EarthQuaker Devices - Erupter - Ultimate Fuzz Tone Pedal

[Guild Note: No one can present EarthQuaker Devices better than the EQD Marketing Team themselves. What follows derives straight from either the manufacturer's website, or the product's instruction manual.]

Can we ask you a serious question? 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.

We used every trick in the book to craft a classic fuzz Device that sounds good with any pickup type, anywhere in the chain (even before a wah pedal!) without any tone-sucking impedance mismatching. We build each Erupter with a buffered input section, transformer-based pickup simulation, new production 5% ½ watt carbon composition resistors, metallized polyester film capacitors, Sprague and BC electrolytic capacitors, and low-gain, hand-matched NOS silicon transistors to deliver a well-rounded and defined fuzz tone with just enough pummeling intensity, so you can rock n’ roll all night and still get to bed at a reasonable hour.

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. The Erupter uses a fixed master output level and gain setting for the thickest fuzz possible and to push the full frequency range of the guitar out front when you kick it on. And we do hope you’ll kick it on often. Each and every Erupter is built by the hands of real-life dream warriors in the foothills of Mt. Akron, Ohio.

Controls

Bias: This control has a center detent for the "perfect" fuzz setting. When in the center position, the tone will be big and round with a slight volume boost and great sustain. As you turn this counter clockwise it becomes more gated with lower output. As you turn this clockwise it becomes louder and more refined.

Measures: 4.75″ x 2.50″ x. 2.25″ with knob

Power: The Erupter can be powered by a 9v battery or a standard 9-volt DC power supply with a 2.1 mm negative center barrel. We always recommend pedal-specific, transformer-­isolated wall-wart power supplies or multiple isolated­-output supplies. Pedals will make extra noise if there is ripple or unclean power. Switching-type power supplies, daisy chains and non-pedal specific power supplies do not filter dirty power as well and let through unwanted noise. Do not run at higher voltages! Current draw is 15 mA.

Input impedance: 500K
Output impedance: >1K
Switching: This device is true bypass and uses electronic relay based switching. Audio will not pass without power.