Rainger FX Dr Freakenstein Fuzz review

Plug in this monstrous fuzz pedal

  • £199
  • $334.99
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Appropriately, the laboratory-like knife switch controls the Freakenstein Fuzz's power supply

MusicRadar Verdict

A powerful gated fuzz with a range of features to animate it either statically or in performance.

Pros

  • +

    Harmonically-rich fuzz tones. Adjustable modulation and OSC. Fun.

Cons

  • -

    That power switch may not be for all...

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The ethos of London-based Rainger FX is that pedals should sound great, be totally reliable and fun to use. The Dr Freakenstein Fuzz DrFF-3 fulfils those criteria.

"This pedal delivers glorious, harmonically-rich fuzz, albeit via a noise gate"

This pedal won't even power up unless you engage the laboratory-style knife switch, bringing life to the monster.

And a monster it is: this pedal delivers glorious, harmonically-rich fuzz, albeit via a noise gate, so you get silence between notes; but you need to have the guitar volume max'd and play carefully to avoid unwanted sonic artefacts.

An OSC knob, which controls the harmonic overtones, is effectively a tone control for the fuzz and for dialling in a low octave via a hi/lo switch that offers two different fuzz voices. There's also adjustable modulation for the OSC for sweep or tremolo effects.

The doctor has an assistant named Igor, too: a foot-controlled pressure pad that you step on to tweak the OSC or the modulation range, so filter sweeps, wah-like effects, bringing the low octave in and increasing modulation, are all possible.

Trevor Curwen

Trevor Curwen has played guitar for several decades – he's also mimed it on the UK's Top of the Pops. Much of his working life, though, has been spent behind the mixing desk, during which time he has built up a solid collection of the guitars, amps and pedals needed to cover just about any studio session. He writes pedal reviews for Guitarist and has contributed to Total Guitar, MusicRadar and Future Music among others.