It wasn’t present for the NAMM 2022 event festivities, but that hasn’t stopped ThorpyFX from capitalizing on the new gear hype currently flooding the community.
As such, the boutique British pedal brand has debuted the Scarlet Tunic – an analog amp-in-a-box “years in the making”, which aims to tap into the tones of late Pink Floyd co-founder, Syd Barrett.
Specifically, the Scarlet Tunic comes loaded with an all-analog emulation of Barrett’s Selmer Treble N’ Bass 50 guitar amp, which saw action during Pink Floyd’s early years.
The pedal itself began life as a one-off custom build for Lee Harris of Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets – a band comprising Mason, Harris, Guy Pratt and Gary Kemp, which performs material from Pink Floyd’s early catalog.
In order to make his Barrett-style tones sound authentic for their upcoming world tour, Harris sounded out a build that would be able to deliver as such, with builder Adrian Thorpe saying the resulting pedal successfully covers the Selmer’s tones.
However, ThorpyFX went full ThorpyFX in the development process, and took the build one-step further. Rather than exclusively offering the Selmer, the company has also sought to serve up sounds of a vintage Vox AC30 and Hiwatt DR103.
The Scarlet Tunic is designed to be integrated into your existing rig or pedalboard, and promises to deliver the classic vintage amp sounds in line with your current guitar amp.
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In operation, there are three central toggle switches and five parameter controllers. Deep and Bright toggles work to change the voicing of the pedal, while Sens (sensitivity) lets you choose between three gain stages.
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Elsewhere, straightforward master controls of Master and Gain dictate output and overall drive. Treble, Bass and Presence knobs, the latter of which affects the upper-mid response of the pedal, complete the control set.
Under the hood, it’s fitted with a high-quality transformer that helps the pedal react to the dynamics of your playing akin to a true amp.
The Scarlet Tunic is currently available for £265 (approximately $335).
For more information, head over to ThorpyFX.
The Scarlet Tunic is the latest offering from ThorpyFX, which recently unveiled the Boneyard Fuzz – a high-end, germanium transistor-loaded fuzz pedal inspired by the Tone Bender.
It’s also the latest analog amp emulator to hit the scene as the market continues its shift towards favoring pedal amps, following the release of Two Notes' tube-loaded ReVolt Guitar unit.
