Funny Little Boxes and Matt Webster of the Let's Play All YouTube channel have announced their third collaborative pedal, the Dirt distortion pedal – which promises to deliver the guitar tones of Alice In Chains' Dirt record and more for just shy of $110.
The pedal's brief was to nail Jerry Cantrell's sought-after guitar tones from the 1991 Alice In Chain's classic, with a particular emphasis on Them Bones – a gilt-edged metal anthem hinging on an angular riff that is known for its hairy yet defined tone.
But the no-nonsense device isn’t limited to encapsulating the sound of one specific song or album. Beyond that, Dirt offers “the crushing intensity, squalling lead tones, and chugging riffs” that epitomized 1990s metal, with its makers namedropping the likes of Slipknot, Silverchair, and Tom Morello with regards to other tones this budget stompbox can muster.
The pedal's distortion comes to life via simple and interactive controls; Dirt for distortion dialing, Volume for pushing the amp, and a three-band EQ. As such, while the pedal can be violent and aggressive, the collaborative minds behind its creation have endeavored to ensure it also packs a lot of clarity.
The “target tone” of Them Bones can be found with the Dirt dial around noon, and the volume at two o'clock. The Bass, Treble and Mids should be pulled a little past the halfway mark.
The song's solo tone is a different beast, and those sounds can also supposedly be coaxed from the pedal. It can be achieved by maxing the Dirt control, dialing the Mids further back, and giving a slight boost to the Treble dial.
Webster says the Dirt's development saw everything from “technical gremlins to hospitalizations”, and required help from Marc Dunberry of Soundlad Liverpool and Simon Andrews of JSA Effects in order to get over the line.
He also muses: “Perhaps it is fitting that a pedal that pays tribute to one of the darkest mainstream albums ever made had such a torturous development process.”
The pedal requires the standard 9V of power and does not come with a battery compartment, meaning daisy chaining and power bricks are needed to get these bad boys growling on your pedalboard.
Webster and Funny Little Boxes' previous collabs have bottled the sound of Pearl Jam's momentous LP, Ten, and Josh Homme's Queens of the Stone Age tones into similarly tiny and budget-friendly boxes.
The Funny Little Boxes Dirt pedal is available to pre-order now for $109.29. No specific shipping date has been listed at the time of writing.
Check out Funny Little Boxes for the full lowdown.
