Himmelstrutz Gramps + ....Talk about it.

[dorfmeister]

Looks interesting. Seen a few clips. He calls it a Fuzzstortion? I am thinking it might be a really good alternative to a Fuzz Face? Those of you who have one or have played one....can you say a bit more about the sound and feel of this pedal?

http://www.himmelstrutz.com/gramps_plus.htm

[JimmyR]

One of my favourite pedals. It can be a booster, an overdrive, a distortion or a fuzz. Because it has such wide ranging bass and treble controls it covers a range of tones, and all of them are good and usable. It won't get quite as lo-fi and spitty as a good FF but it is suitable for a much wider range of applications. My fave is to use it as an extremely touch and volume sensitive OD. Unbelievable with a Les Paul, and nice and fat with a Strat.

I love it with the LP at lower gain for those squawky early ZZ Top sounds. With a Strat you can get into Gilmour territory and you can even make a Gretsch sound as fat as a Gibson. It can act like a treble booster into a dirty amp by boosting gain and fatness. Very vowel-like tones are here.

[amp boy]

what jimmy said.

+ the rhythm playing ability is beautiful.

...and it depends on what qualities and how you use a FF.

[coldfingaz]

This sounds very interesting.

I was considering a Fetto, but it would be a really silly purchase given how happy I am covering similar ground with a DRD.

After reading a bit about this the Gramps it sounds similar to a Screwdriver... is that at all accurate? Definitely interested in some more impressions.

[edgie]

Originally Posted by coldfingaz

This sounds very interesting.

I was considering a Fetto, but it would be a really silly purchase given how happy I am covering similar ground with a DRD.

After reading a bit about this the Gramps it sounds similar to a Screwdriver... is that at all accurate? Definitely interested in some more impressions.

I had a Screwdriver Deluxe two months ago and the Gramps+ has been with me since December last year. I don't think they sound and feel similar. The Gramps has a wider range IMHO and can actually be used on its own. I feel that the SD needs a good OD to push to produce great sounds else it would sound quite transistory. The Gramps has some airy quality to it which I can't really articulate well but you can feel and hear it live.

Like what JimmyR said, the Gramps can do a lot of things well whether clean boosting, OD, dist. The only thing that it doesn't do is spitty lo fi fuzz.

[coldfingaz]

Originally Posted by edgie

I had a Screwdriver Deluxe two months ago and the Gramps+ has been with me since December last year. I don't think they sound and feel similar. The Gramps has a wider range IMHO and can actually be used on its own. I feel that the SD needs a good OD to push to produce great sounds else it would sound quite transistory. The Gramps has some airy quality to it which I can't really articulate well but you can feel and hear it live.

Like what JimmyR said, the Gramps can do a lot of things well whether clean boosting, OD, dist. The only thing that it doesn't do is spitty lo fi fuzz.

Cool, thanks a lot for this info. I also owned a SD & ended up selling it... not that it isn't a fine pedal, I just had (and still have) so many OD & distortion options. I'm definitely thinking a Gramps could be in my future, though.

Has anyone used one with an Esquire/Tele or P90's?

[Seegs]

Originally Posted by coldfingaz

Cool, thanks a lot for this info. I also owned a SD & ended up selling it... not that it isn't a fine pedal, I just had (and still have) so many OD & distortion options. I'm definitely thinking a Gramps could be in my future, though.

Has anyone used one with an Esquire/Tele or P90's?

Yep and it sounds amazing...

I had a 3 knob Gramps and play teles through Marshall and Fender-like amps...great tone I sold it because I always ended up dialling in a smoother tone that was not so different from my Fetto Nord...so I decided I didn't need it anymore...

I would love to try a G+ as I just have a feeling that the extra tone shaping options would give me a broader range of tones...

Chow,
Seegs

[coldfingaz]

Just pulled the trigger on a Gramps+. Looks like they're in stock so I should have it within a couple weeks. If it does close to what I expect, I'll probably be clearing out a few other things shortly (older Rat, possibly a Timmy, etc.).

I'm expecting big things as it would be slotted on a PT Nano I'm assembling as a grab & go deal for live stuff (I don't need much for that at all)... which would look something like:

Turbo Tuner>>Gramps+>>HBOD>>DBD

Hoping for the best!

[Sikor]

I have only liked 2 "fuzzy" pedals I tried.
One is Gramps, the other one i Screwdriver

[JimmyR]

Oh yeah - Gramps+ is amazing with my R4! P90s sound great through this pedal. Actually everything, even my Gretsches sound good through it. That is the thing that amazes me about Himmelstrutz pedals - they sound great with everything. Some pedals are very picky.

And Seegs - I have both 3-knob and 4-knob Gramps and the Gramps + with the 4 knobs is a huge improvement over the Gramps IMHO. Way more usable.

[coldfingaz]

Originally Posted by JimmyR

Oh yeah - Gramps+ is amazing with my R4! P90s sound great through this pedal. Actually everything, even my Gretsches sound good through it. That is the thing that amazes me about Himmelstrutz pedals - they sound great with everything. Some pedals are very picky.

And Seegs - I have both 3-knob and 4-knob Gramps and the Gramps + with the 4 knobs is a huge improvement over the Gramps IMHO. Way more usable.

This is great to hear. Really look forward to receiving mine now. I play mostly Esquires & P90's with a variety of amps. Seems like this will be a good fit.

Anyone stack the Gramps + with a HBOD?

[coldfingaz]

My Gramps + has shipped & I should be playing it this weekend/early next week. Really looking forward to it & setting it up on my PT Nano board.

Any particularly good stacks people are using the Gramps+ with? I've heard it sounds great alone & I'm thinking of just going with the HBOD (since that thing stacks great with literally everything I've tried it with), but I could also try a Timmy & a few others.

[rks89]

Is the Gramps+ capable of sounding like the Nord at lower settings? Or are the flavors very different?

I ask because it seems that if this (gramps+) is capable of clean boost, medium od and fuzz like tones there must be some type of overlap with the Nord unless they are of different flavor.

[Seegs]

texture is indeed different but on my 3 knob I always used to dial in a smoother overdrive sound which wasn't so far away from my Nord's od tones so I sold it and kept the Nord because of the boost and versatility factor...

Chow,
Seegs

[soli528]

Herr Himmelstrutz is whipping me up a "Gramps+ Firehouse edition"...somewhat relic'ed in appearance, like it may have been thru a house fire before reaching my hands. He made it sound like an unpredictable, possibly dangerous process and that aesthetically pleasing results can't be guaranteed (or something to that effect)! I can't wait to get it!
My older Fetto 11.1 is one of my favorite OD pedals ever. Really looking forward to adding to the lineup.