HexeFX - Šila Fuzz

Stereo dual band germanium fuzz/oscillator pedal

HEXE Šila Fuzz is a further developed model of the StarFighter Fuzz pedal.

To add a rhythmic content to the wide range of sounds the pedal has been equipped with auto-panner/tremolo units for each of the two fuzz sections. There are 4 available wavefoms for each tremolo unit.

Šila Fuzz was designed and built as a custom one off device.

Crossover:

Frequency - frequency at which the signal is split in two separate bands.
Peak - resonance of the crossover filters. Self oscillation at the max setting.
Range - switch, frequency range of the crossover section: 20-250Hz and 250Hz-12kHz.

Fuzz (two sections for Hi and Lo band):

Fuzz - gain control. At 0% the input signal is muted allowing fuzz self oscillation.
Compress - fuzz compression controls, affects the harmonic content.
Gate - gate threshold.
Osc - positive feedback control, fuzz oscillation.
Tone - lowpass tone control.

Output mixer:

Mix - dry/wet mix ratio.
Level/Speed - channel output volume or channel tremolo speed in Edit mode.
Trem Edit - switch, hold down to enter tremolo settings mode Once in edit mode, a short click changes the waveform, the speed is controlled by the Level knob. Hold down again to save parameters and exit Edit mode.

Footwitches:

Right - high band fuzz bypass.
Left - low band fuzz bypass.
Middle - master stere true bypass.

Input crossover:

A stereo input signal is split in two separate high and low bands using a tunable resonant filters. The corner frequency range is from 20Hz to 12kHz, split in two ranges: 20Hz - 250Hz bass one and 250Hz - 12kHz mid/high range. The resonance of the filters can go up even to self oscillation, making the crossover part one of a few available oscillation sources on the pedal.

Fuzz:

Being a dual band stereo fuzz, the Šila Fuzz consist of four fuzz circuits in total. Despite the control naming, similar to a popular fuzz pedal, the fuzz design is not a clone, but of my own design and it crackles only if required.Drive knob controls the amplitude of the signal going into the fuzz section. When set to minimum, the input signal is cut off, thus making it possible to use the pedal as oscillator only.

Output Mixer/Modulator:

Both channels are equipped with dry/wet mixers and an output volume modulator acting as a stereo auto panner/tremolo effect.

Holding down the Left or Right footswitch activates or switches off the modulation.

In order to change the modulation parameters the right (red light) button has to be held down for about 2 seconds. The pedal will enter the edit mode. The corresponding Level knobs will act as modulation speed controllers and the right button can be used to choose on of the four available waveforms: sin, ramp up, ramp down or square. Holding down the button for 2 seconds again will store the settings and exit the edit mode.