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Boost 'n Buff
 The Idea
The Boost 'n' Buff is designed to fulfill three distinct applications.
- In bypass mode , it's an ultra high input impedance buffer.
- In the lower volume range, the frequency response is flat for use as a simple volume booster for solos.
- In the upper volume range, the Boost 'n' Buff becomes more like a treble booster for driving a valve amp into overdrive without getting loose and fuzzy.
The Circuit
The circuit is a rather elegant design based around one ultra low noise transistor. By not utilizing a large number of active devices, I was able to keep the noise level of the booster down to an almost imperceptible level. This is a very important factor in applications where a booster is going to be used before a gain device, like a dirt pedal, or an overdrive channel of an amp.
The way that the volume control on the Boost 'n' Buff works is also quite interesting. Most transistor based booster designs have a fixed gain, and the volume control simply limits the input or output volume.
Flat Booster
In the first half of the volume sweep, the frequency response of the Boost 'n' Buff is flat. This provides you with about 15db of flat boost before the frequency response of the pedal starts to become more treble booster-like. This is perfect for solo volume boosts. The one thing to note is that if you're going to use digital effects in your signal path, I'd suggest putting the Boost 'n' Buff after the digital effects to avoid overloading the A/D converters.
Another interesting application is using the Boost 'n' Buff in the FX loop of an amp to act as a secondary volume control. Since it has ample headroom, line level signals are not a problem. So even if your FX loop is line level, you can still get quite a bit of boost using the Boost 'n' Buff. This way, your FX loops can also double as a solo volume booster as well as a standard FX loop. By putting the Boost 'n' Buff in the FX loop, you can use it to boost the volume of an overdrive channel. If you're using the overdrive channel of your amp, then putting any booster between the guitar and amp will just increase the amount of distortion as opposed to increasing volume. By putting it AFTER the preamp (in the FX loop), you can achieve volume boosting without affecting preamp tone.
Treble Booster
Once past the half way point, the mid and high frequencies start to climb faster than the low frequencies. At maximum gain, not only do you have an amazing amount of boost (approximately 35db), but the frequency response is perfectly tailored to driving a valve amp. It's literally like hot-rodding your amp with an extra tube stage. Also, with the 18V headroom, your sound will be 'cleaner' going into the amp, so that there's less colouring from the transistor.
Other Features
- LED status indicator
- Mechanical switching for buffer/booster mode selection
- Heavy duty die-cast aluminium enclosure, professionally powder coated and silk-screened
- Large pointer knob for easy manipulation of the volume control
Musictoyz.com Price $119.95
 
Crunch Box
 The Crunch Box Distortion is my take on the high gain British. The history of the Crunch Box actually goes back a few years. I came up with the design after careful study of the way that modern British style amps get their overdrive. I found that there was a very big concentration of the frequency information in the midrange. So I started to experiment with different prototype ideas, until I settled on a design in late 2003. Since then, various prototypes were sent out for serious road testing, and the final design was released in early 2006.
The first batch of Crunch Box Distortion pedals sold out in record time. Within 3 weeks, my initial batch of 500 were sold. Since then, I've consulted with many users, and their feedback has been used to further tune this amazing pedal. The latest Crunch Box is better than ever, and will continue to be, I am sure, the most popular pedal that we make.
Features
- High Gain British Distortion at its best!
- 3 external and one internal control
- Gain - from the lightest breakup to insane high gain scream
- Tone - custom taper control which adjusts the high end cut of the pedal.
- Volume - updated taper for a more gradual and controlled volume sweep.
- new - internal presence control for adjusting the 'shape' of the Crunch Box's sonic footprint.
- Professionally powder-coated and silk-screened enclosure, measuring only 4.3" * 2.2"
- Update available for older versions (see 'in depth' section)
Musictoyz.com Price $129.95
Blue PRO
 The Blues Pro has an interesting story. When I first started work on the Blue Boy overdrive, I worked on the design till i got to a point where I was happy with it. So I went out and had a whole bunch of PCBs made up. What I didn't count on was changing my mind,... which I did. I was then not able to use the PCBs. So, what I decided to try to recoup some of the money I'd pumped into the PCBs by making these pedals up, putting them in a bare aluminium case, and selling them at cost. I called this pedal the 'Blues Prototype'. What I didn't count on was just how popular these pedal were. They are still on the second hand market today, in most cases getting considerably more than what was paid for them.
The Blues Prototype is so popular that I get at least a few emails per week asking about the pedal, and the availability of the pedal. So I've taken the plunge, and there you have it,... the Blues Protoype is now reincarnated as the Blues Pro.
- Amazing 'plug-and-play' low/medium gain overdrive.
