

I won't write a poem about it, as some guitar forumites do, but I like it. A lot of the sounds on it are fairly bland if you are a fuzz enthusiast, but it covers a wide range of sound. It doesn't have a gain control, so it forces you to use your volume knob to clean it up.

One thing to split hairs about, I don't like the way the balance and octave controls work. I love interactive controls, but these ones miss the mark. The octave control doesn't work the way I am accustomed to, it's almost like a tone control mixed with an octave control. The balance control is almost like a Big Muff style tone control that only works when you have the octave turned up.

It would be a good pedal to have if you had no other fuzz pedals but did have $30. Doubly so because if you need something that kind of functions as a distortion.

Now time for the usual LQ disclaimer: I do not care for the fact that JHS combined two DIY circuits, the bazz fuss and the pushme pullyou, and then passed them off as a unique circuit that he designed specifically as an homage to EHX past. There's nothing wrong with tweaking and combining circuits, just don't beat around the bush about it.

 

[Chistopher]

After doing a little research, I've discovered that people either love or hate this circuit. I'm thinking I'm in the "love" group.

Right now it's on a setting where the bass side of the cowboy chords get's a little mushy, but in a good way. The treble strings have a good rasp to them all the way up the neck. There's a subtle octave that gracefully appears and disappears on the neck pickup past the 12th fret. There's a little bit of gating, but it doesn't clamp down on your sustain.

I have fuzz pedals that do all of these a little bit better, but none that do it all at the same time.

 

[Chistopher]

Since the small box is discontinued and the big box is relatively cheap (for a limited run collectors item), a big box might be a good investment piece. I just got one at GC for $200, and I don't think they will ever dip below this

 

[GuitarStv]

Can't go wrong for 30$. I remember being interested in these when they came out, looked like a cool fuzz with an octave.

I feel like Josh actually did create something new with this - he combined the bazz fuss and the pushme pullyou, added a gain stage between the two different circuits and then threw in his own tone control. I mean, that's way the hell more difference than between say a fuzz face and a tone bender 1.5. Or a tubescreamer an SD-1.

 

[jeremy]

the controls intrigue me. you said the balance really only works when the octave is up high?

 

[Chistopher]

Yeah. The circuit has two fuzz stages. The first one is a fuzz, the second one is an octave fuzz. It looks like the balance knob is the gain stage of the octave fuzz. With the balance knob low, the second fuzz stage doesn't color the sound that much.

 

[Chistopher]

I feel like Josh actually did create something new with this - he combined the bazz fuss and the pushme pullyou, added a gain stage between the two different circuits and then threw in his own tone control. I mean, that's way the hell more difference than between say a fuzz face and a tone bender 1.5. Or a tubescreamer an SD-1.

The way I understand it, his circuit is pretty similar to an earlier version of this circuit.



The main differences between this version and the original "Bazz Me Fuss You" is the feedback LEDs amd the location of one cap. The LQ is closer to the original version.

I don't have any problem with one company borrowing 99% of another circuit (that's all the fuzz market was in the 60s), but the advertising definitely pointed the reader towards thinking it was a 100% novel circuit.

Conceptually the fuzz pedal that I made that I still haven't named is the same idea. I took two circuits, a Rangemaster and a Electra, and then put them in series and changed a fixed resistor to a pot. The difference being, all my literature on it is very upfront about it.

The fact that I've typed this many words makes it seem like this is a big deal to me, but I'd definitely rather have circuits with unique sounds and functionality than live in a world where pedal builders sue eachother over circuit ownership.

 

[Chistopher]

Also, I've been having so much fun with this thing I forget it was an octave pedal. I've probably put about 10 hours into it so far and didn't even try to coax an octave out of it until just now.

I'm not a big octave guy, but it's on par with an Octavia.

 

[xxxplorer]

I remember when these dropped and kicked myself for not jumping on the limited big box. I love giant obnoxious pedals.

 

[Chistopher]

The big box is cheaper now than they were new. Not what usually happens with collectibles...

 

[Chistopher]

Also one thing. The big box version is battery power only, like all effects used to be. However instead of using a stereo jack to disconnect the power when you aren't using the pedal, it uses a physical switch.

At first I thought that was weird, but now I kind of like it better that way. I can keep the pedal plugged in when I'm not using it and not kill the 9v.