Fredric Effects

2 World-Class Buffers, 1 Tiny Package...

The Fredric Effects K/C Buffer packs 2 world-class buffers into a custom form-factor, small enough to fit in your pocket!

The Klon buffer and the Pete Cornish buffer are both renowned for their effects on players' signal paths. The Klon buffer is based on an op-amp, whereas the Pete Cornish buffer is based on transistors.

Do I Need a Buffer?

A buffer is required in some circumstances to avoid "tone suck" which can be caused by three different factors:

• Long cable runs (not forgetting patch cables between effects).
• A signal chain made up of true bypass pedals.
• Some older pedals with low input impedance.

Read more about buffers in our blog: What is a True Bypass Pedal?

Tone test

First, play through your pedalboard with all effects turned off. Next, plug directly into your amp. If you notice a difference in tone, then a buffer will help restore your "pedalboard tone".

The K/C Buffer

The Fredric Effects K/C Buffer focuses on the two most acclaimed buffer circuits out there: the buffer from the Klon Centaur and the buffer used in Pete Cornish's pedals. These pedals are incredibly desirable for the effects they have on a players' tone, and the buffers used play a large role in this.

Although buffered bypass (i.e not true bypass) pedals act as buffers, not all are built equally and some can do as much harm to your tone as not having a buffer at all. BOSS pedals, for example, buffer the signal at just below unity gain - so using several BOSS pedals in your chain can suck gain from your signal.

Features:

• 2 circuit-accurate buffers in a tiny pedalboard-friendly package (61x 46x 30mm)
• Slider switch toggles between buffer type
• Custom made enclosure
• Hand-built in London
• Power: 9V centre-negative (not included)

Squashes and Juices Your Signal...

The Fredric Effects Zesty Comp is an evolution of the classic Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer compressor.

A characterful rather than transparent compressor, the Zesty Comp thickens your tone, adding sustain, attack, presence and even some top-end sparkle.

As Tim at Fredric Effects explains, "This is truly compression as an effect - there are none of the 'is it on?' moments you can get with certain transparent compressors".

Input Gain

An addition to the original Orange Squeezer design, the Input Gain allows you to compensate for pickup output, whether you are running single-coils or humbuckers. The hotter the input signal, the more it will be compressed.

Compression Toggle

Another addition for the Zesty Comp is the three-way toggle switch allowing you to select three different levels of compression. Pick from a lighter touch to super-compressed and characterful.

Level

If you want to get creative, you can use the Zesty Comp as a boost pedal. Set the Level control above unity gain and kick it in on a solo to push your amp and also add all that compression loveliness.

Features:

• An evolution of the classic Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer compressor
• Three compression settings
• Handbuilt in London
• Input Gain, Level & Compression toggle controls
• Power: 9V centre-negative or 9V battery (neither included)

"A Magic-Dust Sprinkler"...

The Fredric Effects Regent 150 Preamp pedal is a faithful recreation of the preamp and EQ sections from a cold war-era East German amp, the Vermona Regent 150K. It features vintage-correct NOS transistors and sturdy construction to keep you playing all night long!

The Regent 150 Preamp can sweeten your core sound like a traditional preamp, or turn into a boost or distortion pedal by using the controls more aggressively. The Volume control adds gain as you turn it up, taking you into gritty distortion territory, while the Bass and Treble controls allow you to get classic mid-boost or mid-scooped sounds as well as more modern tones with plenty of top-end sparkle.

The internal charge pump IC converts 9V into the 15V DC that the original amp ran on. This gives the pedal tons of headroom with the ability to produce extraordinary clarity. 

"There’s more, but we don’t have room to describe it all. Basically this is a magic-dust sprinkler" - Guitarist Magazine (Editor's Choice) December 2019

This deserves to be an always-on pedal on your pedalboard. It stacks really well and  offers loads of flexibility. The build quality is exceptional too, with a folded steel chassis. The icing on the cake is that as this is based on a rare East German amp rather than the ubiquitous Fender or Marshall circuit, you will definitely stand out from the masses!

