Collision Devices TARS - Epic Fuzz and Filter in One Pedal

[@wulf67]

I was only 15 when a friend convinced me to try a tube screamer. It gave me a feeling of freedom and control, and I was able to express myself in creative new ways. Soon I was experimenting with distortion and reverb, and I started to spend hours alone in my room with an analogue delay. I promised myself that I would never touch modulation, because I had seen its effects. But one night at a rehearsal I tried a little flange. It seemed harmless, like it hardly even did anything but take the edge off a little. But soon I had tried phaser and univibe, and was even dabbling in ring mod. My life began to spin out of control. I wasn’t using the pedals anymore; the pedals were using me. I had developed a $500 a month boutique habit. Everything came to a head when I got caught with a bag full of Chase Bliss. I tried to say that it wasn’t mine, but they had the transcript of all my activity on Reverb, including ratings and reviews that were pretty incriminating. They offered me a deal if I would give up the name of my Sweetwater sales rep, but I was no rat (which is a great pedal, by the way, for under $100). But they had the call log and the voicemail recording of Big Chris checking to see how the new Strymon pedal was working out. I did my time and I eventually paid my debt to society and Capital One. I’m clean now and it’s been over 3 months since I’ve bought an effects pedal…but what harm could one little fuzzy analog filter do? I won’t even put Dual Lock on it, and I’ll only use it on the weekends. I can get rid of it on Reverb any time I want. I owe it to myself.

[@DurvalLacerda]

I don't even watch your videos for the pedals, but for your playing. It's so inspirational, it makes me want to pick up my guitar. Please, consider doing a video about it one day, where you talk about your references/inspirations, scales, tunning, musical instincts etc.

[@ARCPedalboards]

This guy really knows how to get the best out of a pedal/effect.

[@thepedalzone]

Hey! Thank you so much 🙏❤️

[@carbivore]

I know this is a pedal focused channel, but I would love to see a video about your guitars and all the alterations / customisations you have made to them. Thanks for all the fun content you create!

[@EllyCatfox]

TARS, set fuzz to 90%

[@racheltyrellcorp9694]

Very cool indeed ! TARS is a reference to the brick like robot in the movie Interstellar

[@thepedalzone]

Happy you like it!

[@JJT007hero]

TARS is the robot from the outstanding sci fi movie, INTERSTELLAR, and that was his mission to go into the black hole …. Great demo, thnx.

[@thepedalzone]

Happy you liked the demo :) Yeah, I watched Interstellar in cinema when it launched back in 2014, but it's been the music that stuck with me all of these years after and not the characters and robot names. Cool reference though. I dig it.

[@collisiondevices]

Thank you Stefan ♥♥♥ Really loved the moment with the octave! that's sweeet!

[@thepedalzone]

Cheers, gang! Means a lot to me that you enjoyed the demo. Had a blast discovering all of TARS’ filthy filtery depths

[@dethsyndrome]

Tars all day baby!

[@thepedalzone]

Heck yeah!

[@jimbaaab]

Rarely have I lusted after a pedal as much as I’m lusting after TARS!

[@thepedalzone]

Beautiful pedal all the way through. Definitely hope you get the chance to experience it someday :)

[@riffswamp]

Dude, I looove the music and riffs you come up with for these videos! I also love a good filter sweep and that expression control is game-changing! Thanks for sharing!! \m/

[@thepedalzone]

Thank you so much, man! Means a lot to me that you enjoyed the demo. And yes, a perfectly tuned low-pass filter sweep is hard to beat, and This filter is just so well voiced

[@adamdavis106]

Wow. You made some serious use of its entire capabilities. This was perfect

[@thepedalzone]

Gosh!! Thank you so much ❤️🙏

[@digiwaves]

That just may be exactly what I’ve been needing. The filter function is amazingly versatile and the fuzz sounds great Thanks for the demo Stefan! 😎🎸

[@thepedalzone]

Happy you like the tones and tunes. The filter is indeed amazing. Sounds super rich.

[@IsaiahGrande]

Excellent demo! Great sounding filter. We need an expression pedal that acts as the LFO. We can then choose what waveform (sine,square,rdm) the pedal is controlling. Have it on auto run and the pedal can control the depth or ramp the speed. Your music always inspires me to use the gear I have and see if I can get the same sounds you are creating with the new piece of gear you are reviewing.

[@thepedalzone]

Thank you so much for all the kinds words. Means a ton to me ❤ And that's a nice expression device idea. I love my OBNE Expression Ramper, but would be nice with more LFOs and a way to further manipulate parameters on the fly.

[@IsaiahGrande]

@@thepedalzone I’m going to have to try the tamper it’s rad what you did with it in this video

[@Lodit24]

Damn, I already wondered when Collision Devices was gonna drop the next banger of a device, and indeed, they did not disappoint! As always, love love love your playing and the tones you come up with, even for something as simple as a fuzz and filter!

[@collisiondevices]

Oh 😚😚

[@thepedalzone]

They definitely made something special with this one. Looks, tones and feel are on point. Happy you enjoyed the demo. Means the world to me!

