Crunchy and Delicious: The Choad Blaster

Yes, you read it right: Choad Blaster.

It’s a rather coarse name for anything other than a sexual aid, but it’s still an appropriate one.

It’s a kinky little thing. It has a black paint job, various colored knobs and control labels that are printed on the bottom of the pedal.

It looks different from most pedals because it is different. In fact, the Choad Blaster is very different.

And different is good.

The Choad Blaster is the brainchild of Kevin Henretta of Henretta Engineering. It’s one part overdrive, one part distortion and a pinch of fuzz thrown in for good measure.

Rather than stick to a single dedicated distortion knob, the Choad Blaster breaks distortion into two bands: “Blast” and “Choad.”

“Blast” – the smaller yellow knob – controls that amount of high-mid crunch the pedal puts out, and “Choad” – the red knob – dials in the low-mid distortion.

The blue knob acts as a traditional tone control and the green knob is the volume control.

So how does it sound?

Good. Real good.

If Larry David were a shredder, he would say it’s “pretty, pretty good.”

The emphasis on midrange control pays off well. Users can dial in some very rich tones that never get too trebly or too woofy.

When dialed in for overdrive tones, the Choad Blaster’s unique tonal qualities shine. Think of a pushed tube amp with a well worn in speaker. The saturation is musical, and it has its own presence that’s hard to describe without plugging in and playing.

It just sounds right.

When the Choad Blaster is pushed, it can get downright nasty. We’re talking blow torch through rusty steel nasty. With both mid controls maxed, the Choad Blaster creates crazy shards of ripping, oscillating distortion that borders fuzz territory.

It would be easy to lump the Choad Blaster into a “Tube Screamer meets Rat” category, but that would be selling this great pedal short.

So what’s the big deal?

Mr. Henretta wanted something new when he set out to create the Choad Blaster, and he succeeded.

In a market polluted – yes, polluted – with clones of various distortion boxes, The Choad Blaster cuts through the competition in the same way it cuts through a mix: with a ballsy and unforgiving attitude.

For $125, the Choad Blaster is a bargain when compared to some of the other “boutique” stuff out there. The build quality is top-notch, the components are high quality and they are handmade in Chicago, Il. by Kevin Henretta.

It should be noted that most online retailers carry the “Chord” Blaster. It’s identical to the Choad Blaster, but with a more family-friendly moniker.

If you want a “Choad” Blaster you will have to buy direct from Henretta Engineering.

Here it is: Strat > Choad Blaster > direct in. Choad Blaster Demo

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