Electronic Audio Experiments Dude Incredible

The Electronic Audio Experiments Dude Incredible is a dual gain pedal that puts two circuits in one box: a Harmonic Percolator-style fuzz and a preamp based on the Intersound IVP, the "Instrument Voicing Preamp" whose Tube Voice channel became a cult favorite. EAE describes it as "a pairing of two cult classics: the IVP 'Tube Voice' preamp and a percolator-style fuzz"¹. Originally released in 2017, it was the first adaptation of the IVP into a pedal format¹. Delicious Audio calls it "a dual gain pedal inspired by the work of indie rock producer Steve Albini," whose association with the Interfax Harmonic Percolator helped make that circuit a fuzz legend².

The two channels are independent, each with its own footswitch, and they sit in series with the Percolator feeding the IVP². That means you can use either side alone, or run the fuzz into the preamp, which Delicious Audio found "produces a devastatingly destroyed fuzz"².

A Percolator fuzz and a Tube Voice preamp in one box

The right side of the pedal is the Percolate channel, EAE's take on the two-transistor Interfax Harmonic Percolator. EAE says it "features a painstakingly selected germanium transistor based on measurements of an original unit"¹. The left side is the Tube Voice channel, a streamlined version of the Intersound IVP preamp¹.

Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson put the combination in context: "The Percolator is already a pretty visceral and 'nasty' sounding circuit, very textural. And the Dude Incredible raises that further by combining two complementary circuits"⁵. He also placed it at the top of the Percolator field: "I've always considered the Dude Incredible and Electrofoods Pigpile to be at the top of the Harmonic Percolator field"⁵.

The Tube Voice side is more than a distortion box. EAE describes it as capable of "jangly rhythm tones, ear-piercing treble chords, and endless walls of howling feedback," and adds that it is "fantastic for medium gain tones or as an always-on base layer"¹. The same circuit is available on its own in EAE's Surveyor pedal¹.

The controls

Each channel has its own knobs, plus toggles that change the circuit's behavior⁵⁶¹.

The Hi/Lo toggle is worth understanding because it sets the whole character of the preamp side. In the Lo setting the gain range is -15dB to +12dB, which covers clean boost and medium gain; the Hi setting runs +9dB to +36dB, a much hotter range for full preamp breakup¹. Because the Bass and Treble shelves sit before the Gain control, they shape how hard the preamp is driven, which is why EAE calls the Gain control "highly interactive" with them¹.

The two footswitches are independent: the right footswitch engages the Percolate circuit and the left engages the Tube Voice circuit¹. Both channels use relay-based true bypass switching that defaults to bypass in the event of power loss, so a dead power supply mid-set leaves your signal intact¹.

Power and connections

The Dude Incredible runs on a 9V DC supply with a 2.1mm center negative barrel plug and draws 90mA with both channels engaged¹. It does not accept a battery¹. The power input is protected from reverse polarity and over-voltage conditions up to 24V¹.

History and versions

The Dude Incredible was originally released in 2017 as the first pedal-format adaptation of the IVP¹. Version 2 brought a substantial rework²:

• New mechanical form factor
• Soft-touch relay bypass
• Component tweaks to the Percolate side for an overall "nastier" sound
• A diode toggle adding new clipping modes
• A Hi/Lo toggle on the Tube Voice side, matching Surveyor V2
• Over-voltage and ESD protection for the power supply²

John Snyder, EAE's designer, stated that the newer edition "has been re-calibrated with slightly different components to make it sound even nastier," as reported by Guitar Pedal X in 2022⁵. Writing in 2024, the same reviewer noted "there is a newer version of the circuit out, marginally improved" from the original he owns⁴.

Where it sits among Percolator pedals

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