Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
4 Killer Pelham Blue Expresso FX Special Edition Fuzzes and Boost pedals are now available at Northern Stompboxes in the UK
Key Points
Article:
4 Killer Pelham Blue Expresso FX Special Edition Fuzzes and Boost pedals are now available at Northern Stompboxes in the UK.
Topics: Boost, Fuzz, Fuzz Face Style Fuzz, Germanium Fuzz, Silicon Fuzz, Tone Bender Style Fuzz
At one stage - for a circa 2 year period Sof at Expresso FX was one of my very best friends - and I used to speak to him regularly - every couple of weeks or so. In that period I acquired 6 of his best, and some of those still remain as enduring classics to this day - while one of them has been further improved with an additional Low-Cut filter Knob over the two variants I have of that type.
Sof became distant during Covid - and despite several attempts, I’ve been unable to reestablish that relationship - which is a genuine shame. As I was collaborating with him on a couple of projects at the time, and I always had further Expresso FX acquisitions in mind - which the lack of recent contact has hitherto limited.
I’ve long held Sof to be one of the very finest purveryors of Fuzz Pedals - a genuine Fuzz Whisperer and Transistor Charmer - he has the most incredible auditory prowess for selecting, matching up and tuning / biasing transistors - and he has an unequalled rare collection / archive of NOS / Vintage Transistors with which he powers his many classic circuits. He’s an absolute master of vintage classic fuzzes and treble boosters / RangeMasters - particularly Fuzz Face and Tone Bender types.
And here we have 4 of his very best, which I own in equivalent earlier additions - as below. While the Dual Germanium / Silicon Fuzz Face has been further improved since my active association.
Dual Germanium / Silicon Fuzz (Face) - £319
Germanium Fuzz (Face) - £269
Silicon Fuzz (Face) - £239
Germanium Boost (RangeMaster) - £259
Sof has made these unique and very attractive Pelham Blue Special Editions for Stephen at Northern Stompboxes. I would be first in line for these if I didn’t already own versions of
At one stage - for a circa 2 year period Sof at Expresso FX was one of my very best friends - and I used to speak to him regularly - every couple of weeks or so. In that period I acquired 6 of his best, and some of those still remain as enduring classics to this day - while one of them has been further improved with an additional Low-Cut filter Knob over the two variants I have of that type.
Sof became distant during Covid - and despite several attempts, I’ve been unable to reestablish that relationship - which is a genuine shame. As I was collaborating with him on a couple of projects at the time, and I always had further Expresso FX acquisitions in mind - which the lack of recent contact has hitherto limited.
I’ve long held Sof to be one of the very finest purveryors of Fuzz Pedals - a genuine Fuzz Whisperer and Transistor Charmer - he has the most incredible auditory prowess for selecting, matching up and tuning / biasing transistors - and he has an unequalled rare collection / archive of NOS / Vintage Transistors with which he powers his many classic circuits. He’s an absolute master of vintage classic fuzzes and treble boosters / RangeMasters - particularly Fuzz Face and Tone Bender types.
And here we have 4 of his very best, which I own in equivalent earlier additions - as below. While the Dual Germanium / Silicon Fuzz Face has been further improved since my active association.
- Dual Germanium / Silicon Fuzz (Face) - £319
- Germanium Fuzz (Face) - £269
- Silicon Fuzz (Face) - £239
- Germanium Boost (RangeMaster) - £259
Sof has made these unique and very attractive Pelham Blue Special Editions for Stephen at Northern Stompboxes. I would be first in line for these if I didn’t already own versions of each of those.
Actually I have the more classic OC44 loaded Germanium Boost - while since I acquired that I decided I actually preferred Sof’s favourite variety of that kind which uses a rare Philps OC141 Transistor - that sounds a little more open and better balanced for me. So I will most likely be coming for one of those some day in the not too distant future. I have other priorities for now - so those further acquisitions are a little on the back burner for now - while I love each of those varieties listed - and have favourite versions of each in my reference collection already.
It would of course be nice to own one or more of those Pelham Blue editions - but I would be doubling down on pedals I already have - where there are myriad new ones I’ve still to acquire.
All 4 of those varieties are still available from Northern Stompboxes as of my writing this feature. I think once people become more generally aware of their existence - they will be snapped up incredibly quickly! These are all top tier pedals!
Here follow summary individual details for each variant :
Pelham Blue Dual Germanium / Silicon Fuzz (Face) - £319
Transistors onboard - Germanium : CV7005, 2N3107, Silicon : OC202
Controls - Volume, Fuzz, Bias, Low-Cut.
