Who here likes guitars? Damn near everybody right? And who wouldn’t? Guitars are one of the leading causes of pregnancy amongst ugly people in the known world – right behind beer, “Babe, Iran just launched the nukes,” and the infinite despair of knowing that’ll you’ll otherwise die alone. Still, have you ever wondered what exactly makes a guitar sound so damn good? If you said ‘talent’ then you couldn’t be more wrong if you were a picture of Craig David with a Mobo.

For non-experts, the blind, and people who for reasons of debilitating neck injury have lost the ability to look down, a good (if varying) proportion of a guitarist’s sound comes from those little magic boxes strewn about their feet. They can be incidental, or in the case of some artists, define or even wholly make up their sound.

Most people will know their Bosses, their Digitechs, and some sad dole queue-rs will know their Behringers. But there is a huge underground base of circuit prodding boutique experimentalists out there, soldering off the beaten track, trying to bring forward less conventional sounds and designs to the discerning ear. One of the most highly regarded leaders of the pack in this respect is a woman named Devi Ever, who makes a living out of shredding celestions and taking names.

One of the few women in her field, and operating out of her home in Portland Oregon, Devi currently specializes in exceptional quality boutique fuzz. For those of you wondering what that is, Google it as I’ve already killed enough paragraph space. Mouth, words, go!

 

tga: What first made you decide to pick up the ‘ol soldering iron?
Devi: In 2002 a friend of mine wanted to build an ABY box and I was determined to give it a shot since I knew it’d be really easy, and sure enough it was no problem.

tga: You recently stated that 2011 would be the year that you really focused on the business. Is that in the sense of knuckling down and wearing a suit or just a warning to friends, family and pets that you might be a little more pre-occupied with this whole pedal malarkey than usual?
Devi: It’s a funny story actually, because while I am indeed making the business more of a financial priority in my life this year (last year I collected far too much music gear that I hardly end up using), I’m actually finding a lot more time to concentrate on fruitful musical endeavors. Three projects actually: an alternative rock act called DANGER THIEVES! in which I play guitar, bass and sing. Then there is a goth/industrial/d&b solo project where I’m known as the Pale Princess. Lastly is a new super exciting project where I play drums in a progish math rock band of sorts.

But beyond that (and the occasional forum meanderings I get caught up in), yeah. All business. And cats.

tga: Tell us a little about the Effector 13 Console II that you’re bringing out. It seems to be potentially quite revolutionary. Sounds like you want to branch out into new designs and different effects in 2011 – can you give us any tentative info yet?
Devi: Well, the Effector 13 Console II is really a way of getting the day-to-day duldrums of being a hand-crafted boutique pedal business off my back. Funny story though, because I’ve come to the realization that there is most likely a place for both my Console and my normal boutique pedals, so it’s looking like I might be expanding the biz in two directions as the year goes by. I’m already daydreaming heavily of moving the biz out of my home and getting a bigger space somewhere nearby.

Actually my dream is to have a larger warehouse space that I can build living quarters for me and my cats, and then open up a rehearsal/art studio al-la Andy Warhol. But I think that’ll have to be for after money starts coming in from the Console. Which everyone apparently thinks is going to be a big deal. I’ll just be happy to not have to be building guitar pedals by hand 10 hours a day, 7 days a week.

But back to effects. I’d love to have my company tackle phase, delay, bit crushing. There’s been a lot on my mind over the years when it comes to effects, and even more so now. But it’s all a matter of affording the time and money and resources for research and development which is what I’m hoping the Console will allow me to do – kind of be a catalyst for new things, to do them more quickly, more easily.

tga: For those who maybe don’t know what is involved, can you give a quick overview of your typical design and construction process?
Devi: It’s pretty standard boutique stuff really. Breadboard an idea, build it by hand, etc. This is one of those questions where if people are interested, they should definitely Google ‘DIY pedal building’ because there are so many great resources out there these days on how the process works and how to get into the game. Anyone can build guitar pedals thanks to cheaper and more available parts.

tga: Do you normally start out with a specific idea or is it a more free-flowing, improvisational, ‘what happens if I do x,’ kind of process?
Devi: In the past, yes, I always let my fuzz designs happen very organically. It was very much a ‘let’s see what THIS can do!’ kind of approach. These days though, not so much. Well, first of all I’ve been out of the design game for so long, and secondly I’ve been privileged to spend time with enough brilliant electrical engineers to realize the benefits of really thought-out planning when coming up with a circuit design. Not to mention too, that you can’t just experimentally build the more complex things I want to get into. I feel like I’ve gone from mad scientist to actual scientist. Ha.

tga: How long does a typical pedal take from inception to finish line?
Devi: Well see, this is what the Console is all about, and why it’s taken me so long to get the biz to a point where I feel I can move on to designing other effects. You see, normally I spring into an idea and then want to have it out within a few weeks or less. That’s not exactly possible when you are working with a more complex non-fuzz design, especially when you allow yourself a completely blank canvas where you could have say, eight knobs and a bunch of flip switches and a huge pedal enclosure to control a dozen different things.

