ThorpyFX releases Scarlet Tunic analog amp emulator pedal
June 7, 2022 · 2 sources
ThorpyFX has unveiled the Scarlet Tunic, an analog amp emulator that captures the feel and sound of Syd Barrett's Selmer Treble And Bass 501. The pedal is available now12.
The project began as a request from Lee Harris, guitar player in Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets, who asked for a pedal that could help him reproduce Barrett's sounds12. Adrian Thorpe's design also captures some vintage Vox and Hiwatt DR103 sounds, according to MusicRadar1; Gearnews reports that the Selmer amp was paired with Hiwatt DR103 and Vox AC30 style tones to recreate those early Pink Floyd tones2. Thorpe, the pedal's designer, describes it as an analog amp emulator2.
The pedal is designed to be used like any other pedal going straight into the front end of a guitar amp1. It has a transformer inside to reproduce the sag and response of the original amp, and an internal voltage pump to increase headroom1. Gearnews describes it as closer to an amp's preamp than a regular overdrive pedal2.
Its controls are amp-like: dials for Master, Presence and Gain, Bass and Treble, plus three three-way toggle switches for Deep, Bright and Sens1. The Sens switch offers three gain stages, while the other two change the voicing of the pedal1. Gearnews describes Deep as changing the bass character, Bright as changing the brightness, and Sens as changing the gain character, like the hi/lo input jack option on old amps but with three gain levels2. It comes in ThorpyFX's engraved-metal enclosure1.
"The ThorpyFX Scarlet Tunic is essentially Selmer Treble and Bass 50 in a pedal."