NPD- Fortin 33

[DrewJD82]

I was recording some stuff in drop A over the weekend and wasn't getting the cut I wanted out of the EVH/messing with the DynaCabs, went to grab one of my dirt pedals for a boost and outside of the OCD, I don't really have anything that fits that bill. I figured I'd go to Sam Ash and see what they had since things should have been marked off considerably, buuuuuut-

Hahahhaha "electrical fire".....that's not fishy AT ALL!

So I went up the street to GC and when I saw the 33 I figured I'd give it a shot. I didn't try it in the store because there were 5 friends in their 30's who were cranking the shit out of everything, I believe one guy learned a couple notes of one song years ago and was teaching the rest of them the rhythm and bass parts. I couldn't take a second more of that shit.

The first time I plugged it in I hated it. Nasally, cut out ALL the balls and with certain amp settings and that 707 it sounds like pieces of plastic rattling around the tone. After adjusting the cabs (EVH is running into the Suhr RL into the AxeFX, I think it's 2 Recto cabs) and the amp settings I started getting some results I was digging. It's definitely not a 'turn the Drive down and kick on the pedal' thing.

This clip is- Straight into the EVH- Boosted with the 33 w/ the same amp settings - Boosted w/Amp and Cabs tweaked



It definitely does what it's supposed to do and it also has an amp channel jack on the side, which is pretty slick, but it'd be hard for me to use this how I generally use boosts with high gain, where the boost is just a slight mid push while hitting the front end harder, rather than essentially making the tone 'mix ready' but chopping off all the low end and slamming the mids.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Your description sums up exactly how I feel about them. I don’t really like the effect of them, but for really low tunings and that particular sound, it’s the best way to get there.

It’s also become a bit of a cliche for low tunings, maybe even moreso than tubescreamer+5150/recto is. But that’s another discussion I guess.

Cool score though and well worth having in the arsenal, it does do a particular sound that is required sometimes

 

[DrewJD82]

Your description sums up exactly how I feel about them. I don’t really like the effect of them, but for really low tunings and that particular sound, it’s the best way to get there.

It’s also become a bit of a cliche for low tunings, maybe even moreso than tubescreamer+5150/recto is. But that’s another discussion I guess.

Cool score though and well worth having in the arsenal, it does do a particular sound that is required sometimes

Yeah, there’s a bit of ‘navigating the medium’ when tuning down that low and you’re practically forced into dialing out a lot of things you’d normally appreciate in a tone.

I’m curious to hear how bad it’ll sound on a lower gain amp, using it as a traditional boost.

 

[adam]

I bought a cheapo AliExpress clone of this circuit and found it really difficult to make it sound good with my mark IV, Dsl and kemper, but as soon as I got my rectoverb, I tried it in that, and holy shit it sounded good.

I find it tends to sound bad with tight amps that have a lot of presence and bite. Things on the flubbier end like rectos sound great with it. I'd imagine anything Orange would sound pretty good too ( they can't get any worse to be fair)

 

[JiveTurkey]

"Today on Luke Warm Reviews..."

 

[adam]

I think Drew needs some sort of recto to fully appreciate this pedal.

 

[Mongillo19]

Where did you have the 33 knob at?

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I think Drew needs some sort of recto

fixed it

 

[Deadpan]

View attachment 23222

I was recording some stuff in drop A over the weekend and wasn't getting the cut I wanted out of the EVH/messing with the DynaCabs, went to grab one of my dirt pedals for a boost and outside of the OCD, I don't really have anything that fits that bill. I figured I'd go to Sam Ash and see what they had since things should have been marked off considerably, buuuuuut-

View attachment 23223

Hahahhaha "electrical fire".....that's not fishy AT ALL!

So I went up the street to GC and when I saw the 33 I figured I'd give it a shot. I didn't try it in the store because there were 5 friends in their 30's who were cranking the shit out of everything, I believe one guy learned a couple notes of one song years ago and was teaching the rest of them the rhythm and bass parts. I couldn't take a second more of that shit.

