"Every explorer I have met has been driven – not coincidentally but quintessentially – by curiosity, by a single-minded, insatiable, and even jubilant need to know." - Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Here's a question: What's going on under the ocean? There's a number of people we could ask; Captain Nemo, Steve Zissou, the Fab Four – all legendary undersea expeditionists, but for now, let's keep this one in house. What do we know about the ocean? Well, it covers about seventy percent of the Earth's surface, it's home to many a sea creature, it makes you feel important while staring out at it while you think about life...that's a pretty good summary, right?
In any case, there's plenty about the ocean we don't know. In fact, there's plenty about the ocean no one knows. In terms of literal geographic knowledge, relatively little of the undersea world has been explored – even less properly documented. The ocean's still a big, beautiful mystery, and that's pretty cool, don't you think?
In this seafaring spirit, we've got something really cool on the chopping block that we can't help but be psyched about. You can already tell what it is – you clicked on the page after all – so let's talk about it. This is the Benson Amps Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo.
Shop the Benson Deep Sea Diver
20,000 Leagues Under the "B"
Introducing the Benson Amps Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo
If you've been hanging around in gear circles for long enough, you're likely familiar with one of amplifiers' busiest B's, Benson Amps. The Portland, Oregon-based operation hand makes many of the boutique amplifier world's most cherished and popular pieces – the Bellringer, Stonk Box, and Delay, to name a few. There's an element of care and community among the Benson line of models that really can't be scripted, so much so that leagues of artists flock to Chris Benson for his unique brand of amplified wisdom. Among these artists, Jessica Dobson of the indie act Deep Sea Diver.
A Deep DiveNow, if you've been hanging around indie guitar circles for long enough, you're likely familiar with Jessica Dobson of Deep Sea Diver. A prolific guitar wiz as well as an established touring talent, Dobson's premier act, Deep Sea Diver, has been working the indie rock circuit for many years. Deep Sea Diver subscribes to a school of indie rock characterized by dark vibes, fluid instrumentation, narrative tension, and vintage-style tonality. Your classic indie darling act, Deep Sea Diver has been around the block a couple times and have the fans and experience to show for it.
At the heart of Jessica Dobson's sound has always been a conversation between dirt and delay. These classic effects permeate throughout the Deep Sea Diver catalog, creating interesting juxtapositions of tone all along the way. Dobson's friendship with Chris Benson and her apparent fondness for Benson effects brings her today to this juncture with the Benson Amps Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo. A truly unique two-in-one effect pedal, the Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo is a striking convergence of Dobson's tonal fascinations and Benson's intriguing design directions.
Submarining
Benson Amps Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo Controls
There is some great inventiveness on display here with the Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo. To not get ahead of ourselves, let's start this out slow. What is the Benson Amps Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo, really?
The Benson Amps Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo is a two-in-one fuzz and analog delay effect pedal. These two effects share six control dials and one footswitch. At the onset, your fuzz is your primary effect with your analog delay being capable of being removed from the signal entirely. We've got a nice lineup of controls to roll through and talk about, so let's get to it.
Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo Fuzz Controls
- Volume – Let's start here. With the Volume dial, you have control over the output of the whole pedal. Scale the Volume upwards for more, roll it back for less. No big deal.
- Bias – Here's where we start getting a little fancy (I know, already, right?). The Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo fuzz operates largely through its Bias control. This Bias control works as something of a joint control for tone and sustain, if you’ve got a more traditional fuzz already in mind. Rolling through this knob, you have a wealth of fuzz amounts and tonalities to mix through. Start near zero and you'll have minimal fuzz. Push it to the max and you're off to the races. This control gets really interesting and interactive when you introduce the Gate control.
- Gate – With the Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo's Gate control, you get an extra angle from which to shape your fuzz. The Gate control specifically harnesses, or "chokes" the fuzz signal to either reel it in or let it loose. You can utilize your Gate control to starve the fuzz and make for tighter distorted responses, should you be looking for a more concentrated or pointed fuzzy flavor, or feed it plenty and stoke the flame.
Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo Delay Controls
- Echo – Right here, we've got our Echo control which controls the amount of delay effect present in the signal. Since the delay effect can be minimized, maximized, or completely zeroed out, you have a lot of room to negotiate with how specific your delays can be. The fact that this delay shares a pedal with a fuzz doesn't mean it lacks the nuance to stand on its own!
- Rate – Now we're getting a little more familiar. The Rate control for the Fuzz-Echo spans from a tight slapback to a resonating echo. With this control, you have the freedom to play the Fuzz-Echo as a more traditional and responsive delay or get really out there with its tones, but we'll talk about that more in a minute.
- Feedback – Here we have our usual Feedback control which sets the number of repeats present in the delay trail. Again, minimize for a more modest sound and maximize for something wilder*. Your Feedback control completes out the six-dial interface of the Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo, but what can this pedal really do?
If you're a fiend for self-oscillation, don't worry, Benson has you covered here.
Staring at the Sea
Benson Amps Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo Tones
As you can see, there's quite a bit going on with this relatively compact pedal. Let's talk about some tones then.
Rolling through the many effect combinations you can land at on this pedal, the treasure trove of tones becomes apparent pretty quickly. For context, the Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo takes its primary fuzz flavor from Bender-style fuzz units à la the fizzy, British fuzzes you've surely heard across rock music history. One of the prominent fuzz sounds Jessica Dobson has shouted out in particular when talking about this pedal's sonic palette belongs to Irish shoegaze band My Bloody Valentine. For the uninitiated, My Bloody Valentine's fuzzes are famously very abrasive and very vintage. For the initiated, this is a signal to get excited.
"Beyond the splatty gated sounds, I wanted a fuzz that could get wooly and straight forward, or shake hands with my favorite gauzy My Bloody Valentine textures. I wanted it to clean up nice and work as a treble booster for my guitar solos, or sound like a foreign landscape of oscillation and interrupting textures. Simply put, it has become the most interesting and versatile pedal on my board." - Jessica Dobson
While the fuzz effect can be used on its own, the Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo truly shines with both effects at attention. The Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo is marvelously capable of working both as a more modest dirt and delay combination and as a no-holds-barred dream machine. Combining the pedal's Bender-style fuzz and PT2399-style analog delay, you have a wealth of dark, murky, vintage-style tones at your disposal. Crank the Bias and minimize the Gate alongside a long Feedback trail for all your best shoegazey mixes. Reel everything in to chop along on rhythm guitar, if that's your prerogative.
Of course, we can't not mention one of the best features of this pedal. By holding down the footswitch while connecting a power supply, players can swap between effect orders. What this means is the Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo change between fuzz-into-delay or delay-into-fuzz. A green light will indicate the fuzz is running into the delay, an orange light will indicate the inverse. Veterans to noisy effect mixing are already imagining the cacophonic possibilities, we know it. Spike this noisy mess to an eleven by holding down the footswitch while playing for some wild delay oscillation. You didn't hear it from us, though.
Benson Amps Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo Final Thoughts
So, what have we learned today? Let's refresh.
Benson's amplified wizardry strikes again on this new dual effect. Its design and tonality effortlessly inspire intriguing effect mixes for any and every indie rock fan to get in on. The Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo is truly a love letter to not only the band's distinct sound but to the classic effect combination of fuzz and delay. For fans of either effect – and especially of both together – this Benson creation is a no-brainer for at least a trial. If you're a frequent user of fuzz and delay, we're sure that you've already got a few ideas cooking for this pedal – and for that, we say go for it and have fun. There's plenty here to sink your teeth into.
The ocean's a pretty big place – still is, if you haven't checked in a while. What would we do without it?
