Since the invention of the fuzz effect in the early 1960s, guitarists have gone to great lengths to achieve the perfect fuzz sound. Legends say that Duane Allman placed his fuzz pedal in the freezer between sessions to cool the transistors, and that Roger Mayer meticulously modified Hendrix's Fuzz Faces beyond recognition in search of an elusive fuzz experience and magical. Fortunately, even aside from these mythological methods, there is one trick that always works: using a dying battery. Inherently simple devices like fuzz circuits are extremely sensitive to the amount of voltage they receive, so any change in the voltage of your power supply will cause drastically different tones. Guitarists finally figured out this hack and started draining their drums trying to find the right spot for their fuzz pedal. A good idea in theory, but who has time for that? Then, just a few years ago, a certain anonymous guitarist contacted me for a practical solution for this technique - and the Volture was born.
The Volture is a modern device for your vintage fuzz circuit. Simply place it between your power supply and your pedal, and you can fine-tune the input voltage and perfectly reproduce the sound of a dying drum. As the song says, “Power is created by taking power.”
Although we developed it specifically for vintage fuzz circuits, the Volture will work on any fully analog pedal. In fact, you might be surprised by the trippy sounds you find hidden in your favorite overdrive or distortion.
With the Volture you can input 9, 12 or 18 VDC and output an adjustable voltage from 7.5 VDC to 1.25 VDC, creating closed, distorted, possibly glitchy but still pulverized fuzz sounds. Input voltage is 9VDC to 18VDC, center negative. The output voltage is 1.25 VDC to 7.5 VDC, center negative. The Volture uses 10mA in addition to power when active. The Volture should be used with pedals rated less than 50mA.
NOTE: As you lower the voltage, the LED will darken simultaneously with the voltage level. Once you go below 2V, the LED turns off. This lets you know that your pedal probably doesn't have enough juice to operate anymore.
THE VOLTURE USES INDUSTRY STANDARD 2.1MM POWER CABLES
THIS PEDAL REQUIRES A STANDARD 9V DC NEGATIVE POWER SUPPLY, CONSUMES 12MA AND MEASURES 3.6"X1.5"X1"
**WARNING**
The Volture should not be paired with a digital/logic circuit based pedal, otherwise the user risks damaging the powered pedal due to inadequate voltage. As long as your pedal is completely analog, you'll be fine. A discharged battery never damages an analog circuit.