backorder Archives - Jacques Stompboxes

Batfuzz

Jacques Charbit — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 16:48:49 +0000

CHAPTER 1 : Who do you think you are ?
You can disagree, but to my point of view METAL was born with Deep Purple LP « Who do we think we are ». Never before –hey, another hit– I have heard such a music description of what was the trend in 1973, gothic. The climax of this beloved fashion was the « Dracula ’73 » movie , featuring a vampire rock group in a not-anymore-swinging London middle class party. Just imagine what can do the « Rat Bat Blue » riff to young teenage ears, more used to wishy-washy middle-of-the-road then joyfully broadcast in every bell-bottoms pants joint.

CHAPTER 2 : From Muff to Zone
Apparently, I was not the only one to love this tone and that could not afford modded Marshall Major stacks. So my fellows pedal builders seized their soldering irons and came up with gems still in use today, with fortitude. The last, but certainly not least, the metal zone , seemed to close the debate with an ultimate ultra-heavy tone that instantly makes you serious matter for the small town girl attending your rehearsal gig.

MGMT Andrew VanWyngarden and his BatFuzz

CHAPTER 3 : Enter Frogman
All this money , what do you think? Thus came the nu metal band , so uniformized they even their mothers had problems sorting them. They try everything to get exposure : make ups–that was not new—, silly names , masks, stupid monikers, ugly +++ haircuts, no hair, dirty shirts, no shirts (some even had ALL this together in one band ! )etc.. everything but TALENT and TONE. And just when you get hints to recognize them , they just disappear without any trace.Then a hot newcomer takes its place, and so on.
Don’t you think it’s time ( PUT THE NAME OF YOUR BAND HERE ) changes this for good ?

CHAPTER 4 : Back in Jacques
This is where I put the fun back into it. Do you remember the joyful hours spent with your new first fuzz pedal ? All the excitement is back , thanks to the wonderful BATFUZZ. We stuffed the pedal with every tone you can expect to become a metal star.
Technically speaking , here is how we made this possible.

DOUBLE HI-GAIN DISTORTION CIRCUIT
– First circuit is modelled on classic ’70s metal distortion modded Marshall amps type. This circuit is only adjustable with the LEVEL and FUZZ knobs.
– Second circuit is an extended ultra high-gain modern distortion , with adjustable low end — WINGS –, mid boost — FANGS– and treble bite — RADAR. This dangerous circuit shares with the ’70s the LEVEL and FUZZ knobs.
-An unique MIX knob let you MIX & MORPH the 2 circuits for an incredible array of tones from past to future metal.

ULTRA PRECISE ACTIVE EQ

All the secrets of a good metal tone lies in precise equalization. This is why the 3 actives controls are fully effective in ALL positions, thus allowing a perfect taylored tone with any guitar/amp couple

Neil Taylor BatFuzz he used in ‘Rock DJ’

CHAPTER 5 : Tinitus
Here are the settings used in the soundclips page :

Ok, maybe she’s in her forties now, but it’s not too late to impress the girl next door.

This preset makes you save $1500 and the drag to tune an extra string.

This preset makes you save $100 and a pedal space on your rack.

This preset makes you save $50 and 2 hours at a romantic restaurant.

Even your best friends won’t recognize you with that ugly haircut, tattooes and piercing–unless you put your glasses back on.

« Ich glotz TV!!! » —Nina Hagen first LP tone

This only because it’s too loud and will destroy your hearing. Nothing to do with « Elisa ».Really.

Yes, this preset is yours .You can write your own settings directly on your computer screen, or carve it with a strong knife.

Here is a video presenting the Batfuzz !

The post Batfuzz appeared first on Jacques Stompboxes.

Electricsheep

Jacques Charbit — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 16:46:31 +0000

The Electric Sheep is a completely new pedal featuring a 100% original all-discrete circuit for a natural high-end overdrive suitable for all kind of guitars. The Electric Sheep won Guitar Player Editors PIck Award.

1 – 100% discrete circuitry : No op-amps !
2 – Handmade using large circuit board avoiding parasite capacitor effects
3 – High-end transistors with carefully controlled data from Philips and Fairchild
4 – Selected and hand-measured passive components.
5 – NOT-A-CLONE : Completely new circuit architecture created from scratch

1- Transistor v/s op amps

Often considered a simple component today, the transistor is a very complicated and mysterious device. Its invention took a lot of time and efforts and nothing is simple when it comes to explain how it works. Most overdrive pedals use op amps (Operational amplifiers) which are a very small ensemble of transistors, resistors and caps, all printed on a wee silicium plate. Here is the schematic of one op amp :

Although very handy, I have always thought that op amps tend to muddy tone, because of wee small passive and too much unnecessary active components inside. This is why , for this exceptional pedal, I wanted to use discrete components only in order to keep the guitar sound as pure as possible in the boost/overdrive era. That meant inventing from scratch a completely new boost/overdrive circuit.

2- The 70/80 control

As part of this new circuit, this control morphs the overdrive tone from natural tube amp ( called here ’70s sound ) to classic overdrive pedal tone ( ’80s ) . It is not a gain control, but a real shaper of the boost/overdrive tone based on the way the discrete transistors work in my circuit. All the electronics will react differently depending on the setting of this knob.

low GAIN – high 70/80 = Classic creamy overdrive

high GAIN – low 70/80 = Hendrian low fuzzface overdrive tone

3- The HB/SC control

If you are here, interested in a high-end overdrive pedal, it is highly probable you may possess several guitars. And anyway, we do not have all the same tastes guitar wise. This is why I came to think you would need to adjust the pedal to your guitar, and not the opposite. With this control , you can control the input impedance from hi-gain humbuckers equipped guitar ( HB ) to classic single coils ( SC ) and everything that comes in between. I have always dreamed of this, and this is why I had to create this function while working on my ultimate overdrive pedal.

Of course, this very useful control can also be used to give the desired body a trebly pick-up . Don’t miss the special treat of a bass-beefed-up telecaster treble pick-up this function can achieve, even in low gain / clean boost settings.

4- From clean boost to raging overdrive

A good overdrive pedal must cover all the range from clean boost to high overdrive. Maybe a lot of pedals can do this. But my point , with this new circuitry, was to bring a new purity to this vast array of sounds, which implied working on the-less-components-the-better. This philosophy is widely admitted on hifi, and has been proven right, but I am sure that preserving the guitar and amp tones while using a pedal, benefits greatly from this solution. Try an electric sheep with your best guitar/amp couple and be convinced.

5- Paraphernalia

The Electric Sheep comes with a special extra-strong card box , optional quality non slip rubber feet and a sheep necklace. It will not include the Philip K.Dick book ‘Do androids dream of electric sheep’ but it is strongly recommande to read it.

6 – Video Demos

First Electric Sheep endorser : Joe Bonamassa !

7 – Suggested Settings

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