Yerasov Brown Creature BC-1 review

A boutique bugged-out distortion

  • £87
  • $89
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There's a three-band EQ with separate treble, middle and bass controls

MusicRadar Verdict

Solid rock distortion with creative EQ options.

Pros

  • +

    Three-band EQ offers flexibility. Decent build. Useful range of distortion.

Cons

  • -

    Not much.

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Part of Russian firm's Yerasov 'Insect' series, said to be of boutique quality, and each named after a particular bug, the pedal features an embossed graphic of said creature, which looks a bit vicious. That's appropriate, really, as the sound is more than capable of having some bite to it.

"The range on tap runs from a practical gritty boost, through to the balls-out distortion of a cranked stack"

What you are buying into is a distortion pedal with the usual volume and gain knobs, but also three-band EQ with separate treble, middle and bass controls.

The range on tap runs from a practical gritty boost that can take your amp up that extra notch, through to the balls-out distortion of a cranked stack.

If you want to retain your tone or give it a subtle tweak, the EQ ranges have been chosen sensibly to complement each other, like on an amp, while still being capable of more radical stuff such as scooping out some midrange and combining treble and mid boosts to project solos through a full-band mix.

A hard-rocking distortion unit that will let you set the tone.

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.