Black Arts Toneworks -Fnord vs Fairfield Circuitry The Unpleasant Surprise
The Black Arts Toneworks -Fnord and the Fairfield Circuitry The Unpleasant Surprise are both pedals sharing octave, full, sustaining. The Black Arts Toneworks -Fnord leans transparent. The Fairfield Circuitry The Unpleasant Surprise leans fuzzy and analog warmth.
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Blended from circuit-archetype lineage, dynamic feel, tone-signal overlap and tone-vector distance — the tone vector itself is derived from editorial description text, not a measured acoustic signal, so this reflects how similarly the catalog copy describes the two, not a lab measurement. Shown only within a gear class, and only where there's enough evidence to be meaningful.34% — somewhat different
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Genres both listings are associated with.- Experimental
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Derived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.- octave
- full
- sustaining
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Citation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.$219via Reverb
The Black Arts Toneworks FNORD is an octaver-fuzz hybrid pedal blending a scrambler or octave-up fuzz circuit with a conventional fuzz and distortion voice. A blend control mixes between the two characters, spanning from zipper, velcro-style octave fuzz tones to full-throated conventional distortion, or any combination of both voices simultaneously. Suited for psychedelic, noise, and experimental rock where unconventional octave-fuzz textures are wanted alongside conventional high-gain distortion. Made by Black Arts Toneworks.
The Fairfield Circuitry Unpleasant Surprise is a gated fuzz pedal capable of octave fuzz and extreme gated textures. Controls consist of Volume, Onset (a gain and gate-threshold control), and three toggle switches: T (treble cut), G (gain character — open versus compressed), and C (Crush, which engages octave fuzz). The Onset knob controls the onset of fuzz from raunchy gated artifacts at low settings to beautiful sustained distortion at high settings. The C toggle unlocks a lower-octave harmonic character that combines with the gating for abrasive, synth-like fuzz.
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Genres this gear is documented as being used in.- Noise Rock
- Rock
- Post-Punk
- transparent
- fuzzy
- analog warmth