Embers vs Faded Embers

Do you prefer pedals with lots of options, lots of tweakability? Or do you prefer smaller boxes with fewer things?

That's the question behind this video. I wanted to play Embers and Faded Embers side by side and actually compare them properly, rather than just talking about the differences on paper.

The two pedals

Embers is the full version. It's got Gain, Volume, a Body control that blends in clean low end, a Treble Cut, and a Bias control, plus a second footswitch that brings in the fuller, classic fuzz voice of whatever you've dialled in. It's also got a built in pickup simulator, so it can sit anywhere on a pedalboard without losing its feel.

Faded Embers is the stripped back version. Same identity, fewer controls. Just Gain and Volume, plus a Bias toggle with two positions, one more open and stable, the other more compressed and characterful.

So when would you reach for the pedal with more to dial in, and when would the simpler one make more sense?

The guitar

I used my Telecaster for this one, a parts caster build that started life as a Harley Benton. Basswood body, maple neck, rosewood board as far as I remember. I painted it blue when I first got it, then oversprayed it black once it picked up a few dings, so there's still a bit of that two colour thing going on if you look closely.

I've swapped out most of the hardware over the years. Ben Fletcher pickups, his dynosonic in the neck and a staggered pole piece, hotter pickup in the bridge to balance things out, plus brass saddles, a bone nut and new tuners. Upgraded the electronics too. I'm really happy with it, though I do think one day I'll swap the body for something a bit more Fender-y. Playing Pete's lovely Golden Era Guitars Telecaster recently definitely planted that idea.

I used to play my Gretsch as my main guitar, but after lockdown, doing more electric playing and singing together at church, I found the Tele sat out of the way of my vocals a lot better. The Gretsch lived in a similar space to my voice and felt a bit muddier in that context, whereas the Tele is more scooped.

Starting with Faded Embers

I went into Faded Embers first, since it doesn't have a pickup simulator. Like most vintage style fuzzes, it wants to go first in the chain. Volume and gain up, bias toggle over to the left.

One thing worth knowing, as you move into the more starved, compressed bias setting, the output volume drops a bit. So on that gated, biasy side it actually makes more sense to run the volume higher. On the more open bias setting, it sits nicely with the volume somewhere more moderate, which leaves you room to push it as a boost if you want.

This is the kind of fuzz I can't help but throw riffs at. And winding the gain back, I really like it as that slightly broken, affected, usable tone. Feels like that's very much the trend at the moment, sounds that sit right on the edge of falling apart, and I'm into that.

Then trying to match it on Embers

Next I tried to land on a similar sound using Embers. I left Treble Cut and Body off for now, set the bias low towards the more starved end, and put the gain around the middle.

Embers has a wider bias range than Faded Embers, and even with similar settings, the gain runs hotter overall. The circuit is genuinely different inside, so the comparison only goes so far. Gain at the same knob position on each pedal won't give you the same result, it's just a different circuit. Embers also has that pickup simulator built in along with Body and Treble Cut, so there's a lot more shaping available.

With Body all the way down you lose some low end, but bringing it back in restores some of that clean, unfuzzed low end underneath, which is a nice option to have.

Flicking to the other bias setting and pushing gain up gets into more classic fuzz territory. With gain maxed, that's where the second footswitch comes in, bringing in the fuller silicon fuzz voice on top. The advantage with Embers is that wherever you land your high gain sound, you can always bring the gain knob back down afterwards and get a low gain tone using the same basic settings.

Textures and how interactive it is

Bringing the gain down on Embers gets you into a textured, blown out preamp sound, like running straight into an old analog desk. On the other bias setting, that same low gain sound works really nicely pushed into more gain, almost gating up an overdrive sound. It keeps the identity of the overdrive but adds that gated character on top. Some really nice low, preampy textures hiding in there.

Pushing the bias all the way up smooths out a lot of that spitty character, which opens up a different use, more like a textured boost by bringing in extra low end through Body.

Honestly, Embers is a very interactive pedal. Change the bias or gain and you'll often want to go back and adjust Body and Treble Cut too. With gain and bias both low, you get a lot of that filtered, woofy low end coming through, so it's really about balancing gain against bias rather than setting them separately. Want that really low bias sound? You'll need to push gain up to compensate. Want more low end in there? The bias usually needs to sit a bit higher. Everything talks to everything else.

If I'm honest, sitting most things around 12 o'clock is probably my favourite spot on Embers.

So which one

If I just wanted a fuzz effect, quick and simple, I'd reach for Faded Embers. Flick the switch and you've got three things to kneel down and adjust, and that's it.

If I had the pedalboard space and wanted access to a wider range of tones, from that low gain fuzz feel through to preampy, edge of breakup territory, I'd go for Embers.

Thanks for reading and watching. If you liked the video, please like and subscribe, I just passed 100 subscribers, which I'm really pleased about, but there are still loads of people watching who aren't subscribed yet, so it genuinely helps.

And if you liked the sound of either pedal, head over to the shop, I've got some in stock at the moment.

Faded Twin vs Core Twin: what’s the difference?

The Twin was the first pedal I released as Hamilton Effects, originally designed on paternity leave with my twins. This latest version has been redesigned into two versions: the simpler Faded Twin and the more flexible Core Twin.

Both are based around the same idea: two transistor boost stages that can be used separately, stacked in series, or blended in parallel.

The Faded Twin keeps the main sound and feel, but strips the controls back. The gain and bias are fixed internally, and the routing is simplified to parallel or boost one into boost two. It’s smaller, more immediate, and has the worn-in Faded finish that will age more like an old guitar.

The Core Twin gives you more control. You can adjust gain and bias, choose the routing direction, use the two sides in parallel, cut presence, and attenuate the output. That means you can set one side clean and the other more compressed, gated or fuzzy, or stack them in either order for very different responses.

In parallel mode, the Twin can keep clarity while adding thickness and texture. In series mode, one side pushes the other, giving anything from clean boost to compressed drive, fuzzy saturation or spluttery bias sounds.

Faded Twin gives you the core idea in a simpler format. Core Twin gives you the full version with more control over feel, gain, compression and routing.

Both are available here!

Fixing a Rattle in My Gibson J-45 + My Current Acoustic Pedalboard Setup

My Gibson J-45 has been my main working guitar for years - I bought it in 2019 when I was playing a lot of acoustic guitar at church and needed something that sounded good through in-ears.

It has an LR Baggs Anthem pickup system installed, which blends an undersaddle pickup with an internal microphone. For the kind of playing I was doing (acoustic guitar straight into a PA, hearing it through in-ear monitors) that setup made a lot of sense. It gives you more of the sound of the guitar than a straight piezo sound, but keeps things controllable on stage.

Recently I noticed a bit of a popping sound when I moved the guitar around. It sounded like it was coming from inside the guitar, and because the Anthem system has a microphone mounted under the bridge area, I wondered if something around the pickup or wiring had come loose.

