Divine Comedy-Inspired Pedals from Dophix

Previously known as Dolphin when it first entered the guitar effects pedal scene in 2015, Dophix has since impressed pedal enthusiasts worldwide with its meticulously constructed, handcrafted stompboxes. This Italian effects pedal creator has elevated pedal craftsmanship, building gorgeous, high-quality, and incredibly silent stompboxes based on the generally known philosophy of “Made in Italy.” From a graphical point of view, Dophix is admired for its “trilogies,” which have won the ears and souls of musicians who love clean, elegant aesthetics and a warm, classic sound. Its products are grouped into triads: the Da Vinci Experience, Three Naked Men, and the Dante Trilogy. Behind each collection, Dophix attempts to bring back its Tuscan roots, which are snatched and redesigned by Italian artists. The Three Naked Men features the holy trinity of boost, distortion, and fuzz. It consists of the PERSEO boost, NETTUNO fuzz, and DAVID distortion. Meanwhile, the Da Vinci Experience includes the LEONARDO compressor, GIOCONDA tremolo, and the VITRUVIAN MAN chorus/phaser. Dophix dedicates the Dante Trilogy to the great Florentine poet who authored the Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri. The trio of stompboxes includes the Inferno Distortion, Purgatorio Overdrive, and Paradiso Booster. The Divine Comedy is a popular Medieval Italian epic poem that portrays the realms of the afterlife. It was written by the renowned Florentine poet somewhere between 1308 and his death in 1321. At the time, Dante was in exile from his hometown of Florence, Italy, which had been braving civil war. Aside from personal motivations, Dante had an instructional purpose for writing the poem. He wanted to give readers lessons about obeying God’s law and living ethically. The poem is about individuals going to Hell, Purgatory, or Heaven after they die. The Florentine poet banks on that idea to voice strong beliefs about right and wrong as well as the consequences of one’s actions. The Divine Comedy is divided into three volumes (Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso), each with 33 chapters. Dante is the central character of this trilogy. He journeys through all of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven to find his way back to God. Throughout his journey, Dante encounters various characters from literature and history.

Dophix Inferno Distortion

As an exile, the author Dante felt somewhat lost in his life, so Inferno opens with the character Dante lost both spiritually and physically. He is wandering in a dark wood, which is sin and struggling to find a straight path. He meets the ghost of the renowned Roman poet who wrote Aeneid, Virgil. According to Virgil, he was sent by Dante’s beloved Beatrice and two other holy women to lead him to heaven where Beatrice is waiting for him. Together, they started the journey into the Nine Circles of Hell—Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery.

Virgil guides Dante’s alter ego, the “Pilgrim,” through the Circles of Hell, in which they saw the awful punishments sinners have brought upon themselves. He said they need to pass through hell to reach the destination, but a worthier spirit will later lead him through the rest of his journey. The first circle accommodates the pagans born before Christ, along with the unbaptized. The second to fifth circles are determined by the cardinal sin committed by those doomed to that circle: lust (circle two), gluttony (circle three), greed (circle four), and depression and wrath (circle five). The last circles comprise the infernal city known as Dis, with circle six holding heretics, circle seven containing those guilty of violence, circle eight holding deceivers, and circle nine containing individuals who betrayed trust. In the darkest region of the ninth circle, a three-faced Satan chews on the wickedest betrayers of all time: Cassius and Brutus (both of whom betrayed Julius Ceasar) and of course Judas who betrayed Jesus. Inferno represents the “World of the Damned.” That is how a gloomy distortion comes out, sporting graphics honoring the eternal flames, and carrying a Gain control dubbed “ODIO” or hatred, particularly for this stompbox. It is the perfect effect for individuals who wish to get lost in the dark woods of sound and set their instrument on fire. The Inferno Distortion pedal features an intuitive three-knob layout consists of controls for tone, volume, and gain. An incredibly versatile effect, “brutal” for the amount of the signal distorted and beautiful for how the same frequency can smooth and make notes “round.” Thanks to the dynamic gain control, users can capture an extensive variety of distortions, which ranges from a sustained crunch to full-bodied distortion to high-gain. Top-grade components, a true bypass switch, and carbon resistors are among the specific choices made for the standard of Dophix pedals.

Dophix Purgatorio Overdrive

Having survived the harrowing depths of Hell, Virgil and Dante now enter the Purgatory, where repentant souls endure punishment to completely purge themselves of sin before ascending into Heaven. In the poem, Purgatory is staged as a mountain in the Southern Hemisphere, consisting of Ante-Purgatory at the bottom as well as seven levels of suffering and spiritual growth. These levels are associated with the seven deadly sins of Lussuria (lust), Gula (gluttony), Avaritia (greed), Accidia (sloth), Ira (wrath), Invidia (envy), and Superbia (pride). Each deadly sin has an opposite in the corresponding seven holy virtues, namely chastity, abstinence, temperance, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility.

