The Charon is a cutting and intense germanium/silicon hybrid fuzz. This stripped down, raw design features an intuitive control layout with an eye towards simplicity. A surprising range of tones are quickly accessible, making the Charon a highly enjoyable pedal capable of immediately satisfying sonic results.
The GAIN control regulates the signal level into the circuit. Lower gain settings have a crunchy and smoky tone with a well-defined note attack. Transitioning into medium gain settings, you’ll begin to notice an increase in compression and beautiful bloom that gives way to shimmering harmonics. At full tilt, the Charon is a rude, belligerent fuzz with accentuated sag and heavy beating intermodulation that mercilessly cuts through the mix.
The TONE control reduces bass content as it is turned up, allowing the Charon to remain tight and defined even at high gain settings. This can be crucial to cultivating a tone from clear and articulate to a bombastic wall of sound. Input impedance is moderately low at 100K ohms, making this pedal sensitive to signal-chain placement. The Charon will perform best when placed first in line, where it will seamlessly couple with your guitar, making for an extremely dynamic and touch-sensitive experience. To manage the overall output volume, the Charon’s LEVEL control has plenty of cut and boost on tap.
The Charon’s design and execution was inspired by vintage fuzzes from the golden age of guitar effects. Careful attention was paid to mirror the primal simplicity of early fuzz classics while implementing an updated approach to noise reduction, bypass switching, and taking advantage of modern production techniques. Flickering harmonic flames smolder and dance around your chords, menacingly stagger behind your palm-muted riffs and scream with a buzzsaw voice into the black abyss of space.