So I took the strings off, had a look inside, gave the guitar a clean, restrung it, and then ran through the acoustic pedalboard setup I’ve been using recently.

Finding the rattle

The first job was simply to check whether anything felt loose. The pickup itself seemed secure, and nothing obvious was moving around near the bridge. But I could hear something shifting inside the body, which made me think it was more likely to be loose wiring than a problem with the actual pickup.

After looking inside with a torch, the issue seemed to be a cable running towards the battery pack. It looked like it had either moved out of place or got caught in a way that allowed it to knock against the body when the guitar moved. Once that cable was tucked back properly, the rattle disappeared.

A nice simple fix in the end, no major repair needed, just a bit of careful checking inside the body.

Quick clean and fingerboard care

With the strings already off, it made sense to give the guitar a basic clean. I wiped the body down with a cloth that was just slightly damp just enough to lift off the usual marks and grime.

You can always tell a guitar that’s been used by a singer. The top of the body tends to collect a few marks from actually being played and sung over. Slightly disgusting, but also a sign of an instrument in use!

For the fingerboard and bridge, I used Monty’s Instrument Food. The J-45 has a rosewood board and bridge, so I like to give both a bit of attention whenever the strings are off.

I also like getting a tiny amount into the nut slots, just to help keep things moving smoothly.

The guitar is starting to show some fairly serious fret wear, especially around the third and fourth frets, pretty much where you’d expect on an acoustic that’s had a lot of use. At some point it’ll probably need a refret, but for now it’s alright.

Restringing the J-45

For strings, I’m currently using phosphor bronze 12–53s.

I have considered going down to 11s, mainly because I’ve been playing electric guitar more often with 11s tuned down to D standard. Going back and forth between that and an acoustic with 12s is definitely noticeable. But for now, I’ve stuck with 12s. They still feel right on this guitar, and the J-45 scale length handles them well.

When restringing, I do a little bend at the ball end before putting the string through the bridge. It helps the string sit in place before the bridge pin goes in. Once it’s under tension, the pin is really just there to stop anything embarrassing happening. At the tuner end, I usually leave about three fingers’ worth of slack, feed the string through, pull it back, bend it over, and wind up from there.

I don’t use a string winder most of the time. I know it’s slower, but I like feeling the tension come up as I tune the guitar. If I were doing loads of guitars a day in a shop, I’d probably feel differently, but for my own instruments and repair work, I quite like the control of doing it by hand.

Once everything was tuned up and clipped, the guitar was looking a lot better.

The LR Baggs Anthem setup

On the guitar itself, I tend to run the LR Baggs Anthem with the microphone dialled fully in and the volume all the way up.

The Anthem system is useful because even with the mic blend turned up, it still retains the low-end solidity of the undersaddle pickup - the system keeps the low frequencies from the piezo, which helps avoid stage rumble through the microphone.

My current acoustic pedalboard setup

After the setup, I ran through the acoustic rig I’ve been using recently.

It’s not wildly complicated, but I do use pedals with acoustic guitar in a similar way to electric guitar: not necessarily to make it sound extreme, but to keep things inspiring and give me a few different textures.

The basic idea is:

• clean acoustic tone from the J-45

• some compression/boost for lead parts

• dotted eighth delay with filtering

• occasional mid-push or preamp from overdrive-style pedals

• big reverb/pad sounds for transitions and atmosphere

• Hamilton Effects Embers used more like an acoustic preamp is my go-to at the moment

HX Stomp: compression, delay and tone shaping

In the HX Stomp, I’m using a compressor that is really more of a lead boost than a heavy compressor. It gives the acoustic a bit more level and presence when I need something to lift.

I’ve also got a dotted eighth delay set up using the Simple Delay, with high and low cuts to keep it sitting in the right place. There’s also a Tube Screamer-style model involved, not really for obvious overdrive, but more as tone shaping on the delay path only.

I’m also using the Studio Tube Preamp model to add a bit of polish to the acoustic sound. Not a dramatic effect, but enough to make the direct sound feel a little more finished.

Overdrive pedals with acoustic guitar

At the front end of the board, I had a Tube Screamer and a Blues Driver-style pedal on there, partly because I’d also been using the same rig with my Casino. With acoustic guitar, I’m not really using overdrive as “overdrive”. It’s more about tone shaping. A Blues Driver-style pedal can give a bit of a mid push, which can help the acoustic poke through. It’s not necessarily something I’d leave on all the time, but it can be useful as a different colour.

This is also where the Hamilton Effects Embers comes in.

Using Embers as an acoustic preamp

Embers is obviously a fuzz-based pedal, but one of the things I like about it is that it can work more like a preamp or tone-shaping stage when the gain is kept under control.

On acoustic, I wouldn’t use it as a full fuzz sound. That’s not really what I’m after. But with the bias set higher and the gain in a more controlled range, it can scoop out some of the low mids and shape the acoustic in a really useful way. It feels like it’s doing something around that perhaps boxy 200Hz area, helping the guitar sit better without making it sound thin.

As the gain comes up, it starts to bring in a bit more midrange and compression under the fingers. It feels more responsive and slightly more pushed, but still usable as an acoustic preamp rather than an obvious effect.

That’s the thing I’m enjoying about it: it gives the acoustic a different feel, not just a different EQ curve.

Big reverb and pad sounds

The other big part of this rig is reverb. I’ve been using a Boss RV-500 for large hall reverbs and pad-like sounds. One of the really useful things is the hold function. You can hit the hold button at different points in the reverb tail, which gives you different kinds of pad textures.

If you press it straight after a strum, you get a bigger, more immediate pad. If you wait slightly longer into the tail, you get something softer and less defined.

That has become a big part of how I’m using acoustic guitar live. It helps with transitions between songs, especially in more atmospheric sets where you don’t necessarily want silence between sections.

I also have a duplicate patch with a bit more low-pass filtering, in case the reverb is getting too bright or splashy.

Final thoughts

This ended up being a bit of a mixed job: part repair, part restring, part rig rundown.

The actual issue with the J-45 was thankfully simple, a loose cable inside the body rather than a problem with the pickup itself. After a clean, some fingerboard care and a fresh set of strings, it was back to feeling like a proper working guitar again.

The acoustic rig is still evolving, but I’m enjoying using pedals with acoustic in a way that feels musical rather than excessive. Compression, filtered delay, big reverbs, and subtle preamp-style drive can make an acoustic guitar feel much more inspiring without taking away what the guitar naturally does.

And Embers has been a pleasant surprise in that setup. Not as a fuzz, but as a tone-shaping preamp that can tighten the low mids, add a bit of feel, and help the acoustic sit in a more interesting place.

If you use pedals with acoustic guitar, I’d be interested to know what your go-to sounds are - subtle tone shaping, big ambient reverbs, delay, drive, or something else entirely.