[@robinmarien4595]

Hey Stefan, Thanks for the great review and your channel in general. You really changed the way I play guitar and write songs by showing the awesome possibilities you got with all these great pedals. My board and music wouldn't be the same without your videos and I'm really grateful for that. Keep on rockin' mate, you're an awesome human being 🤘 Cheers, Rob ✌️

[@thepedalzone]

Gosh, Rob! I don't know what to say... I hope that a humble THANK YOU will suffice. Just deeply honored and humbled by your sweet words. The fact that you've found inspiration and motivation from them makes all the work worth it to me ❤

[@rustyshacklefrench]

Bro you make the best demos. They really help me with making decisions or at least coming to an understanding on things. Thanks for your work!

[@thepedalzone]

Thank you so much! That makes me so happy to hear. Makes all the hours that go into making these videos totally worth it 🙏

[@demolitionblimp]

Aside from its sound, this is aestheically *very* pleasing pedal, the product design is excellent. And it references possibly the true hero of the film «Interstellar» to boot (sorry Matthew McConaughey / Joseph Cooper! 🤫😉) 🤩

[@thepedalzone]

Yup, Collision Devices always nail the visual designs! Just so good.

[@vit.khudenko]

Your channel is a special art. ❤❤👌👌

[@thepedalzone]

Awwwww, man. That really warms my heart. Thank you ❤️

[@copernicansun744]

Love your playing, really brings out the mood and highlights the pedal while staying musical

[@thepedalzone]

Gosh! Thank you so much. Makes all the work worth it ❤️

[@matt07644]

Holy shit that sounds soo good.

[@thepedalzone]

Happy you like. It’s a phenomenal pedal

[@delivrance3961]

awesome!

[@thepedalzone]

Happy you like it. Super rad pedal. I love the filter so much

[@marcusmaynard1526]

Do you have any original music? I listen to guitar players all day and you genuinely might be one of my favorite. Beautiful songs you make for these demos.

[@etie10]

GORGEOUSSSSSSSS

[@thepedalzone]

Happy you like it! Definitely a gorgeous pedal, both visually and sonically.

[@etie10]

@@thepedalzone especially in your hands, pretty much any pedal can take the listener to space! Haha

[@wesmitchem825]

I love your guitar in this where can I get one in trying to find something unique to fill the shoes of a Kramer focus I bought that just isn't cutting it

[@thepedalzone]

It's a Baum Wingman. Really cool guitar. I like it a lot.

[@AlbusBand]

GD this looks and sounds good…both you, your playing and of course the excellence that is Collision Devices new sonic machine!?!?! Hope alls well my friend, love youuuuuu 😘

[@thepedalzone]

Thanks, bud. Always appreciate your kindness and support so much ❤

[@mmmitza]

How do you find this compared to Death by Audio Evil Filter?

[@collisiondevices]

Hey ! We compared both and their fuzz is way more violent than ours. TARS is more a huge distortion. And for filters, they have LP, BP, HP, where we only have LP but you can put it in // to shape your sound as an EQ. Both resonances are cool but quite different. TARS resonance is more synth-ish as you can produce a real note with it and control the cutoff attenuation curve. They're different even if it's around the same concept! :)

[@mmmitza]

@@collisiondevices thanks alot.U are doing great stuff.Keep walking the road folks.

[@regaudieguillaume]

Hey, you are back in the room, isn't it?

[@regaudieguillaume]

That's a rich sounding filter, I love it!

[@thepedalzone]

Yes, all of this demo was filmed in the classic TPZ room :) Happy you liked the sounds of the filter. It's an expertly voiced one.

[@fuzzblender]

Whoa

[@thepedalzone]

Pretty much sums up my first reaction when I plugged into this pedal 👌

[@divisionmonarchy]

Great video! Is it possible to control this via MIDI from a Zoia?

[@collisiondevices]

Nope not midi ! but it takes CV from Zoïa ! :)

[@thepedalzone]

Thank you so much! Yeah, like Collision Devices said, it doesn't accept MIDI, but you can get devices that convert MIDI to Expression, like the Old Blood Noise MTET for instance. Zoia will also do the job, but is maybe a bit more than most people need, if you're just looking for a MIDI to Expression converter

[@bobdoerr9536]

Hey so I got an expression romper and a tars and the ramper seems to only do its thing when I have the res cranked on the tars. Was wondering if you can't shoot the settings you have? I'm kind of afraid I got a damaged one lol. Great demo, thank you!

[@thepedalzone]

The expression range of the Ramper is also dependant on where you have the CUTOFF slider set on TARS. If you want to be able to program a full filter sweep via the ramper, then the CUTOFF should be set to minimum (bottom position), and then you set you A and B point via the Ramper. The filter sweep will of course be more pronounced the higher you have RES set as it introduces resonance into the filter. Hope this helps.

[@keithb5612]

Thanks Stefan.... Do you ever stack fuzz pedals?