Unlike the souls in Hell, the souls in Purgatory have the liberty to move between the seven levels as they make themselves holy. They embrace their punishment as it is cleansing them, and they praise God amidst their suffering. Similar to how Virgil guides Dante, the Purgatorio Overdrive from Dophix will accompany players to a “lighter sound” compared to that of the hell distortion. This extremely dynamic overdrive pedal is designed for those lost souls who seek redemption in the emotions of music. The Purgatorio Overdrive consists of Gain, Tone, and Volume knobs. The effect enables a full sound selection from clean to soft distortion. The sound yielded is conferred with a traditional character, credits to tone modulation and full level control. The Purgatorio Overdrive boasts top-grade components, a true bypass switch, and carbon resistors. Dante’s Purgatory consists of seven frames where the seven deadly sins are served. All the sinners encountered by Dante in the Inferno are punished based on which of the seven cardinal sins they were most guilty of during their lifetime. Superbia and Lust have inspired Dophix to create two alternative variants of overdrive purgatory.

Dophix Purgatorio Superbia

Superbia or pride is the first of the seven capital sins depicted in the first frame of Dante’s Purgatory. It is regarded as the first and foremost sin. It is the sin that has resulted in Lucifer’s downfall and plagues people in different forms. Pride can be the root of other sins. It is the “excessive love of one’s own excellence.” Dante defined it as the “love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one’s neighbor.”

The Superb is someone who always seeks to demonstrate and impose superiority in a very overwhelming manner. For those who believe they are better than others, turn on the Purgatorio Superbia and let your guitar know. The Purgatorio Superbia features the same technical specs as the Purgatorio. It is characterized by its broad range of sounds, enabled by the Gain, Volume and Tone knobs to which are added two selectors that permit the selection of two distortion levels and two frequency bands. The well-defined audible modulation guarantees an extensive signal dynamic. With the frequency band selector (LO/HI), users can capture a sound with every shade of tone, controlling a distortion on high, medium, and low. The distortion level selector allows users to cover a whole dynamic, ranging from mild crunch to overdrive to distortion. Thanks to the broad possibility of tone control, volume and gain, the Purgatorio Superbia is perfect for any type of guitar or amp setup.

Dophix Lussuria Overdrive

Lust or Lussuria is the last deadly sin depicted in the seventh frame of the Purgatory. It is often thought of as involving excessive or obsessive desires or thoughts of a sexual nature. Dante believes that lust resulted in “excessive love of others,” hence making devotion and love to God secondary.

Lustful people allow themselves to be kidnapped viciously and with excess by the pleasure of the senses. With the Lussuria Overdrive from Dophix, players cannot resist to the vibrations produced by their guitar. It lets them abandon themselves to the enjoyment of sound. The Lussuria Overdrive pedal has the same technical specs as the Purgatorio. It consists of controls for Gain, Tone, and Volume. The effect enables a comprehensive sound selection, from clean to soft distortion. The sound generated is conferred with a common character, credits to a complete level control and tone modulation. Unlike the regular Purgatory series, the Lussuria Overdrive’s distortion level, optimized on medium-low to medium frequency bands, makes it perfect for rocks and blues sounds.

Dophix Paradiso Booster

Paradiso (Heaven or Paradise) is the final section of Dante’s epic poem. In it, the Italian poet details his journey through Heaven, the people he encounters, as well as the things he sees on the way to the so-called “Empyrean,” the real home of God, angels, saints, and the souls of the faithful. Beatrice accompanies Dante as he travels through the Nine Spheres of Heaven—The Moon, Mercury, Venus, The Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Fixed Stars, and Primum Mobile—represented by different celestial bodies. In every section, Dante’s guides try to teach him different lessons.

The souls Dante and Beatrice found in the Moon are of those who were unable to keep their vows, including Queen Constance of Sicily, Piccarda Donati, and the sister of Dante’s friend Forese Donati. According to Beatrice, these souls were “punished” by being placed at the lowest Heaven for something that was not their fault. Mercury contains the souls who were righteous and just during their lifetime but were mainly driven by ambition, Venus holds the souls of lovers who “earned” their place in the Paradise with their love for humanity and God, Sun contains the souls of wise men, Mars is inhabited by holy warriors, whose souls form a cross shape, Jupiter is home to the souls of just rulers, while Saturn houses the spirits of those who dedicated their lives to prayer. Biblical saints and the Virgin Mary stay at the Fixed Stars. The Primum Mobile is the final stop before the Empyrean, which is beyond space and time. At long last, the great Florentine poet liberates himself from all sin and enters heaven, where he gets an imaginary made of clouds, divine sounds, and angels. The Dophix Paradiso Booster gives users all the spiritual sensations in a stompbox, robust with a loudness working on medium to high frequencies and eloquent graphics. The Paradiso Booster is an analog pedal consist of a single Volume knob. This booster is configured for the treatment of medium to high frequencies giving the sound a typical character. The Paradiso Booster is designed for utilization in solos, rhythmic, imparting dynamism to the sound, as well as with semi-acoustic and acoustic guitars. Like other Dophix pedals, the Paradiso Booster is made with top-grade components, carbon resistors, and true bypass switch. As Paradiso ends, Dante is trying to comprehend how the three circles, which represent the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, work together. Dante instantly understands and becomes all the more sure of God’s everlasting love. After witnessing God’s majesty in his true glory, he came back to the Earth to write the Divine Comedy. The terrace the poets enter first is filled with those who were prideful during their lifetime. The walls display sculptures showing examples of humility (the opposite of pride). The prideful cannot see these sculptures as their backs are arched because of the massive weights they need to carry with their backs as their sins get cleansed. The penitent souls in the terrace of the lustful have to run through a great wall of flames while calling out examples of chastity (the opposite of lust). Everyone, including Dante, needs to run through that wall before leaving.