Pedalboard Runthrough - May 2026

After four new pedal releases in the space of a few weeks, I thought it would be interesting to do something slightly different and run through the pedalboard I’m actually using at the moment.

Firstly, thank you to everyone who’s picked up one of the new Core or Faded pedals, the updated versions of Embers and Twin. Seeing people connect with these in real-world setups is really cool.

This board is constantly changing. I think a lot of guitar players are probably the same, pedalboards get rebuilt, rearranged, simplified, expanded, then simplified again. Mine especially shifts around because a lot of my playing happens either in church environments where you end up needing to cover a huge range of sounds while still keeping things musical and practical, or in recording sessions, or in tiny venues which I have to get the train to, or are acoustic rigs!

At the moment, this setup is designed around an in-ear rig where I was playing lead guitar in a full band. Everything runs through the HX Stomp, which is also how I record most of the sounds you hear on the YouTube channel.

For this setup I’m using my Casino, now fitted with a set of Mojo Pickups. This was the first time I’d played it live with these pickups and I came away really pleased with how they sat in the mix. They still feel open and dynamic, but with a bit more depth and clarity than the stock setup.

Signal Chain Overview

The chain currently looks something like this:

• Hotone Soul Press 2

• Hamilton Effects Embers

• Tube Screamer

• Hamilton Effects Faded Twin

• Boss Blues Driver

• J Rockett SOS buffer

• HX Stomp

• Boss DD-500

• Boss RV-500

The DD-500 and RV-500 are both running in the HX Stomp’s stereo effects loop.

From there, everything runs direct to FOH.

Soul Press 2

I’m using the Soul Press 2 mainly in volume/wah mode. I didn’t actually use the wah much, but I really like having the volume control underfoot.

Embers as a Texture Drive

The Embers on this board isn’t being used as a huge fuzz sound most of the time. Instead, it’s functioning more like a textural gain stage that adds character, harmonic texture and grit when stacked with other drives.

Because Embers has the built-in pickup simulator, it works perfectly happily after buffered pedals, which makes it much easier to integrate into whatever rig.

Current settings were roughly:

• Cut: around 2 o’clock

• Body: around 2:30

• Bias and Gain: around midday

• Volume: fairly high

I wasn’t using the full fuzz mode much live, but when stacked into the Twin and Blues Driver it creates a really expressive, slightly ragged edge that still stays dynamic.

Faded Twin + Blues Driver

The core of this board’s gain sound is actually the combination of the Faded Twin and a Blues Driver. The Blues Driver has basically been “always on” for most of my guitar-playing life. There’s just something about the feel and slight grit it adds that feels like home to me at this point.

The Faded Twin is running in parallel mode with both controls around noon. That setup gives a really dynamic push into the amp model without collapsing everything into compression. With just the Twin engaged, the sound stays clean but fuller and more responsive. Add the Blues Driver and things become richer and slightly more aggressive without losing articulation.

That’s the kind of gain structure I naturally gravitate towards - dynamic, touch-sensitive and stackable.

J Rockett SOS Buffer

I don’t need another buffer on this board because there are already buffered pedals earlier in the chain, but the SOS stays is because of the top-end presence control. I have that set fairly high and it adds just enough clarity and upper harmonic detail to help everything feel more immediate without becoming harsh.

HX Stomp Setup

The HX Stomp is handling amps, utility effects and routing.

Most of the time I’d normally run dual amps hard-panned stereo, but at the moment I’m using a more mono-focused amp setup while still keeping stereo delays and reverbs through the external loop. The base amp sound here is essentially an AC30-style patch.

Within the HX Stomp I’m also using:

• Poly Capo octave-up for lead parts

• Optical tremolo synced via MIDI tap tempo

• Retro Reel for tape-style movement and texture

• Harmonic tremolo for subtle motion

DD-500 Delays

The DD-500 is handling all of the delay sounds on the board. One of my go-to sounds is a stereo dotted eighth setup where the left and right sides are intentionally slightly different - different modulation, different repeat feel, slightly different movement.

I think this comes from the same instinct that makes me enjoy dual-amp setups. I like subtle variation between left and right rather than perfectly mirrored stereo.

Other delay sounds include:

• Vintage digital-style dotted eighth delays

• Warm analogue-style quarter/eighth combinations

• Reverse and oscillating ambient textures

• Longer rhythmic delays for atmospheric sections

The DD-500 still feels incredibly flexible for this kind of thing, especially when building stereo patches that stay musical rather than overly polished.

RV-500 Reverbs

The RV-500 is handling all the ambient and reverb sounds. My current favourite setup is actually fairly unconventional - a reverse-style reverb running into a dark plate reverb. The reverse reverb gives space without producing massive obvious tails, so it almost behaves more like a gated ambience than a traditional wash. Then the darker plate behind it fills things out without becoming distracting.

Reverb Hold & Ambient Playing

One thing that’s becoming a much bigger part of how I play is reverb hold and freeze-style textures. I use them a lot at home, but increasingly I’m bringing those ambient elements into live playing as well. Not in a huge cinematic way, more as a way of adding movement, tension and atmosphere underneath normal guitar parts.

How two gain stages interact

The Twin is a dual gain-stage pedal built around interaction. There are two independent boost/drive stages, and the point is how they shape each other when you combine them.

Each side can be used on its own, stacked in either direction, or run in parallel.

Two stages, three ways to use them

Series (1 → 2 or 2 → 1)
You can choose which stage hits the other first. That changes both feel and tone:

• 1 into 2
  A cleaner, higher-headroom boost going into the bias stage. Engaging the second stage lowers the “rails” and introduces clipping, compression, and fuzz-like textures.

• 2 into 1
  Set up a spluttery, gated sound first using the bias control, then use the second stage to add level, smooth the edges, or bring back some body.

In series, the first stage sets the gain structure. The second stage shapes the final output, volume, clipping, and overall character.

Parallel
Both stages run alongside each other and are blended together.

This is where it opens up:

• Keep clarity and dynamics from the cleaner stage

• Blend in texture, compression, or grit from the bias stage

• Works well for lead tones where you want presence without losing definition

You can treat one side as your core tone and use the other as a layer.

The two stages

Boost 1 = Gain
A more traditional gain control. Works as:

• Clean lift

• Low-gain drive

• Second stage into an already driven amp or pedal

Boost 2 = Bias
Instead of gain, this stage uses a bias control:

• Bias up → cleaner, more open

• Bias down → reduced transistor voltage → clipped, gated, spluttery, compressed sounds

This is where most of the character comes from.

Using them together

Individually, each side can be subtle, a lift or a bit of drive.

Combined, they start to do something more interesting:

• Series gives you saturation, compression, and harmonic density

• Parallel gives you contrast, clarity alongside grit

A practical example:

• Set a dynamic, slightly driven tone in series that stays clean when you play lightly and compresses as you dig in

• Or run parallel with a driven tone on one side and just enough bias texture blended in on the other

Controls for shaping

Attenuate switch
Both sides are boosts by nature. The attenuator pulls the overall level down so you can use the pedal more as a tone shaper rather than a high-headroom boost.

