Silktone Amps Germanium Fuzz

From the first glance at today’s pedal, the Silktone Amps Germanium Fuzz, you can see that it just looks different. And modern. And sophisticated. And exciting. Anytime there’s a meter of any type on any pedal, that’s usually an indicator of something special, and this one is no exception to that rule. Utilizing two germanium transistors at its heart, in the classic FF/TB1.5 topology, this circuit is tweaked to roll through a wide array of tones, so let’s jump right in…

The Silktone Fuzz follows a basic design concept: Simplified versatility. With just 4 knobs, you can nail the awesome tones you get when the transistors are biased to their sweet spot…and also when they’re not. This led to the creation of the Active Bias Monitor (patent pending) – you want fat sticky fuzz? Dial it past 8.00. Prefer that oh, so sweet sweet sweet spot? Dial it to ~4.50. Want spitty gated fuzz? Cool, me too – dial it to ~1.10. Combine this with it’s onboard pickup simulator to place this fuzz anywhere in your chain without the normal issues (thanks Orman) and a cleanup knob to get you into crunch/clean boost territory with beautifully musical germanium color and you have one of the most useable, versatile fuzzes to date.

Up top, the controls differ from a normal fuzz pedal as well. Vol changes your output volume and Fuzz changes the transistor gain, as is to be expected, but the third knob is where this effect gets interesting. If you keep the Cleanup rolled all the way down, you get normal fuzz operation. As you turn it up, the input level goes down, cleaning up the tone for overdrives or clean boosty stuff with germanium flavor. This works the same as a guitar volume control, but still useful for presetting or if pedal is placed late in the chain. A Classic/Raw toggle switch changes the bias ratio and bass filtering from more traditional FF settings to a boosted setting with no bass filter, with fatter tones available in Raw mode through the range.

Not a fuzz, not an overdrive, not a distortion…but ALL of those in one pedal? The Silktone Amps Germanium Fuzz is a very different animal from the majority of fuzzes we see come through the shop here, and we’re all about it. Slick-looking and incredible-sounding, this feat of ingenuity tackles a whole new concept strategy on how fuzzes should sound, with exquisite results. Cheers to tall at Silktone Amps on a marvelously fun and filthy creation – be sure to check out their website for more info, and check out our demo video below as well. Cheers!

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