Based on the most famous, old, two transistor drive pedals topology, the Ge Vintage King is designed to give oldschool distortion textures through the whole guitar frequency spectrum. You can go from flat boost to Rangemaster style treble booster, from smooth overdrive to classic crunch distortion and even the mighty full out fuzz. It’s all there with it’s simple but effective four knob controls.
Combining the simplicity with versatility was the main objective designing this circuit. Alongside the usual Fuzz and Volume controls, the Beard and Contour controls make this pedal more unique compared to other classic Fuzz Face pedals.
Looking for the classic FF fuzz sound? Turn the Beard knob to the right! …or do you prefer a thinner, treble booster-like character? No problem, turn the Beard knob to the left! This is an input bass frequency filter that allows you to tune the circuit to your guitar’s pickup, which is key to solving an old major problem: Fuzz Face pedals only sound good with single-coil guitars. Not anymore. The Vintage King pedals open up a new dimension for humbucker-equipped guitars.
With the Contour control, you can explore various drive textures. Starting from the left, you move from a more muffled, classic fuzz fabric to a tight, midrange-rich, balanced overdrive character (yes, the volume increase is a feature of this function). I love this control. You could say that this is the knob that allows you to turn your fuzz pedal into an overdrive or distortion sound. And now I can admit that this was another goal in developing the Ge Vintage King: to create a Fuzz Face pedal that opens new doors for guitarists who, for some reason, could never get along with classic fuzz pedals but have always been intrigued by the fuzzy sound. I’ve always admired what master Cesar Diaz did with his fuzz pedal, essentially, he headed in this direction as well. The Contour knob is a continuation of this line of thought.
The challenge and the beauty in the same time of the Fuzz Face type pedals is that it is probably the most finicky circuit in terms of the chosen transistors. In every Ge Vintage King pedal, I use only matched and pre-tested NOS Germanium transistors, as I consider this crucial for uncompromising sound quality. Naturally, the Ge Vintage King also features perfect cleanup, a brilliant characteristic of all FF type pedals. Just start rolling back the Volume knob on your guitar and enjoy the new adventure!