SolidGoldFX has unveiled its latest fuzz pedal offering, the Imperial MKII.
A Big Muff-style gated fuzz unit based on the sought-after JEN Jumbo Fuzz, the Imperial MKII features a retro-themed, slider-equipped user interface.
Built around a modern J-FET design, the Imperial MKII features four main controls: Volume and Tone, Contour – which controls midrange content by changing the frequency of the high pass filter – and Fuzz – which, of course, sets the amount of distortion.
Also featured on the unit's front face is its main true bypass footswitch, as well as two LEDs – the left indicating bypass status and right indicating gate status.
For the uninitiated, the JEN Jumbo Fuzz was a pedal made by Italian manufacturer JEN Elettronica – who also made pedals for Vox, Dallas Arbiter and others – and was its own take on Electro-Harmonix's famous Big Muff Pi… but with sliders.
Says SolidGoldFX: “While the Jumbo’s noise gate is a great feature and gives this [Big Muff Pi] variant a unique attack with practically zero noise, vintage units vary greatly from one unit to another, with some gating too much and others not at all. Capturing the Jumbo Fuzz’s vibe and redesigning the gate was essential to our Imperial redesign.”
The Imperial MKII is available now for $199. For more information, head to SolidGoldFX.
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Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.
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