Acorn Amps TMA-1 Fuzz

The Acorn Amps TMA-1 Fuzz is a fuzz pedal built around four stages of transistor gain, with a series of selectable diode clipping options that shape how each stage saturates¹. Acorn announced it in October 2021, and Delicious Audio called it the maker's most involved foray into the world of fuzz to that point². It lists at $199.00 on Acorn's product page¹.

Where many fuzz boxes use one or two gain stages, the TMA-1 stacks four transistor stages, which is what gives it its density of saturation. Guitar.com noted that with four stages of transistor gain, the pedal "will put itself to the fullest possible use"³. On top of that gain structure sit the clipping options, which are the pedal's main distinguishing feature and are covered below.

The controls

The front panel keeps things simple: three knobs and two toggles. The knobs cover the basic fuzz pedal duties, and the toggles handle the clipping choices³.

Guitar.com described the knobs as "convenient knobs for volume, gain and tone"³, and Gearnews confirmed the same three controls⁴. The Tone knob is the shaping tool that balances the four gain stages against whatever clipping configuration you have chosen².

Clipping options: germanium, silicon or off

The TMA-1's clipping system is where it differs from a straightforward vintage-style fuzz. Germanium diodes, silicon diodes, and a bypass of the clipping diodes are switchable in two separate stages of the fuzz circuit¹. Delicious Audio places these options on the second and third stages of the circuit².

That means each of the two stages can be set independently:

• Germanium on a stage, for the classic diode character Gearnews referred to when it described "flicking between classic germanium and silicon diodes"⁴
• Silicon on a stage, the alternative diode type in the same switch²³¹
• Off, which bypasses that stage's clipping diodes entirely¹

With two toggles, the combinations multiply: germanium into germanium, silicon into silicon, germanium into silicon, or clipping diodes bypassed on one or both stages. Gearnews called this "a nice flexible fuzz" setup⁴, and Delicious Audio summed up the pedal as "a very flexible and multi-faceted" fuzz when the clipping options are combined with the Tone knob's sculpting².

For a player comparing fuzzes, the practical difference is this: a fixed-clip fuzz commits you to one diode type, while the TMA-1 lets you re-voice two points in the circuit from the top of the pedal. The bypass positions also mean the four transistor stages can run without diode clipping at all, which is a configuration many single-clip pedals cannot offer¹²⁴.

Power, size and design

The TMA-1 is a regular-sized pedal that takes standard 9V power³. Acorn's product page specifies true bypass, standard 9V tip-negative pedal power, and a weight of 360 grams¹. Gearnews likewise lists a standard 9V negative tip power supply⁴.

The look is a space-themed design inspired by HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, which Gearnews noted bears an uncanny resemblance to the film's computer⁴. Guitar.com's headline played on the same reference when the pedal launched³.

Release and price

Acorn opened pre-orders for the TMA-1 on 13 October 2021 at a USD 199 pre-order RRP, with the first units expected to ship in December 2021⁴. Guitar.com reported the same $199 list price and preorder shipping in early December³. The pedal remains listed on Acorn's site at $199.00¹.

The TMA-1 sits among other Acorn fuzzes, including the F#%k Face, a triple-gain-stage Fuzz Face-based pedal released in April 2021 at $139, and the three-transistor silicon Epstein Didn't Kill Himself Fuzz revealed in February 2024 at $125.

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