Black Mass Electronics The First Herald

The First Herald is an analog fuzz and boost pedal from Black Mass Electronics, built as two independent circuits in one box: a fuzz side with a modernized tone stack and selectable clipping, and a discrete boost side. What sets it apart from most two-in-one pedals is that the two circuits are reversible, so a switch decides whether the fuzz feeds the boost or the boost drives the fuzz¹.

The circuit has a family resemblance to a classic. Black Mass says the company began as an attempt to clone the maker's father's '73 Rams Head Big Muff, but that when work started on The First Herald, the pedal was redesigned from scratch. The topology remains similar to the Rams Head, while the maker describes the resulting sound as "modern, decisive, and unmistakably malicious"¹.

Controls and the order switch

The fuzz side carries three knobs and a clipping toggle, and the boost side has its own level control. The order of the two sides is set by the side switch¹.

The order switch is where the two circuits interact. Left, the fuzz runs into the boost, which the maker suggests for lead boosts. Right, the boost runs into the fuzz; RockBoard's listing describes this position as giving extra thick fuzz saturation, and notes the boost can also be used after the fuzz to drive an amp harder or as a solo level boost¹⁴.

Three clipping modes

The Clip toggle changes the diodes used in the fuzz's two soft-clipping stages, and the blocking capacitor values, which determine clipping frequencies, were chosen for each mode and change with the switch position¹.

• Left: Both soft-clipping stages use a hybrid MOSFET/LED combo, which the maker describes as a modern and aggressive, huge, open, cutting fuzz¹.
• Right: Both clipping stages use traditional silicon diodes, for extra compression and a smooth, squashed, vintage sound¹.

The Big Box version's listing on RockBoard describes the same two positions, with the fuzz side taking advantage of a modernized tone stack and three distinct clipping modes⁴.

The boost side

The boost is a simple discrete circuit with a single level knob. Black Mass is direct about its character⁴¹²:

That makes it a different tool from a transparent volume booster: it is voiced to push the fuzz side or an amp rather than to leave the core tone untouched. Players comparing it with a dedicated boost pedal should expect the boost to contribute its own character¹⁴.

Power and switching

The First Herald runs on 9V DC only, through a standard 2.1mm center negative connector, and the maker says not to run it at higher voltages. RockBoard lists its current draw at 100mA¹³.

Switching is true bypass and relay based, and the pedal defaults to bypass in case of power failure, so a lost power connection drops the signal path rather than killing it¹.

The Big Box version

Black Mass also makes a larger version, The First Herald Big Box, shown in Etched and Rainbow Flake finishes. It carries the same core design: two independent and reversible circuits, the same Volume, Sustain, Tone, and Boost controls, the same clipping options, and the same 9V DC, 2.1mm center negative, isolated-supply power requirements².

One difference is in the switching. The Big Box listing notes that as of September 12, 2025 it used standard true bypass with click switching, while the current listing for both versions describes relay-based true bypass that defaults to bypass on power failure¹².

Where it came from

The First Herald's origin story is tied to the Rams Head Big Muff. Black Mass says the company started with an attempt to clone the maker's father's '73 Rams Head pedal, and that when work began on The First Herald the decision was made to design from scratch rather than copy it. The result keeps a similar topology to the Rams Head but with the modernized tone stack, selectable clipping, and the added boost circuit¹. Players interested in the broader category can compare it against other fuzz pedals.

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