One Control LWP Series Purple Humper Solder Free Pedal Kit

The One Control LWP Series Purple Humper Solder Free Pedal Kit is a mid-boost pedal you build yourself. One Control describes it as a pedal kit that "captures the magic of a rare BJFE model," a faithful recreation of the BJFE Purple Humper, a mid-boost pedal originally designed to push a 60s Stratocaster up to ES-335 output levels¹. Unlike most DIY pedal kits, it needs no soldering: the whole thing goes together with the included tools and a standard Phillips screwdriver, in an estimated 15 to 30 minutes¹.

What it does for your sound is a mid-range lift. One Control says it "preserves your guitar's natural tone while adding a warm, dynamic mid-range that instantly gives any amp a vintage British voice"¹. In other words, it is a boost pedal aimed at the middle of the frequency range rather than a flat clean boost, the kind of thing a player reaches for to make a single-coil guitar cut through or to push an amp harder in the frequencies where it breaks up first.

A mid-range boost in a solder-free kit

The kit has a single control, and the jacks are what you would expect:

One knob is the whole interface. The BLEND control sets how much mid-range boost you get, from a subtle lift at the left end up to 15dB of boost at the right, where One Control describes the result as full-on mid-saturation¹. There is no separate level control, no tone control, and no switch: the design is built around doing one thing, and the amount of it, with a single turn.

The low current draw of 3.6mA means the pedal is easy to power alongside others on a board, and the 330K input impedance and 1K output impedance sit in the ranges typical of boost pedals, so it should not load a guitar's pickups heavily or lose signal driving long cable runs¹.

Building the kit

The build is the main draw for anyone who has wanted to assemble a pedal but does not own a soldering iron. One Control says the kit "recreates the legendary BJFE Purple Humper in a convenient, easy-to-build format with no soldering required, just your p[hilips screwdriver]"¹. The estimated assembly time is 15 to 30 minutes¹.

That sets it apart from the rest of the LWP Series, where several kits do require soldering²³⁴:

So within the series, the Purple Humper and the Jubilee Red AIAB kit are the solder-free builds, while the utility kits (junction box, AB box, loop boxes) and the Basilisk MIDI controller kit vary, with the passive switching kits requiring a full soldering setup^1564723.

Powering it

The kit runs on a standard 9V DC center-negative adapter, with an operating voltage of 9V and support for 6 to 18V¹. One Control recommends its own EPA-2000 or RPA-1000 adapters¹. At 3.6mA of current consumption it draws very little, so it can share an isolated output or a daisy chain with other low-draw pedals without straining the supply¹.

Where it came from

The circuit traces back to the BJFE Purple Humper, a mid-boost pedal designed to push a 60s Stratocaster up to ES-335 output levels¹. One Control calls the original rare, and positions this kit as a faithful recreation of it in build-it-yourself form¹. For players who want the same mid-push idea in a ready-built One Control pedal, the company also makes the RASPBERRY BOOSTER and the Little Green Emphaser.

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