Mr Viral
Around four years ago, a video surfaced of Eric Gales demoing the debut fuzz pedal from a new company based in the U.K. It racked up a serious amount of views, thanks to the jaw-dropping licks and tones coming from his hands.
“The thing I like is you don’t even need to turn the fuzz off; you just roll the volume down and it’s clean,” said Gales, showing how the Pedal Pawn Fuzz could be tamed from something full-bodied and explosive to a hi-fidelity glassy spank using just one control on his Magneto guitar.
Since then, the company – launched by guitarist Chris King Robinson – has gone from strength to strength, with limited-run specials of their favorite circuits like the Germanium Fuzz with vintage CV7003 Texas Instruments transistors and the more recent 2N404 Fuzz with transistors housed in ultra-rare Mullard Gold Saucer cans dating back to December 1965.
Another addition to the range came in the form of the Octone, voiced after a rare 1970s Octavia that packed the right amount of fatness underneath those instantly recognizable Roger Mayer-designed overtones.
They’ve also applied the same painstaking level of care into their other pedals, often using Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix as tonal reference points.
Eric Gales EXPLODES w/ Pedal Pawn Fuzz – YouTube
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Of course, every company will probably tell you they’ve gone to the ends of the earth to perfect “that sound,” but in the case of Pedal Pawn, they tracked down one of SRV’s actual TS9 Tube Screamers – most likely the one used for his legendary El Mocambo performance – and cloned it alongside a vintage Bluesbreaker to make the dual overdrive BluesPrint.
Then there’s the Texan Twang, a recreation of the Texas Ranger boost built by SRV tech César Díaz, or the Chicken Quiff, which reimagines the César Díaz Texas Tremodillo.
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Below, Chris King Robinson explains the story behind one of the fastest-growing pedal companies of the past five years.
When did you realize you were going to launch your own company?
“It wasn’t a calculated move. I was buying and selling stuff, learning more about the gear I liked through that. Eventually I thought, ‘Why isn’t anyone making the stuff that I wanted?’ Especially when it came to certain Fuzz Faces from a particular year with the glassy clean up or the old César Díaz circuits.”
(Image credit: Pedal Pawn)It feels like few have dug so deep into the goldmine of SRV and Hendrix tones.
People think it’s all about .13-gauge strings, but I’ve tested that against .09-gauge strings. There’s not that much difference
“I’m biased toward those guys because they are my two favorite guitarists. Some people don’t get our brand and think we’re just SRV wannabes. The Stevie thing is huge right now. YouTube helped people find out more about those tones so they could recreate them at home.
“That’s where we come in. You can get a close enough sound from any amp, even a one-watt Marshall. People think it’s all about .13-gauge strings, but I’ve tested that against .09-gauge strings. There’s not that much difference. A lot of people are skeptical at first, but everyone who buys our products comes back saying the same thing – it’s the closest they’ve gotten to that SRV sound.”
(Image credit: Red Slim)Tell us more about the BluesPrint. How did you track down SRV’s Ibanez TS9?
“There’s a guy on Instagram called Red Slim. I don’t know how long he’d had this Tube Screamer, but it’s one of his recurring posts. That pedal is genuinely his pride and joy. Obviously there’s been a million copies made over the years. We needed to go to the source and get rid of all the things standing in the way.
“A lot of Tube Screamers sound the same, but I wanted to know we were getting the most legendary sound of all time. Red had acquired one of Stevie’s pedals, and he was certain it’s the one from El Mocambo from the dates on the parts. It had to be that one, though it’s hard to verify completely. I asked if we could get access and look inside.”
Pedal Pawn CHICKEN QUIFF™ Official Demo – YouTube
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What did you find when you opened it up?
“We have a lot of vintage Tube Screamers lying around, so we knew what to expect. We just wanted to double check the finer details like the chip and take measurements. It’s essentially a vintage ’80s unit, but we looked into the tolerances to make our version exactly the same. We noticed SRV’s pedal had extra clarity. We’re talking such a small difference here, but I made sure to acknowledge that in our design.
“There’s a consistency in what we make. A big challenge for a lot of builders is that they can make units that sound good, but replicating all the tolerances and specs on a bigger scale is hard. Pedals should sound good all the time. We nailed the circuits so we don’t have to sit there and tweak each one for 10 hours to feel happy.”
We filmed a Philip Sayce Soundcheck (& it was INSANE) – YouTube
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Much like the Eric Gales clip, the Philip Sayce demo of the Octone certainly made a big impression.
We’ve been hammering it so much that there are 10 or 15 clones of our Texan Twang, so now we’re looking at clones of clones of clones
“A lot of Philip’s tone comes from the César Díaz Texas Ranger, but most people don’t realize that. Not many companies have gone down the Diaz route or focused on the glassy side of tones. I feel like we’ve pioneered that.
“We’ve been hammering it so much that there are 10 or 15 clones of our Texan Twang, so now we’re looking at clones of clones of clones, because the Texas Ranger was a clone of the Rangemaster. It’s crazy how it’s taken on a life of its own.
“For the Octone, I used the warmth of an original ’70s Tycobrahe Octavia and the mid-cut of a Roger Mayer rocket ship one, which is what SRV used for his Austin City Limits performance. It’s a really good blend.”
(Image credit: Pedal Pawn)Perhaps the most striking pedal in your range is the Gypsy Vibe, now in its second iteration.
“The Gypsy Vibe is really time-consuming and expensive to make. I don’t think we make much money on those, but we felt it needed to be done, just to get the Hendrix and Trower sound in a box out there. In terms of the design, I bought this old Shin-Ei vibe from eBay as a teenager. I hate to use buzzwords, but it’s so thick and syrupy.
“We decided to recreate that, measuring each part and forgetting about all the other schematics out there. Because I find everyone gets their schematics online and will end up with the same wrong circuit. You have to go to the source and reverse engineer it yourself.”
Pedal Pawn GYPSY VIBE ™ Official Demo – YouTube
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You’re a bit of a gear hunter yourself. How many pedals do you own and which are the rarest?
“We’re building a Pedal Pawn studio to showcase everything we have, a bit like the JHS Pedal Show. I want people to see all the pedals we have. I don’t have loads for the sake of it, because they’re all of a good quality, but there’s definitely hundreds.
“At one point I had 50 vintage Tube Screamers. We even did a video where we connected them all together. I have a couple of Klons. One was owned by Robbie McIntosh from John Mayer’s band. I’ve got Eric Johnson’s 1968 Fuzz Face with the BC183 circuit. There’s a lot of rare stuff lying around.”
Trying Pedal Pawn’s ‘Texan Twang’ Guitar Pedal – YouTube
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Which players are you most proud to be associated with?
“There’s the obvious big names like Eric Gales, Philip Sayce and Richard Fortus. Then there’s the younger players we’ve been working with like Rhys John Stygal or Mia Smith [Mimi Sounds], who did a Texan Twang video for us; I think it ended up being the most-viewed pedal demo in the world.
“Collectively it has 30 million views or something stupid like that. And that was before we even knew her; she just made it herself and it blew up. It’s growing like crazy!”
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