Miniature Marvel
Unlike
many units we associate with gain and overdrive, Fairfax isn’t really a
distortion pedal. Instead, it’s a complete miniature amplifier in 100%
analog form, based upon a little-known device from the 60’s that powered
a number of classic rock anthems.
The sound and feel is
extremely tube-like, with added harmonics and saturation coming from a
clever circuit that emulates the critical behavior of a tube amp’s
output transformer. It’s a drive pedal that feels completely natural to
play, retains the natural sound of your guitar, and glues notes together
in a truly organic way.
The Story
Fairfax
was inspired by the original Garnet Amplifiers Herzog® unit designed
for Randy Bachman in 1965. Bachman wanted the sustain of a cello for his
electric guitar, so he started running the speaker output of a small
combo amplifier into the input of another larger amplifier while chasing
that sound.
Unfortunately that scenario has a tendency to blow
up the combo amplifier (sometimes in dramatic fashion!), so Bachman
enlisted Gar Gilles to design a device that would behave in a similar
way but not actually catch fire. Gar’s design ended up being a small
tube amp based around a 12ax7 and 6v6 tube, with a built-in speaker load
so that it wouldn’t blow up. The result is the classic sustaining lead
sound from songs like “American Woman” by The GuessWho.
More Than A Drive Pedal
Fairfax
began as an engineering experiment, with the goal being to recreate all
of the critical elements of the original circuit fully in the analog
domain, but small enough to fit into a pedal enclosure. With JFETs in
place of the tube stages and an ingenious custom circuit that emulates
the characteristics of the output transformer (which is integral to the
sound), Fairfax delivers the real-deal performance of the original unit,
without the need for a 250V tube power supply.
There’s even a
variable Sag circuit that behaves just like a real tube amp does, by
dynamically varying the amount of available current to the preamp and
power amp sections independently, based upon how much signal is being
sent to the power amp and how hard the guitar is played. At low Sag
values the behavior is mild and closer to a solid state rectifier, and
at max values the JFETs can go crazy and unbias - which gates the input -
leading to spitting and chortling sounds more commonly associated with
gated fuzzes.
In order for Fairfax to behave like a real
amplifier it needed a ton of operating voltage, so a transformer-based
power supply converts the 9VDC input voltage to 40V internally. This
gives Fairfax the power that it needs for high headroom and amp-like
feel, allowing for a wide range of tones.
At lower Gain settings
Fairfax remains sweet, gently pushing the input to your amp with
additional harmonic richness. At higher Gain levels the sound can become
angular, compressed and much more aggressive depending on the guitar
that’s driving it, and the large range of gain on tap allows Fairfax to
be used in nearly any setup imaginable.
Works The Way You Need It To
Because
it’s based upon a tube amp design, Fairfax plays well with all
different types of amplifiers and amp modelers. The creamy sustain
brings something new to both clean and naturally dirty amplifiers.
We’ve
even included an internal jumper that determines the power up state, so
if you plan on using Fairfax with a pedal loop switcher you can choose
to have it turn on automatically when powered up. This saves you the
step of turning the pedal on manually every time, which is a lifesaver
on a dark stage or with a complex setup.
The Controls
The
Level Control sets the output level for the pedal. Lower settings send
less total output signal to your amplifier, no matter where the other
two knobs are set.
The Drive Control determines the amount of
preamp gain. Working in tandem with the Level control, you can determine
precisely how you’d like to drive your amplifier - with a bunch of
crunch dialed in, as a clean boost, or anything in between.
The
variable Sag control allows you to fine-tune the behavior of the Sag
circuit, where the amount of Sag is dependent on both the level being
sent to the power amp section and on your playing style. It’s fully
dynamic, meaning that light playing may not change the sag/compression
character much at all even at high settings, while digging in hard with
big strings might produce more artifacts even at much lower pot values.
The
Bright switch determines the high frequency contour. With the switch
set to ‘Off’ high frequencies are attenuated somewhat, smoothing out the
frequency response. Set to ‘On’, the high frequencies are left
untouched, giving you a brighter response with more treble.
Series A
Killer
code only sounds killer when it’s hosted inside of an ideal analog
environment, and even though we’re primarily known for our DSP prowess,
our stuff wouldn’t sound the way that it does without our strong analog
team.
The analog guys are always coming up with interesting
designs, so we’ve launched the ‘Series A’ line of pure analog pedals to
give them an outlet, with Fairfax being the first to be released.
The
designs you’ll be seeing in ‘Series A’ are intended to offer something
different from traditional Strymon offerings, with minimal use of MIDI,
USB, presets or any other type of external modern enhancements. These
will be pedals that are unabashedly analog, which means it could get
really interesting! Keep an eye out for more ‘Series A’ pedals as we go
forward.
Features:
Complete tube amp circuit fully recreated in 100% analog
Custom analog circuits recreate multiple tube stages and the critical output transformer
Input voltage converted to 40V internally via galvanically isolated power supply
Controls for Drive, Level and a variable Sag control
Bright switch allows fine-tuning of the high frequency response
Wide range of natural sounding and tube amp-like gain for maximum versatility
Sag circuit allows mild Sag effects at lower settings and spitting and gated sounds at max
Requires 9DVC at 500mA
SPECS
Circuit - analog
Bypass - true bypass
Audio - mono
Power Supply - 9VDC (typical 2.1mm center negative tip)
Current Draw - 500mA
