CAPIVARA
Available now, use the buttons below to get yours!
US$249 / R$1299
The Capivara we offer you today isn't only one of the most eye-catching pedals around, but it's also the closest approximation I've ever seen/heard to the original NKT275 transistors, now virtually extinct and basically the holy grail of classic fuzz tones. This pedal is the result of 15 years building and studying this magical vintage circuit and its hidden secrets. The Capivara is an exact replica of the first 1966 Fuzz Face, the only addition is an internal trimpot to fine tune the bias, but what's really special here is in the transistors.
YouTube playlist is here, check it out.
The biggest secret for this tone is related to the transistors' frequency response. While modern day transistors have frequency limitations way beyond audio range, in germanium days there was a lot of parameter variation that directly affected fuzz tone and harmonics (like transistion frequency, base-collector capacitance etc.) So, although every germanium transistor has the intrinsic characteristics of germanium itself, each one sounds and reacts differently when put in a fuzz circuit due to those parameters. And that's where the real thing is.
The Capivara reproduces that delicious fat fuzz of the original fuzz faces, with very musical harmonics, elegant like a true classic: and as you turn the guitar volume down, it cleans up beautifully, bright and sharp like nothing else!
The idea for this project was born in the peak of the pandemic, when we weren’t able to offer our traditional line of pedals. That’s why it is soldered exclusively by me, Du Menegozzo (Deep Trip founder and developer of all circuits): I solder all the boards, I assemble the wiring with much care and planning, no margin for errors. It’s like a Deep Trip custom shop, that will expand in 2022, with limited batches of boosters, fuzzes and drives, always using New Old Stock components, like germanium transistors and diodes.
Even the wires are special, we’re importing pre-bonded spools, more rigid, for a cleaner assembly. Fancy stuff!
The controls are identical to any fuzz face replica. Purists like to set both maxed and control everything on the guitar. It works great!
But you can also lower the “Fuzz” a little bit and get lots of interesting tones there.
This circuit doesn’t have much room on the “Volume”, to match bypassed tone you’ll use it around 3 o’clock. Setting it on max gives a little more brightness on the guitar volume clean up, something the fuzzheads usually love!
This pedal only works with a 9V battery, no power supply input. We can't include a battery in the exported pedals due to international regulations, but we recommend non-alkaline, zinc-carbon batteries. They cost pennies and will last for months, because this circuit draws tiny currents! Don't forget to remove the plug from the input jack whenever you're not using the pedal, so you save the battery's charge.
Besides that, the Capivara circuit has low input impedance, which is essential to this magical tone of the original fuzz face circuit. That means it works best when connected directly to a passive instrument, with no other circuit between them. So we recommend you to put it first in your pedal chain for the intended tone. However, nothing impedes (pun intended) you from trying and even preferring its tone after other pedals or buffers, feel free to experiment!
Like any germanium-equipped pedal, Capivara's behavior and tone are temperature dependent. So, its tone may change in different environments. It does have an internal trimpot for bias adjustments, but you probably shouldn't mess with it unless you know what you're doing, preferably with a multimeter to monitor voltages.
For more consistency, keep your pedal away from heat sources, like warm tubes or heaters, for example. Also avoid storing it under high humidity, because all carbon comp resistors can absorb humidity and drift in value (although we use the newer, stiffer ones).