The
Vari-Z
switch is designed especially to work with
single coil pickups of the type installed in Stratocaster™
or Telecaster™ guitars. With the switch in the ‘centre’
position the resonant peak is unaffected. In the ‘down’
position the resonant peak drops down about 2KHz
giving single coil pickups a warmer tone similar to a
vintage humbucker . In the ‘up’ position the resonant
peak drops even further down (around 4KHz) creating a
much fuller and fatter sound.
Footswitch
allows selection between effectified
(compressed) and non-effectified (dry) signal. Silent
true bypass switching ensures there are no ‘pops’ or
‘thump’ when engaging the effect and that there is
absolutely no loss of tone from your guitar to your amp
when the effect is disengaged. Additionally , the tube
signal path in this pedal is built to demanding audiophile
specification to ensure hi-fidelity and signal integrity at
all times - the benefit that your guitar tone always
remains pure and intact.
T h eo ry of Op e rat i on
The
Fire Bottle
is a tool that can be used to tailor the
resonant frequency , gain and tone of a magnetic pickup
to alter the fundamental timbre or character of an
electric guitar . The resonant frequency determines how
fat or thin the sound is - a lower frequency sounds fatter
and a higher frequency sounds thinner . The resonant
peak determines the character of the sound. A higher
peak sounds more ‘edgy’ and a lower peak sounds
smoother . For example, Stratocaster™ single coil
pickups have a bright sound because of their high
resonant frequency with a high peak. Les Paul™
humbucker pickups have a mellower , warmer tone
because the resonant frequency is lower with a more
damped peak because of the increases coil resistance.
The resonant frequency of most magnetic pickups in
conjunction with a typical guitar cable lies between 2 to
5KHz. The human ear is most sensitive to frequencies
in this region. Subjectively , boosting frequencies in the
2KHz region sound warm and mellow; at 3KHz have
more presence and at 5KHz more brittle and thin. The
height of the peak also alters the quality of the sound -
a high peak produces a “lively” sound, whereas a low
peak produces a weaker sound. The resonant peak
amplitudes of most magnetic pickups range between 0
to 12 dB, being dependent on the composition of the
magnetic material in the coil, external resistive load and
metal case shield.