Rainger FX Dr Freakenstein's Dwarf review

Tiny fun-packed fuzz pedal

  • £99
  • €129
  • $170
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As well as the tone control, there's also a thumbwheel for volume control

MusicRadar Verdict

Stompbox of small stature with a massive sound.

Pros

  • +

    Big fuzz tones. Controls offer decent flexibility for the size.

Cons

  • -

    Fuzz is gated so guitar volume tampering won't tame it.

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Rainger FX's Dr Freakenstein's Dwarf takes the circuit from the Dr Freakenstein Fuzz and puts it into a dinky micro pedal with a sloping top.

The prominent feature is a large tone knob controlling the harmonic overtone pitch, but you also get a thumbwheel for volume control with plenty of extra wallop for your amp.

"It offers a huge sound, tailor-made for big riffs and powerchords"

A hi/lo button, changing the intensity of the overtone, gives you two flavours of the full-on fuzz: one with a prominent lower octave at higher settings of the tone knob.

The fuzz is gated, so there's no rolling back your guitar volume to tone it down, and it's easy to trigger the odd spluttery glitch; but it offers a huge sound, tailor-made for big riffs and powerchords.

Igor's two switchable modes offer cool performance possibilities, too, such as controlling the pitch of the overtone in real time while playing lead.

A big fuzz for small pedalboards, but with an extra layer of expression from Igor that'll put a grin on your face.

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.