Treble / presence cut
A simple top-end roll-off to tame brightness and round out the sound when needed.

Feel

The Twin is less about max gain and more about response:

• Light playing stays open and clear

• Digging in brings compression and drive

• The interaction between stages changes how it reacts under your hands

HFX Core

Purchasing a Core pedal (Twin or Embers) includes 12 months of HFX Core:

• 10% off all Hamilton Effects pedals

• Early access to new releases

• Design notes and occasional artefacts (sketches, sounds, ideas)

• Optional involvement in future designs

The Twin is available now at hamiltoneffects.com.

Core Embers Now Available

Get Yours Now

The Embers low gain fuzz preamp is now available.

Core Embers is the first release in the Core line of Hamilton Effects pedals. It’s a fuzz designed around clarity.

I’ve always loved that sound when you roll your guitar volume down on a fuzz - the top-end sparkle you get and all those in-between settings where it becomes crunchy and dynamic but still keeps that added boost, sustain and clarity that fuzz can bring - that was the original idea.

After building the original version and releasing it just over a year ago, I spent time playing it and found a few ways I wanted to improve it. That’s how we got to where we are now.

Pickup Simulator

Core Embers features a built-in pickup simulator, so the vintage-style fuzz circuit that follows can go anywhere on your pedalboard. Traditional fuzz circuits are often fussy and want to “see” the impedance of your guitar pickups first in line. With the pickup simulator built in, Embers doesn’t need that.

Gain Control / Underdrive

Core Embers has Volume and Gain controls, as found on Faded Embers. The Gain control adjusts the input level going into the fuzz circuit. As you wind it back, it behaves in a similar way to rolling down your guitar volume. There’s also a secondary footswitch on Core Embers which bypasses that control and gives you the full fuzz gain instantly.

Bias Control - Clarity to Gate

Core Embers has a variable Bias control, so with the Bias turned up, the transistors receive the voltage they want to stay clean, clear, and open sounding, but ss you dial it back, more texture comes in. Turned all the way down, you’re starving the transistors and it moves into that velcro-style gated sound.

Body Control - Clean Low-End Blend

One of the most unique parts of Embers is how it interacts with your tone. The Body control takes your clean input signal and filters it so only the low-end content remains. That can then be blended back in with the fuzz signal. The result is retained low-end clarity without the harshness you’d often get from blending a full clean signal with fuzz. It works especially well on bass guitar, and also works really nicely on acoustic guitar.

Cut Control - Treble Taming

The Treble Cut control helps tame harsh top-end frequencies. This is especially useful into certain amps, particularly higher-headroom designs, though it depends on your setup and taste - the more you dial it in, the more treble and presence are reduced.

HFX Core

When you buy a Hamilton Effects Core pedal, you can register it for HFX Core.

HFX Core lasts for a year and includes a few different things:

• Discounts on future Core pedal purchases

• Early access to new releases

• Input into future ideas and designs

• Occasional direct updates and creative extras

It gives me a way to stay connected with the people who support Hamilton Effects, and a place to share ideas with people I know will care about them.

When you get your Core pedal, head to the website, find HFX Core, and register it.

Small Batch Build

As with all Hamilton Effects pedals, these are made in small batches, and I only have a few available.

A couple of weeks in

It’s been a couple of weeks since the release of the Faded Embers then the Faded Twin.

Releasing something new always comes with a bit of exposure. After spending a long time designing, troubleshooting, refining, making and tweaking, then it leaves the bench and becomes something people can use. I find that shift is pretty uncomfortable, even when I’m really happy with where they’ve landed.

I imagine most people reading this, being musicians and creatives, will recognise that feeling in some form. Making something and putting it out there always carries a question of whether it will actually resonate. 

Why the Faded pedals

The Faded pedals started as a practical exercise really.

I wanted to see what the minimum version of these ideas could be without losing the parts that actually matter. Smaller enclosures, fewer controls, simpler builds, and a price that makes them easier to pick up without needing to overthink it. There’s also a reality to it in that selling more pedals at a lower price might be more viable than making a small number of expensive ones, so I wanted to explore that properly really.

With the Embers, that still centres around a low-gain, bias-y fuzz circuit that can move up into full fuzz, but most of what I find I actually use sits in that lower range or stacked with overdrives. With the Twin, it’s still two gain stages that can run in series or parallel, just reduced to the essentials which make it such a versatile, dynamic gain-staging pedal.

Where I’m coming from

I’m not particularly interested in the component side of things beyond what’s necessary to get the result - NOS never really interested me, nor did fancy laid out wiring (other than the fact it’s cool to look at). 

I’ve always liked good guitar tones and what I’m doing is just trying to get closer to the kinds of sounds I actually enjoy hearing and using, to make pedals that hold up in that context, and which feel like something I (and those musicians I look up to) would want to play.

Why Hamilton Effects

Hamilton Effects started during a time where I needed something to get stuck into. It gave me something practical to work on and something that felt like it was moving somewhere. It’s still that, but now it’s a bit simpler - I want to keep making things that are worth using, and I want it to grow enough that I can spend more time doing it and push further in my creativity.

A small note

There are still a few of the Faded pedals available and if they go I’ll restock them.

Thanks everyone,

James
Hamilton Effects

Faded Twin

The Twin is a dual gain stage drive pedal.

It’s built around two boost circuits, with the option to run them in series or in parallel.

The Faded Twin

I designed the original Twin Boost when I was on paternity leave with my twins. Since then I’ve spent a lot of time refining the components and evolving the idea.

The Faded Twin is a more accessible version of that. It’s simpler to dial in, with:

• Two knobs, a volume for each of the two internal boost circuits

• One toggle, switching between series and parallel

Series

In series, Boost 1 runs into Boost 2. Boost 1 controls how much gain you’re feeding into the circuit, and Boost 2 controls the overall level and how much it starts to break up.

As you push Boost 1, you’re effectively driving Boost 2 harder. That’s where it starts to take on more saturation and compression.

The Two Boosts

The two circuits are voiced slightly differently. Boost 1 is first in the signal chain. It’s cleaner, and mostly stays clean unless you’re hitting it with really hot pickups. It’s also quite loud.

Boost 2 sits second and has more of a bias driven, gritty character.

Because of that, when Boost 1 is pushed into Boost 2, it can start to break up in a way that’s closer to a fuzz response. Vintage two transistor fuzzes often shape their character around that second stage, and you can get some of that same gated or spitty edge here if you push it.

Parallel

With the toggle the other way, the two boosts run in parallel. This lets you keep the clarity, top end, and attack from Boost 1, while blending in the grit, compression, and character from Boost 2.

