EarthQuaker Devices EarthQuaker Special Cranker

The EarthQuaker Devices Special Cranker is an all-analog medium-gain overdrive pedal from the Akron-based maker EarthQuaker Devices. It is the successor to the company's discontinued one-knob Speaker Cranker, picking up that circuit with more gain, double the output volume, an added Tone control and a diode selector switch¹. EarthQuaker designed it to sound and respond like you have added another tube to your amp's preamp section, and Premier Guitar's reviewer described it as "a warm, ultra-touch-responsive medium-gain overdrive"².

Where the Speaker Cranker was a single-control dirt box, the Special Cranker gives the player four points of adjustment: More, Level, Tone and a germanium/silicon diode toggle. It launched in 2022 at a list price of $99²³.

The controls: More, Level, Tone and the diode toggle

The Special Cranker's front panel keeps the Speaker Cranker's More knob and adds two more controls plus a clipping toggle¹²³.

The More knob is the heart of the circuit, and it behaves a little differently from a typical drive control. Because it biases a transistor directly, turning it can produce a little noise. EarthQuaker says that is normal for this circuit, not a fault². Sweetwater's demo noted the same thing: "because of said bias adjustment you might hear a little noise when adjusting the more control but don't worry that's totally" normal⁴.

Premier Guitar's reviewer found the Level control has real range: "The level adjusts the output signal and can get pretty outrageous-it seems to double the volume when fully cranked in silicon mode"². The Tone control, in the same reviewer's words, "wrangles treble: more to the right and less to the left, naturally"².

Germanium or silicon

The toggle selects between two clipping flavors, and the difference between them is more than subtle. Premier Guitar noted the "switchable silicon and germanium clipping sections, however, enable you to experience two very different" sounds².

• Germanium: a softer, more rounded response with tamed highs and lower output¹. Sweetwater's demo found it gives "a very satisfying almost tube-like sag" with More turned up⁴.
• Silicon: a brighter, more modern edge with higher output¹. Sweetwater described it as "a louder brighter more modern sounding edge," and found that picked hard it produces a ragged splutter⁴.

Both modes respond well to playing dynamics, in Sweetwater's assessment: "both modes respond very well to the dynamics as you're playing or in my case total lack thereof and both are pretty darn" articulate⁴.

Power and connections

The Special Cranker runs on a standard center-negative 9V DC supply through a 2.1mm barrel connector, and can be safely operated from 9 to 18 volts¹. Current draw is approximately 15 mA⁵.

The footswitch uses EarthQuaker's Flexi-Switch Technology, a relay-based true bypass system that allows momentary and latching switching at the same time: hold the switch for momentary bursts of effect, press and release to latch¹. Guitar World's review listed the momentary and latching footswitch modes among its features¹⁰.

A Speaker Cranker with Level and Tone added

The Special Cranker's lineage goes back to the Speaker Cranker, an all-discrete dirt enhancement device with a single More control, designed to give a signal some grit and a slight boost¹¹. The original was aimed at players who "don't like to fiddle with pesky controls yet want to add a little tube-like breakup," and its one knob set the amount of breakup: back it off to thin out and clean up, crank it for a fuller sound with a bit of compression¹¹.

The Speaker Cranker is now out of production, and the Special Cranker takes its place¹². Delicious Audio described the new pedal as "based on the discontinued" Speaker Cranker¹³, and on That Pedal Show, Dan and Mick called it "the evolution of that" original pedal⁹.

What the evolution adds, in EarthQuaker's own summary, is more gain, double the output volume, a Tone control and the diode selector¹. Premier Guitar put it plainly: "The Special Cranker literally offers more-control, that is, with the addition of an output level control and tone dial"². Guitar.com's reviewer framed the appeal for players who want more shaping than the original offered, noting "this one shakes things up by offering the tone-tuning luxury of three controls plus a toggle switch for germanium or silicon" clipping³.

What reviewers said

Published reviews were consistently positive about the Special Cranker's touch response and amp-like character¹⁰¹²².

• Guitar World (Paul Riario, 2022): "EQD seems to have really dialed in the relationship of touch sensitivity and sweetened gain response to the point that the" pedal sounds like an extension of your guitar amp. His verdict called it touch-sensitive drive that flatters your amp, sensibly priced, with nothing to avoid¹⁰.
• Premier Guitar (2023): "The Special Cranker is an exceptional medium-gain overdrive with tube-like character, offering plenty of easy-to-control" warm distortion and boost, and called the $99 price "a bargain"².
• GuitarPlayer.com (Christopher Scapelliti, 2026): the pedal "delivers spongy, touch-sensitive medium gain tones and feels like an extension of the amp," with two well-selected and useful gain flavors¹².
• That Pedal Show (Dan and Mick, 2022): Dan said "it is exactly what they say that whole extra preamp stage it sounds exactly like that," and Mick saw it as great for players who want "the classic more" without changing too much, where a straight boost would be too simple⁹.

Sweetwater's demo video walks through both diode modes, the More control's bias behavior and the pedal's response to picking dynamics, and is worth watching for how the two clipping voices differ in practice⁴.

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