Here's what Fairfield Circuitry say about the Unpleasant Surprise Fuzz
Reminisce about the time you got your shoulder caught in the reciprocating saw while this unit destroys your slick jazz lines. The fruit of an oddball circuit, hanging there awkwardly by some parasitic effect. Tweaked, bended and shoe-horned to optimize it’s stench, it’s un pleasance. The time has come to turn all dynamics to s**t! Strangely, it feels very natural.
As The Unpleasant Surprise turns your playing style upside down, you’ll be thankful for its ability to push you outside the box, outside your comfort
zone, all the while retaining the essence of what is played. The artefacts created by this pedal are strange, harsh and unusual but never seem misplaced or out of context.
Using the Unpleasant Surprise
The VOLUME control is self-explanatory. Unity gain is around noon but who cares. Use it to slam your amp or the next pedals in line. Turn it down if the anguish is overwhelming.
The ONSET control affects interstage gain, which happens to mimic an inverse gate threshold. Turn it up for more saturation, longer sustain. Down for spluttery ad-lib f*rts.
T – Simple output treble cut.
G – Affects amplifier bias. Open or Saturated. Allows variations in distortion grain. Note: the difference becomes less noticeable as the ONSET is turned up.
C – Feedforward. Crushes your signal to shit. ONSET controls the amount of compression.
Notes on Powering
The Unpleasant Surprise was designed to operate and sound good using your typical center negative, regulated 9-9.6 VDC power supply. Running it at higher voltages is not desirable nor recommended. There is no battery connection inside the pedal. Always check your power supply for proper voltage and polarity before connecting.
Specifications
Technical
- Input Impedance: 1 MΩ
- Output Impedance: 1KΩ
- Power Supply: 9 to 9.6 VDC
- Current Draw: 15 mA
Physical
- True true bypass
- 1/4” mono input/output jacks
- 2.1mm DC connector
- 2.5” x 4.4” enclosure dimensions
