California-based effects pedal maker Silktone has unveiled its all-new fuzz pedal, simply dubbed the Fuzz – a Tone Bender Mk1.5-style unit that boasts a patent-pending Active Bias Monitor.
Built with the design brief “simplified versatility” in mind, the Silktone Fuzz has two germanium transistors at its heart, and makes use of a newly developed digital multi-meter in an effort to avoid inconsistent bias shifting caused by varying temperatures.
According to Silktone, the Fuzz underwent an intensive process to bias the transistors to their “sweet spot," though the precarious tone-changing issues caused by the cold workshop proved to plague production.
The subsequent light bulb moment came when the pedal’s builders decided to stick the digital bias monitor into the pedal itself – a move that resulted in the patent-pending Active Bias Monitor, which promises to make dialing in your favorite fuzz sounds “easier than ever."
According to the brand, sticky fuzzes can be obtained by putting the meter anywhere past 8.00, while that “oh, so sweet spot” is accessed around the ~4.50 mark. "Spitty gated" sounds are also on the menu, and are said to be located around ~1.10 area.
The varying bias levels work alongside an input debuffer – meaning the Fuzz can be placed anywhere in your signal chain – as well as a Cleanup control knob that works to introduce a clean/crunch boost-style tone. Elsewhere, there are control knobs for Volume and Fuzz.
These are joined by a Classic/Raw toggle switch, which changes the bias ratio and bass filtering from more traditional Fuzz Face-style settings to a boosted mode with no bass filter.
A statement posted on Silktone's website confirms that the first run of Fuzz pedals has already sold out, though fear not: a second batch is on the way, and it's scheduled to arrive mid-March.
The Fuzz is available for $249. Visit Silktone for more information, and to sign up to an email list to keep up to date with the forthcoming run.
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