Strymon Releases The Fairfax Class A Output Stage Drive, And Announces New Line Of Analog Pedals

(MENAFN- EIN Presswire) EINPresswire/ -- Strymon Engineering ( ), the Los Angeles-based manufacturer of premium guitar, plugin and Eurorack products, announced not only a new gain pedal called Fairfax today, but also an entirely new line of fully analog pedals they've dubbed Series A.

Fairfax is unique in the world of drive and boost pedals, in that it's a full tube amp circuit, cleverly miniaturized using only analog components. Strymon's analog engineers took initial inspiration from the Herzog^® tube drive unit from Garnet Amplifiers that was developed for Randy Bachman of BTO, as its sound powered a number of classic rock hits from the '60s and '70s.

The pedal uses only analog components to recreate the amp's topology, encompassing a tube preamp, Class A power amp and a proprietary circuit that impersonates the important saturation characteristics of the output transformer, which is integral to the sound the unit produces. Strymon created an internal power supply that converts the incoming 9 VDC into 40V, giving the amplifier circuit a massive amount of headroom that gives the pedal true amp-like feel.

The sound is clean and clear at low Drive settings, but moves into full transformer-like saturation as the gain is increased. Along with a Bright circuit that modifies the treble response, the pedal also includes a variable Sag control that produces dynamic artifacts at low values, and full sputtering and gated sounds more commonly associated with fuzz pedals at extreme settings.

“Man, this thing is such a chameleon”, said Sean Halley, Strymon's Head of Marketing and a long-time session and live player.“It can be a creamy and gooey boost that works great with any style of amp, and it can also breathe saturated fire.” Halley continues,“because it's really an amp circuit, it doesn't change your core tone, and it stacks brilliantly with other drive pedals. This thing is not leaving my board, full stop.”

Gregg Stock, Strymon's CEO and senior analog engineer added“even though we're more known for DSP, our analog engineers are always coming up with interesting ideas for fully analog designs, so we created Series A to give them an outlet. There will be a number of pedals in the line by the end of next year, so we're really excited to see some of these products come to market - it's been a blast to work on this stuff.”

Fairfax is available now directly from Strymon and from dealers worldwide for $199 US.

Videos covering the launch can be found at and on Strymon's YouTube channel. For additional information please check out the Strymon website at , and contact Jack Heine at... for all media or press inquiries.

About Strymon:

Based in Westlake Village, CA, Strymon Engineering manufactures an award-winning line of guitar effects pedals, Eurorack modules, processing plugins, MIDI interfaces and hyper-robust power supplies, all designed and built in the USA. Their products are mainstays in the rigs of top recording and touring professional musicians worldwide, helping players craft their own signature sounds with creative, powerful and road-worthy gear that sounds like nothing else.

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