Strymon has put the equivalent of a vintage 1960s amp in a stomp box with its new Fairfax Class A Output Stage Drive. Inspired by a little-known tube unit from the ‘60s, Fairfax is the first in Strymon’s new line of fully analog pedals dubbed Series A and is available today for $199.
Fairfax is unique in the world of drive and boost pedals in that it’s a full tube amp circuit that’s been miniaturized using only analog components. The inspiration comes from the Herzog tube drive, created in the 1970s by Garnet Amplifiers for Randy Bachman, who was then performing with Bachman-Turner Overdrive. The Canadian group was Bachman’s followup to the Guess Who and recorded popular hits like “Let It Ride,” “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” and “Takin’ Care of Business.”
The Fairfax pedal encompasses every element of an amp’s topology, including a tube preamp, a Class A power amp and a proprietary circuit that emulates the saturation characteristics of the output transformer, an integral part of a tube amp’s sound.
At the heart of the pedal is an internal power supply that boosts the incoming nine-volt DC power to 40 voltes to deliver a massive amount of headroom that creates the Fairfax’s amp-like sound and feel. Electric guitar tone moves from clean at low Drive settings to full transformer-like saturation as the gain is increased.
Fairfax also boasts a Bright circuit that modifies the treble response, as well as a variable Sag control that produces dynamic artifacts at low values, and full sputtering and gated sounds you get from a fuzz pedal at extreme settings.
“Man, this thing is such a chameleon,” says Sean Halley, Strymon’s Head of Marketing and a long-time session and live player. “It can be a creamy and gooey boost that works great with any style of amp, and it can also breathe saturated fire.
“Because it’s really an amp circuit, it doesn’t change your core tone, and it stacks brilliantly with other drive pedals.”
The Fairfax is the first in Strymon’s new new line of fully analog pedals dubbed Series A.
Gregg Stock, Strymon’s CEO and senior analog engineer notes that while Strymon is better known for digital signal processing, “our analog engineers are always coming up with interesting ideas for fully analog designs, so we created Series A to give them an outlet.
“There will be a number of pedals in the line by the end of next year, so we’re really excited to see some of these products come to market. It’s been a blast to work on this stuff.”
Fairfax is available now directly from Strymon and from dealers worldwide for $199 U.S.