- Genuine Hammond aluminium enclosure, powder-coated to the highest standard
- Hand-selected NOS germanium and silicon transistors. The silicon transistor is a Mullard OC202, the germanium ones are 1x Mullard CV7005 paired with 1x Texas Instruments 2N1307
- NOS Philips moulded metallised polyester capacitors 'Mepolesco' type. These are the exact same ones used in the original Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face
- NOS ERO KT1801 film capacitor
- NOS Philips electrolytic capacitors
- NOS Allen Bradley carbon composition resistors
- Premium Cliff UK jacks
- Alpha 16mm potentiometers
- Premium 22 AWG solid core Silver-plated copper wire with Teflon insulation, for superior signal transmission
- Audio-grade shielded wire
- Premium Kester Lead-free Silver-based solder
- True bypass
- Fully hand wired
- 3 years warranty
- Dimensions: 121 x 66 x 40 mm
- Exclusive Pelham Blue finish
Pelham Blue Germanium Fuzz (Face) - £269
Germanium Transistors onboard : CV7005, OC84
Controls - Volume, Fuzz, Bias.
- Genuine Hammond aluminium enclosure, powder-coated to the highest standard
- Hand-selected NOS germanium transistors - this run of pedals has been fitted with Newmarket CV7005 and OC84 germanium transistors.These are fabulous transistors with a creamy tone and excellent cleanup
- NOS Philips moulded metallised polyester capacitors 'Mepolesco' type. These are the exact same ones used in the original Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face
- NOS Philips and Frako electrolytic capacitors
- NOS Allen Bradley carbon composition resistors
- Premium Cliff UK jacks
- Alpha 16mm potentiometers
- Premium 22 AWG solid core Silver-plated copper wire with Teflon insulation, for superior signal transmission
- Audio-grade shielded wire
- Kester lead-free, Silver-based solder
- Dimensions: 121 x 66 x 40 mm (W x D x H)
- Exclusive Pelham Blue finish
Pelham Blue Silicon Fuzz (Face) - £239
Silicon Transistors onboard : 2 x BC183
Controls - Volume, Fuzz, Bias.
- Genuine Hammond aluminium enclosure, powder-coated to the highest standard
- 2 x Toshiba BC183 Silicon Transistors with a smooth sound
- NOS ERO ROE Roderstein KT1801 film capacitors
- Philips electrolytic capacitors
- NOS Allen Bradley carbon composition resistors
- Genuine Vero stripborad 0.15” pitch
- Premium Cliff UK jacks
- Alpha 16mm potentiometers
- Premium 22 AWG solid core Silver-plated copper wire with Teflon insulation, for superior signal transmission
- Audio-grade shielded wire
- Lead free, Silver-based solder
- True bypass
- Fully hand wired
- 3 years warranty
- Dimensions: 121 x 66 x 40 mm (W x D x H)
- Exclusive Pelham Blue finish
Pelham Blue Germanium Boost (RangeMaster) - £259
Germanium Transistor onboard : OC141
Controls - Level, Range : Low > Mid > High.
- Genuine Hammond aluminium enclosure, powder-coated to the highest standard
- Hand-selected NOS Philips/Mullard OC141 germanium transistors - the OC141's are creamy with a well balanced overall sound. These are NPN transistors (negative ground) so the DC socket does not require reverse polarity power and hence you can daisy chain it with standard pedals
- NOS Mullard 'Tropical Fish' C280 polyester capacitors
- Philips/ROE/Frako electrolytic capacitors
- Xicon/Yageo 1% metal film resistors
- Premium Switchcraft jacks
- Alpha 16mm potentiometers
- Premium 22 AWG solid core Silver-plated copper wire with Teflon insulation, for superior signal transmission
- Audio-grade shielded wire
- Lead free, Silver-based solder
- True bypass
- Fully hand wired
- 3 years warranty
- Dimensions: 121 x 66 x 40 mm (W x D x H)
- Exclusive Pelham Blue finish
My Own 6 x Expresso FX Editions to date!
Each one of these is magnificent :
- Tone Bender MKI [2 x 2N1308 + 1 x OC75]
- Germanium Fuzz (Face) [2 x CV7005]
- Germanium Boost (RangeMaster) [1 x OC44]
- Silicon Fuzz (Face) [2 x BC183]
- Dual Germanium / Silicon Fuzz (Face) [2 x CV10806, 2 x CV7351]
- Dual Germanium / Silicon Bender (MKII) [3 x OC75 + 1 x OC202]
The last 2 circuits have further evolved editions currently available - which have an additional Low-Cut Knob. Like the top Pelham Blue Edition!
I think I likely prefer the OC141 Exprsso FX Germanium Boost over the more classic OC44 variety that I own - a OC141 is most definitely on the cards still - it may even end up being one of these Pelham Blue editions.
I'm keen to re-establish a connection with Sof - he's kept me in the wilderness for too long now - and I know not why!
I would quite like my next Expresso FX to be one of those Dual Pedals - but covering MKIII and MIV Tone Bender Varieties ideally - for a really cool combination liquid distortion pedal!
Hopefully better times lie ahead.
