Rainger FX Dr Freakenstein Chop Fuzz

The Rainger FX Dr Freakenstein Chop Fuzzz is an all analog gated fuzz pedal with modulation built in: a square wave chop, an extreme phaser and a two-speed LFO, all wrapped around the fuzz circuit from the original Dr Freakenstein Fuzz. Delicious Audio's buying guide calls it "a fuzz-tremolo-phaser all in one beautiful box," and notes that it comes with the Igor pressure pad expression controller for manipulating the fuzz overtone in real time¹. It arrived in November 2023 as the latest installment in the Dr Freakenstein dynasty and, in Delicious Audio's words, the most advanced Dr Freakenstein pedal produced².

A gated fuzz with chop, phaser and tremolo

At its core the Chop Fuzzz is, in Delicious Audio's description, "an uncompromising all analog, full-on gated fuzz pedal," with a set of modulation features layered on top². Guitar Pedal X summarizes the feature set as a gated fuzz with overtones, a square wave chop, a triangle wave LFO and a customized VU meter⁴. The phaser section combined with the fuzz produces what Delicious Audio calls a very cool pulsating sound, and the chop plus the LFO can create helicopter effects or fast bubbling synthy sounds².

The gated fuzz side of the design runs through the whole Dr Freakenstein family. The original Dr Freakenstein Fuzz was reviewed by Delicious Audio in 2014, whose reviewer called it "the weirdest pedal I have ever come across"³. The Bleep Fuzz later reused the same full-on fuzz circuit in a smaller enclosure⁵.

The controls

The Chop Fuzzz keeps the single-knob approach of the earlier Dr Freakenstein pedals, where each effect has its parameters handled by one control. On the original, a single volume knob on the left controlled the fuzz level, a knob on the right controlled the oscillation, and a built-in mod switch triggered high resonance phasing adjustable only in rate³. The Chop Fuzzz extends that layout with its own set:

The two-speed LFO system with separate speed knobs and the extra footswitch was new to the Chop Fuzzz compared with its predecessor². The original's knife switch, which turned the pedal on and activated two orange LEDs marking the knob positions, was a signature of the earlier Dr Freakenstein Fuzz³.

Where it came from

Rainger FX is the work of David Rainger, described by Delicious Audio as a "London-based mad pedal scientist" building monstrous fuzz devices². That Pedal Show had Rainger on the channel in February 2023, introducing him as the "Creator of the splutteringly splendid Dr Freakenstein Chop Fuzz"⁷. The Chop Fuzzz itself is the successor to the earlier Dr Freakenstein Chop Fuzz, spelled with just two zs, which Delicious Audio names as its predecessor².

What reviewers said

Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson, covering the pedal in his 2023 fuzz roundup, was emphatic: "For a while my favourite fuzz of the year - certainly David's finest to date"⁴.

The family's character has been described in similar terms elsewhere. Premier Guitar's review of the Dr Freakenstein Dwarf Bass, a relative in the same line, found "fantastically raucous and weird bass-fuzz tones on tap" and praised the compact, rugged build and Igor, while noting two cons: "Can't really call it a versatile fuzz. Igor can be difficult to manipulate with precise control, especially on varying surfaces." The reviewer added that while a light dusting of fuzz isn't available, it is "an impressively musical (albeit extreme) fuzz nonetheless," and described the sounds as akin to "a robotic troll squelching in terror (or pleasure) atop a smoking, consistent fuzz tone"⁸. The same single-knob limitation was noted on the original Dr Freakenstein Fuzz back in 2014: with every parameter on one knob, "you're going to be playing within a very specific range" with each feature³.

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