- 4 external control
- Gain - from the lightest breakup to serious crunch, with more grit and attitude than the Blue Boy Deluxe.
- Tone - for taming the top end
- Volume - plenty of volume for overdriving a tube amp
- new - toggle switch for unleashing the new 'fuzz mode'.
- Professionally powder-coated and silk-screened enclosure, measuring only 4.3" * 2.2"
Sound Clips
Musictoyz.com Price $129.95
Blue Boy Deluxe
 The Blue Boy was a resounding success. But wanting to continually improve the design, I took the Blue Boy design to the next logical step. The most obvious thing to do was to make the internal controls external. The logic behind this was the same as that for the new Tube Zone, namely to help musicians who use multiple rigs, or gigging musicians who have to rely on 'house rigs' to match the Blue Boy to these different rigs. There's now no need to open up the pedal. Also, The output volume was further increased, and the voicing control mutated into a dedicated midrange control.
Ever noticed that,...
- The ultimate in low/mid gain sounds.
- Less compression than the standard design
- A total of 6 external controls, for the ultimate flexibility:
- Gain control
- High/Low balancing control tone control
- Volume Control with output up to 25Vpp with correct power supply!
- New dedicated midrange control
- New external character control for adding 'momentum' to guitar notes, or keeping things tight
- New external brightness control for controlling top end content, and to help match the Blue Boy Deluxe to different amps.
- Clear Lens Yellow/Amber LED
- Professionally powder-coated and silk-screened enclosure, measuring only 4.3" * 2.2"
Sound Files
Musictoyz.com Price $159.95
Tube Zone
 The current Tube Zone is the final evolution of this amazing design. I am extremely excited about this pedal. For starters, the two internal controls have now moved to the outside of the case. This means that it is no longer necessary to open up the pedal in order to tweak the pedal. New gig with an unfamiliar amp? Not a problem. With the new Tube Zone, you can dial in your sound, regardless of the equipment you have to work with. Also, the mid switch has evolved into a continuous midrange control. This allows perfect setting for the mids. If these 6 external controls weren't enough (Gain, Tone, Volume, Character, Mids, Brightness), a seventh 'presence' trimmer was added to adjust the overall balanace and sparkle of the Tube Zone.
Finally, the Tube Zone has received a cosmetic upgrade. The die cast enclosure is now plated in genuine chrome, for striking good looks.
I believe that this version of the Tube Zone is the best pedal I have ever made. If you're after a 'desert island' overdrive pedal, I'd seriously check out the Tube Zone.
- Top of the range, most flexible MI Audio Overdrive Pedal.
- 4 clipping stages for tube amp-like response and tone
- Works comfortably as a low or high gain device.
- A total of 6 external controls, and one internal control for the ultimate flexibility:
- Gain control with unique taper to provide excellent control over overdrive.
- High/Low balancing control tone control
- Volume Control with output up to 15Vpp with correct power supply!
- New dedicated midrange control
- New external character control for adding 'momentum' to guitar notes, or keeping things tight
- New external brightness control for controlling top end content, and to help match the Tube Zone to different amps.
- New internal presence control to further help dial in the Tube Zone's tone.
- Single ended class A output.
- Ultra-bright blue LED.
- Striking chrome plated case and knobs.
Sound Files
Musictoyz.com Price $199.95
Neo Fuzz
 Introduction
Ahhh, the Neo Fuzz. This is the crème de la crème of fuzz. Vintage fuzz at its best.
The circuit concept is the same as that of the GI Fuzz, but instead of NPN high gain silicon transistors, the Neo Fuzz is built around a pair of hand selected early 70s NOS AC128 germanium transistors. There's also a third silicon transistor which is not involved in the fuzz tone generation. The tone is pure germanium. Each germanium transistor is tested for leakage current and gain, and only the best of these transistors is used in the Neo Fuzz. The other cool feature is the high intensity pink LED. Very cool!
The tone of the Neo Fuzz is remarkably different to the G.I. The Neo is much more vintage sounding, a lot smoother, with less bite and buzz. It's gain is also a lot tamer, but don't worry, there's still plenty on tap.
Once again, the Neo Fuzz is not a clone of anything out there. It is new design which I've been working on for about a year now, and it's gone through many iterations.
The other features of the Neo Fuzz are the same as the GI Fuzz, namely:
- A huge gain range, from nothing to sustain-for-days
- It can be used as a low gain device (for a fat bluesy bite), which is fairly unique for a fuzz pedal, since fuzz pedals tend to have a very narrow range of gain.
