Hello Sailor Effects collaborates with Australia's rnrmf guitarworks for the killer Xenomorph Germanium 2-Transistor Fuzz with smart shapable Un-Buffer Transformer
I would have hoped most of you would have read my Hello Sailor Effects epic by now - while judging from the numbers - several have yet to experience the delights of that odyssey! In said article I cover in detail how every one of Joe Halliday’s HSE pedals is individual and unique. So this Xenomorph Fuzz collaboration is the only HSE pedal that is readily available - and where each one is built identically to the next - the closest you will ever get to a standard HSE product - while you could never describe any of Joe’s circuit creations as being ’standard’.
The whole project came about when Australia-based but native Kiwi - Stuart Caldwell commissioned Joe to create one of his FuzzBanger / Abbey Road Fuzzes (Fuzz Faces essentially) - with a custom Alien Xenomorph artwork. That original pedal is pictured below - which came in one of Joe’s usual slightly larger size enclosures :
So after Stu had owned his Xeno pedal for a while he decided to transfer / rehouse the circuit into a more compact pedalboard-friendly enclosure to make it easier for him to travel with and accommodate said pedal on his board.
The process of miniaturisation then led to the idea of Stu producing those smaller editions - featuring the self same Joe Haliday designed circuit - but in a smaller and more practical enclosure than Joe usually makes. Nearly all of Joe's pedals are mid-size and above - so it'a a real bonus to be able to get one of his circuits in the compact format - and with ready availability - instead of having to play a form of roulette with Joe's weekend pedal-drops.
This was the first Joe Halliday pedal I could easily get my hands on, and while it's a slightly different more muted shade of red than the original - all the important bits are fully intact - and you get a really unique Fuzz Face here with some incredible special features - based around an included audiophile transformer, and two additional controls - Xen and Morph which shape the impact of that.
Controls - Volume, Bias, Fuzz, Xen : 3-way Switch, Morph / Xen EQ : Darker > Brighter.
So at its core the Xenomorph is a Germanium Fuzz Face with external Bias knob, and running off 2 x CV7351 Military Spec Germanium Transistors. A good starting point for those 3 classic controls is everything at noon.
The Xen 3-way switch and Morph control are related to the onboard Xen sort of Buffer Transformer / Pickup Simulator - which are there to help with some of the sensitivity that is typical for this kind of fuzz type, while for me it offers the ability of a second more textured, chunkier and darker voicing.
The two important passages from the manual read as follows :
"The Xen switch, when in the up position, engages a transformer before the circuit input. This has the effect of 'unbuffering' a buffered signal, which allows the circuit to react to a buffered signal in a manner much closer to plugging straight into the pedal. The volume clean-up from the guitar volume still isn’t as effective as plugging directly in, but you don’t get the nasty 'buzzsaw' sound like you do with a buffered input."
"The Morph control affects the frequency response of the signal through the transformer. This is only engaged when the Xen switch is up. Turning this up has the effect of taking a lot of the low end out of the front of the circuit. This is particularly effective if you like running the fuzz into a crunchy channel but find the front end of your amp turns to mush with a fuzz face, and allows more definition in the lower register of the guitar. All the way up is approaching treble-booster like bass cut so you can hit the front end of the amp hard and still retain clarity."
On the original pedal he Xen switch was simply a 2-way - transformer on/off, while on the rnrmf edition Up is Buffer on, Middle is pedal bypass, and Down is Buffer on. I'm not sure why we need the 3rd Middle state here. I've suggested a future version might just have a second footswitch to turn the Transformer On and Off.
How all this manifests for me is that I prefer to have all the dials / knobs set to 2 o'c - that produces the ultimate and optimal harmonics and texture for me. When the Transformer is applied (Xen Up) then the output even with the Morph EQ at 2 o'c is sitll somewhat dark and deep, dense and particularly 'chunky'. Then when you flip the Transformer Off (Xen Down), you get a crisper, brighter, more open and searing tonality. In fact 2 very distinct voices - both of which sound superb. Note that the Morph EQ knob only applies to the Transformer state (Xen Up).
The end result is one of the smartest Fuzz Faces out there - beautifully textured and expressive - with all those usual Germanium Fuzz face dynamics and brilliant guitar volume cleanup. It's one of my very favourite takes on a Fuzz Face and is as full-flavoured and visceral as you would expect a Joe Halliday Hello Sailor Effects circuit to be.
HSE pedals are typically priced at £300 and up (c$380), so the fact that the Xenomorph is priced at $269 means it's easily the most accessible and affordable of that lineage. You can order one right now from the Reverb.com rnrmf guitarworks store.
I already have over 80 Fuzz Faces in the collection - mostly Germanium types, and this is still a highly worthy addition to that already formidable collection. It's a really unique and particularly flavoursome take on that old favourite classic fuzz - beautifully put together by Stuart Caldwell as the pictures here bear witness too.
And expertly demoed by guitar maestro Jaron Jay here below in 3 takes :
Demos
12 Degrees of Saturation 2023 Compact Edition
