Bad Breakup Preamp / Fuzz

Currently out of stock, working on getting more enclosures in this color. 

This isn't going to be pretty. The Bad Breakup preamp uses two NOS, low-gain silicon transistors to add some nasty grit to your signal, all the way from subtle dirt to all-out fuzz. Not ugly enough for you? Flip on the diode feedback switch for a "faulty-channel" gated fuzz or blown out speaker effect. 

Here's a rundown of the controls: the Input knob controls the level of the signal hitting the transistors, while the Body switch lets more low end in to really push them. This circuit cleans up well with your volume knob and sounds great before or after any buffers. Placing this pedal first in your chain will load your pickups and mellow out the clipping a lot, so I prefer running this later in the chain or at least after a tuner. The Bias control sets the gain/bias of the second stage, which greatly affects the character of the distortion. With the diode off, increasing the bias provides headroom for more dynamics, while lowering it introduces saturation and sag. With the diode on, Bias controls the amount of gating; reducing the gating also introduces a strong second harmonic for a clangy, faux-octave sound. There's also plenty of output headroom for using this pedal as a clean or dirty boost.

This is an original circuit, but for comparison's sake it resembles the popular DIY Bazz Fuss circuit and its variations*. However, the use of low gain transistors, bias control, and the diode feedback switch allows it to act more like a vintage preamp and opens up the possibility for clean settings, making this pedal incredibly versatile. 

One of the coolest features of this pedal is a unique kind of touch sensitivity. In diode feedback mode, the sound will be heavily saturated even when the volume is rolled back. However, digging in at full volume will clip the diode and completely destroy your signal. This essentially allows you to control the intensity of the effect with your dynamics or your volume knob, offering an expressive edge to an otherwise compressed, wall-of-sound fuzz tone. Internal dip switches select how many diodes are in the feedback path, giving you the option tailor the effect to suit different kinds of pickups.

Artwork is by Y ' H E L L O B O Y !

*It wasn't until this pedal was ready to ship that I came across the Regulus VIII (of Os Mutantes fame), which by coincidence is remarkably similar! There are of course quite a few key differences that make this design sound much smoother than the buzzy tone of the Regulus.

Specifications:

- 9V DC power input (standard negative center, 18V max)

- True bypass with latching footswitch

- Side mounted audio jacks

- NOS low gain Si transistors, hand selected

- Sparkling champagne enclosure, envy-green LED, high-quality matte-finish knobs

- 125B enclosure size