The Total Garbage is a fuzz pedal from BLAMMO! Electronics that the maker describes as a "WILD AND CRUSTY MODULATED FUZZ". It is built on the Tim Escobedo Ugly Face, a DIY design that has reached cult status among homebrew pedal builders, but BLAMMO! has modified it with added envelope filter and octave-down circuits that push it toward synth-like sounds. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio called it "a gnarly fuzz with a synthy tone thanks to the added envelop filter and octave-down circuits."12
At the time of the maker's listing the Total Garbage was offered as a pre-order, with shipping stated to start in October.1
Where it comes from
The Ugly Face is Tim Escobedo's design, a circuit that BLAMMO! says the Total Garbage is based on "but with a few neat modifications that extend the modulation range."1 Delicious Audio describes the original as "an old stompbox that has surged to cult status" and places the Total Garbage further into experimental territory with modern, pedalboard-friendly upgrades.2 It sits in BLAMMO!'s wider fuzz range alongside pedals like the Fuzz Banger and Jordan Bosstone, and belongs to the broader family of fuzz pedals.
The controls
The front panel carries four trash can shaped knobs and two no-click footswitches. Apart from Level, the knobs are nondescriptly named, so here is what each does according to the maker and Delicious Audio.12
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| SPOIL | Sets the threshold for triggering a free running oscillator that gets interrupted by the guitar signal. Delicious Audio describes it as controlling the stability of the oscillations, from smooth to randomly bleeping and gated.12 |
| STANK | A sensitivity control that regulates how much of the guitar's signal gets modulated. It also sets the intensity of the effect produced by the SPLATTER footswitch. Delicious Audio describes it as controlling the amount of resonance applied to the fuzz.12 |
| FREAK | An odd tone control: one extreme produces nasally thin sounds that slice, the other a big octave-down tone most prominent through the neck pickup with the guitar tone rolled back. Delicious Audio describes it as selecting the frequency boosted by the Stank (resonance) control.12 |
| LEVEL | A basic volume control at the end of the circuit. BLAMMO! dialed back the output so unity gain sits around 1 o'clock, depending on pickups.1 |
The two footswitches do different jobs. The SPLATTER switch "smears and bends the sound by modulating the guitar frequencies further with a slight boost in volume, producing artifacts that pause and swoosh the signal," with its intensity set by the STANK knob.1 Delicious Audio adds that, based on the pedal's first demo video, the Splatter footswitch opens up the filter.2
On the board
The pedal runs in a 1590bb2 enclosure measuring 4.7 x 3.7 x 1.49 inches, with a red LED indicator and true bypass switching via the two soft, no-click footswitches.1 Its 38mA current draw is worth checking against your power supply's per-output budget before adding it to a daisy chain.1
For a sense of how it behaves in a mix, Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio demonstrated the Total Garbage on both bass and guitar in a full band context in the builder's demo video.2
Videos
Noise Generator
Harsh Tones, Inc.
Questions
What does the Stank knob do on the Total Garbage?
STANK is a sensitivity control that regulates how much of the guitar's signal gets modulated. It also sets the intensity of the effect produced by the SPLATTER footswitch, so the two work together: the higher the Stank setting, the stronger the Splatter response.
Is the BLAMMO! Total Garbage true bypass?
Yes. BLAMMO! Electronics lists the Total Garbage as true bypass, with two soft-switching, no-click footswitches handling the switching.
How much current does the Total Garbage draw?
BLAMMO! Electronics lists the current draw at 38mA, so plan your pedalboard power supply accordingly rather than relying on a low-current output.
What does the Splatter footswitch do?
The SPLATTER footswitch smears and bends the sound by modulating the guitar frequencies further, with a slight boost in volume, producing artifacts that pause and swoosh the signal. Its intensity is controlled by the STANK knob.
Where is the Total Garbage made?
BLAMMO! Electronics describes the Total Garbage as handmade with care at a dump site in Portland, Oregon.
Is the Total Garbage based on the Ugly Face?
Yes. BLAMMO! Electronics says the Total Garbage is based on the Tim Escobedo Ugly Face, a DIY circuit with cult status, but with modifications that extend the modulation range. Delicious Audio describes it as a gnarly, synthy fuzz tracing its roots to that circuit.
Sources (2)
- Total Garbage, BLAMMO! Electronics
- BLAMMO! Electronics Total Garbage Fuzz, Delicious Audio, 2022-08-21
