The Mantic Effects Hivemind is an octave square wave distortion pedal: it pairs a fussy two-octave-down square wave with a distortion voice, and rounds the combination out with a low pass filter. Pedal of the Day described the result as "loud, powerful and dirty, but retains some gorgeous tones throughout, without getting mucky or bogged down"1. Players looking at related dirt boxes will find it sits alongside other distortion pedals, and Mantic's own Vitriol distortion is a sibling design from the same maker.
Where it came from
The Hivemind is designed after the DOD FX33 Buzz Box, a pedal made to emulate the guitar tone of King Buzzo from The Melvins1. That lineage explains the pedal's character: a square wave pitched two octaves down, blended with a hissing distortion, is a deliberately abrasive voice rather than a conventional overdrive or fuzz.
Design and layout
Two details stand out for players fitting the Hivemind to a board. The jacks are top-mounted, which Pedal of the Day noted makes it "an easy fit onto any board"1. And each pedal's paint job is applied by hand, so no two enclosures are alike; the reviewer called each one "its own individual, one-of-a-kind piece of art"1.
Videos
Pedal of the Day
Guitar Chimp
frenzied destruction
Sources (1)
- Mantic Effects Hivemind Octave Square Wave Distortion, Pedal of the Day, 2020-02-01
