Back in December, famed Rush rocker Alex Lifeson unveiled the new Lerxst By-Tor Drive pedal that promised to be a pedalboard-friendly version of the OMEGA amp head. Today, we're back to show off another new offering in the line: the Lerxst Snow Dog.
The Snow Dog is a flexible and powerful dual footswitch octave-fuzz pedal that is capable of a wide range of fuzz tones paired with an upper octave effect. The pedal harkens back to early in Lifeson's tone journey when he made his first foray into using fuzz effects—"My introduction to fuzz was before I had any on my face,” he tells us—inspired by '60s and '70s greats like Hendrix, Beck, Page, and more.
The Snow Dog builds off of a beloved silicon octave fuzz from the '70s, featuring a fuzz section with a super wide gain range and dialable sounds from vintage-style fuzzes to more modern varieties.
Meanwhile, the octave section combines multiple semitones to create the Snow Dog's upper octave sheen, perfect for cutting through any mix. Players can also use the octave section on its own without the fuzz for adding some subtle synthy textures to their tone.
Be sure to check out the video above to learn more about the circuit and hear the pedal in action. This limited-run of 500 pedals is available exclusively through the LERXST Reverb Store and includes a collectable tour pass signed by Alex Lifeson himself. Check it out here on Reverb.