The Tone Freak Effects Severe is a distortion pedal built for high gain, described by Delicious Audio as "a meaty medium-to-severely-high gain pedal with tones reminiscent of some of the most notorious high gain amplifiers." It takes the standard three-knob overdrive format and adds a clipping toggle and a bright switch, giving a player more voicing options than the usual Gain, Tone and Level layout.1
What sets it apart from many high-gain pedals, according to the same review, is how it holds its dynamics: "Severe produces a more dynamic sort of overdriven tone, and unlike many other pedals with this much gain on tap it never" becomes heavily compressed or, as the reviewers put it, "rectified" sounding.1
The controls
The Severe keeps the familiar three-knob layout and adds two extra voicing switches1:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Gain | Sets the amount of overdrive and distortion1 |
| Tone | Shapes the treble response1 |
| Level | Sets the output volume1 |
| Clipping toggle | Selects symmetrical, asymmetrical or no clipping1 |
| Bright switch | Affects high frequencies on the Tone control1 |
The clipping toggle is the pedal's main voicing tool. Symmetrical and asymmetrical clipping give two different flavors of overdrive, while the no-clipping position takes the diodes out of the circuit entirely. Combined with the Gain knob, the switch covers a wide range, from pushed overdrive to full high-gain distortion.1
The bright switch works with the Tone control rather than replacing it, adding high-frequency content on top of the Tone knob's setting. MusicRadar's review also notes a bright blue on/off LED as part of the pedal's feature set.2
What reviewers said
MusicRadar's reviewer, writing in January 2010, awarded the Severe Guitarist magazine's Gold Award for Effects, and found its lower-gain settings especially rewarding: "But attenuate the gain and we get one of the most musical American-indie overdrive tones around."2
Delicious Audio's reviewers, Paolo De Gregorio and Brandon Stoner, came to the pedal in 2016 and summed it up this way:
"It plays nice with amplifiers of all types and is very well made, equally at home as a rhythm or lead sound."
Status
The Severe is one of Tone Freak Effects' older models, as the Delicious Audio feature described it in April 2016.1 Players looking for this kind of circuit today are generally looking at the used market rather than a current production run. For other options in the same territory, see Distortion Pedals and Overdrive Pedals.
Videos
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Questions
What do the clipping modes on the Tone Freak Severe do?
A toggle switch on the Severe offers three clipping options: symmetrical, asymmetrical and no clipping. Symmetrical and asymmetrical clipping shape the overdrive in different ways, while the no-clipping setting removes diode clipping from the signal path. Together with the Gain knob, the switch lets a player dial in everything from a lower-gain overdrive to a severely high-gain distortion voice.
What does the bright switch do on the Severe?
The bright switch affects the high frequencies on the Tone control. It works alongside the Tone knob, letting a player add extra top-end bite on top of whatever the Tone control is set to, which is useful for cutting through with darker amplifiers or for tightening up the pedal's high-gain voices.
Is the Tone Freak Effects Severe still made?
The Severe is one of Tone Freak Effects' older models. When Delicious Audio featured the pedal in April 2016, the reviewers described it as one of the company's older models, and there is no indication it remains a current product. It is a pedal players encounter second-hand rather than new.
Sources (2)
- Featured Pedals: Severe By Tone Freak Effects, Delicious Audio, 2016-04-04
- Gold Awards: Effects, MusicRadar, 2010-01-03