That works well for rhythm parts where you want something that cuts through but still has a bit of weight behind it.

It’s also useful running into another gain stage, something more compressed, where you want to keep the clean attack but still bring in some texture.

In Use

The Twin works well as a lift for a solo sound, either staying fairly clean or bringing in some of that bias driven texture.

It also works well pushing into another overdrive or into an already driven amp. You can treat it like an extra gain stage, but with a bit more control over how that gain feels.

Faded Finish

Like the Embers, this comes in the Faded finish.

A burst of spray from the lower edge that fades upward, designed to wear over time and pick up its own character with use.

Available now!

Faded Embers

Faded Embers

The Embers has always been a fuzz designed to be clear. Something that works really nicely at low gain, and sits closer to a preamp than a traditional fuzz when you want it to.

The original version had an underdrive toggle, which gave you that rolled-back clean-up feel on a footswitch. But over the last few months, as I’ve been reworking everything, that idea has been refined into something simpler.

This is the Faded Embers.

A simpler approach

Faded Embers strips things back to what actually matters.

There are just three controls: Volume, Gain, and Bias.

The gain sweep runs from clean, glassy, almost preamp-like sounds, all the way through to a full fuzz. It covers a wide range, but in a more direct way.

How it behaves

One of the things I’ve always liked about the Embers is how it stacks.

Running it before overdrives works really well. You can set your main drive sound, then bring in a bit of that bias-driven texture on top. Keeping the gain lower means it doesn’t oversaturate, but you still get the character of the fuzz.

It also works well on its own for adding texture to clean tones.

If you’ve got a clean amp sound that feels a bit too clean or sterile, setting the gain low on Embers adds a bit of grit and movement without taking over.

Bias

The bias control is a big part of that.

It shifts the feel of the circuit, introducing more texture and slightly unusual behaviour without needing to push the gain too far.

It’s a different way of getting character into the sound.

The Faded finish

The Faded Embers is finished with the Faded finish.

There’s a burst of spray at the bottom that fades away as it goes up, and it’s designed to age over time. The more you play it, the more your own imprint shows on it, in the same way a guitar with a nitro finish wears in.

Availability

The first batch of Faded Embers is available now.

It’s a small run, and once those are gone the shop moves to pre-order. After that there’ll be a short gap before they’re available again.

New pedals, same HFX

I’ve been running Hamilton Effects for just over a year now. I launched at the beginning of 2025 with the Twin Boost and the Embers Fuzz, and over that year I’ve been building pedals, doing custom projects, teaching guitar, and doing guitar tech work alongside it.

Coming into the new year, I’ve spent some time reflecting on where I actually want Hamilton Effects to sit. Not just how the pedals sound, but what they are at their core.

What people are actually buying

One of the things that’s become clearer to me is that when someone buys a pedal from a small builder, they’re not just buying tone or aesthetics.

They’re choosing to trust a person. They’re investing in a small company, in the decisions behind the circuit, and in the taste of the person who made it.

That’s made me rethink what the Embers and the Twin Boost should be.

Up to this point I’ve been working towards a kind of “do-it-all” version of each pedal. Something that can cover everything and work for everyone. And while I’m really pleased with what I’ve made, living with them over time has made it obvious that they could be better.

So about a year in, it feels like the right time to pull everything apart and rethink it properly.

Pulling things apart

Over the last few months I’ve been quietly taking the circuits apart, reworking them, and thinking more clearly about what I actually want each pedal to do. Not just in terms of sound, but in terms of how they behave and how people interact with them. The goal was that each pedal should be the best version of itself. This led to:

Core

The Core pedals are the full expression of what I think each circuit should be.

They have more control, more flexibility, and more room to explore. You can shape them, spend time with them, and find your own sounds within them. They use higher quality components, and I’ve worked closely with a designer to make sure they look as considered as they sound.

Alongside that, there’s also HFX Core, which is a way of saying thank you to the people who invest most in Hamilton Effects. It’s also a space for me to explore ideas that sit slightly outside of pedals.

Faded

Alongside Core, there’s Faded.

These are simpler, more accessible versions of the same ideas. More immediate, more utilitarian, and quicker to dial in.

Where Core invites you to explore, Faded is about getting to a sound quickly. They focus on the central identity of each circuit, with everything else stripped back.

They’re also finished in a way that will age over time, more like a guitar with a nitro finish. Not dramatically, but enough that each pedal develops its own visual character as it’s used.

The plan

The plan is to take the first versions of these pedals to the Noise Maker Market at the end of March, as the first place people can see and hear them.

After that, I’ll be releasing them in small batches over the following weeks.

Drives in Parallel vs Drives in Series

Drives in Parallel vs Drives in Series

This video compared drives in series with drives in parallel, using two Hamilton Effects pedals built from the same underlying idea.

The setup used the Twin Boost, the first pedal I designed for Hamilton Effects, alongside the Twin Parallel, which explores the same gain stages arranged differently. Both pedals use two boost circuits, but the way those stages interact changes the character of the sound quite significantly.

Everything was recorded through a stereo reverb setup, hard-panned left and right, and then into an HX Stomp for direct recording.

Why I made this video

I made this video for two main reasons.

Firstly, I had begun overhauling several Hamilton Effects designs, and during March I was clearing the last few pedals from the previous batch. By that point the Embers had already sold out, leaving just one Twin Boost and a couple of Twin Parallels remaining.

Secondly, I wanted to demonstrate what these pedals actually do. The name Boost can sound quite utilitarian, and it can give the impression that the pedal is simply there to make the signal louder. In practice these circuits are much more about gain staging and how different gain structures interact with each other.

In that sense they function more like tools for exploring signal behaviour than traditional boost pedals.

The Twin Boost

The Twin Boost contains two independent gain stages.

One side functions primarily as a clean boost, with enough output to push an amplifier into overdrive. Any distortion heard in that configuration is coming from the amplifier being driven harder.

The other side includes a bias control, which alters the transistor bias point. This introduces more unusual textures, including slightly gated and compressed sounds that can resemble certain fuzz behaviours, but within a relatively low gain circuit.

Stacking these two stages together is where the pedal becomes more interesting.

Drives in series

When gain stages run in series, one feeds directly into the next.

The first stage shapes and clips the signal, and the second stage receives that already-processed waveform. Rather than simply increasing volume, this usually results in greater saturation, because the signal is effectively being clipped more than once.

This is the same principle that applies when stacking typical overdrive pedals on a pedalboard.

The Twin Boost follows this approach. Its two stages can also be reversed in order, allowing different interactions between the gain stages.

Drives in parallel

The Twin Parallel explores the alternative approach.

Instead of feeding one stage into the other, both circuits run in parallel and are blended together with a mix control. This means each signal path keeps its own character.

One side can remain relatively clean and fast in its response, while the other contributes additional drive or texture. Blending the two allows the sound to retain clarity and attack, while still introducing more harmonic complexity.

