PLBR Effects Maritimus Fuzz

The PLBR Effects Maritimus Fuzz is a fuzz pedal and the first pedal released by Croatian builder PLBR Effects¹. Its circuit is a BMP-type fuzz, meaning it follows the Big Muff Pi template, and Delicious Audio described it as "a swiss army knife of BMP type fuzz pedals" because of how many voices it packs into one box¹.

What makes it more than a straight Big Muff clone is switching. A six-position Clipping switch changes the clipping devices in the circuit, and a three-position Shape switch changes the EQ curve, so one pedal covers a wide spread of fuzz tones without touching a soldering iron. There is also a momentary Feedback button for drone and octave effects¹.

A BMP-type fuzz with six clipping options

The Big Muff Pi circuit uses diodes to clip the signal and create its fuzz. The Maritimus lets you choose which clipping devices do that job, and each choice compresses the fuzz differently¹.

The six options on the Clipping switch are¹:

1. Silicone diodes
2. Germanium diodes
3. Schottky diode/LED pair
4. LED diodes
5. MOSFET
6. No diodes (with a warning of a high increase in volume)

The no-diodes setting is worth a note for anyone with a set volume level on their amp or mixer:

On top of the clipping switch, the Shape switch offers three EQ curves: a classic BMP EQ with a small mids dip, heavily scooped mids, or punchy mids¹. Between the two switches, the same pedal can go from a compressed, mid-scooped wall to a louder, more open and mid-forward sound.

The controls

The Maritimus keeps the Big Muff's familiar knob layout and adds its own switching on top. Here is what each control does¹:

The Feedback button is the wild card. It is momentary, so it only acts while you hold it, and it engages what the maker calls "crazy drone/octave/squeal sounds which heavily depends on CLIPPING, NOISE and SUSTAIN controls"¹. In practice that means the button's behavior changes with your knob settings, so it works as an expressive effect rather than a fixed sound.

Power and bypass

The Maritimus runs on a 9V DC negative center supply with a 2.1mm barrel plug and draws about 4mA, which is light enough that it shares a daisy chain with most pedals without issue¹. It uses a true bypass switch, so the circuit is out of the signal path when the pedal is off¹.

There is no battery option. PLBR Effects states plainly why:

The Maritimus family and the Narwhal

The Maritimus Fuzz was followed by the Narwhal, a fuzz/distortion that Delicious Audio described in May 2018 as a new pedal from the Croatian maker, noting that "like it's big brother Maritimus, it brings numerous possibilities dialing in your favorite fuzz tones"². The Narwhal is also a BMP-type pedal but takes a different approach to switching: it has two separate gain toggles for its clipping stages and three clipping options per stage, silicone (compressed), no diode (less compressed and loud) and LED (open, with more distortion)³.

There is also a related pedal called the Maritimus Distortion Fuzz, which Pedal of the Day described as the bug brother of the Narwhal Distortion Fuzz⁴. It is a distortion and fuzz pedal with its own control set: Pre-Gain sets the signal into the fuzz circuit, Tone controls the EQ sweep, Highs sets the curvature of the high mids and treble, and a Volume control sets the overall output⁴. It also has a Feedback footswitch that sends the signal into octave squeal sounds⁴.

What reviewers said

Pedal of the Day reviewed the Maritimus Distortion Fuzz in June 2018 and found the switching approach paid off in range⁴:

The same reviewer called the Narwhal "one of the funnest fuzzes we've seen come through as of late"⁴, which gives a sense of how the PLBR line landed with the press at the time.

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Click to load

Questions