The company is best known for the WURM, its take on the out-of-production Boss HM-2 MIJ distortion pedal. KMA itself calls the WURM "a highly regarded, yet unabashed sonic love letter" to that circuit45.
The story: from early pedals to a Berlin workshop
KMA started small. In a 2019 guitar.com interview, founder Enrico Preuss described the company's beginnings71011:
"started out almost three years ago with just one pedal and an initial production run of 10"
That first pedal was the Fuzzly Bear, a silicon fuzz inspired by "an old, obscure and highly underrated fuzz box," the Jordan Bosstone, released in 20138. It was later reissued as the Fuzzly Bear 2 in a smaller enclosure with top-mounted jacks and relay-based silent switching12.
Preuss founded the company with Karlowitsch, a close friend who, as Preuss told guitar.com, "asked me if he could do a design for that" first pedal7. Karlowitsch's graphic design work has remained part of the company's identity.
- Drive pedals such as the Logan overdrive, described by Gearnews as "a boutique overdrive pedal built in Berlin"13, and the Dead Stag fuzz/distortion14
- Fuzzes including the Minos, derived from the Tonebender MKII and Superfuzz circuits15
- Frequency-splitting tools such as the Tyler Deluxe16
Known for: the WURM and its HM-2-style distortion
The WURM, released in 2018, is a modern take on the Boss HM-2 MIJ pedal65. KMA describes it as taking "the essential ingredients of this classic, while in the process developing a way more flexible metal-distortion pedal"5. Delicious Audio called it a "modern and versatile take on the Boss HM2 with a wider range of tones for evil and gritty distortion"6.
The line has since expanded:
| Pedal | What it is |
|---|---|
| WURM | The original HM-2-based metal distortion, released 20186 |
| WURHM | Limited-edition black and orange Wurm referencing the HM-2's color scheme, launched November 2020175 |
| Wurm 2 | Update of the original, described by Delicious Audio as an update of the company's high-gain flagship distortion18 |
| Guardian of the Wurm | HM-2-style distortion with a smart noise gate19 |
The WURHM was a limited edition, launched in November 2020 in black and orange to reference the HM-2's color scheme620. In 2023, as part of KMA's 10 Year Anniversary celebrations, a one-off purple Guardian of the Wurm was given away and never sold101.
MusicRadar described the Wurm 2 as "the prolific pedal company's HM-2-style distortion pedal"12, and Rockboard's PedalPedia tags it as a distortion, booster and equalizer21.
Founder Enrico Preuss
Analog circuits, and the move into digital
Most of KMA's range is analog. The Moai Maea is an analog octaver22, and the fuzzes and distortions are analog circuits based on classic designs. The Cirrus delay and reverb pedal marked a change. As Guitar World's reviewer Trevor Curwen put it:
"In its first foray into fully digital pedals, KMA Machines has put delay and reverb together into one stompbox"
Gearnews had earlier described the Cirrus as a delay and reverb pedal when it launched in 201924. The Geminus Double Tracker goes further, packing what Rockboard's listing calls "KMA's AI-driven True Double Tracker tech into a compact stereo pedal"25.
The ABY Series
KMA's ABY Series covers switching pedals for players who want to "split, combine or simply switch between audio devices with ease"26. The series is built, in KMA's words, "with a focus on durability, reliability, simplicity and hassle-free operation"27.
| Model | Type |
|---|---|
| ABY | Passive ABY pedal with active switching1 |
| STEREO ABY | Passive Stereo AB/Y pedal with active switching28 |
| Active ABY | Active ABY pedal with noise-free switching3 |
| Active STEREO ABY | Active Stereo / Dual-Mono ABY pedal with noise-free switching27 |
KMA says the active models are designed for use with Y splitting or combining with signals of differing impedances between connected devices26, and their high quality active buffer "can also help eliminate level mismatches or even signal loss, if used with" long cable runs27.
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News
Questions
Where are KMA Machines pedals made?
KMA Machines builds its pedals in Berlin, Germany. The company's product pages state "Made in Berlin, Germany" across the range, and press coverage of individual pedals such as the Moai Maea and the Logan overdrive describes them as built and designed in Berlin. In 2022 the company moved into a new workshop by the River Spree after outgrowing earlier spaces.
Does KMA Machines make digital pedals?
Mostly no. KMA Machines built its name on analog circuits such as the WURM distortion, the Fuzzly Bear fuzz and the Moai Maea octaver. The Cirrus delay and reverb pedal was the company's first fully digital pedal, according to Guitar World's review, and the Geminus Double Tracker packs the company's AI-driven True Double Tracker tech into a stereo pedal.
What is the KMA Moai Maea?
The Moai Maea is an analog octave pedal based on the 1980s Pearl OC-7. It generates one higher octave and up to two sub-octaves, and includes a serial buffered FX loop in the clean path so you can add your own effects. The Mandrake pedal is built on a refined version of the Moai Maea's Shriek upper-octave circuit.
What is the KMA Machines ABY Series?
The ABY Series is KMA's line of switcher pedals for splitting, combining or switching between audio devices. It runs from a passive ABY with active switching to stereo and active stereo versions. The active models add a high quality buffer that helps eliminate level mismatches or signal loss with long cable runs, and use noise-free switching.
Sources (28)
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- KMA Machines Mandrake Octo Shrieker Fuzz, Delicious Audio, 2025-07-09
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- WURM 2 - High-Gain Distortion with Active 4-Band EQ | KMA Machines, KMA Machines
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- KMA Machines WURHM Orange Terror Distortion (WURM Custom Version), Delicious Audio, 2021-01-13
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- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2023-11-17
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- KMA Machines' ursine debut stompbox is rehoused and refreshed as the Fuzzly Bear 2, MusicRadar, 2022-04-22
- KMA Audio Machines Logan: A flexible boutique drive pedal with a secret, gearnews.com, 2019-09-06
- KMA Machines Dead Stag Fuzz Distortion, Pedal of the Day, 2020-03-31
- Minos - DISCONTINUED | KMA Machines, KMA Machines
- TYLER DELUXE, KMA Machines
- KMA Machines launches the limited-edition Wurhm, bringing a classic colour-scheme to its death metal chainsaw machine, Guitar.com, 2020-11-27
- KMA Machines Wurm 2 Distortion, Delicious Audio, 2023-01-10
- KMA Machines Guardian Of The Wurm, Delicious Audio, 2022-04-07
- Boss is bringing the HM-2 Heavy Metal back from the dead as a Waza Craft reissue, MusicRadar, 2020-11-26
- Wurm 2 by KMA Machines, RockBoard PedalPedia, 2026
- Go deep with KMA Machines Moai Maea analogue octave pedal, gearnews.com, 2016-09-06
- KMA Machines Cirrus review, Guitar World, 2020-09-11
- KMA Audio Machines Cirrus: A mindbending Spatial-Temporal Modifier pedal, gearnews.com, 2019-09-20
- Geminus Double Tracker by KMA Machines, RockBoard (rockboard.de PedalPedia), 2026
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- Active STEREO ABY, KMA Machines
- STEREO ABY, KMA Machines