Pete Cornish P-1

The Pete Cornish P-1 is a hand-built fuzz pedal from the English maker Pete Cornish, described by the maker as the world's first double isolated fuzz or distortion pedal¹. It began life in 1976 as a circuit called the Custom Fuzz, designed for David Gilmour as part of his integrated pedalboard², and it remains in production today as a custom-order pedal: Kit Rae notes that Pete Cornish has been selling these by custom order since 2005³. The maker recommends it for a fat, high gain, searing lead sound, suited to solos and heavy rock rhythm work¹.

The controls and buffer

The P-1's front panel is simple: a fuzz/distortion circuit and a tone control. Pete Cornish designed the tone facility to give treble boost when set clockwise and bass boost when set counterclockwise, with the settings in between providing varying amounts of high and low frequency boosting¹. The Deluxe P-1 works the same way, with treble boost clockwise and bass boost anti-clockwise from 12 o'clock⁴.

What sets the P-1 apart from a stock Big Muff is what sits in front of the fuzz. The input is the maker's high impedance, unity gain, Class A buffer preamp with RFI rejecting capability and a low impedance audio output¹. When Gilmour commissioned the design, the requested improvements included power supply de-coupling, RF filtering, unity gain buffers in the circuit and bypass to maintain a constant high signal level, and improved reliability⁶. Those buffers are why the maker calls the pedal double isolated, and why players often reach for Cornish pedals to solve signal-loss and noise problems on large boards. If you are curious about that side of the design, see Buffer Pedals.

What circuit is it based on?

The P-1 is an adaptation of the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi V2, the Ram's Head version, with two transistor buffers added to the front of the circuit to reduce noise and improve signal isolation². Aion FX's technical analysis puts it the same way: the P-1 was essentially a straight clone of David Gilmour's favorite Big Muff, a Ram's Head V2, with Pete's namesake buffers added⁷.

Kit Rae, who has documented Gilmour's gear in depth, describes the P-1 as very much an exact clone of a mid-1970s Big Muff circuit, and a very good one⁶. He also recounts a detail from a 2016 visit to the Cornish shop: the schematic he was shown of the P-1 circuit even has "David's favorite Muff" written on it⁶. In 2024, Aion FX traced the P-1 circuit and determined it matched one of the Ram's Head Big Muff schematics traced on Kit Rae's website, the only difference being Pete's Cornish buffer⁶.

For players comparing Cornish fuzzes, the P-1 sits alongside the Pete Cornish Precision Fuzz P-1 and Pete Cornish Precision Fuzz P-2 in the maker's line, and the broader field is covered on Fuzz Pedals.

History: from Custom Fuzz to catalog pedal

The circuit started as the Custom Fuzz, designed for David Gilmour in 1976 as part of his integrated pedalboard². Kit Rae dates the first pedal version, labeled Custom Design, to 2006, offered for sale to the public later that year, and the P-1 was added to the regular Cornish pedal line in 2013⁶. The maker says the pedal is used prominently by David Gilmour in the All Tube Effects Stage System custom designed and built by Pete Cornish¹, and Rae reports that Gilmour also used a Cornish P-1 briefly for his 2006 On An Island tour⁶.

Power: battery-free by design, or the Deluxe

The standard P-1 is a battery-free design; the maker's order link is addressed to a Battery Free P-1 Pedal Order¹, consistent with the maker's published battery-free design policy⁵. Players who want battery power are pointed at the Deluxe P-1, which offers easy battery replacement via a removable drawer; the battery is switched on when you insert the IN/PWR ON jack, and the maker's preferred battery type is the MN1604⁴.

Where it is made and what it costs

Each unit is hand built, wired and tested by Pete, Lynda and Mingus Cornish¹⁴. The pedals are sold by custom order rather than off the shelf. The maker's UK listing prices the P-1 at 540.58 GBP ex VAT as of 2026-03-31; the same listing also gives 648.70 GBP including VAT, so the two figures reflect the VAT difference rather than a disagreement⁵. The warranty runs two years from date of purchase, covering repairs of any original manufacturing fault, with normal wear, misuse, unauthorized modifications or accidental damage excepted; it is voided if the guarantee labels are damaged or removed, and it is not transferable¹.

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Questions