This can be particularly useful for rhythmic playing where definition and articulation are important.

Closing thoughts

The comparison highlights two different philosophies of gain design.

Series stacking increases saturation by pushing one stage into another.
Parallel blending allows two different gain characters to exist simultaneously and be mixed together.

Both approaches start with the same building blocks, but the structure of the circuit changes the result.

A working day: Jazzmaster setup + new pedal work

March sale: 30% off remaining Hamilton Effects pedals (once they’re gone, they’re gone)

I’m turning 30 at the end of March, so I’m clearing the last of my current stock 30% off throughout March. What’s left is genuinely the final handful from the latest batch build:

• 2x Twin Parallel

• 1x Twin Boost

• 1x Embers Fuzz

Once these are gone, they’re gone, and I won’t be making any more of these exact versions.

A working day: Jazzmaster setup + new pedal work

Today was a mix of guitar tech work and Hamilton Effects pedal building, with a bit of playing and testing in between.

I had a Jazzmaster in for a setup and scratchplate swap, moving from 9s to 10s, plus a general clean-up and dial-in.

Jazzmasters are more involved than they look because so much of the wiring and hardware is mounted to the scratchplate — switches, pots, rhythm circuit controls, the lot — so it’s the kind of job where it pays to do it properly: clean work, careful reassembly, and a full check over afterwards.

After the swap and setup, I checked action, bridge height, tuning stability and pickup positions, and made sure it played comfortably and held tune. The output on this one is hot in a good way, and once it was set up, it absolutely came alive.

If you’re local to Crawley / West Sussex and you’ve got a guitar that needs a setup, restring, hardware install, wiring work, or general TLC, drop me a message, I love doing this stuff, and it makes a huge difference to how a guitar feels.

Pedal enclosure prep + a small early reveal

After the Jazzmaster, I drilled a new enclosure (planned out on Stompbox Layouts) and started testing a new finish idea for an upcoming range.

I also showed a pedal I’ve been working on for a while: an updated Embers in a smaller format — the goal has been refining the lower-gain, cleaner, tone-shaping side of Embers so it can work like a warm, characterful preamp as well as a vintage fuzz when you push it.

Last call: the remaining pedals are 30% off in March

If you’ve been thinking about grabbing one of my pedals, this is the moment. There are only:

• 2x Twin Parallel

• 1x Twin Boost

• 1x Embers

…left, and once they’re gone, they’re gone.

• Twin Boost: two independently switchable boosts for flexible gain staging (clean side + bias-driven side).

• Twin Parallel: blends those two voices in parallel so you can keep clarity while adding gritty, bias-driven texture, plus controls to tame volume and top-end if you need it.

• Embers: vintage-inspired fuzz with a switchable input level and a wide bias range.

Thanks for watching — more soon.

Mojo p90’s in my Epiphone Casino

This guitar was a wedding gift from Emily.

She got an Epiphone Casino and modded it before giving it to me — Bigsby, bone nut, upgraded tuners. It wasn’t an off-the-shelf thing; it had already been thought about. By the time all that was done, though, the budget ran out before getting to the pickups, so I received it with the stock ones still in it.

They were dark, muddy, and very high output. Everything felt pushed forward and compressed. That’s probably fine for some people, but it isn’t how I tend to play. My reference points are more Telecaster and Gretsch - clarity, space, a bit of resistance under the fingers.

Over time, that mismatch meant I didn’t pick the Casino up as much as I should have. Which felt slightly strange, given where the guitar came from.

I spent a while thinking about custom pickups, talking to a few people, going round in circles. Eventually I spoke to Marc at Mojo Pickups, and that conversation cut through things quite quickly. No overthinking, no chasing something unusual, just his Classic P90 dogear set, done properly.

While I was at it, I made a couple of visual changes. I went for black plastic dogears to shift the look slightly, and added a bound black scratchplate. I’d previously gone for the no-guard look, but this felt more settled, more intentional.

The difference once the pickups were in was, of course, immediate.

The guitar now sounds open and clear. It responds to how you play rather than flattening everything out - you can sit back and it stays calm, or lean in and it gives you more back. It works just as well for lead lines as it does for sitting on open chords. Mostly, though, it just feels easy now. There’s no sense of fighting it, compensating or just trying to get it to work. I find myself picking it up absent-mindedly and playing longer than I meant to.

The pickup swap didn’t turn the Casino into a different guitar, it just removed the last thing that was getting in the way, which, in hindsight, was all it ever needed.

Tone controls on a fuzz

A lot of people find fuzz hard to use in a rig, especially live with a band. When you add that much distortion and clipping, everything evens out. Things that normally poke through the mix get flattened. Fuzz can end up quite woolly and full, or really harsh and cutting depending on the amp.

I took the back off the Embers to access the internal bass cut switch and started experimenting. Gain almost all the way up, bias around three o’clock, volume down into a high headroom amp. Even with the input level pulled back, there was still that fizz sitting on top. Sometimes that sizzle is useful, sometimes it isn’t. I wanted the option.

Bias changes a lot of the character. Sweeping it changes the feel as much as the sound. As it comes down things get louder and fatter, and eventually loud and woolly. Any tone control has to work alongside that.

The internal switch on Embers changes the input capacitor. It’s subtle, but switching it tighter does change how the fuzz behaves, especially as you roll things back.

From there I tried a few post-fuzz tone controls. The first one was very extreme. It blanketed the top end, but it also killed volume and didn’t feel that nice. It did a job, but I didn’t love it.

The next option worked differently, but the taper wasn’t helpful and it felt like some mids were disappearing. Changing guitars made that clearer.

The third approach was simpler. A subtle low-pass using a variable resistor and capacitor. Increasing the pot value helped. This one started to feel usable. It took the edge off without smothering everything.

Thinking about it more, I realised the tone control couldn’t really be treated on its own. Working outside the circuit meant loading and impedance weren’t behaving the same way they would inside the pedal.

That led me back to low end. Embers already has a switch that changes how much bass hits the fuzz, but more bass also keeps things fuzzier as you reduce gain. I started experimenting with a filtered clean blend. The split happens before the fuzz, the clean path is high-passed, and it’s summed back in after the fuzz.

From there it goes into a buffer, a makeup gain stage, and the tone control lives as part of that stage. You can tame the high end, bring back some clean weight if you want it, and keep things usable when you underdrive it. It also makes it work on bass without needing external parallel routing.

It’s still a work in progress. Values will need changing once it’s properly inside the circuit. But it feels like the right direction.

Gain staging

This video looks at gain staging. It matters at every level, from what is happening inside pedal circuitry to bigger decisions like pedal order, amp choice, and pickups.

The Twin Boost is used as the main example. Although it is labelled a boost, it functions more like a gain staging pedal.

Setup

The board is kept simple for testing and explanation.

