Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

Hartman Electronics Announces Silicon Crystal Valve and Germanium Crystal Valve Fuzz Pedals

Hartman Electronics Announces Silicon Crystal Valve and Germanium Crystal Valve Fuzz Pedals

The pedals are inspired by the Solasound SupaTonebender and the Vox Tonebender.

Berkeley, CA (December 11, 2012) -- Hartman Electronics has announced two new fuzz pedals, inspired by the Solasound SupaTonebender and the Vox Tonebender. Here are the details on the Crystal Valves from Hartman:

Hartman Electronics announces the release of two new fuzz pedals, the Silicon Crystal Valve and the Germanium Crystal Valve. Deriving inspiration from the Solasound SupaTonebender and the Vox Tonebender, Hartman's Crystal Valevs are highly musical and versatile fuzz pedals designed to let players access the most dramatic tones and textures available from overdriving the two different semiconductors.

Silicon Crystal Valve
The Silicon Crystal Valve is a four-transistor Silicon fuzz based on the SolaSound SupaTonebender, a classic '70s fuzz popularized by Steve Hackett of Genesis, among others. The pedal's Gain control unleashes dense, driving Silicon fuzz that can be focused across the entire frequency range of the guitar using the Tone control. Low settings of Tone produce warm breakup perfect for recreating the vibe of old, dark-sounding overdriven tube amplifiers. At moderate settings of the Gain and Tone controls, mid-range frequencies step forward and the pedal attains the legendary compression and sustain that secured the original its place in the pantheon of rock.

For seekers of heavy distortion tones, true delights await at upper Gain and Tone settings. The fuzz becomes a searing industrial menace, uber-scooped, with thump and edge, the drive to create rich, controlled harmonic feedback, and grind threatening enough to evoke the darkest moods Silicon has to offer. For those who want still more dirt, the Volume control offers plenty of additional post-fuzz gain for overdriving and blending into amps and other downstream devices.

Germanium Crystal Valve
The Germanium Crystal Valve is an original design, three-transistor Germanium fuzz by Hartman that draws on two different-era Vox Tonebender circuit designs (MKII and MKIII) for its inspiration. Changes to the Gain control and interactions with the volume of the guitar signal take the sound from Germanium's warm clean tomes into its distinctive overdriven mid-range bark. Tone control lets players dial the focus of the fuzz to create a full range of Germanium voicings, from warma nd woody to biting and edgy, with the highest settings transforming the pedal into a Germanium treble booster. Recognizing that some of fuzz's greatest sonic beauty lies in its ability to interact with the guitar and amp around it, but that flexibility is tantamount, the Germanium Crystal Valve preserves the critical interactions between a passive instrument's wiring harness and the fuzz's input, but can also be stacked mid signal chain after other pedals without compromising its tone. DC biased Germanium gain stages mean quiet, low-drift operation for a Germanium fuzz pedal that is equally at home on stages and in studios.

Hartman Silicon and Germanium Crystal Valve pedals are built in California using low-noise modern components and plated-through-hole printed circuit board construction, and assembled using a combination of state-of-the-art manufacturing and hand-wiring techniques, almost entirely by musicians.

Both pedals begin shipping to authorized Hartman dealers December 21, 2012.

For more information:
Hartman Electronics