No, the Console forces one to design for a very specific, efficient purpose. One foot switch for on and off, four knobs to control the effect. So that way, by setting limitations, it keeps one’s mind from going too wild and thusly, focuses the design to be simpler and hopefully inspire to run with more ideas since the cost of creating a cartridge is so much cheaper than an entire pedal.

I mean, you have so much involved in releasing an ENTIRE other pedal. It seems silly, but things like the artwork, the knobs, the enclosure – it’s a big part of the cost and headache of getting a new pedal out into the world.

The Console cuts down those costs to just the PCB, components, and little plastic enclosure. So you don’t have to worry about all the investment headaches of the bulkier stuff, plus the design limitations help focus on keeping the effect relatively simple.

 

 

tga: You use silicon transistors over germanium – was the reason behind this mainly commercial or creative?
Devi: Honestly? Financial. I’ve tried to keep my production costs down to a minimum so I can offer affordable effects for the masses, and as silly as it might sound, the addition of germanium is just one more headache than it’s worth to get a slightly different fuzztone.

tga: All things considered, you’re pretty active on the forums and approachable etc. (thanks for that by the way). Was there a particular reasoning behind this and what have you found to be the upsides and downsides of doing so?
Devi: Honestly it’s my biggest vice. I’ve used the internet since before it’s inception as we know it today (I used to run a BBS back in the 90′s) as a means to be social in a way I felt I couldn’t in the real world.

Though, I must say as I’m stepping further into musical endeavors, I’m finding myself less and less attracted to being social online. I mean, it has its place, for sure but it’s more of a distraction to me.

tga: What was your first fx pedal?
Devi: Two of them actually… Phase 90 and Blue Box. The Phase 90 because I knew that the Smashing Pumpkins used a Phase at the beginning of ‘Mayonaise’, and the Blue Box because I wanted an octave sound like on ‘Rocket’ (also by the Pumpkins).

tga: What is your favourite/most useful pedal?
Devi: Useful? Right now probably the Ernie Ball Volume Jr. to turn down my guitar when I’m tuning because I always have my amp real loud. Favorite? I think the one pedal that hasn’t disappointed me yet in my jamming with DANGER THIEVES! is the devi ever Helios. It’s really just such an amazing fuzz for bass guitar, and honestly the first time I’ve had a chance to jam out with my own pedal in a live band situation consistently.

tga: What is success for you? Is it the number of buys? General recognition? Or just the satisfaction of creating something new?
Devi: I don’t necessarily believe in a general ideal of “success”. I just have goals I want to accomplish, and I do what it takes to get there. Like for instance, if I don’t have more free time to spend doing music by the end of 2011, I’m quitting the pedal biz for good. Fortunately I have a plan in mind to keep the pedal biz, but also have time for music.

tga: How does it feel to have quite a few famous players using your pedals?
Devi: I’ve been joking recently that I’m collecting bands from the 90′s. Just recently I had the Red Hot Chili Peppers and then shortly thereafter the Toadies get some of my pedals. Honestly it’s the greatest kind of recognition I could possibly ask for, not because they are famous, but because they’re bands that so influenced the kinds of sounds I wanted to hear come from a guitar pedal. So to have them click with the sound – it’s appropriately enough like a feed back loop of sorts.

tga: Total sonic/psychic bliss man. [grin] We’re noticing a definite interest in Smashing Pumpkins, NIN, etc. Who in your mind has really good tones and do you sometimes aim to emulate them? More generally, who/what would you say are your main sonic influences?
Devi: Honestly, it’s kind of funny but there’s only ever been really one tone I’ve alway strived to emulate and that’s the “fuzz breakdown” you hear during great destructive moments from the Smashing Pumpkins, live Jimmy Hendrix, the really dirty NIN recordings. Anytime you hear on a record a distinctive fuzz tone, that’s what I’m going for. Jack White, Josh Homme, The Black Keys. Those guys know what’s up.

tga: There are comparatively few female pedal-makers out there right now. Do you think there is still a certain amount of gender-bias – in that messing around with PCB’s and soldering irons is seen as something of a boy’s game?
Devi: I have no idea why. If I had to wildly speculate, it’d probably have something to do with male patriarchal society and how that keeps women from feeling empowered enough to be rockstars rather than sex symbols – and thusly so you have fewer female rock and rollers, with even fewer really into gear, which means even fewer into designing and manufacturing gear. Just speculating…

tga: Robin Finck or Aaron North?
Devi: Robin Finck hands down. He just seems more genuine, more of the earth, less showy.

tga: Russian or USA Big Muff?
Green Sovtek, yes please. Black sovtek, no thanks. USA 70′s IC Muff, yes please. Everything else, not so much.

tga: Brody Dalle or Courtney Love?
Devi: Brody Dalle is the mother fucking real deal. Fuck Courtney Love.

tga: Cats or Dogs?
Devi: Meow!

Check out Devi’s pedals in action here – then go explore the Aladdin’s cave of her website: www.deviever.com/fx/

 

 

Richard Ruston