‘but it goes up to 11..!’
Well, if an amp that goes up to 11 is better than one that only goes up to 10, then a box with two Varitone Stompbox circuits in rather than just one has got to be better, right?
It started off as a request from a client in the USA for us to modify our Varitone Stompbox to act more like the hi/lo filter in a Dumble Steel String Singer.
Although Dumble amps are all completely different to each other and sound magical as they derive their super special tone from such exotic materials as hen’s teeth, unicorn tears, and leprechaun extract, we gamely agreed to have a go at capturing the spirit of the circuit, if not the precise circuit diagram.
To do that, I started off by sleeping next to a picture of John Mayer for a month or so. Whether this helped or not is inconclusive, so I decided to get to work.
With Sob Rock still ringing in my ears though(in a good way, it’s a cracking album and I’ll fight anyone who disagrees), I started doing some heavy research on circuitry; specifically the effects different capacitors and inductors have on different frequencies across the spectrum. When testing some of these out on a breadboard, it quickly became clear that the numbers on paper didn’t really correspond with the audible frequencies, so I binned off all the pages of algebra I’d been working on and instead resolved to just trust my ears instead. Aiming for controls that would affect both the lower and upper mids, I painstakingly auditioned a massive range of capacitors and inductors for each half of the circuit, testing over and over again with a range of different guitars and amplifiers.
Eventually, I narrowed the circuit down to 5 upper and 5 lower settings, with a ‘voice’ switch for each, and wired them so they could work independently or together… and working together was where the magic happened with this circuit. Different guitars seemed to favour different settings, but in general the circuit subtly helped the guitars sit better in audio mixes when tested. This was always going to be a subtle, passive circuit that worked more as an extension of the guitar’s tone controls, but ultimately, if you want to keep things vintage and analogue, this is the best way to do it!
All that was left was to complete the circuit and make it presentable. Our client in this case wanted it for his studio, so requested we make the unit an amp-top box. As he was trying to replicate the Dumble sound, we opted for a retro 70’s look, with Jack designing the fonts and logos to suit that particular vibe. We even added an effects loop (putting effects before the input of the unit would destroy the inductors), selected a particularly 1970s-looking electronics enclosure, made sure there was as much shielding as possible, and put it all together!
The results were fantastic- 10 options plus bypass for each side means 102 different combinations, allowing you to subtly craft your midrange with razor-accuracy; from nasal growl to midrange honk and all those other buzzwords you find on guitar forums.
Plus, perhaps more importantly, it’s the coolest looking thing we’ve ever made here.
This is very much a custom order item, but we’d love to sell a few more!
If you like what you see here, feel free to drop us a message and we’ll put a price together. It’s of course quite a bit more expensive than the regular varitone stompbox, but as all of the expensive research and development is now done, all future units will be significantly less expensive than the prototype shown here. We can also offer a range of different enclosures, including a stompbox option if amp-top isn’t your thing… just let us know what you fancy and we can make it happen!
Drop us a message to find out more!
