Lerxst Snow Dog review – a wonderfully thick octave fuzz from Alex Lifeson
$295, lerxstamps.com
In a relatively short period of time, Lerxst has grown into quite the full-service brand for the dedicated Rush fanatic looking to channel a small chunk of Alex Lifeson’s guitar tone. To call it a signature brand probably isn’t doing it justice. As the amps, pedals, loaded pickguards and guitars that have quickly emerged over the course of the last year demonstrate, this is no flight of fancy for Lifeson – he’s creating a bona fide brand over here.
READ MORE: Lerxst By-Tor review – far more than an Alex Lifeson signature overdrive pedal
As Guitar.com’s recent interview with Lifeson and his partner in this endeavour, Mojotone CEO Michael McWhorter, states, these are products designed to cater to the Rush fan of course, but they’re also so much more.
That was certainly my experience when I checked out Lerxst’s first pedal, the By-Tor, a few months ago, and now I get to enjoy the second stomper the brand has put out – a fun dual octave fuzz called the Snow Dog that’s very much its companion pedal. After all, the two pedals combine to create the 1975 Rush track, By-Tor and The Snow Dog.
What is the Lerxst Snow Dog?
The Snow Dog is effectively the yin to the By-Tor’s yang – both lupine-graphic’d pedals are dual-effect stompers, but where the By-Tor handled distortion, this one takes a thick wall of fuzz and slaps an octave sound on top of it in classic style.
The Snow Dog’s tones are designed to emulate the sound of Lifeson at his most untamed – it’s the sound of the band’s classic 1974 debut album, and specifically the iconic tones of Working Man. Or to quote the man himself, “It can produce the most horrific fuzz in the universe” – sounds fun!
The circuit itself is based on “a beloved silicon octave fuzz from the early 1970s” – no prizes for guessing what that is – but updated for the needs of the modern player, and can run the gamut from subtle fuzzes to the aforementioned “horrific”. Let’s dive in.
Lerxst Snow Dog
Does the Lerxst Snow Dog sound good?
Like the By-Tor, the Snow Dog is a dual-switch pedal with one for fuzz and one for octave, plus controls for each – level and gain for the octave and level, tone and gain for the fuzz. Interestingly there’s also a mini-toggle switch that allows you to choose whether you want fuzz or octave first in the chain, so you can choose to have your fuzz octaved or your octaves fuzzed. My personal preference on this was to go fuzz first and the octave second as it opens up the sound a little more while the other way can feel a bit more compressed, but your mileage may vary.
Often with vintage fuzz circuits, you find that they can be a little anaemic and thin-sounding outside of their original context, but there’s no such concerns here. Like a wolf stalking through the cold tundra, sonically the Snow Dog is full, hairy and snarling.
For modern fans of alternative rock and heavier disciplines, this is a pedal that can take a serious bite out of you – in the best kind of way. The octave promises a unique effect created by combining multiple semitones simultaneously, and it certainly sounds full when engaged, though again it’s not the most traditional sound. In truth, you can coax vintage fuzz tones from the Snow Dog if you really want to by turning everything down, but I’m not sure why you’d want to? With everything cranked, you’ll swear you were pelting at full speed through a snow-covered mountain pass – it seems a shame to muzzle it. It’s probably the fullest and thickest fuzz sound I’ve ever heard, and combines sublimely with the octave sound to create something truly special.
Lerxst Snow Dog
Is the Lerxst Snow Dog worth the money?
The most fiendish thing about the Snow Dog might be getting hold of one – it was a Reverb-exclusive at launch and unlike the By-Tor, it’s not currently available on the Lerxst website, though that will hopefully soon change. That and the fact that it’s $295 makes it a significant investment one way or another.
But when I’m putting down my own hard-earned on a pedal, I want to have something that inspires me musically, and gives me plenty of options. With it’s switching options and wealth of tones, the Snow-Dog absolutely ticks both of those boxes – it might be the last fuzz pedal you ever need.
Lerxst Snow Dog alternatives
There are plenty of quality boutique octave fuzz pedals out there, though not many that offer the Snow Dog’s clever signal-chain placement options. If you’re on a budget Electro-Harmonix’s Lizard Queen offers a more vintage take on octave fuzz, while the Red Witch Fuzz God is similarly versatile and gnarly. If you want a very different take on octave and dirt from another generational guitar player, Jack White’s Gamechanger Audio/Third Man Plasma Coil is an absolute monster.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
