The [Dirge Electronics Slowly Melting] is a lo-fi distortion pedal that combines several circuits in one box: fuzz, a starving circuit and modulation. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio described it as "a LoFi Fuzz/Delay/Chorus/Doubletracker that takes a PT2399 Delay Chip and stretches it far beyond its means, creating wild, harsh, unpredictable, and gnarly sounds"1. The PT2399 is a delay chip found in many budget digital delay designs; here it is used in a way it was never intended for, which is where the pedal's glitchy character comes from. It sits in the same territory as other lo-fi and glitch effects rather than alongside conventional fuzz pedals or delay pedals1.
The controls and the Melt footswitch
The pedal's central idea is self-destruction. As Delicious Audio put it, "this device cannibalizes itself by feeding its own signal back into its circuit through the Melt knob, which can be triggered through the second footswitch"1. In practice, turning up Melt pushes the pedal's output back into its own input, and the second footswitch lets you trigger that feedback on the fly instead of leaving it running.
The published control list is short:
| Control | Function |
|---|---|
| Loud | Volume. EXTREMELY LOUD.1 |
| Melt | Feeds the pedal's own signal back into its circuit1 |
| MELT footswitch | Triggers the Melt feedback effect1 |
Each unit is hand-finished and engraved, so the finish will vary slightly between pedals. Two Slowly Meltings will not look identical1.
Where it comes from
Dirge Electronics builds each Slowly Melting one at a time outside of Baltimore, Maryland1. The pedal was introduced in February 2019 as a preorder on Reverb1. Delicious Audio's lo-fi pedal roundup also lists it among lo-fi distortion effects, a category it shares with tape-style, vinyl-style and bit-crushed designs2.
"a LoFi Fuzz/Delay/Chorus/Doubletracker that takes a PT2399 Delay Chip and stretches it far beyond its means, creating wild, harsh, unpredictable, and gnarly sounds"
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Questions
What does the Melt knob do on the Slowly Melting?
The Melt knob feeds the pedal's own signal back into its circuit, a self-cannibalizing feedback control that Delicious Audio describes as the device consuming itself. The effect can be triggered on the fly through the second footswitch, so you can punch the melting in and out while playing rather than leaving it on all the time.
How many footswitches does the Slowly Melting have?
It has two footswitches. The second one triggers the Melt function, the feedback effect controlled by the Melt knob, so the self-feeding chaos can be switched in and out during a performance.
Where is the Dirge Electronics Slowly Melting made?
Each Slowly Melting is made one at a time outside of Baltimore, Maryland, by Dirge Electronics. The enclosures are hand-finished and engraved, so the finish varies slightly from unit to unit.
Is the Slowly Melting a delay pedal or a fuzz?
It is both, and more. Delicious Audio describes it as a pedal combining several circuits: fuzz, a starving circuit and modulation, built around a PT2399 delay chip pushed far beyond its normal use. It is generally classed as a lo-fi distortion effect rather than a straight fuzz or a straight delay.
Sources (2)
- Dirge Electronics Slowly Melting Glitch/Fuzz/Chorus/Delay, Delicious Audio, 2019-02-28
- The Best LoFi Guitar Pedals In 2024: Analog & Digital Artifact Simulators, Delicious Audio, 2024-07-22