- To tame this pedal, there's an internal gain trimmer to wind things back (which I recommend)
- A load control, which is a variable input impedance. This can be used to match the Neo Fuzz to humbuckers as well as single coils (Fuzz pedals tend to have low input impedance which is a better match for single coils. Now you can also use humbuckers without any problems). You can also use it to go from a tradition fuzz sound (low input impedance) to a more articulate sound with detailed highs (high impedance)
- A bias control to set up the operating point of the transistors, from a fat symmetrical fuzz, to an asymmetrical 'mosquito' buzz, and beyond, to a gated synth-like sound (almost sounds like your amp is about to die!)
- A body control, which full range mid range control. The mids, of course, are the most important frequencies for determining how your guitar tone sits in with the rest of the band.
- A tone control, which controls both lows and highs, as opposed to simply a high cut filter. This is like bass and treble controls rolled into one. The combination of the tone and the body controls is like having a low/mid/high EQ
- A volume control with output to spare. You can use the Neo fuzz to overdrive your amp.
- A 3 position bright switch to help tame the top end. This is useful if you're going to use your Neo Fuzz with a bright 'modern' voiced clean channel, or if you're going to use the Neo with overdrive pedals (which tend to be darker, and by comparison, make a normal fuzz sound shrill)
- A heavy duty 3PDT True Bypass footswitch for no tone loss when the Neo Fuzz is bypassed.
- A 9V adaptor plug (2.1mm barrel connection).
- Super quiet operation, due to its unique design.
- High quality overrated components for rock-solid reliability. In fact, you can use the GI Fuzz with anything up to 25V DC power source, although for a fuzz pedal, 9V is the best operating voltage.
- Each and every GI Fuzz is hand-made by me in Sydney, Australia.
- As with all my pedals, it carries a 5 year warranty.
- Professionally powder-coated and silk-screened die-cast aluminium enclosure, measuring only 11cm * 6cm *3m ("MXR" size).
In Depth
I get asked often about fuzz pedals, and I must confess, up until about 5 years ago, I didn't really get it. Then I started to develop an appreciation for these little guys. so eventually, I started to think about making a fuzz pedal of my own. After all, they seemed very simple, almost crude. Piece of cake, right?
Well, I was wrong there. I spent a long time studying fuzz pedals, and quickly learnt that those things are actually very complex beasts. Their circuits are simple, but this is a historical accident, I think. In reality, what they do is very complex, despite the low component count. In fact, I think that there are more 'parameters' in a fuzz sound than in an overdrive or a distortion. However, a quick survey of the pedals on the market reveals that OD and distortion pedals come with more knobs (to do a simpler job), but a fuzz pedal typically has just 2 knobs, and if you're lucky, 3.
So what are the parameters associated with producing a fuzz sound:
- Pickup loading: The way that a fuzz pedal interacts with your pickups effectively pre-filters your tone, and is a big part of the fuzz sound. Some pedals have a very low input impedance, and hence suck a lot of the top end out of your tone from the very start. Other pedals don't load your pickups very much, and this make the sound a bit more like an overdrive pedal. Generally, this characteristic is an intrinsic part of each fuzz design, and even though it's an important aspect of the fuzz sound, it's not something that you would ordinarily have control over.
- Fuzz amount.
- Clipping symmetry: Once again, a very important parameter for determining overall tone and character of your fuzz pedal. Typically, this not only varies from design to design, but also from unit to unit. If you take 2 vintage fuzz pedals made in the same batch, they may very well sound different. Clipping symmetry is the major reason for this.
- Tone shaping: ideally, it would be great to have control over the 3 major frequency bands at the output, namely, low, mid and high.
- Bandwidth: How 'high' does the top end of the fuzz go. Traditional fuzz pedals (which were designed to be used with darker vintage amps) didn't restrict the top end. This is why vintage fuzz pedals don't sound great with new amps. This 'bandwidth' control should be independent of the tone shaping.
- Output volume control.
So as opposed to building a simple circuit which 'hard-wired' these parameters, I isolated each of them and made them configurable. And that's how I ended up with the controls mentioned above. I won't bore you with more detail.
Musictoyz.com Price $179.95
G.I. Fuzz
 Introduction
The GI Fuzz is a high gain fuzz design, featuring a trio of ultra low noise, high gain silicon transistors. This is not a fuzz for the faint hearted. It has about 20db more gain than a Fuzz Face, so you can think of the gain achievable as being equivalent to a a Fuzz Face at full tilt being driven by a booster! This is military spec fuzz, complete with a camouflage green aluminium enclosure and stencil script !
The GI Fuzz is not a clone of anything out there. It is new design which I've been working on for about a year now, and it's gone through many iterations.