Features:

• Preamp pedal based on a rare East German cold war-era amplifier
• Handmade in London, UK
• Volume, Bass & Treble controls
• Power: 9V centre-negative or 9V battery (neither included)

The Blues Breaker You've Been Looking For!

The Fredric Effects Blue Monarch overdrive is based on the 1990s Marshall Blues Breaker and features all the mods offered by the cult Analog Man King Of Tone version.

All four controls are easily accessible on the front of the pedal, and the King Of Tone internal dip switches have been replaced with a clipping toggle. In the "up" position the sound is less compressed and more open, with less distortion. 

In addition, Fredric Effects has added an internal dip switch to turn on a boost circuit and increase the amount of gain on tap, making this a super-versatile overdrive that will fit well in any rig.

Features:

• Modded version of the Marshall Bluesbreaker and Analog Man King Of Tone
• Handmade in London, UK
• Volume, Gain, Tone, Treble Boost, Clipping & Boost controls
• Power: 9V DC centre-negative or 9V battery (neither included)

The Ultimate Klon Klone?

The Fredric Effects Golden Eagle is a single-pedal sized recreation of the Klon Centaur, with completely accurate electronics built to the highest specification.

Just like the Klon Centaur, it features the internal buffer and charge pump, making the Golden Eagle the perfect pedal for three tasks on your pedalboard:

1. Buffer - Use the Golden Eagle's high quality buffer to maximise the signal capacitance and resistance of your signal path, getting the most from your other pedals (there's a great That Pedal Show video on this topic, demonstrated using a Klon Centaur)
2. Clean Boost - Use the Golden Eagle to condition your tone, running it at low gain and unity volume. Subtle but effective tone improvements.
3. Overdrive - Turn the gain up to drive your amp into beautifully organic break up.

Just like Fredric Effects' other pedals, the build quality is exceptional, with a folded steel chassis featuring perfectly bevelled corners. It's the small touches that count!

Features:

• 100% accurate recreation of the Klon Centaur
• High quality internal buffer
• Internal charge pump converts 9V to 18V for more headroom
• Handmade in London, UK
• Gain, Output & Treble controls
• Power: 9V centre-negative or 9V battery (neither included)

An Accomplished Multitool...

The Fredric Effects Accomplished Badger is a dual-stage preamp/boost utilising a 4558 op-amp stage which drives A NOS vintage germanium transistor.

Impressive Internals

To maximise its potential as a clean boost, the Accomplished Badger features an internal charge-pump which runs at 18v from a 9v input. An audio-grade Triad output transformer provides musical saturation and breakup character.

What sounds can I get out of the Accomplished Badger?

The result is a glorious sound that goes from ultra-clean to harmonically rich.

You can turn the germanium stage right down for a super-clean op-amp boost, while turning up the germanium gain stage and driving it hard with the Clean Gain mini pot gets you into super-saturated, gritty, velcro fuzz territory.

Turning both controls to middling levels gives way to beautifully expansive tones with that characteristic germanium responsiveness and "bounce".

This is a super-versatile low-gain pedal, giving you the option of dialling in as much or as little germanium colouration as you like, or allowing you to run it as a clean preamp. A must for your pedalboard!

Features:

• Dual-stage preamp/boost
• NOS vintage germanium transistors
• Internal charge pump converts 9V to 18V for more headroom
• Handmade in London, UK
  
• Gain, Volume, Si Bias, Ge Bias & circuit toggle controls
• Power: 9V centre-negative or 9V battery (neither included)

Spitty East German Distorto-Fuzz...

The Fredric Effects Verzerrer is based on the only cold war-era East German distortion pedal, originally produced in the 1960s and '70s. It veers from distortion into spitty fuzz and full on velcro mode and sounds remarkably unique.

The original featured a plastic enclosure and trim pots that had to be adjusted with a screwdriver - not exactly gig-friendly. Fredric Effects' updated version takes the original design, including using original diodes and transistors, and improves the pedal by encasing it in a sturdy folded metal mini-wedge enclosure and adding circuit-board mounted dip-switches for additional tweakability.