[@thepedalzone]

My pleasure! Happy you liked the demo. No, I very rarely stack fuzz pedals. But I like to stack lower gain drives with fuzz pedals.

[@airtondia]

Hey! Nice work. Im How is your chain? Where did you plug every single pedal you test?

[@thepedalzone]

Thanks! Main chain is Guitar -> TARS -> Boss IR-200 (which is my stereo amp sim) -> Source Audio Collider in IR-200’s stereo fx loop. The expression devices in use get plugged into TARS’ expression port.

[@Saycheeseanddie84]

How does that filter section compare to a Moog MF-101?

[@thepedalzone]

Don't know. The filter in TARS is inspired by the MS-20

[@CaryDepartmentofWorks]

And if you had to pick between this and the ac noises urla?

[@thepedalzone]

Haven't played URLA, so can't really say. But from demos, URLA sounds way more glitchy and chaotic, since the distortion is based on CMOS, whereas the distortion in TARS is more smooth and classic sounding, in the vein of Big Muff. So it all depends on what kind of vibe you want, I guess.

[@montazownianr1]

Rammestein used it in Match album?

[@thepedalzone]

Don't think so

[@RandomTuber782]

Serious question. Why not buy a fig fumb used for about half the price?

[@collisiondevices]

The fig fumb sounds so good! it's very different as it's not the same concept! but indeed it does some things TARS does too. Not the filter thing, not the parallel filter, not the add fuzz thing, but it has a noise gate + a really cool parametric eq so both are very nice!

[@RandomTuber782]

@@collisiondevices Much respect for this objective and honest response from a clear fellow guitar nerd.

[@collisiondevices]

@@RandomTuber782 no problem♥

[@chambre466]

is it mono? it should be mentioned right from the start

[@thepedalzone]

Yes, it’s mono. If it was stereo I would have highlighted it

[@chambre466]

yes, you re right. I consider that these days any pedal should have at least stereo out. I love that very much in my KMA Horizons or my TC Chorus +, that doesn't t require double circuits as a stereo pedal. The manufacturers should consider that some consumers like me wouldn t even watch a video demo of a mono pedal,. Anyway keep up with the good work@@thepedalzone

[@partymarty6969]

🤘👽🤘

[@thepedalzone]

🙌❤️🛸

[@METALOZON]

Sometimes I just want to switch from guitar to an analogue synth. But that means learning from scratch how to play a keyboard, and I'm afraid I'm gonna end up like most synth channels on KZbin, where no one really plays something worth buying, they just play with sounds made by very expensive toys.

[@aaronraigai651]

I would like to name this pedal The Balance and Composure pedal

[@thepedalzone]

Love that band so much!

[@jayjones2821]

What’s that guitar? V cool.

[@thepedalzone]

It’s a Baum Wingman. Awesome guitar. I love it 😊

[@tomhunter2342]

​@@thepedalzonemine is coming in October ❤

[@EuphoricJungleLofiAmbience]

guiTARS

[@thepedalzone]

👏👏👏

[@s.r.b.4582]

A bit sad they didn’t implement an LFO directly in the pedal

[@thepedalzone]

But nice that it accepts so many different types of expression devices :)

[@s.r.b.4582]

@@thepedalzone i feel you, but less is more 👌

[@RyanHarris77]

I just bought an RML Jekyll n Hyde and now I find out about this…

[@thepedalzone]

Well, you can never have too much dirt and filter, right? :)

[@coffeedudeguy]

Coincidence Starfield got released around the same? I’m surprised Msoft decided to promote a pedal with a game 😂 Jokes aside, the aesthetics match

[@collisiondevices]

Oh I wanna play Starfield!!

[@thepedalzone]

❤❤❤

[@duanekogut757]

Your playing in this made me subscribe. Give us some good Blade Runner esqe pedal recommendations!

[@thepedalzone]

Thank you so much for subscribing! Means a ton to me. I guess that thee current quintessential Blade Runner pedal would be the Meris Mercury7. It's directly inspired by the sounds and atmospheres created by Vangelis for that soundtrack. I have a demo of that pedal on my channel as well :)

[@kentrey]

Fuss?

[@thepedalzone]

Fuss???

[@michaelhiggins777]

Great demo as always. Your videos make me fear for my wallet! Do I need this one?

[@thepedalzone]

Thank you so much ❤ I think you and your wallet need to have a sit down and look each other in the eyes. That should give you the answers you're looking for 😊

[@eproxy812]

This might replace my Moog MF Drive

[@thepedalzone]

Awesome!

[@EllieReagan]

Eh, I’m gonna wait for Collision to finish KIPP

[@collisiondevices]

♥ don't spoil our next release

[@thomasdupont7186]

Note: if if you pay more than 50 euros for a VSS 30, I feel sorry for you friendo.

[@thepedalzone]

Thanks for the random note

[@NTD2827]

I think that your video had a deep fake ad

[@eti313]

Or just buy an MS-20 clone for less money; you can plug your guitar into it and have way more functionality.

[@alafenetre81]

Nice sounds to be had, sure, but at that price? No.