3Leaf Audio Doom 2

Day 1:
The build quality of that beast is on par with the highest quality makers.
I wanna say brands like Origin Effects, Rodenberg, CMC Audio make pedals that you can throw through a closed window on the third floor and pick it up from the dented concrete outside and continue playing it. Sheet metal.

The knobs and switches confirm what the steel enclosure hints at: In terms of material and build quality, no corners were cut.
This is one of the pedals where reading the manual is quite helpful, but I wanted to experience it by myself, so it took a while to find out how the bass knob works.
Essentially, you have your volume and gain, but these only affect the fuzz signal. There is a second path hidden in the pedal, which is either a clean signal or a lowpassed clean signal. The lowpass is switched on with the left switch, and the bass knob controls the volume of that signal. I found that with gain and volume all the way down, the switch in the non-low-pass-position and the bass knob around 11:30, pedal off and pedal on sound the same.

Now there’s the your/you’re knob which essentially takes a melodic fuzz that is rich in harmonics and injects a mix of steroids and crack into the circuit that does the harmonics. In the lower setting you get what you’re used to from a fuzz. In the upper setting your get total mayhem.

The remaining knobs do as expected. Mids and treble work to shape the fuzz signals mids and treble.

However. Every knob is incredibly interactive with every other knob – not even the volume knob is innocent here. And the pedal is incredibly reactive to playing style. There are so many factors at play here – It feels a bit like you’ve been introduced to letters in math class and are quite proud that you can
solve for X in 2X-7=7, but now you’re asked to prove that a^n+b^n=c^n does not work for n>2.

Day 2:
The only other thing I ever laid eyes and/or hands on that comes close is the Fake Plastic Trees.
I only compared those two for a minute, but I wanna say that while the FPT is much better at low gain sounds and works as a preamp, the Doom2 has a lot more control over the maxed out fuzz stuff.

I need to look deeper into the capabilities of the lower gain settings on the Doom2, now that I have a firmer grip on the controls.
Watching Zach’s YT video about it, I learned that my assumption about the EQ was not correct – the treble knob is roll off only and it’s neutral when wide open.
It’s funny how the FPT and the Doom2 get you instantly in synth territory – just fire them into an envelope and you’re done.
However – my secret sauce with the FPT is using the BDPG before hitting the filter and I don’t seem to require that with the Doom2.

Both are somewhat weird pedals that stray off the trodden paths and do something on their own, in their own way. The limited availability and high price tag on both awards them Cork-Sniffer’s-Snob-Points even before plugging them in.

Day 3:
I have to sing .. the highest praise. Ein Lobelied auf 3Leaf Audio.
This thing is awesome. I learned yet another thing just now: The gain knob does not affect the output volume. You can literally set your envelope just right and then sweep through the entire range to find the right spot instead of guessing sweet spots and tediously and painstakingly readjusting the envelope and master volume every time you touch the gain. That is SUCH a treat!
Apart from that, I found my favorite settings: The EQ is set with treble wide open, mids giving a bit of a boost and bass set to unity a fair bit before noon, with the low pass engaged on the clean signal and the other switch in the upper (more harmonics) position.
This works surprisingly well through the entire sweep of the gain knob. At low settings it is a terrific low gain drive pedal. Really outstanding. The sound is a touch too mellow for my taste when playing alone with headphones on, but it sits extremely well in any mix. It adds a certain musical fuzzy coating to the notes without taking their heft or momentum. I tested it playing to a slow pop backing track that is incredibly boring, but even there, I could make it fit.
With the envelope engaged and a fair bit of chorus underneath to lay it down thicker, it is a funk machine with the gain at 9 o’clock. It gets a bit grindier wen you slowly increase and once you get past noon it’s a fat monosynth.

What I have not talked about yet is how incredible this pedal feels.
It is incredibly responsive to play style and dynamics and once you have dialed it in, you can feel the shape of the note leaving the Doom2 while the string is leaving your fingertips. This feels so rewarding! Even through it gets quite chaotic with the gain on the right hand side of the dial, I did not miss a gate option once. It’s not only incredibly responsive, it’s also incredibly easy to control and a breeze to keep reigned in.
In synth mode, I liked something I only found in the Meatball clone I had and in the Brown Dog / Agent00Funk combo: When you hit a heavy gated fuzz (preferably with an octave) you usually create a wall of fuzzy sound that hammers at the envelope with the same strength each time you play a note, which makes the envelope react in a predictable way, but also looses this dynamic completely. With the fuzz in the Meatball’s FX loop and the special cable that goes from Brown Dog to Agent00Funk, the envelope is triggered by the signal before it gets mangled and chopped to uniform pieces, and therefore, touch sensitive. With the Doom2, you get some of that even playing in a regular filter, because not only does it react very dynamic, it also responds in kind.
As I said, your fingers get a feeling of the sound while you play and it feels like your playing can get another dimension.
When you gained another dimension on your bicycle because your parents took the training wheels off, the first tries were shaky, I presume.
I learned two lessons that day. Not only how to ride a bike, but also that I should hold a lengthy and exhausting internal debate of whom to trust blindly from now on. My Father jogged alongside, holding me steady by the saddle. I told him not to let go. He told me he would not. When he was satisfied that the intricate equilibrium of gyroscopic forces, momentum and gravity was met, he secretly let go and slowed down. That sleazy oath breaker. I was riding along for a bit until I realized the reassuring presence of my old man just behind my left shoulder was gone. I said something and he replied – his voice now a good quarter of a furlong behind me. In a mix of astonishment, shock and surprise I turned my head back to see where he was. You know why most experienced bicyclists don’t ever do that? Well, the main reason is because you can’t see where you’re falling since you just crashed your bike. That’s the third lesson I learned that day.
He’s earned back some trust and I think and my therapists mostly agree that I have forgiven him for the incident.
I also think I just got carried away for a bit. I was talking about that whoopsie feeling when you suddenly gain another dimension and are not yet entirely sure about the rules and how to interact with it before it comes for you. That feeling I’m describing here is what is absolutely not happening when playing with the dynamic output of the Doom2. It feels natural from the get-go.

Such a great pedal. I’m gonna play some more.