Flickinger Tone Boxes Cranky Atom

The Cranky Atom is an overdrive pedal from Flickinger Tone Boxes, a small builder based in Raleigh, North Carolina. MusicRadar's Chris Vinnicombe described it as a Tweed-style overdrive, one that aims at the sound of a small vintage-style amp driven hard rather than the mid-humped character of pedals like the Tube Screamer¹.

What it does

MusicRadar described the pedal's aim as simulating "the sound of an overdriven dual triode or, in simple terms, a 15-watt Tweed amp pushed to breaking point"¹. In practice that means the pedal is voiced around the loose, touch-responsive breakup of a small Tweed circuit rather than a modern high-gain distortion.

The single drive control is the heart of the pedal, and it is marked out in three named zones¹:

• Halcyon: the low end of the control, a slightly pushed boost¹
• Caustic: the middle, classic rich overdrive¹
• Bedlam: beyond that, into heavier drive¹

That range means the pedal can do duty as a clean boost at the bottom of its travel and as a full overdrive further up¹.

Build and availability

Each Cranky Atom is built and painted by Richard Flickinger in Raleigh, NC¹. MusicRadar noted the pedal's visual appeal alongside its sound: "Here at MusicRadar we're suckers for a brightly-coloured stompbox with a cool paint job. Happily, the Flickinger Tone Boxes Cranky Atom sounds as good as it looks"¹.

What reviewers said

MusicRadar's 2012 video demo is the main published coverage of the pedal. The reviewer's verdict was positive on both sound and appearance, with the writer describing himself as "a sucker for a brightly-coloured stompbox with a cool paint job" and concluding that the Cranky Atom "sounds as good as it looks"¹.

Videos

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