- Dual effect: discrete fuzz and preamp circuits - Takes 9v centre negative power supply, battery is not an option - NOS Germanium transistor and Silicon transistor powered fuzz - Gnarly-looking missile toggle switch to keep filter control in place - Gain switch to help with output of humbuckers vs coils - Hand-selected Ge transistors - Enclosure professionally printed in USA - Pedal hand soldered and assembled in UK - Fuzz and boost/preamp individually switchable
Notes:
This dual effect box is the EVA Fuzz pedal, a pedal aimed at guitarists that want a fuzz
pedal with a
full response - not scooped like a muff or too uncontrollable, like a
Fuzz Face (or derivative). It's based on the Fuzz Factoryand sound of the Black Russian Big Muff, as well as the preamp section of the Roland Space Echo. If you're the sole guitarist in a band (as I
am), you need a big and articulate fuzz that's interesting tonally, but
controllable and not too crazy.
When recording, I usually run my fuzzes into an original RE-101 Space Echo (the tape echo), so the left switch is a boost based on tracings people have done of the preamp of that unit. It has quite a massive boost on offer so use carefully if you don't want to blow out a speaker! It's a hybrid
silicon/germanium fuzz, with four controls in total. The first two alter
transistor bias (think of one as a gate, and one as a way of changing
the 'character' of the fuzz - silicon to the left, germanium to the
right); the other two are a fuzz volume and boost volume for the Space Echo preamp.
The centre toggle
switch is a boost for the silicon stage; in the centre position is lowest gain (I use this sometimes to emulate a Proco RAT I use in one song live); on the left is a filtered, medium-high gain and on the right is high gain.
The right-hand switch (under the switch cover) is functional - though the toggle switch cover means you shouldn't trust the sprung switch snapping shut half-way through a gig; that's what it is there for, after all! In the 'up' position, you get a woolier, less filtered fuzz, but the default position is down for a more aggressive tone. If you don't want the switch cover, ask when ordering and I will remove it before shipping.
The
germanium transistor is a hand-selected NOS instance of a soviet-era
design that we've only got a few of, so this pedal is a strictly limited
edition (unless we can find more like it!).
NB: be aware, that this pedal does not
clean up with a volume knob or any of that nonsense. You'll notice
there's no gain/drive control, and that's because the germanium stage is
lower gain and the silicon higher. The interaction between gate and
biasing means you can go from more extreme to more subtle, but a vintage
fuzz sound is probably not possible with this pedal - and that's not
what it was built for, anyway.