"It’s just pure nastiness. This pedal nails the splutter-fuzz effect as well as any we’ve tried" - Guitarist Magazine December 2019

The Bias control allows you to produce gated, dying-battery tones when turned down, or increase sustain as it is turned up.

The internal dip switches are:

• NR1/NR2: Noise reduction
• Limit Res: The original's volume-limiting resistor
• Boost Off: Boost is on by default in order to engage the volume boost
• Boost On x2: These must be on to engage the volume boost

This pedal can produce really gritty sounds that stand out in the mix. The Tone control is very responsive and can bring your sound forward or supress buzzy high end depending on how you set it.

If you love velcro, spitty fuzz sounds then you can't go wrong with this awesome piece of nostalgia!

Features:

• Distortion/fuzz reproduction of a rare East German original
• Original old-stock diodes and transistors
• Handmade in London, UK
• Tone, Input Level, Volume, Intensity, Bias & Internal Dip Switch controls
• Power: 9V power supply, centre-negative or 9V battery (neither are included)

Dual Personality Fuzz Face...

The Fredric Effects DuoFace is your one-stop shop for the Fuzz Face tones you've been dreaming of. Whether you covet the germanium circuit of early Hendrix, or the more agressive post-'68 silicon version, the DuoFace allows you to have both in a single pedal.

The Fuzz Face is one of the most famous fuzz pedals of all time, used by guitarists including Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, Duane Allman, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson and Joe Bonamassa. It's renowned for its ability to clean up with the guitar's volume pot, making it a great effect if you like to control your sound with your fingers rather than your feet.

The DuoFace allows you to switch between the germanium and silicon circuits using the toggle switch, and each circuit features a Bias trimpot to adjust how the transistors react - from gated and splatty to smooth and sustainy - for a wide variety of useable sounds.

Hendrix licks not included!

Features:

• Dual fuzz based on the Fuzz Face Germanium & silicon circuits
• Handmade in London, UK
• Gain, Volume, Si Bias, Ge Bias & circuit toggle controls
• Power: 9V centre-negative or 9V battery (neither included)

Land Of The Rising Sun Fuzz Machine...

Fredric Effects' Super Unpleasant Companion Nouveau is a celebration of 2 classic fuzz circuits designed by Japanese company Shin-Ei in the late 1960s and early 1970s. 

Shin-Ei licensed its designs out to several companies, and perhaps the most famous version of its FY-6 is the Univox Superfuzz, as used by Pete Townshend on the Who's Live At Leeds masterpiece.

This pedal packs the Shin-Ei Companion FY-2 and Shin-Ei Superfuzz FY-6 circuits into a single compact mini-wedge pedal enclosure. You can switch between the circuits with a handy toggle switch.

The 'Nouveau' moniker refers to a recent redesign, packaging the fuzz into a smaller enclosure and moving the controls to the top surface.

Companion FY-2

The Companion FY-2 is a nasty, raspy chainsaw of a fuzz. It's not super-musical but has plenty of impact, and can be heard in all its glory on The Jesus And Mary Chain's Psychocandy (incidentally, The Jesus And Mary Chain now use Shin-Ei fuzzes modded by Fredric Effects!). Tone 1 setting is mid-dominant with a dense textural edge. Tone 2 mode is like putting a blanket over your cab, but brings a more focused bottom end and a grinding edge to the mid and high notes.

Superfuzz FY-6

The Superfuzz FY-6 is a richer style of fuzz but can get really bright thanks to the Expander control (this doesn't work in FY-2 mode). The FY-6 provides a 'wall of sound'. Tone 1 mode is what founder Tim Webster describes as 'garagey' and is slightly muddy, while the second tone mode is more expansive in scope but with a more scooped mid-range.

Features:

• Companion FY-2 and Superfuzz FY-6 modes
• FY-6 mode features 2 tone settings
• Handmade in London, UK
• Expander, Balance, Mode & Tone controls
• Individually numbered and signed by hand
• Power: 9V power adaptor, centre-negative or 9V battery (neither are included)