Recovery Effects Single Fire

The Recovery Effects Single Fire is a vintage fuzz pedal built on the classic Harmonic Percolator circuit, a fuzz/distortion design from the early days of effects pedals. Recovery Effects pairs a new-old-stock SFT306 germanium transistor with a vintage BC108 in the circuit, and says the combination "provides the unmistakable, unique distortion character of the original."¹ For players curious about the wider family, it sits among fuzz pedals and distortion pedals.

The circuit and where it came from

The Harmonic Percolator has a reputation among players for inconsistency. As Paolo De Gregorio of Delicious Audio put it, "Although identical, the individual units could wildly fluctuate from one another!"² Pedal of the Day's review of a related build repeats the same point about the original design.³

Recovery Effects addresses that history by specifying its own transistor pair: "We paired a new-old-stock SFT306 germanium transistor with a vintage BC108 in the classic Harmonic Percolator circuit."¹ The maker describes the Single Fire as having "more bite and an upper midrange edge that distinguishes it from the original."¹

Build and enclosure

The pedal is built to a large, vintage-styled format:

• British-style steel enclosure, hand-brushed and patinated to an antique bronze-colored finish¹
• Black and gold faceplate with vintage-style lamp jewel lights¹
• High-quality, through-hole components assembled on a thick-trace circuit board¹
• Enclosure base approximately 10.25" long, 5" wide at the widest point and 4" at the narrowest, and about 1.75" high at the highest point¹

That footprint is far larger than a standard compact pedal, so plan board space accordingly.

Power and warranty

The Single Fire operates on a standard 9Vdc Boss-style power supply, which is not included.¹ It carries a one-year limited warranty if registered within 30 days of delivery.¹

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