Trevor May the innovator behind the MayFly Audio brand from Ottawa, Canada loves to design guitar pedals that are true to the tones he grew up on. MayFly doesn’t offer wild excursions like Hologram or Meris, no he delivers bread ‘n’ butter effects handmade with simple silkscreens or more provocative illustrations from Sabine Elliott. We got our hands on his latest offering, the Demon Girl Fuzz pedal and put it through its paces with guitarists and electronic musicians alike.
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Like May’s other pedals, the Demon Girl is a simple affair with one button, three knobs and a toggle. It’s well made and each of the modulators feel solid and smooth. Elliot’s graphics feature a busty, evil clown woman inside of a pumpkin head with mostly blue tones ranging from aqua to deep purple. It’s certainly a vibe, which is neither overdone or underdone, and gives the pedal a distinctive aura. Our reviewers felt the text elements could have been a “tad more sophisticated and fun” but our editor felt the feedback was nitpicking. Trevor May does back up the pedal with a lifetime warranty, so if something goes amiss from typical use, and not casting it into a lake to evoke the Demon Girl spirit, he’ll fix it free of charge.
Four Transistors and The Truth
Utilizing four transistors “and the truth,” according to the Demon Girl page on his circa 1998 website, May is able to generate “weighty fuzz” that has more “presence and grit” than a BigMuff, while still sounding “rooted and organic.” The mono pedal is definitely focused on guitarists and May tuned the pedal to crank out the massive, but if that isn’t enough there is the Heavy toggle that will turn your Axl Rose into Kurt Cobain gravel. The three knobs are Volume, Crush ad Fuzz. The Crush acts like a compressor with mid/high tone control, punctuating the mayhem while the Fuzz knob dials up the wool and shag.
The pedal has a nice resonance that we discovered to sound quite nice on drum loops and percussion to obtain that lofi phlegm. It didn’t fare as well as we thought on acid lines and mono synth action. The reason was twofold. First, it didn’t have enough range to make enough of an impact and second, which is the Demon Girl’s achilles heel, was noise floor. The Demon Girl breathes heavy. While you can get away with the wheeze ripping out a guitar solo on stage, in the studio you’ll need to employ a savvy noise gate to keep that snoring packed tight.
“That Demon Girl Fuzz Pedal Is A Heavy Breather…”
Demon Girl Fuzz Pedal Features:
- Four transistor fuzz with tone inspired by the classic British fuzz boxes of the 60’s
- Crush compression accentuates mid or high frequencies
- Full bypass With Fail Safe
- 9-volt external supply – cannot be battery operated
- Hand-made in Canada
- Lifetime Warranty
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For a handmade pedal with a lifetime warranty, MayFly doesn’t kick your wallet in the nether regions like Chase Bliss or Strymon. It costs a reasonable $199 and ships to you fast from the great white way via Reverb. But that’s $199 C-a-n-a-d-i-a-n, which is about US$150 or €137 (not including shipping). Even better.
Conclusion
You may thing the last thing the world needs right now is another Fuzz pedal, but MayFly’s Demon Girl definitely has it’s own flavor with a cogent tone. If you’re in the market for some new fuzz, the Demon Girl may just be the monster under the bed you’re looking for. Worth A Look.
MayFly Demon Girl Fuzz Pedal Rating: 80%
Cheers:
+ Unique Tone
+ Build Quality
+ Graphics
+ Lifetime Warranty
Jeers:
– Noise
– Limited Tonal Range
MayFly’s Demon Girl Fuzz costs $150 and is available now.
The Future: Throttling the noise is the first order of business. Next would be to elaborate on the Crush concept to increase the tonal range. This may require breaking it out as another knob and incorporating the low end of the Heavy toggle, but it may be worth it to expand the Fuzz tone into new realms.
