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Saturn999 wrote:I'm looking for something that has a moderate level of gain and a rather limited tone sweep. By that I mean I'm looking for something without either a super-flubby lowend or an equally undesirable icepick-in-the-ear high.

I know you said you'll look elsewhere but this is the Pharaoh to a T. The tone controls don't do a WHOLE lot except dial it in to your setup, and it's designed to be a mid-gain fuzz to push a cooking amp. If you're patient an older one will pop up around $100.

@Saturn999 - which one?

pelliott wrote:

Saturn999 wrote:I'm looking for something that has a moderate level of gain and a rather limited tone sweep. By that I mean I'm looking for something without either a super-flubby lowend or an equally undesirable icepick-in-the-ear high.

I know you said you'll look elsewhere but this is the Pharaoh to a T. The tone controls don't do a WHOLE lot except dial it in to your setup, and it's designed to be a mid-gain fuzz to push a cooking amp. If you're patient an older one will pop up around $100.

Does sound very much like what I'm looking for atm. Will keep an eye open for a used copy then. Thanks for the heads up.

Don't have a way to side by side, but I'm pretty sure the Behringer SF-300 I picked up for $25 from Sweetwater is a direct copy of the Boss FZ-2. Highs off, gain and lows cranked on Fuzz 2 mode is a pretty accurate early Electric Wizard tone.

Staying on topic, I have been contemplating a Pharaoh to stack with my Abominable Don't Shred on Me Deluxe, which is a modded Rat. Anyone have experience with how they interact? The DSOM totally overpowered a Keeley modded TS9 I am borrowing. Zero change except for the influence of the tone knob regardless of if I put it before or after the DSOM. I suppose there is no chance I hate the Pharaoh even if it doesn't play nice with the DSOM.

Yeah dude, the Berhinger FZ-2 clone is rad and cheap. The boost mode still has the eq section active, too, so you have some flexibility.

nablock wrote:Don't have a way to side by side, but I'm pretty sure the Behringer SF-300 I picked up for $25 from Sweetwater is a direct copy of the Boss FZ-2. Highs off, gain and lows cranked on Fuzz 2 mode is a pretty accurate early Electric Wizard tone.

Staying on topic, I have been contemplating a Pharaoh to stack with my Abominable Don't Shred on Me Deluxe, which is a modded Rat. Anyone have experience with how they interact? The DSOM totally overpowered a Keeley modded TS9 I am borrowing. Zero change except for the influence of the tone knob regardless of if I put it before or after the DSOM. I suppose there is no chance I hate the Pharaoh even if it doesn't play nice with the DSOM.

My personal experience with trying to stack a Rat with various other Boss, Digitech, and Ibanez pedals has taught me that the Rat does not play well with others.

Saturn999 wrote:

nablock wrote:Don't have a way to side by side, but I'm pretty sure the Behringer SF-300 I picked up for $25 from Sweetwater is a direct copy of the Boss FZ-2. Highs off, gain and lows cranked on Fuzz 2 mode is a pretty accurate early Electric Wizard tone.

Staying on topic, I have been contemplating a Pharaoh to stack with my Abominable Don't Shred on Me Deluxe, which is a modded Rat. Anyone have experience with how they interact? The DSOM totally overpowered a Keeley modded TS9 I am borrowing. Zero change except for the influence of the tone knob regardless of if I put it before or after the DSOM. I suppose there is no chance I hate the Pharaoh even if it doesn't play nice with the DSOM.

My personal experience with trying to stack a Rat with various other Boss, Digitech, and Ibanez pedals has taught me that the Rat does not play well with others.

I have never been happy with the tone I got from Pharaoh into Rat or vice versa but.... Both pedals can be tweaked quite a bit and having a tone on each you like and then just smashing them together probably won't work for you, which is basically exactly what I attempted to do. I would recommend the Pharaoh for almost any application but it may be something that you have to spend some time to get to sound the way you want it to.

I've had the same ole' Rat 2 since '96. I've stacked it with just about everything possible and have had my best results with setting it up as a overdrive and running it into a NYC type muff set to higher gain. Pretty much just bumps the mids on the muff for some cut.

Rat>Ram's Head = straight up magic. You can also find a Ram's Head Muff clone on the cheap by looking out for an Ibanez 60's Fuzz that was part of the soundtank series.

Haven't even got to try out a Pharaoh yet, which saddens me.

braaandooon wrote:I've had the same ole' Rat 2 since '96. I've stacked it with just about everything possible and have had my best results with setting it up as a overdrive and running it into a NYC type muff set to higher gain. Pretty much just bumps the mids on the muff for some cut.

Rat>Ram's Head = straight up magic. You can also find a Ram's Head Muff clone on the cheap by looking out for an Ibanez 60's Fuzz that was part of the soundtank series.

Haven't even got to try out a Pharaoh yet, which saddens me.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I would try and do. Dial the gain back on the DSOM. The pedal sounds its best with the level knob cranked, so that's how I'll leave it.

Rat + Big Muff is a timeless combination for a reason.

I love Rats and Muffs, I've never stacked them though. I gotta try it now.

Really is a great pairing, pretty much a staple for those Sunn O))) tonez, along with a nice loud stack.

Saturn999 wrote:

odontophobia wrote:

Saturn999 wrote:Meh. Not too thrilled about BAT's prices, tbh.

Again, that's why I mentioned used. You can usually pick up a BAT Pharaoh for a great deal. Hell, you can get them on Guitar Center's used website for $100 here and there. I think you're going to struggle to find something good, well made, and versatile at that price point.

I've listened to a lot of BAT vids, they sound great for what they are, but, like treble boosters, are way too over-priced, imo. Am going to keep looking though.

You can pick up a used OC44 Keeley Java all day long for under $100. That's three different Range Master clones in one box. Fuckin' shit's a steal, and man the tones by itself or stacked with amp drive, other boosts, OD's, and fuzz.

My BAT LSTR does work very well for boosting even though it's a Muff based fuzz. It's the Scoop control that does it. I love it with the Scoop between 3/4 - max, and the tone usually around noon to 3/4 with the Fuzz on 0 and the level maxed.

My Analogman HGWD Sun Face sounds awesome into the vintage high gain channel of my Tremoverb with the gain low (like 10:30-11:00) and the volume set loud to loud as fuck.