In the end, I settled on a design which makes the GI Fuzz one of the most versatile fuzz pedals out there. At last, the fuzz pedal has joined the 21st century! No longer the 2 knob, unstable, radio receiver of yesteryear. You get 6 knobs, an internal trimmer, a 3 position switch, and the ability to create anything from fat bluesy tones, to traditional fuzz, to all-out sustain, to gated, synth-like bleeps.
Very briefly, the GI Fuzz features:
- A huge gain range, from nothing to sustain-for-days
- It can be used as a low gain device (for a fat bluesy bite), which is fairly unique for a fuzz pedal, since fuzz pedals tend to have a very narrow range of gain.
- To tame this pedal, there's an internal gain trimmer to wind things back (which I recommend)
- A load control, which is a variable input impedance. This can be used to match the GI Fuzz to humbuckers as well as single coils (Fuzz pedals tend to have low input impedance which is a better match for single coils. Now you can also use humbuckers without any problems). You can also use it to go from a tradition fuzz sound (low input impedance) to a more articulate sound with detailed highs (high impedance)
- A bias control to set up the operating point of the transistors, from a fat symmetrical fuzz, to an asymmetrical 'mosquito' buzz, and beyond, to a gated synth-like sound (almost sounds like your amp is about to die!)
- A body control, which full range mid range control. The mids, of course, are the most important frequencies for determining how your guitar tone sits in with the rest of the band.
- A tone control, which controls both lows and highs, as opposed to simply a high cut filter. This is like bass and treble controls rolled into one. The combination of the tone and the body controls is like having a low/mid/high EQ
- A volume control with output to spare. You can use the GI fuzz to overdrive your amp.
- A 3 position bright switch to help tame the top end. This is useful if you're going to use your GI Fuzz with a bright 'modern' voiced clean channel, or if you're going to use the GI with overdrive pedals (which tend to be darker, and by comparison, make a normal fuzz sound shrill)
- A heavy duty 3PDT True Bypass footswitch for no tone loss when the GI Fuzz is bypassed.
- A 9V adaptor plug (2.1mm barrel connection).
- Super quiet operation, due to its unique design.
- High quality overrated components for rock-solid reliability. In fact, you can use the GI Fuzz with anything up to 25V DC power source, although for a fuzz pedal, 9V is the best operating voltage.
- Each and every GI Fuzz is hand-made by me in Sydney, Australia.
- As with all my pedals, it carries a 5 year warranty.
- Professionally powder-coated and silk-screened die-cast aluminium enclosure, measuring only 11cm * 6cm *3m ("MXR" size).
In Depth
I get asked often about fuzz pedals, and I must confess, up until about 5 years ago, I didn't really get it. Then I started to develop an appreciation for these little guys. so eventually, I started to think about making a fuzz pedal of my own. After all, they seemed very simple, almost crude. Piece of cake, right?
Well, I was wrong there. I spent a long time studying fuzz pedals, and quickly learnt that those things are actually very complex beasts. Their circuits are simple, but this is a historical accident, I think. In reality, what they do is very complex, despite the low component count. In fact, I think that there are more 'parameters' in a fuzz sound than in an overdrive or a distortion. However, a quick survey of the pedals on the market reveals that OD and distortion pedals come with more knobs (to do a simpler job), but a fuzz pedal typically has just 2 knobs, and if you're lucky, 3.
So what are the parameters associated with producing a fuzz sound:
- Pickup loading: The way that a fuzz pedal interacts with your pickups effectively pre-filters your tone, and is a big part of the fuzz sound. Some pedals have a very low input impedance, and hence suck a lot of the top end out of your tone from the very start. Other pedals don't load your pickups very much, and this make the sound a bit more like an overdrive pedal. Generally, this characteristic is an intrinsic part of each fuzz design, and even though it's an important aspect of the fuzz sound, it's not something that you would ordinarily have control over.
- Fuzz amount.
- Clipping symmetry: Once again, a very important parameter for determining overall tone and character of your fuzz pedal. Typically, this not only varies from design to design, but also from unit to unit. If you take 2 vintage fuzz pedals made in the same batch, they may very well sound different. Clipping symmetry is the major reason for this.
- Tone shaping: ideally, it would be great to have control over the 3 major frequency bands at the output, namely, low, mid and high.
- Bandwidth: How 'high' does the top end of the fuzz go. Traditional fuzz pedals (which were designed to be used with darker vintage amps) didn't restrict the top end. This is why vintage fuzz pedals don't sound great with new amps. This 'bandwidth' control should be independent of the tone shaping.
- Output volume control.
So as opposed to building a simple circuit which 'hard-wired' these parameters, I isolated each of them and made them configurable. And that's how I ended up with the controls mentioned above. I won't bore you with more detail.
Musictoyz.com Price $159.95
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