hehe... i know i post a lot of pedal comparisons and often which ones i choose and keep are based upon what i will use... and what i will use usually depends upon the pedal being able to pass a battery of tests.
they aren't very scientific, mainly involves playing songs that i've covered in years gone by. the crunch test basically tests to see if 6th string rooted palm muted chords will still crunch with a given setup or if it farts out on the low end.
i like pickups with a lot of nuttage on the low end and low mids and these aren't really ideal for this song, which makes the pedal's ability to pull it off all the more important.
the primary song i use to test this is "waiting room" by fugazi. this song doubles as my "right arm endurance test" as if you can keep this up for several 12+ bar stretches at this pace your arm is definitely in shape. these are all down strokes but the 32nd triplet notes.
these chords aren't 100% accurate to how he plays it, but it's how i play it for the test.
when testing something crunchy, I invariably whip out old Black Sabbath riffs (usu. 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' or 'Symptom of the Universe')... or if it's a really nasty fuzztone, old Misfits songs. I'll have to give Fugazi a try, though....
that fugazi cut isn't all that crunchy, but it's a total test of things. with many many many setups you won't be able to hold the crunch on the low E with the doubled 5th (or suspended 4th if you want to view it that way)
with a bass-heavy pickup and at low volumes, that was how the ML-2 won a spot in my collection.
the crunch test
Posted - 07/29/2008 : 09:10:13
