Vitalii Bobrov's Drunk Beaver Secret Sauce Fuzz is a really smart and uniquely textured take on the Harmonic Percolator

Drunk Beaver is quickly turning into my go-to supplier for cool extended-range fuzz circuits. This time around Vitalii tackles the venerable Harmonic Percolator HP-1 with a highly distinctive and versatile take on that circuit. 

Controls - Compression, Diodes : Ge/Si, Symmetry (Diode Clipping) : Symmetrical > Stock Percolator > Asymmetrical, Output, Q2 Transistors : Ge/Si, Harmonics (Gain).

There are a number of unique elements here - where the original Interfax source / inspiration pedal had just 2 controls - Harmonics (Gain) and Balance (Volume). On the Secret Sauce those are Harmonics and Output - where the innovation is in a variable Compression Control, and variable Diode Clipping Symmetry control - which takes you from Symmetrical fully CC to Asymmetrical clipping fully CW, and with the stock Percolator setting around noon.

You have both Silicon and Germanium Transistors and Diodes you can select - which you can switch between in the second Q2 gain stage - where the original was a mix of Germanium and Silicon. My Secret Sauce has two Soviet Germanium Transistors - ГT404B and 1T320Ƃ and 1 more universal Silicon BC307B Transistor variety. Note also that there is a transformer onboard which acts as a pickup simulator - so that you can place the Secret Sauce pretty much anywhere on the board!

By default the circuit needs a certain amount of compression to work, while I don’t feel it benefits from lots of extra compression for my preferences - so I typically have that knob dialled down.

Generally I prefer the pedal with both switches set to Germanium (original configuration), Compression dialled back, Symmetry at either extreme - Max or Min / fully Symmetrical or Asymmetrical, never in the middle! Output at 2 o’c, and Harmonics (Gain) at 3 o’c - that combination delivers the perfect tone and character for me. If you load in just a touch more Gain / Harmonics then the circuit starts to compress further and the profile / character changes. All the dials have pretty even and predictable tapers.

There’s quite a lot going on here - and this is about as versatile a Harmonic Percolator as you can find - with all kinds of tones and textures you can’t get elsewhere. I really like the artwork and colour scheme too - while I don’t quite get the sentiment of the visual metaphor! Overall a really great and unique take on the genre. And the gold Footswitch fits in perfectly well as yet another detail / quality touch.

There’s just 2 units currently in stock from the latest batch on the Drunk Beaver Reverb.com store - for $200 including free shipping. The last couple no doubt before Christmas - so get yours while you can!

Any Harmonic Percolator fans among you?