Jared Scharff

Jared Scharff is an American musician and producer, born in New York, who plays guitar in the Saturday Night Live band¹. He is also associated with Pearl Lion²³. Among effects makers he is known as a fuzz fanatic: Walrus Audio, Empress Effects, Demedash Effects and DryBell all list him on their artist pages⁴²³.

His most visible contribution to guitar gear is the Walrus Audio Kangra Filter Fuzz, a pedal he designed with the company and uses himself⁵.

Who he is

Scharff graduated from Berklee College of Music, where he studied a wide range of genres¹. Before his run on television, his work included performing with various bands and artists and recording music for films, television and commercials¹. His most notable role came as the guitarist on Saturday Night Live¹. Guitar.com describes him as "the Saturday Night Live and Pearl Lion guitarist"³, and gearnews.com calls him "a self-confessed fuzz fanatic"⁷.

The Walrus Audio Kangra Filter Fuzz

The Kangra Filter Fuzz is the pedal most closely tied to Scharff's name. Walrus Audio describes it as "a true bypass, two-in-one pedal that provides a thick and spatty octave fuzz, and a psychedelic filter thats great for sweeps, frequency boost or even envelope filter sounds"⁸. It is a fuzz and filter pedal in one box, with separate bypass footswitches for each side⁵⁹.

The project began with Scharff himself. Walrus Audio says he "approached us about doing a modern filtered and fuzz inspired by his favorite vintage fuzz pedal, the Kay Fuzz Tone"⁵. Guitar.com's reviewer, Richard Purvis, notes the Kay Fuzz Tone was "a cheapo unit from the late 60s that is more of a curio than a classic"⁹. Premier Guitar describes the Kangra as "a modern filter and fuzz inspired by his favorite vintage fuzz pedal, the Kay Fuzz Tone"¹⁰, and Guitar World calls it "a two-in-one pedal designed in conjunction with Saturday Night Live guitarist Jared Scharff"⁶.

What Scharff wanted from the filter

Scharff has explained his design intent for the filter side in his own words:

In other words, he was after the kind of low-pass sweep a producer or DJ would apply to a track, not a conventional wah effect, and he says the Kangra achieved that⁵¹¹. He also told Guitar.com that the pedal's Kangra Valley artwork "represents the duality of the pedal," a tranquil valley with the heaviness of the Himalayas ahead⁹.

Controls and specifications

Guitar.com's review lists the pedal's controls and features⁹:

The power requirement is worth noting for anyone building a board around it: the pedal runs on a 9-volt mains supply only, so there is no battery option⁹.

Demonstrating the pedal

After the Kangra launched, Scharff made a pair of videos for Walrus Audio's Pedals Played series, recorded with a full-band set-up. The first demonstrates the Kangra's filter mode with an expression pedal, and the second shows how it works alongside Walrus Audio's Luminary quad-octave unit³. Guitar.com noted that he "clearly feels strongly about showing off the full potential of the pedal"³.

What reviewers said

Guitar.com's Richard Purvis called the Kangra "most definitely a scuzzer"⁹. Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson, comparing demos of the Kangra with the TWA Minimorph, found "the pedal is significantly more controllable and more temperately behaved than the Minimorph"¹². Pedal of the Day described it as a pedal that "lets you explore new musical adventures and pathways, combining two of our favorite effects into one gorgeous pedal"¹³.

Other gear on his board

Beyond the Kangra, Scharff's known effects history includes a chorus pedal with an unusual story. Analog Man says he "got some of our pedals about 2007, and was still using them on the show when he sent me a note in 2011," a note in which Scharff wrote, "I never liked chorus pedals"¹⁴. He is also a featured artist on Empress Effects' artist pages⁴ and is listed on the Demedash Effects artists page as a user of Demedash products².

Questions