Cool new pedal alert! In the world of fuzz and drive and grindy stuff: enter the HellBilly.
Very easy to find a world of great fuzz and overdrive tones. This pedal is built exclusively for ToneFactor.com - you shan't find it elsewhere.
Controls are Tone-fully counterclockwise is a rich smooth bass boost and then going clockwise it has a really cool shift to a clearer more glassy slick presence, then fully clockwise highs are nicely emphasized without being shrill. In the middle is the input trimmer. Last is the Gain - starts just adding boost around 9:00, the light grit starts in gradually - then after 3:00 it is devastating fire and brimstone! But never "out of control" and musically useless.
Really very quiet-even at high gain settings- and wow - there is plenty of gain packed into this little guy!
I'm getting back into exploring the world of distortion, fuzz and overdrive into my tone. I'm no expert on vintage fuzzfaces and some people hold advanced degrees in this area. I just can say that I've tried a bunch of other mainstream fuzzes and drives, and been let down. Some traditionally voiced fuzz/drive pedals just lay on a thick, impenetrable slab of buzz that's musically unusable - at least to my ears - or they only offer 1 decent sound and any other setting sounds like flatulence from a herd of hippos.
Not the HellBilly - there are at least 3-4 species of fuzz and drive tones living in here and all of them are inspiring. All kinds of good gained out grind to be had here--fuzz is fun again!
I tend to keep the input trimmer high-sometimes full on - but having it adjustable externally like this is great, allows you to adjust for different pickup styles and also lends itself to even more subtle shadings within a given Tone/Gain setting that you like. I tend to keep the Tone within the bass emphasis range around 7:00-8:00, and the Gain arond 2:00. When the need for wicked saturated tones is needed, I just turn the Gain a little further and I'm into glorious rich fuzz, but still retaining excellent string to string definition. And it cleans up wonderfully at the guitar volume knob.
I'm using this with a P90 Les Paul, a MusicMan Axis SuperSport, and a Telecaster. All of them sound terrific with the HellBilly and each still retains its own personality. I've put the pedal with a number of amps, but I really like it with small combos: namely the Electrosonic 1x10 Thermosonic (single el34 and 12ax7). Something about the small amp getting walloped by the gain in the HellBilly that just makes such a HUGE sound it puts a smile on my face everytime.
Solid build quality for sure - jacks are solid, footswitch is tight and the knobs have smooth travel. Wouldn't need a backup.
I've put some mileage on mine before writing this, and it performs flawlessly. Mostly I run it off my PedalPower2 but it has a nice low slow drain on a 9 volt too if you prefer that.
The HellBilly also has a totally cool graphic: gotta love a pedal with a pig smoking a corncob pipe and sporting a devil's pointed tail! Gives you a clue of the nasty fun inside. And I really dig the textured red finish on the pedal - looks like those brick red balls from dodgeball in gymn class! Very sharp.
I ordered one of the first batches that came with the input trimmer on the inside. It sounded fabulous, but the maker of the HellBilly had an even more flexible with a modification that appeared on subsequent batches - the move of the input trim to be externally adjustable. I could tell this would be good to have for moving different guitars through the pedal and arranging different rigs where I'd want to have that kind of control. So Brad arranged for me to send it directly to the maker- and it shipped back to me for free with the new 3rd control - sounds better than ever. Top notch service from all parties concerned!
After many years of clean and chimy pop, I'm getting into some new gritty and fuzzy textures. The HellBilly is really helping me get those sounds out of my head and into my hands.
The most attractive part of the HellBilly is the voicing: it doesn't have the flutey endless sustain that overwhelms your sound into generic sludge and slop. Those tones are part of what kept me away from fuzz and distortion for such a long time. The many shades and textures that are on tap here is what makes the HellBilly a great pedal for me. Because it straddles the line between several different kinds of pedals, I think people who already have fuzzfaces or Rangemasters, or modern clones thereof will find loads of new and inspiring sounds in the HellBilly all in a cool compact package
