DOD Gonkulator FX13

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FX13 Ring Modulator is fuzzy, buzzy and downright nasty little bastard designed to deconstruct your tone, which the Gonkulator certainly does. There are really two parts to the Gonkulator; a simple Distortion circuit, ala The Grunge pedal, and the Ring Modulator. The "SUCK" (Level) knob and the "GUNK" (Gain) knob work together to control the Distortion effect. Neither of these controls do anything to the Ring Modulator sound. The "SMEAR" knob is basically a Mix control for the Ring Modulator; at the lowest setting you hear no Ring Modulator sound at all, at the highest setting, you bring on the noise. The "HEAVE" knob is sort of a Master Gain control for the whole box. The FX-13, known as the "Gonkulator Modulator" is designed to add dimension to a signal by taking the frequency sum and difference of the signal and blending it with DOD's Grunge distortion (The Grunge effect is in parallel with the ring modulation, and can be mixed together at the output). The overtones the FX-13 produces are very "gonk"-like sound.

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User Reviews of the DOD Gonkulator FX13

Submitted by Phil from London (148 points) on Nov 17, 2010
Not too impressed by this, there are certainly more distinct, more flexible, less mushy ring mods out there. The distortion is OK but the usual hi-gain DOD affair. I used it a fair bit but it was only ever switched on now and again for a bit of variety in the chain. It ended up as the "shall I bother taking this to the gig?" pedal. Nothing to get excited about all in all.
Good Points: OK distortion, two pedals in one.
Bad Points: Ring mod nothing special, usually way overpriced for what it is.
Price Paid: US$30.00
Purchased At: Guitar store
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Submitted by ralph from San Francisco, CA (114 points) on Jan 12, 2008
seems like a good idea, but it is very limited, fixed ring mod
Good Points: looks kinda cool?
Bad Points: doesnt do much and gets lost in a chain
Price Paid: US$120.00
Purchased At: noisefx
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Submitted by apewrist from Kielce (310 points) on Oct 16, 2007
I am not really sure what to think about this pedal. I received it yesterday and I expected something totally different but at the same time i like the way it sounds. I fed it with contact mic and then plugged into Metal Zone and the effect was really cool, harsh and metallic sound. Twiddling the knobs on this pedal doesn't do much to the sound but you can still hear some minor changes. I would say - if you'll find it for cheap - get it. Otherwise try it before you buy it.
Good Points: - Metallic sound - Ring mod and distortion work magic
Bad Points: - You can not tweak the ring mod sound - One trick pony - It is not what you may think it is
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At:
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Submitted by Iain David from United Kingdom (144 points) on Dec 22, 2006
Meh. This sounds like a great idea on paper but once you plug it in everything you feed through it gets dogged by some whining, whirring sound. The ring mod is fixed and inflexible (you can't tune it) and, put simply, it's just not worth the often ridiculous asking price. Can do some nice stuff in a feedback loop but really your better just getting yourself a proper ring mod.
Good Points: - Pretty nasty sounding.
Bad Points: - Very VERY noisy (and not in a good way) - Thunderously non-versatile. - Expensive.
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At:
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Submitted by Ryan from Bessemer, AL (2 points) on Apr 17, 2006
this pedal makes weird ass noises and you cant really make it sound different unless you use some other mod. pedals.it hums when in your chain unless you have a noise gate.my gonk. was brand new still in the both with all the papers.
Good Points: its got a weird but cool sound to it.its not really that tweakable its just straight up with its sound but learning or trying to tweak it is all the fun.its sounds good in the right hands(mike einziger from incubus in the song called "Glass").this pedal is good or anyone who wants to fuck up their sound.
Bad Points: not alot of sound options its discontinued and people charge way to much for it unless you buy it second hand.
Price Paid: US$170.00
Purchased At: ebay
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Submitted by sclr from Portland, OR (220 points) on Jul 1, 2005
well i got this thing at a pawn shop super cheap, i thought there must be a catch. there was. it had a broken resistor. so i replaced it. i don't know if i got the right one or not but this thing screeches hisses and makes some weird doubled sounding clangs. cool with me. i wonder if it was supposed to sound this way.
Good Points: clangy noisy and nasty.
Bad Points: none
Price Paid: US$20.00
Purchased At: pawn shop
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Submitted by Marco from Brescia (138 points) on Apr 23, 2005
Make a pedal with dist and r.mod. together is a good idea, but... This thing sucks tone, doesn't have enough controls for distortion, the ring mod is boring (if compared with a Frequency Analizer). But I found it useful 'cause it feedbacks from itself: a nasty metallic noise. It does a great work after envelope filters and wah.