HX Stomp is handling the amp modelling. A Super Reverb model is used first for its high headroom, so distortion is not coming from the amp unless it is pushed hard. A small amount of reverb is added.

Pedals used:
Twin Boost
Modded Nobels ODR-1
RAT

Clean boosts

The Twin Boost contains two independent boost stages.

With the gain set fully down on the right side, it behaves as a clean level boost, expanding the available dynamic range.

The left side, with the bias control set high, can also operate cleanly. Each side has a slightly different character even when used this way.

Stacking gain stages

When multiple gain stages are used, limits appear at different points in the signal chain. Hitting those limits results in compression or clipping.

Stacking the two sides of the Twin Boost recreates this behaviour. The direction toggle changes which stage is hit first, and therefore where clipping occurs.

In this configuration, the volume control of the first stage effectively becomes an input gain, since it determines how hard the second stage is driven.

Gain and bias controls

The gain control limits the range in which the transistor remains clean.

The bias control alters the character and feel of the boost, changing how the signal is constrained at the top and bottom of its range.

Twin Parallel

The Twin Parallel runs both boost voices at the same time, with a blend control to balance between them.

Current versions

The Embers, Twin Boost, and Twin Parallel are being refined and updated. Stock of the current versions is limited, and these specific designs will not be remade in the same form.

Stacking with overdrive and distortion

With the ODR-1, clipping comes from inside the pedal itself rather than the amp. Increasing volume into an already clipping stage does not significantly increase loudness.

If a volume lift is needed after distortion, the boost must be placed after the drive stage.

The RAT demonstrates similar behaviour. Pushing into it increases compression and saturation rather than level, depending on settings.

Pedal order, amps, and pickups

Gain staging decisions affect pedal order and pedalboard layout, and similar decisions exist inside pedal design.

Changing amp models alters how boosts and drives behave. A Super Reverb and an AC30 respond differently to the same settings.

Pickup output also changes how gain stages interact. Humbuckers generally drive subsequent stages harder than single coils.

Closing thoughts

Gain staging happens everywhere, both at the micro level inside circuits and at the macro level of rigs and recording.

Reducing gain can be as useful as adding it. Rolling back volume or designing circuits to work well at lower input levels can produce sounds that feel dynamic and playable.

Fuzz Transistor Shootout

I did another deep dive into a basic Fuzz Face on a breadboard and swapped different transistors to hear what changed (gain, tone, feel).

• The circuit had a big input cap at first (so loads of bass). I mentioned Embers has that internal toggle to tighten it up if it feels flubby.

• I started with BC108C (high gain) and a big bias trimmer range, so there were loads of “unusable” bias spots… but it was fun for comparing.

The quick impressions

• BC108C stayed the running favourite for most of the video.

• 2N2222A was interesting (I liked it for Twin Boost stuff), but for the Fuzz Face it felt a bit woollier at full guitar volume and less usable when rolled back at lower biases.

• BC183L felt low gain and had a tiny usable bias window. I wasn’t sold.

• BC549C also felt surprisingly low gain.

• BC109C didn’t beat the 108s for me.

• BC550C felt higher gain and interesting - made me think about mixing types rather than matching them.

Input cap swap

• I tried a 22n input cap (the “tight” option like the Embers low-cut switch). Subtle but useful.

Where I ended up

• After loads of swapping (and ear fatigue), I landed on:

  • Q1 = BC549C

  • Q2 = BC550C

• I said I needed to listen back another day to be sure, but that combo felt like I was narrowing in on what I liked.

Wrap

• I was pretty exhausted by the end, but I love this kind of experimentation, a lot of it is tiny differences and “feel”.

• I said I’d expand it more later, build prototypes, and that the next couple of weeks’ content would be a mix of bits and bobs while I prep future stuff.

Twin Boost update work (first day 2026)

It was my first day back doing pedal stuff after Christmas/New Year (I’d been back teaching and doing bits in the evenings).

• I’d been working on revised versions of the Twin Boost + Embers Fuzz (the two pedals I launched Hamilton Effects with just over a year ago).

• After a year of feedback + living with the production models, I had a few things I wanted to revisit at the start of 2026.

• A lot of notebook time went into switching headaches, especially on the Twin Boost (I didn’t want to spoil too much yet).

Revised Twin Boost — left side (bias side)

• I demo’d it quiet first (volume low) so you could hear what the circuit was doing without it just being “boosted amp sounds nice”.

• With normal bias (bias effect “off”) it was slightly gritty.

• When I dug in, it had that squish — not quite compression, because it stayed really dynamic, but it was a feel thing (and that’s why I like bias control).

• Compared to bypass it had less treble, still clarity, just less.

• Turning volume up boosted an AC30 model, and obviously it sounded really nice… but that’s why I showed it quiet first.

• In the new Twin Boost I said I was going to include the attenuation switch from the Twin Parallel, so you could get back down to pretty clean.

• As I brought in the bias knob (starving the transistor of voltage):

  • volume lifted a bit

  • texture/crunch came from the circuit (not just the amp)

  • it added drive + compression but kept clarity

  • sharp attack stayed (T-style pickup transient still came through)

  • pushed far, it got quieter again so I compensated with volume

  • it didn’t feel like “overdrive/distortion”, but it was still gritty and fun

  • it was the kind of texture I listened for for rhythm parts

That was where I landed for the revised left side.

Switching / buffer bit (context)

• I added a buffer before either boost because for parallel mode the split needs to be buffered.

• That created some of the switching headache, because you can choose whether 1 goes into 2 or 2 goes into 1 — but I wanted both boosts to sound good after the buffer.

Revised Twin Boost — right side (classic boost side)

• I rebuilt the right side around a few different transistors (I didn’t have any 5088s to hand, so I started with a 2N3904).

• I tested input cap values:

  • 22n set the high-pass before boost

  • I tried 100n (more bass through)

  • It was subtle, but I ended up leaning toward 100n so bass/baritone players could use it too.

• I tried different transistors:

  • BC550C felt a bit hotter / biased differently (almost like “two layers” of drive / asymmetrical-ish feel), but I wasn’t convinced it was worth swapping for.

  • 2N2222A was way higher gain and I preferred the tone — clearer, less muddy.

• I found a resistor was limiting the top end of gain rather than the bottom end.

• I added the same 22k input resistor I’d used on the left side, and that cleaned up the super low-gain “sizzle” nicely.

• I also tested the clipping diode setup:

  • I preferred it how I already had it (with that extra diode to ground to soften it a bit) rather than straight hard clipping to ground.

Where I finished

• I ended up happy with the right side using the 2N2222A, the input gain calmed similarly to the left side, and the same clipping diode layout as the left.

• I didn’t have the right gain pot so I couldn’t test the full gain range, but it felt like a solid updated circuit plan for the next round of Twin Boosts.

Testing the Fuzz Face split-in-half

This video was another step in the Fuzz Face split-in-half experiment, this time with Pete playing it properly and reacting to it in real time.

