Stone Deaf Kliptonite

The Stone Deaf Kliptonite is a fuzz and overdrive pedal in one box, made in the UK by Stone Deaf. Premier Guitar described it as "one-part overdrive and one-part fuzz," and what sets it apart from most two-in-one drive pedals is its filter section: a frequency control with a bandwidth control and cut/boost, which works like a parametric EQ sitting on top of the drive circuits¹. Guitar.com called it "an overdrive and fuzz in one, with a mirror mix knob that gives you the option of blending the two"².

The two sides have distinct characters. In Guitar.com's review, Richard Purvis wrote:

The enclosure has a substantial size and a slanted faceplate that, as Premier Guitar's reviewer noted, evokes '60s fuzzboxes¹. Street price at the time of the Premier Guitar review was $205¹; Guitar.com listed it at £165 in 2016².

What it is: a fuzz and overdrive blend with a frequency filter

The Kliptonite puts two drive circuits in parallel and lets you blend them. Delicious Audio's buying guide describes it as "a dual fuzz/overdrive" built around the Mirror Mix control, which shifts the blend between the overdrive and fuzz sides⁵. The Black Edition, a limited version of the original circuit with upgraded gain stages on both sides, pairs Stone Deaf's Velcro Fuzz on one side with their Tube Sound Overdrive on the other⁴.

The filter is what makes the pedal more than a two-channel drive box. The freq knob dials in frequency emphasis across a range from 35 Hz to 6 kHz, the bandwidth control narrows or widens the range around that point, and the cut/boost knob can add or subtract up to 20 dB¹. Premier Guitar's review listed the "versatile frequency filter and EQ controls" among the pedal's pros¹.

The controls

The faceplate carries two footswitches, on/off and fuzz/klipped, along with four knobs¹.

The fuzz/klipped switch is the trick worth understanding. As Delicious Audio explains, hitting the left footswitch flips the ratios between your fuzz and overdrive blend: a setting of 75% fuzz and 25% overdrive becomes 25% fuzz and 75% overdrive⁵. An LED changes from green to red depending on which blend you have selected, so you can see the active side on a dark stage¹.

Power and connections

The Kliptonite runs on a 9V battery, with the battery door mounted on the left hand side of the unit for easy access, and a 9V barrel adaptor may also be used¹. The Black Edition is specified at 9V DC center negative with a 55mA current draw⁴. The pedal is true bypass².

There is also a TRS expression pedal input for frequency control². Premier Guitar's review notes a limitation worth knowing before you shop for one:

The Black Edition

In 2023, Stone Deaf released a limited Black Edition of the Kliptonite alongside updated Black Editions of the Fig Fumb and Warp Drive. Gearnews reported that the Black Kliptonite "combines their Velcro Fuzz circuit and Tube Sound overdrive which can be mixed together in different" ratios, and that the Black Edition "now adds a parametric EQ to the mix, to further enhance the tone"⁶. In Gearnews' view, that combination "in theory, should make it a super flexible pedal for drive tones"⁶. The Black Edition is an analog pedal⁴.

What reviewers said

Premier Guitar's 2021 review summed up the pedal's strengths as:

Guitar.com's Richard Purvis, reviewing it in 2016, found both sides of the pedal rewarding, with the smooth overdrive contrasting against the wild, sputtery fuzz². Delicious Audio included the Kliptonite in its roundup of unusual fuzz pedals, highlighting the Mirror Mix blend as its distinguishing feature⁵.

Related Stone Deaf pedals

Stone Deaf's range also includes the Fig Fumb fuzz, which received a Black Edition update alongside the Kliptonite⁶, and the Rise & Shine fuzz, octave fuzz and tremolo pedal. Players comparing drive types may also want to read the site's pages on fuzz pedals, overdrive pedals and filter pedals.

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