EarthQuaker Devices Erupter

When's the last time you turned up your favorite fuzz pedal to anything but eleven? If there's one true thing about rock n' roll, it's that it sounds best cranked all the way up. But where do we go from here? We go one louder. Enter the Erupter. The Erupter is the result of over two years' worth of tone-chasing, tweaking, and experimentation in search of the ultimate classic fuzz tone with a big low end (but not too mushy), a biting top end without being too harsh, and just enough output to politely send a tube amp over the top. The Erupter's simple control set stands in stark relief of its rigorous design process, and believe us, we tried everything. Adding controls, removing controls, measuring resistors, swapping transistors, trying different capacitor values, rolling dice, throwing darts at transformer spec sheets on the wall… Heck, we would have done William Burroughs-style circuit board cut-ups if we thought it would've worked. If it's good enough for the Stones, it's gotta be good enough for us, right? Anywho, what we finally landed on is a super-simple single knob setup that allows you to bias the Erupter's NOS silicon transistors for the perfect sound and feel, while still being touch responsive and cleaning up nicely when you roll back the guitar's volume and tone controls. Low "Bias" settings yield a rude, spongy fuzz tone with plenty of sag and a blossoming attack envelope that's gated without entering "dying battery" territory. As the "Bias" control is increased, additional harmonics stack atop the input signal, producing a stiffer, more complex fuzz tone with a tighter response, increased output, and longer sustain. We had a custom center-detent pot made to fit the required resistance for the Erupter. When the Bias control is set at noon you will feel a little click. That means the pedal is perfectly biased to give the best possible fuzz tone. This device is true bypass and uses electronic relay based switching. Audio will not pass without power.