Pete’s basically my unofficial Hamilton Effects R&D guitarist — he plays everything and gives honest feedback.

What we did

• Pete played the Two-Face Fuzz (Q1, Q2, and both together)

• We talked through how it worked in plain terms

• We compared it to Embers Fuzz

• We tried it into / alongside the Twin Boost (which is where the idea came from)

How it felt

• Both on = proper fuzz, full and dynamic

• Left side (Q2) = the favourite

  • “Fuzz Face but clean”

  • Big low end, clear top

  • Worked great into another drive

• Right side (Q1) = gated, spitty, riffy

  • More extreme, more character

The dual volume pot changed the bias slightly as you turned it down, which felt musical rather than annoying.

Compared to Embers

• Same general family

• Two-Face felt:

  • clearer

  • less harsh

  • less full

• Embers felt more finished

• Two-Face felt more weird and characterful

Pete’s takeaway

• Loved the look (copper hammered enclosure)

• Favourite sound was the left side with that clarity on top

• Right side was great for gated riff stuff

• Felt creative and inspiring

Where it landed

This wasn’t meant to be a full release, but the response was strong enough that I said I’d build them to order if people want one.

Basically: a weird idea that turned out to be worth chasing.

I tried splitting a fuzz face in half

In this video I did a little experiment that followed on from the Twin Boost chat: a Fuzz Face is basically two transistors (Q1 into Q2), so I wanted to hear what each one did on its own.

So I breadboarded a Fuzz Face, then took “taps” so I could listen to Q1 only, Q2 only, and both together. Messy bench, barking dog, cup of tea - the usual.

The basic idea

• If Q1 and Q2 sounded usable on their own, I thought: maybe this could be a pedal

• Both on = “kind of” a Fuzz Face

• Either one bypassed = two extra flavours

I also said in the video: the one-off pedal I ended up making from this experiment was for sale if someone wanted it.

Breadboard stage

• I got the fuzz face working (it was noisy - breadboards always are)

• I had one classic “wired it backwards” moment and fixed it

• Then I started pulling the circuit apart to listen to each transistor

What Q1 sounded like

• Super interesting but kind of woolly / weird

• On the B and E strings it barely fuzzed at all

• Very “pickup/string dependent” and finicky in a cool way

What Q2 sounded like

• This was the one I actually loved

• It was cleaner, had a nice sustain, and felt like a single transistor boost stage with texture

• It was also the main thing causing popping/fading/rebiasing weirdness while I was troubleshooting

Building the one-off pedal

I moved it onto stripboard and into an enclosure over two days. The hard bit was basically: a stock Fuzz Face goes straight from Q1 into Q2, but if you want each half to work independently you need extra coupling/switching stuff… and the circuit is so sensitive that every little change makes it behave differently.

Also: I accidentally wired the gain control backwards. Silly.

Where I landed

• Both on together sounded fun, biting, cutting, but not exactly like a Fuzz Face (extra circuitry changes it)

• It didn’t clean up nicely when rolling guitar volume down - it cleaned up a bit but stayed noisy

• Q1 alone was velcro-y and strange

• Q2 alone was my favourite: textured, clean-ish, “overdrivey boost” vibes

The actual takeaway

The big win was discovering how cool Q2 was on its own. That sound felt like something I could actually build on for a future Hamilton Effects thing.

And yeah - if someone wanted the weird one-of-a-kind pedal from this video, I said to message me.

Twin Boost Notes

In this video, I did a little run-through of the Twin Boost and the different bits and bobs it could do.

The Twin Boost was the first pedal I designed. It was two single transistor boosts, and the idea was that when you stacked them and changed the direction, you could make a dual transistor, fuzz-face-ish overdrive/fuzz kind of thing. The original design had both sides quite clean, but I changed it up a little bit for more variety.

Clean Sound Context

I started with the clean sound, because it was helpful to contextualise what was happening. As soon as I pushed the volume, I started driving into the amp, so “unity gain” settings sounded quite subtle.

Right-Hand Side (Cleanish Boost)

The right-hand side was a fairly simple, cleanish boost.

• With the volume levels kind of matched and the gain down low, it gave:

  • a bit of a bass cut

  • a bit of an upper mid boost

  • a little bit of texture

• Pushing the volume drove the amp more

• The gain knob gave gain from the pedal circuit rather than the amp

• Combining gain + pushing into the amp was super dynamic

• I put my modded Nobels ODR-1 in front briefly just to get a bit of texture

Overall it did that nice bluesy bit - simple and good fun.

Left-Hand Side (Fixed Gain + Bias)

The left-hand side didn’t have a gain knob in the same way - it had fixed internal gain.

• With the bias knob all the way up, it got closer to the right-hand side sound (a bit more full range)

• It still cut off some low end to help it cut through

• The gain texture felt different: more grit, more texture, less “classic overdrive”

• Turning the bias down starved the bias more

• It got quieter, so I compensated with the level

• Using the volume as a boost added that extra texture

It was like the biasy fuzz sound I liked, but on a cleaner platform. I liked it for an interesting rhythm part.

The Toggle in the Middle (Order / Stacking)

In the middle, the toggle determined whether internally:

• the right-hand circuit went into the left, or

• the left-hand circuit went into the right

When I did that, I ended up with roughly the same topology as a two-transistor fuzz (one going into the other). The volume control on the first stage acted like how hard I was hitting the second transistor, making it drive more.

The toggle pointed to whichever one was first.

Both On Together (Fuzz-ish Territory)

With both on together, I was stacking the two.

• With the settings I had, the two low cuts added together, so even more low end got taken out

• It got quite loud and quite gainy

• The gain was coming from the pedal itself because the volume slamming into the other volume was quite high

• It definitely got into fuzz territory

When the left-hand side was second, it retained the majority of its character.

Flipping the Order (Different Feel)

When I flicked the switch, the roles changed:

• One side became the input gain control

• The other became master volume

That put it more into high overdrive / distortion territory rather than fuzz, but the bias still flavoured the sound a lot - especially depending on whether it was second in the chain or not.

I also noticed it became a feel thing: the main sound stayed similar, but under the fingers it felt much more compressed because of what was effectively going into it.

Turning the volume right down proved what was clipping was the pedal circuit rather than the amp.

Takeaways

• The right side was a simple, cleanish boost with a bass cut / upper mid boost / light texture

• The left side was more about fixed gain and bias texture, from “normal” to starved/biasy

• The toggle made it behave more like a two-transistor stack, fuzz-face-ish in topology

• Switching order changed which side dominated and changed the feel under the fingers

• It stayed super dynamic, and it covered a lot of ground depending on how it was stacked

At the end, I said I’d quite like to try one day building a Twin Boost where each half used the kind of layouts you’d see in a fuzz face setup - basically leaning even further into that two-stage idea.