Built around a rare stash of NOS OC44 Philips black glass transistors Jam Pedals recently unearthed, these entirely hand-wired fuzz pedals are built with turret-based point-to-point construction and is wrapped in luxurious suede. The Black Phrase is a loving tribute to the golden era of germanium tone.
Key Features
- Dynamic, Vintage-Voiced Circuits – Thanks to consistency of the Black Glass transistors, Just plug in and go, and experience the stable, musical gain with minimal background noise for stunning era-defining fuzz.
- Luxury Suede Casing – Instantly add a touch of luxurious style to your pedalboard.
NOS OC44 Philips Black Glass Transistors
At the heart of every great germanium fuzz lie its transistors—and few are as legendary as the OC44. Manufactured in the late 1960s at Philips’ French facilities, these black glass versions are considered among the finest ever made. This batch, dated April 18, 1969, comes from the twilight era of germanium transistor production, shortly before Philips and the wider industry shifted to silicon-based designs.
Premium Vintage Components
To complement the rare OC44s, we’ve selected carboncomp resistors and tropical fish capacitors—vintagespec components that preserve warmth, clarity, and musicality throughout the signal path. The result is a fuzz that’s both aggressive and articulate, with cleans that shimmer and leads that sing.
Specifications
- Power Supply: 9V DC, center-negative
- Battery: 9V battery (installed via back panel)
- Current Draw: ~3mA
- Important: This is a positive-ground circuit
- Do not daisy-chain with standard negative-ground pedals
- Use a power supply with isolated outputs to avoid ground loop issues or damage
- Bypass: True Bypass
- Power: 9V battery or isolated 9V DC center-negative adapter
- Power Consumption: ~3mA
- Enclosure Dimensions: 7.7 × 12.5 × 6.6 cm (3 × 4.9 × 2.6 in)
- Weight: ~300g (0.66 lb)