The first time I plugged it in I hated it. Nasally, cut out ALL the balls and with certain amp settings and that 707 it sounds like pieces of plastic rattling around the tone. After adjusting the cabs (EVH is running into the Suhr RL into the AxeFX, I think it's 2 Recto cabs) and the amp settings I started getting some results I was digging. It's definitely not a 'turn the Drive down and kick on the pedal' thing.

This clip is- Straight into the EVH- Boosted with the 33 w/ the same amp settings - Boosted w/Amp and Cabs tweaked



It definitely does what it's supposed to do and it also has an amp channel jack on the side, which is pretty slick, but it'd be hard for me to use this how I generally use boosts with high gain, where the boost is just a slight mid push while hitting the front end harder, rather than essentially making the tone 'mix ready' but chopping off all the low end and slamming the mids.

The 33 is pretty extreme. I tested mine vs the Blade. The Blade can almost identically match the 33 but the slopes are adjustable. The Blade is one of my favorite pedals.

 

[DrewJD82]

The 33 is pretty extreme. I tested mine vs the Blade. The Blade can almost identically match the 33 but the slopes are adjustable. The Blade is one of my favorite pedals.

I’ll have to take a look into that, I’d really prefer to have some kind of adjustment with this thing. Extreme is definitely a fitting description.

 

[DrewJD82]

Where did you have the 33 knob at?

Right about where it is in the picture, noonish.

 

[DrewJD82]

I think Drew needs some sort of recto to fully appreciate this pedal.

Everyone needs a Recto!

The EVH is definitely a tight amp…..until I introduced that EMG 707 to it and then, in drop A, it’s actually very reminiscent of an unboosted Dual Rec The first section of that clip above is as tight as I can get the EVH/707 sounding together with nothing in front of the amp.

 

[Mongillo19]

Right about where it is in the picture, noonish.

I'm sure you messed with it but I found getting it past noon helped bring the beef back. Noon or less made it very thin imo

 

[Devin]

Noice

my buddy sent me a Peper's Dirty Tree a year ago and I'm still yet to even plug it in once

 

[Deadpan]

I’ll have to take a look into that, I’d really prefer to have some kind of adjustment with this thing. Extreme is definitely a fitting description.

The 33's low frequency is basically the same as the Blade's low dial set to 0. Turning it up to 1 or 2 is a massive difference for the better.

 

[DrewJD82]

Noice

my buddy sent me a Peper's Dirty Tree a year ago and I'm still yet to even plug it in once

I saw those were all the rage in Heavy Metal Amps last year, that kind of hype train usually makes me look in the opposite direction but there’s probably something to them if they got that popular.

 

[Mongillo19]

I saw those were all the rage in Heavy Metal Amps last year, that kind of hype train usually makes me look in the opposite direction but there’s probably something to them if they got that popular.

I did not like the DT. Id stick with Fortin 33 or grind imo if you are going that route

 

[DrewJD82]

I did not like the DT. Id stick with Fortin 33 or grind imo if you are going that route

I’ll most likely grab a Maxon 808 at some point because it’s one of those “everyone should have one” pedals, but yeah, I’d prefer not to go down a high gain boost rabbit hole.

 

[Desertdweller]

I’ll most likely grab a Maxon 808 at some point because it’s one of those “everyone should have one” pedals, but yeah, I’d prefer not to go down a high gain boost rabbit hole.

So I did that a few years ago. I bought and sold over 20 overdrives over the course of about 3 years. I landed on keeping 3 of them. SD1, Grid Slammer, and a basic Tubescreamer. The SD1 is so underrated it's not even funny. It gives me asymmetrical clipping - really great for boosting highs like a Fortin 33 but not as shrill. The Tubescreamer gives me the normal TS / 808 style boost that works so well with rectifiers and Badlanders. The Grid Slammer is for when I want a TS type of sound but a little bassier/woolier as it allows more bass to come through than a standard TS.

Those 3 really do it all for me.

 

[Achilles]

What does the 1 knob do? My TC clone has 3 - bass, treble, and volume.