Greetings friends!

Gather 'round so that I might regale you with the tale of Excalibur!

About a year ago, I had a wacky idea for a pedal that I would love to have on my board. Alas, with absolutely no knowledge of the arcane art of pedal building, I determined that I must seek help in forging the mythical tone I so desired. Naturally, I reached out to Spruce Effects, a builder of fine vintage-style pedals from California. A bit to my surprise, Brian actually thought it was a great idea that he would be interested in collaborating on!

I wanted a Fuzzrite-style fuzz pedal that could do more. If you've ever tried one, you know that the Fuzzrite can be a bit of a one-trick pony. You turn it on, and it sounds like a Fuzzrite. The circuit has a great vintage character, but with little to no tone-sculpting capabilities. I wanted something that could bring this charming fuzz into the modern day. While we were at it, I figured, "why not throw in a boost too?" Vintage fuzz pedals often pair well with a Rangemaster-style boost, so that is what we went with here. A silicon fuzz and a germanium boost delivering vintage character with modern controls. We present: Excalibur!

Excalubur's circuits are hand-tuned and hand-built, one at a time by Brian at Spruce Effects. The design utilizes low-noise metal film resistors, Wima film capacitors, audio-grade Nichicon electrolytic capacitors, NOS Sprague and Philips ceramic disc capacitors, hand measured and matched NOS Fairchild silicon transistors, and a hand measured and auditioned NOS Soviet Germanium transistor. All hardware is premium quality, using the high-end Gorva soft-click true-bypass footswitch, Taiway toggles, Switchcraft jacks, and a Lumberg premium DC connector. The artwork was designed by graphic designer, Evan Madden, and was printed at the best pedal milling, powder, and UV print house in the US, F5 Metalworks. 

Excalibur utilizes low-noise metal film resistors, Wima film capacitors, audio-grade Nichicon electrolytic capacitors, NOS Sprague and Philips ceramic disc capacitors, hand measured and matched NOS Fairchild silicon transistors, and a hand measured and auditioned NOS Soviet Germanium transistor. All hardware is premium quality, using the high-end Gorva soft-click true-bypass footswitch, Taiway toggles, Switchcraft jacks, and a Lumberg premium DC connector. The artwork was designed by graphic designer Evan Madden.

The first 25 units will ship around 2 weeks after launch (January 20), while a second batch of 25 will ship approximately 3 weeks after launch.

strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government, but it does make for a pretty cool pedal concept!

Control Overview

• F. Volume: Controls the output volume of the fuzz.
• F. Input: Controls the frequency being fed into the fuzz—counter clockwise is thinner while clockwise is lower and beefier.
• F. Temper: Blends between the two transistor stages and controls the fuzz's character.
• F. Tone toggle: "Up" is a stock Fuzzrite, while "down" is the "Spruce" Fuzzrite setting, which adds more low end. and really opens things up.
• B. Gain: Controls the amount of gain coming out of the Germanium boost.
• B. Depth: Controls the frequency being fed into the boost—counter clockwise is thinner while clockwise is lower and beefier.
• Order toggle: "Up" places the fuzz first in the signal chain, while "down" slams the boost into the fuzz.