Pete Cornish Deluxe NG-3

The Pete Cornish Deluxe NG-3 is a fuzz box from British builder Pete Cornish, and it is built around one idea: simulating what Cornish calls "Imminent Amp Death" (I.A.D.), the sound of a tube amp right at the edge of failure¹. Where most fuzz pedals aim for a smooth or singing sustain, this one aims for the ragged, collapsing character of an amp with a blown power tube or a failing output transformer. In Cornish's own framing of where it sits among fuzz boxes, "In the range of generally available fuzz boxes covering a scale from 1 through 10, this one goes to 15 !"¹.

The circuit works in three stages rather than one clipping stage, and the Deluxe version adds a 9V battery drawer and a larger enclosure alongside the standard NG-3, which was released in 2010². Both versions are custom-built units ordered directly from the maker by email³.

Imminent Amp Death in three stages

The Deluxe NG-3's signal path is a chain of three distinct stages, each doing a different job¹.

The third stage is where the pedal's name concept lives: it simulates a tube amp that has been under biased or has suffered serious tube or output transformer failure¹. The SUSTAIN control adjusts the signal level into this third section, and Cornish labels its range in deliberately descriptive terms, from "Tired Output Tubes" at the low end to "Melted Tubes and Shorted Output Transformer" at the top¹.

Aion FX, which traced the NG-3 circuit, describes the design intent in plain terms²:

The trace also gives a picture of how each stage is built. Stage 1 is an op-amp gain stage very similar to the second op-amp stage of the Cornish SS-3 that drives the hard clipping. Stage 2 is a more basic transistor gain stage with an emitter bypass capacitor and a 1nF capacitor from base to emitter. Stage 3 is a single-transistor stage set for much higher gain, with its base bias set by a 5V precision zener diode and a potentiometer, and a single diode going to ground that clips half of the waveform above 0.7V². That half-wave clipping in the final stage is a large part of why the pedal sounds like an amp coming apart rather than a conventional fuzz.

The NG-3 also carries an external, user-adjustable Bias control, and its origin is documented: it was added at Lou Reed's request, after the NG-2 had used an internal bias trimmer. As Aion FX recounts, "Lou asked if this could be made external so that he could adjust it to find other possibilities"².

Power: 9V, 20mA

The Deluxe NG-3 runs on a 9V DC adapter that Cornish specifies must be noise free and fully stabilised, capable of supplying 20mA. The coax connector is 5.5/2.1mm with the center pin negative¹.

The standard NG-3 page carries the same adapter requirements, 9V DC, stabilised, noise free, 20mA, 5.5/2.1mm center negative⁴¹, and Pete Cornish has also offered a battery-free NG-3 built to order³. The Deluxe version's battery provision is the practical difference: a 9V cell of the preferred MN1604 type, replaced through a removable drawer in the enclosure rather than by opening the box¹.

Enclosure, footswitch and buffer

The Deluxe NG-3 is housed in a rugged die-cast box with lined control knobs¹. It measures 171 x 121 x 55 mm, or 6.75 x 4.75 x 2.2 inches¹. The standard NG-3 page lists a smaller enclosure, 145 x 95 x 49 mm³; the two versions differ in size as well as in battery provision, and the maker's own pages give both figures without reconciling them.

Switching is by a heavy duty custom made all-metal footswitch with a large cap and protection ring, plus a Hi-Brite LED so the effect state is visible on a dark stage¹.

The pedal also includes an RFI rejecting input and bypass buffer¹. Aion FX's trace confirms the NG-3 uses the standard Cornish buffers², the same buffering approach found across the maker's line. For a player, that means the pedal presents a consistent load to the guitar and drives long cable runs without the treble loss an unbuffered true-bypass fuzz can suffer.

Warranty and ordering

The Deluxe NG-3 is covered for twelve months from date of purchase: any original manufacturing fault is repaired under guarantee, with the unit returned post paid to the maker. The guarantee is voided if the guarantee labels are damaged or removed, and normal wear, misuse, unauthorised modifications or accidental damage are excepted¹. The standard NG-3 page states a two-year warranty on the same terms⁴, so the coverage differs between versions.

Units are custom built and ordered by email, advising the maker of your delivery location³.

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