EarthQuaker Devices Life Pedal

The EarthQuaker Devices Life Pedal is an octave-up fuzz, distortion and clean boost in one enclosure, built in collaboration with the drone metal band Sunn O))). It was designed to represent the core front-end chain the band used while writing their album Life Metal, to drive vintage Sunn Model T amplifiers into overload¹. The signal path runs octave, then distortion, then boost, and the octave distortion and booster can be used independently with their own footswitches².

What the Life Pedal does: octave, distortion and boost

The pedal is three stages, two of them footswitchable⁶. The first is an all-discrete, analog full-wave rectifier octave circuit built around a pair of Russian germanium diodes, located at the input of the signal path⁹. The Octave knob blends in the analog octave-up signal as you turn it clockwise; EarthQuaker Devices says going full Octave transforms the pedal from a simple distortion device into a swelling, raging fuzz similar to the classic Super Fuzz⁹.

The second stage is an LM308-chipped RAT-style distortion¹⁰. The third, called the Magnitude section, is a simple all-discrete MOSFET booster designed to be 100% clean and high impedance, adding very little color, meant to blast your preamp tubes⁹. On the V3, the octave and distortion must be used together, but the boost is switchable independently of that first section¹¹.

The controls and footswitches

The V3 carries three footswitches: the Amplitude footswitch (Distortion Activator) for the octave distortion side, the Magnitude footswitch (Boost Activator) for the booster, and a dedicated soft-relay Octave Activator footswitch for the octave function, which is new to that version¹⁴. The original 2019 pedal had only two footswitches, Magnitude for the distortion and Amplitude for the boost, with its controls on the front panel⁴.

The three-way clipping switch

The clipping switch shapes the distortion stage's character²:

• OpAmp: no diodes at all, for what EarthQuaker Devices calls a full grinding Op Amp assault²
• Asymm: two silicon diodes and one LED in an asymmetrical configuration, a slightly compressed and smooth crunch the maker likens to a valve amplifier²
• Symm: the stock double silicon diode arrangement, the classic tone²

Premier Guitar's reviewer described these as symmetrical, asymmetrical, and no-diode clipping modes, and found the asymmetrical setting useful for taming the pedal's intensity¹⁴.

Power and connections

The Life Pedal takes a standard 9V DC power supply with a 2.1mm negative center barrel, and EarthQuaker Devices warns against running it at higher voltages². Guitar World lists the V3's current draw at 15 mA⁸. The switching is relay-based true bypass (Flexi-Switch), which allows simultaneous momentary and latching operation; because it is relay-based, the pedal requires power to pass signal⁹. The V3 adds an Octave EXP input for an expression pedal, and the maker says to insert it only while the pedal is powered off¹⁵.

History: built with Sunn O)))

Sunn O))) and EarthQuaker Devices joined forces to create the Life Pedal as a limited, hand-numbered edition of 1,000 pedals sold exclusively through the official Sunn O))) Reverb Shop¹. It was the company's first artist-focused pedal¹, and Guitar World called it the must-have distortion pedal of 2019¹⁶¹⁷¹⁰. A gold-enclosure reissue followed in August 2019, unchanged under the hood from the original¹⁸, and a second, reportedly final silver reissue arrived in December 2019¹⁹.

Versions: the original run, V2, V3 and the silver edition

The V2 was the same exact circuit as the original limited run, in a compact enclosure, with the addition of expression pedal control over the octave blend and Flexi-Switch technology²⁹. The V3 kept that expression input, added the dedicated octave footswitch, and moved the pedal into permanent production for the first time²⁰¹⁴. guitar.com's reviewer noted that the original and V2 were both limited runs that sold out, and that version three "is here to stay, with a new look, a tweaked circuit and an extra footswitch"²⁰.

What reviewers said

Guitar World's review of the V3 praised its quality build and USA origin⁸. GuitarPlayer's Dave Hunter found the V3's enclosure rugged and "not overly huge considering all it contains," and noted the RAT-like Filter control and the expression jack for remote control of the octave blend¹³. Premier Guitar's reviewer highlighted the new octave footswitch and the expression pedal jack that lets you blend the octave in and out of the signal "in all kinds of tasteful" ways¹⁴. MusicRadar's buying guide summed up the original as having a very cool aesthetic and "across the board great sounds," against cheaper alternatives and the fact that it was no longer available new at the time⁶. Of the gold reissue, MusicRadar wrote that the pedal was "probably packing a little too much heat for your blues-rock covers band," but that experimentalists and extremists of doom, drone and metal's underground would love it¹⁸.

Premier Guitar published a first-look demo of the V3 covering its three-way clipping switch and new octave footswitch²².

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Who uses it

The pedal was built for Sunn O)))'s own rig, to drive vintage Sunn Model T amplifiers into overload during the Life Metal sessions¹. Beyond the band, MusicRadar reported that musicians were using it on bass guitar and with synthesizers, and that it became a staple in studios²³. Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson wrote that the V1 and V3 enclosures were "somewhat overly large for my preferences," a point the compact HalfLife addresses²⁴.

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