Van Diemens Analogue Audio Disruptors - The Tarkine Fuzz

The Tarkine is one of the worlds last prehistoric rain forests. It's teaming with fauna and flora that is not seen anywhere else on this planet and is the largest temperate rain forest in Australia and second largest in the world. The 477,000 hectares of uninterrupted wilderness include myrtle, leatherwood and pine trees that are living links to Gondwanaland. It's wild, it's untamed, it's raw and it's unique which we think is the perfect namesake for this fuzz.

The Van Diemens' Tarkine is a fuzz based on the classic 2 transistor VOX V828 Tonebender with a couple of twists. This version of the Tonebender should not be confused with the MK1.5 as it's coupling caps are much smaller values than what's standard in a Coloursound Tonebender. It is a sharper, brighter, sizzling fuzz that will really cut through the mix. The components are all hand picked for optimum quality and performance and are fitted point to point to a eyelet board assembled in house.

The Tarkine features a set of transistors that I tried to make as close as possible to the original VOX Tonebender. After trialing and auditioning of different sets, we settled on a mix of an AC128 and an OC76. We think they sound amazing.

We also modded this circuit a little by changing the resistance value of the volume pot, removing a resistor on the fuzz pot and adding most importantly, a filter, that winds a little more bottom end into the signal. This gives you the option of a slightly thinner or thicker sound. It's great for balancing single coils and and humbuckers.

Transistors:

Q1: Philips Mullard AC128
Q2: Mullard Great Britain OC76

Added to all this are

A hand crafted 60's phenolic board.
Mullard OA91 Diode
Allen Bradley, Philips and Piher resistors.
Philips and WIMA capacitors.
Alpha pots.
Neutrik jacks.
Dailywell Footswitch
Green LED
Lumburg 2.1mm DC power socket

This pedal is finished in hammered Green powdercoat, depicting the beautiful rain forests it was named after as well as offering durability on the road.

Each Van Diemens pedal is hand crafted, one at a time using carefully selected vintage components. When turning our transistors, we initially set standard voltages at the beginning, and then set the final tone, tuning by ear.  We are constantly looking for the perfect sweet spot and once that point has been reached, we finalize the bias. We use classic pull back cloth wire and each hand cut and drilled fiber board uses either turrets, eyelets or through hole construction and are all wired, point to point.

We use classic pull back cloth wire and each board is hand crafted using either turrets, eyelets or through hole construction.

IMPORTANT: All pedals use PNP Germanium transistors and as a result, are positive ground. External power is Negative (-) Center only. DO NOT power this pedal using a daisy chain. Use Isolated power supplies only. Failing to do so could damage the pedal and will void any warranty.

These fuzz are harmonically very active. It is a thick, full and aggressive fuzz but it is also very dynamic with some great sounds being produced by the amount of pick attack alone. It cleans up very nicely when rolling the attack control back a bit and then rolling back the guitar volume, however, when it's wound up, it's loaded with rich harmonics and has that violin quality to it. This fuzz is massive. The pedal comes with a calico bag, booklet and rubber feet.

Thanks for looking.

Richard Turner

Warranty & Returns

All New products are covered by the manufacturers new warranty. Please check their website for the length of warranty and warranty conditions. If an item you receive is faulty get in touch with us ASAP. Second Hand products come with a 4 week warranty from us. If there is an issue let us know ASAP! This covers normal use and does not cover accidental damage, misuse, wrong power plugged into it, modding, water damage or any other damage caused by mistreatment. Just treat it nice and all will be good!

Shipping

We send A LOT of packages every week so don't worry about the shipping side of things!

We've never lost a thing and your awesome new gear will be packed up really well to avoid any damage in transit.

If your order comes in before 2pm we will ship it same day. Most of the time we pack things up all the way to 4pm so just call if you need it to leave same day after 2pm.

We ship mainly with Australia Post but may use a courier depending on location and size of the package.

Free Post ships with Australia Post standard and expected shipping times are between 4-6 business days depending on location. It will be longer to outside of metro and rural areas.

Express Post will usually be with you next business day in metro areas of QLD, NSW, SA, VIC and TAS. WA will take 2 days to metro and extra days after that to out side metro and rural areas.

Everything we ship has a tracking number with the exception of some power cables and smaller envelope packages. You will be emailed tracking once your order has been shipped!

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