The Hello Sailor Effects x rnrmf guitarworks Ge Xenomorph Fuzz is a germanium fuzz pedal from Hello Sailor Effects, built in collaboration with rnrmf guitarworks. It is a Fuzz Face style germanium fuzz, the classic one-knob-and-a-bit approach to fuzz, with two additions aimed at making the circuit more usable across different guitars and setups: an Audio Transformer Pickup Simulator and a Bias control. Guitar Pedal X listed it among its best new fuzz pedals of 2023 at $2791.
What it does
The Xenomorph is, at its core, a full-flavored germanium Fuzz Face variety pedal. What sets it apart from a straight Fuzz Face clone is the pair of extra features. The Audio Transformer Pickup Simulator is there for versatility, letting the pedal present a different pickup character to the fuzz circuit than the guitar plugged into it, and the Bias control lets the player adjust the operating point of the germanium transistors, which changes how the fuzz cleans up and how it saturates1.
The collaboration with rnrmf guitarworks matters to the circuit's story. Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson wrote that "this rnrmf collaboration delivers as standardised a version of an HSE Abbey Road Fuzz as there ever has been," meaning the pedal takes the circuit from Hello Sailor Effects' Abbey Road Hybrid Fuzz and turns it into a consistent, repeatable production version1.
"a really superb sounding full flavour Germanium Fuzz Face variety with Audio Transformer Pickup Simulator"
Context in the Hello Sailor Effects range
Hello Sailor Effects, the pedal company run by Joe Halliday, builds a range of fuzzes beyond the Abbey Road circuit, including the ShipWreck Fuzzstortion, the Monmouth Octave Fuzz, the Leia Rebel-Rebel take on the Vox Tone Bender, the Spirit in the Sky Fuzz and the Voodoo Sailor Octave Fuzz. The Xenomorph sits among them as the standardized expression of the Abbey Road germanium fuzz1.
Videos
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Sources (1)
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2023-12-18
