EarthQuaker Devices and LCD Soundsystem have teamed up to turn the one-of-a-kind vintage fuzz adored by bassist James Murphy into a production pedal, meaning his used-and-abused stompbox can finally retire.
The result is the Chelsea Low End Fuzz Driver, which has been designed to channel the quirks that have reshaped the (probably) once-standard-issue pedal into a beast unto its own – one that has defined the band’s gnarly, gritty tones record after record.
Murphy bought it in the late 1980s, and by the time it was adopted into the band’s electronic rock world, it had certainly lived a life. Yet those changes were all for the best.
“It has been beat up and taped back together,” says EQD. “It looks like it shouldn’t work, but it always delivers. It is old, it is fragile, and it sounds massive. Too good to retire, yet too tired to keep going.”
And so, a painstaking inspection and reproduction of the one-of-a-kind stompbox ensued, and the final product is named after the guitar shop Murphy bought it from in 1989.
It offers three simple controls for Level, Tone, and Sustain, and there's an extra Tone On/Off mini-switch. More importantly, though, the Chelsea “recreates all the idiosyncrasies of the original but without the threat of total collapse”.
As you’d expect, EQD is saying it covers a wider tonal spectrum, capable of serving a light aperitif overdrive or a full, meaty stew of distortion, and it talks proudly of the oxymoronic “clarity and blissful grinding” that characterize its sound.
The Tone On/Off switch, as it says on the tin, can remove the Tone control from the circuit entirely for “a whole new world of midrange grind”. When turned off, expect a straightforward attack and bucketloads of natural distortion with a natural scoop when it’s on.
Like its duly knackered forebearer – a battered and bruised vintage Big Muff that Murphy used for his defining fuzz tone – the shiny new version can “cover pretty much anything you can throw at it”.
And fear not, guitarists. Sure, the pedal is meant for bass, but that doesn’t mean six-stringers are left in the cold – it sounds just as epic when paired with an electric guitar.
A glance at the spec sheet reveals it delivers an all-analog signal path, while there's also true bypass and electronic relay-based switching. Everything about it screams vintage without the silly outlay or time-worn armor – or lack thereof.
Each unit is handmade in Akron, Ohio, and ships with a lifetime warranty.
The Chelsea is available now for $179.
Visit EarthQuaker Devices for the low-down.
