Hello Sailor Effects flexes its verve once more on its brand new super-sustaining ShipWreck Fuzzstortion
Joe Halliday’s latest ShipWreck FuzzStortion has been through quite the development journey. Initially based on the request of a friend to make a Higher Gain HSE pedal. It combines a JFET preamp section with some beautifully amp- and fuzz-like dynamics and characteristics - and produces rather exceptional long singing sustain.
It’s basically a discrete transistor style distortion - with an initial JFET preamp section to deliver more organic feel under the fingers. Then it hits something approximating a conditioning stage. The idea came from a Marshall amplifier cathode follower stage. Obviously the circuit has no relation to it but the concept and implementation is along very similar lines.
Next, we hit the main gain stage - where we have a super high gain Darlington transistor feeding a hard clipping diode stage. That’s what the middle switch is controlling. In the centre you have silicon asymmetrical, up is silicon/germanium asymmetrical & down is silicon symmetrical. I typically prefer the most harmonically searing setting - which is the Middle one, followed by the more vintage-sounding Up hybrid setting, and I don’t spend too much time on the Down smoother Silicon setting - as you don’t get the same full-on harmonics of the other modes.
Then last in the circuit block digram - we have the post gain tone control and master volume.
Controls - Volume, Clipping : Ge-Si Asymmetrical / Si Asymmetrical / Si Symmetrical, Gain, Tone.
Note that there are 2 internal trim-pots too - where you can fine-tune the Voltage Bias on the 2 main gain stages. Those have been optimised during the pedal build process, and should not need further refinement when you receive your pedal - but you have the option to play around with the Bias character should you wish - I frankly don’t recommend it.
Joe’s first instincts with the circuit was to make it in his usual fully unfettered and full-on full-flavoured manner. Where his friend then thought the output a little too much. So Joe wired up the circuit a little differently to slightly throttle back the max gain. That was the version of the circuit I first experienced - which felt dynamically a little bit Tone Bender in profile - with that somewhat wirier clipped profile.
After much deliberation, Joe then decided that actually he preferred his very original take on the circuit - and recalled those early pedals (including mine) to set them back to the original higher gain configuration - which involved re-inverting the 2 gain stages I believe. The result was indeed a more open sound fuzzstortion with more reach and volume, and with longer sustain - closer in profile to a Fuzz Face really. In the simplest of terms this sounds like a super-sustaining high gain Fuzz Face based distortion.
There may be a later DLX version of this circuit - with a circuit bending switch - which allows you to experience both the more Tone Bender style first edition profile, as well as the final more open, louder, gainier Fuzz Face style profile.
For me the controls had to be set quite differently on the two circuit variations - as the more Tone Bender Profile tended to have more compression and sort of choke-out at extremes of volume and gain - which is not the case with the later iteration.
I think both Joe and I set the pedal up very similarly - all dials to Max, and then you use your guitar controls to further refine the output - which for me is with the guitar volume knocked back just a fraction. You've got that usual amp / fuzz style clean-to-scream kind of dynamic with exception touch-sensitive and sustain.
I see this as distinct from a typical high gain distortion pedal - as this very much has a fuzz-esque voicing at its core, and very fuzz-like dynamics and characteristics. It's not quite as loud and full on as the Anchor Drive - but its high gain singing sustain is something really rather special.
The ShipWreck Fuzzstortion is priced at £250, and come in the usual variety of styles - it's probably a good time to get in line for one! As usual - you need to keep your eyes peeled on the Hello Sailor Effects Reverb.com store - where pedal drops occur every week or two - and as always - no two varieties are the same - each one is unique! In fact there may be one or two available right now!
This is another really distinct HSE pedal - wholly different from the rest of the range, but with a lot of that same HSE DNA very apparent. I'm delighted with my own edition - Joe really hasn't put a foot wrong for me all these years - well apart from initially going against his gut instinct in lowering the gain output!
A wholly worthy addition to the range, and to your Hello Sailor Effects flagship pedal collection.
Demos
