The Human Gear Animato is a rare and unique distortion pedal made by the Japanese company Human Gear. It is an analog design, and it has gained popularity due to its use by Muse's bassist Chris Wolstenholme, who has relied on it as his primary tone1. Because the pedal itself is hard to find, much of what players know about the circuit comes from builders who have recreated it, and a commercial clone is sold as the dissa AnimatO2.
What the Animato does
The Animato is a distortion pedal in the distortion family, not a fuzz or overdrive design1. Its circuit is built from discrete transistors rather than an op amp chip, which is part of what makes it unusual among drive pedals.
Alex at Guitar FX Layouts, who has built the circuit, described its character in both roles3:
"The 128/176 pair gives a really grindy, sharp attack on bass which is just lovely."
He found that on guitar it sounds like an average muff, and that it nails Hyper Music-type tones, a reference to the Muse song the pedal is often associated with3.
The circuit
The heart of the Animato is a Sziklai pair, a two-transistor arrangement where the NTE102 collector connects to the NTE103 emitter3. Builders working from the layout have used a range of transistor substitutions, since the original parts are not always easy to source:
- NTE102 and NTE103 as the core pair3
- A 2N2240-type NPN with hFE of 200 to 700 also used3
- Germanium substitutions: AC128/AC176, AC128/AC1273
- Silicon substitutions: 2N2369 with 2N2907, 2N2222(A), 2N3904, 2N5088, BC239, BC5503
Alex noted that one could go with any germanium NPN/PNP pair, and that AC128/AC127 should be a nice sub3.
Building it yourself
Guitar FX Layouts published a stripboard (vero) layout for the Animato in November 20153. A few points from that project matter to anyone building or servicing the circuit:
- A 10K trimmer pot sets the transistor bias, and finding the sweet spot is part of the build; Alex noted that a higher-value trimmer makes the sweet spot harder to find3
- The tone pot gets darker counterclockwise, the reverse of most pedals; one builder swapped tone lugs 1 and 3 for conventional clockwise-means-more-treble behavior3
- On the footswitch, positions 1 and 4 are connected together, while positions 3 and 6 are not connected at all3
- If you build it for bass, Alex recommends adding a blend circuit to improve the sound3
The reversed tone control is original to the design. If you prefer standard behavior, swapping the outer lugs of the tone pot is the documented fix among builders3.
The dissa AnimatO clone
Because the original is rare, a clone exists: the AnimatO by dissa, which RockBoard's PedalPedia describes as a clone of the Human Gear Animato2. Players who want the circuit without hunting down an original have that as the ready-built alternative.
Videos
fdmjiv
bassfuzzcom
Gromtech Effects
Questions
Who makes the Human Gear Animato?
The Animato is made by Human Gear, a Japanese company. RockBoard's PedalPedia describes it as a rare and unique distortion pedal, and notes that it gained popularity through its use by Muse's bassist Chris Wolstenholme, who has relied on it as his primary tone. A clone of the circuit is also sold under the name AnimatO by dissa.
Is the Human Gear Animato a fuzz or a distortion pedal?
It is a distortion pedal. RockBoard's PedalPedia lists it as a rare and unique distortion, and the circuit itself is a discrete transistor design built around a Sziklai pair rather than a classic fuzz arrangement. Builders who have put it on a breadboard note that on guitar it can sound like an average Big Muff, while on bass it delivers a grindy, sharp attack.
Does Chris Wolstenholme use the Human Gear Animato?
Yes. According to RockBoard's PedalPedia, the Animato gained popularity because of its use by Muse's bassist Chris Wolstenholme, who has relied on it as his primary tone. Builders of the circuit also point to it as a way to nail Hyper Music-type tones.
What power supply does the Human Gear Animato need?
The Animato runs on 9V DC with a center negative connection, the same standard used by most pedals. RockBoard's PedalPedia lists this as the pedal's voltage requirement.
Can the Animato circuit be built for bass?
Yes. Alex at Guitar FX Layouts, who published a stripboard layout for the circuit in November 2015, recommends adding a blend circuit if you build it for bass to improve the sound. He found that a germanium AC128/AC176 transistor pair gives a really grindy, sharp attack on bass.
Why is the Animato tone control reversed?
The tone pot is designed to get darker when turned counterclockwise, the opposite of most pedals. One builder who put the circuit together swapped tone lugs 1 and 3 to get the conventional clockwise-means-more-treble behavior, so the reversal is a design choice of the original rather than a fault.
Sources (3)
- Animato by Human Gear, RockBoard PedalPedia, 2026
- AnimatO by dissa, RockBoard PedalPedia, 2026
- Guitar FX Layouts: Human Gear Animato, Guitar FX Layouts (tagboardeffects.blogspot.com), 2016-03-17
