Vahlbruch FX

A German pedal maker from Springe

Vahlbruch FX is a German effects maker headquartered in Springe, Germany, and describes its products as "effects made in Germany"¹². The company handles orders and support directly by email at support@vahlbruch-fx.com¹.

The range as the maker's own pages give it:

The Octavia shows how the maker works: it is a take on the Tychobrahe Octavia circuit, using a special transformer with downstream clipping diodes, and it has been revised from a V1 to a V2 with new parts and an extra control⁹.

Known for MagTraB switching

MagTraB, short for Magnetic Transducer Button, is the feature Vahlbruch FX puts on nearly every pedal. The maker describes it as its "unique" switching technology: a magnet inside the button is measured by a sensor, and the audio path itself is switched by a gold-plated relay¹⁵¹⁰. The same description appears on the Kaluna II and the 6-PHI-4¹⁵.

For a player, the practical points are the ones the maker claims for it:

• No mechanical footswitch contact in the audio path⁵¹¹⁰
• A gold-plated relay does the actual audio switching⁵¹¹⁰
• The button works the same way across the range, from the Kaluna II to the OptoTrem¹⁶
• On the OptoTrem, holding the on/off MagTraB button down calls up a second function⁶

The Octavia v2 shows the system arriving in an update: the new version added the MagTraB switch alongside an additional Edge control and a change from germanium to Schottky clipping diodes³. On that pedal, the Edge control adjusts the treble and overtone spectrum, and turned fully up it matches the V1 frequency response⁹.

The pedals in more detail

The BBQ-XL is described by the maker as a versatile pedal serving as a clean booster, equalizer and high-end buffer, and as the big brother of the earlier BBQ pedal. It sits in a compact, pedalboard-friendly enclosure¹¹⁴. It is the range's answer to a boost pedal with EQ and buffering built in.

The Xroads is an active ABY switcher, a utility pedal for routing one guitar to two amps or two guitars to one amp, handmade in Germany⁸. The SpaceTime TAP v2 is the range's delay, and it requires an external regulated 9V power supply, not included, with positive on the ring and negative on the tip, a polarity worth checking before plugging it into a standard daisy chain⁷.

The Kaluna II is the range's flagship overdrive and distortion pedal, a tube drive built around a real valve rather than a solid-state emulation¹. The Octavia v2 covers fuzz and octave-up territory in the style of the original Tychobrahe design⁹.

Support and contact

Vahlbruch FX handles both orders and support by email. The maker gives one address for both: support@vahlbruch-fx.com. The ordering process runs as follows¹⁷:

1. Email support@vahlbruch-fx.com with the pedals you want and your delivery address¹⁷
2. Pay by bank transfer or PayPal¹⁷

The range (13)

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