Good Points: -you can control the mix between dist and r.mod. with a knob -small size for a r.mod
Bad Points: -boring, flat sound -expensive and rare
Price Paid: US$50.00
Purchased At: e-bay
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Submitted by paolo from Lafayette, LA (6 points) on May 14, 2004
I have it and it was the best grunge ringer I know of but on the other hand it has this sound when pluged it has a self ring to it that anoing to me but when crakned oh man it's like nosie all over again put the dis&ring togather and see how cool it is but wait put it behind a zoom 505 and here it sceam its really neat. dont put a fz7 infornt of it ti wont work that way.
Good Points: it was made by the company that made the buzz box dod of course has that paranoid sound when both dis&ring are put togather
Bad Points: best to get any other ring modulator for that effect this really stinks buy it self big time
Price Paid: US$89.00
Purchased At: 6 string music
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Submitted by Beavis from Afghanistan (258 points) on Feb 15, 2003
Very cool, dod has always made wierd stompers, and this is no exception. Distortion mixed with a ring mod. Makes sound like clanging metal balls
Good Points: Cool distortion add ring mod and is even cooler, new dod power jack!!
Bad Points: Non tunable and one dimensional (but cool none the less) ring mod, confusing controls
Price Paid: US$10.00
Purchased At: Store in Kuala Lumpur
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Submitted by nkondi from Portland, OR (610 points) on Dec 4, 2002
I was excited when this first came out oh so long ago. I used it for a myriad of applications cause the sound it could create was so clangy and metallic at times. I did have some slight volume problems, i.e. at some settings it would suck too much out. Not a must have but a fun pedal all in all.
Good Points: ring modulator in a single pedal has the new fangled dod door with hinges so it wont get lost solid construction nice paint job
Bad Points: not made anymore so collectors are jacking up the price limited sound, but its just a ring mod in a pedal, what do you expect?
Price Paid: US$84.00
Purchased At: some crapy music shop
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Submitted by sticky from glasgow (12 points) on Apr 1, 2002
it was pretty excited to see a ring modulator in a stomp box. The sound itself is pretty limited, it always sounds like a DOD Gonkulator, no mater how you set it up and it has this really irritating fuzzy whine component to its sound always too. NOT an essential item at all. I'd go with the ring modulators on a Zoom 1202 anyday.
Good Points: it's extremely loud usual solid DOD construction
Bad Points: very little variation in the sopunds it can produce
Price Paid: US$50.00
Purchased At: local guitar store
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Submitted by Rob from London (362 points) on Mar 22, 2002
THis is a rare pedal. Ring modulators are great for noise but this one can't be tuned, so you can't do the shortwave radio sounds or harmonising with it. You can only play in one key (Bflat). Imagine a wah pedal that you couldn't move and you can see how stupid this is! It often sounds too weak as well. The oscilator is clearly audable all the time whether this is good or bad is up to you...It can sound like another feedback channel. Very hard to find as well. Get an EH frequency analyer instead - it's the same price as this "vintage pedal" but does so much more and sounds 50X better.
Good Points: Good for a noisy break perhaps. Looks cool.
Bad Points: Weak sound UNTUNABLE! Noisy droning oscilator (can be a good thing though) Hard to find and expensive.
Price Paid: US$50.00
Purchased At: ebay
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Submitted by Gus from San Francisco, CA (282 points) on Mar 1, 2002
This thing is capable of turning any signal routed through it into a clanging, raspy mess. From what i've been told the distortion is identical to the Grunge pedal, but distortion isn't the stong point of this pedal. As ring modulators go, this one isn't very versitile. In other words, you can't tune it at all as the ring modulators frequency is fixed. To make things stranger, when the pedal is engaged it produces a high pitched whine at all times. The whine is aparently an oscillator that is producing the untunable ring modulator frequency. Why this should be audible is anyone's guess, but it is. As for the sound quality of this unit, it can be used to great effect in noise. It is great to change midrangey sounds into painfully high frequency noise. The only bad thing about the sound of this unit is that it can be picked out of a lineup of other ring modulators with ease. Anybody familliar with the gonkulator will recognize it immediately. The effect stands out, even when crushed under a pile of other effects. In short, it's a one trick pony. A good trick mind you, but only one trick...
Good Points: Loud, clangy mahem in a box. Produces sound all by itself. Cuts through any mix.
Bad Points: No longer made. They're starting to fetch collector's prices. One trick pony.
Price Paid: US$35.00
Purchased At: Guitar Center
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