Chase Bliss Dirt Bird EQ released only through 2024 Mystery Box

December 31, 2024 · 2 sources

The Chase Bliss Dirt Bird is a limited edition modified version of the Minneapolis company's Condor HiFi EQ pedal, and it could only be obtained through Chase Bliss' 2024 Mystery Box promotion¹². Pedal of the Day reports that 250 were made worldwide and that they were put randomly into the purchased boxes².

According to Delicious Audio, the Dirt Bird is intended to worsen, rather than fix or improve, a distortion issue found in the Condor, linked to an op amp-generated artifact called "phase reversal"¹. Pedal of the Day describes a particularly nasty distortion artifact on original Condors, one of the reasons Chase Bliss made the Condor HiFi, and says there is a "sweet spot" if the headroom on that design is lowered far enough². Delicious Audio reports that Joel from Chase Bliss liked that distortion and modified the Condor's circuit to make it more usable and controllable in the Dirt Bird¹.

Pedal of the Day describes the Dirt Bird as an analog multi-effect covering EQ, overdrive, boost, tremolo and filter tones, with a parametric mids control ranging from 150Hz to 4kHz and three separate low pass filter or bass boost/cut modes². It lists gain and volume knobs and a switchable overdrive circuit, with settings storable in presets and controllable via expression pedal². It also states that every knob and switch is connected to a digital brain while the guitar signal stays analog².

Neither source gives a price. Pedal of the Day states that, since only 250 exist, prices on the secondary market are pretty outrageous².