Last year, Cort Guitars parent company Cor-Tek announced it had purchased both the DigiTech and DOD pedal brands from Samsung, with the intention of rejuvenating the two beloved effects institutions.
It was an announcement that prompted intense speculation from pedal fans (many believe a new Whammy pedal is in the pipeline), who were later appeased with a string of DOD reissues.
These include relaunched versions the Overdrive Preamp 250, Compressor 280, Envelope Filter 440 and Gonkulator.
Now, though, DOD has debuted the Chthonic fuzz pedal – the company’s first new release proper since it was acquired by Cor-Tek.
Notably, it’s also the first pedal to be released by the rejuvenated DigiTech/DOD brands since it was confirmed back in May that some of the two respective brands’ most influential minds had been recruited to spearhead the renaissance.
The first fruits of their labor is the Chthonic Fuzz – a “deceptively minimalist, vintage-inspired pedal” that sets its sights on channeling “impressive versatility and a distinctive voice”.
Pronounced “thaw-neck”, the fuzz itself is curiously designed specifically for single-coil, P-90, DeArmond and gold-foil pickups, and comes loaded with a pair of 2N2222 transistors to tap into traditional clipping tones.
In practice, the Chthonic features a sole bypass footswitch and three control knobs – enough, apparently, to conjure up a suite of sludgy, tight-grain fuzz tones. Standard Output and Fuzz parameters are concerned with volume and gain levels, while an additional “Lustre” passive tone knob looks to ensure audible pick attack throughout the whole frequency range.
The arrival of the Chthonic Fuzz was only a matter of time. As mentioned above, this new release arrives mere months after the likes of Jim Pennock, Tom Cram, Roger Johnsen and Parker Coons – influential figures in DigiTech/DOD’s past – had been brought on board to lead the company’s New Product and Marketing division.
At the time, a press statement said the team would be focusing on “revamping time-honored pedals and rolling out new innovations”.
Now the floodgates have truly opened for the new DOD era, we imagine more new pedals will be arriving in the near future.
Head over to DigiTech/DOD to find out more about the Chthonic Fuzz, which is available for $149.
