FAQ's

My pedal is broken, what should I do?
Are your pedals true-bypass?
Can the Phat Phuk pedals run on 18V instead of the suggested 9V?
Can the Tall Font, Tri Pie, Caprid, Pickle B, run on 18V instead of the suggested 9V?
Where does the Wren and Cuff name come from?
How does the Pickle B sound with active pickups?
How much current does my pedal draw?
The knobs on my pedal have become loose, how can I fix them?
What order do you recommend I put my pedals in?
What are the main differences in tone between each muff pedal?
My Tall Font Russian/Box of War volume seems lower than most pedals, is this normal?

My pedal is broken, what should I do?

Just contact us and we’ll get it taken care of! (Back to top)

Are your pedals true-bypass?

Yes, all are true hard-wire bypass. This is done through a 3PDT switch which mechanically reroutes the signal to do the bypassing. In other words it is as “true” as you can get! (Back to top)

Can the Phat Phuck pedals run on 18V instead of the suggested 9V? (Back to top)

In theory you’d be fine but I don’t recommend it because of the tru-vintage germanium transistor inside. Its always good to be a bit overly cautious with them and stick to 9v.
Also, the pedal won’t have the right amount of dirt at 18v because a lot of the goodness in the Phatty comes from starving that tranny a bit. (Back to top)

Can the Tall Font, Tri Pie, Caprid, Pickle B, run on 18V instead of the suggested 9V?

Its not recommended. All big muff type pedals rely on the transistors being biased to a certain point. Feeding it more volts will decrease the clipping (distortion) and basically make it not sound like a big muff. Also, although its not likely to cause a problem a couple of the caps in there are rated at 16v so its best to play it safe (although good quality caps can usually be fine well beyond their stated voltage).
You can however have neat results going the other way and doing the dying battery simulation thing.
The pedal will get fuzzier and more spongy but not sound a ton different. (Back to top)

Where does the Wren and Cuff name come from?

The name is simply a nonsensical lyric to a song I wrote. No reason or purpose, just sounded right for a song. Also happened to coincide with starting this whole thing, needed a name, etc. Wish I had a better story than that but that’s the truth! (Back to top)

How does the Pickle B sound with active pickups? (Back to top)

I have had several customers with active pickups say they had no problems with the PPB. Never had anyone say it was a problem. One customer used his PPB with a “bongo” bass and said he was very happy with it. I’ve never heard a Bongo, but apparently they have active pickups with pretty high output. (Back to top)

How much current does my pedal draw?

For the Tall Font, Tri Pie ’70, and Caprid, about 3-4mA. The Pickle Pie B around 4-5mA. The Phat Phuk boosters less than 5mA. For a full explanation of power supplies, daisy-chains, current draw, etc., here is an article I wrote attempting to explain some of the basics in a simple, easy to understand way. Go HERE for the article. (Back to top)

The knobs on my pedal have become loose, how can I fix them?

There is a small flat head set-screw on the side of the knob. Simply align the knob correctly and tighten the screw. If this happens repeatedly you can wrap a bit of tape around the post then tighten the screw. (Back to top)

What order do you recommend I put my pedals in?

As far as the order, we usually recommend:

Compression and/or boosters —> Dirt (fuzz, dist, etc) —> boosters (can be here also) —> modulation (chorus, phasers, roto sims) —> delays and/or reverbs —> amp

However, these are very rough suggestions. There are people who do the exact opposite of this and get great sounds, so experimentation is always recommended. Your ears are the ultimate judge, and there is no “wrong” way to do this.

With boosters, putting them before dirt pedals will drive the dirt pedal harder but provide less of a volume boost. The boost will act more like an additional gain knob for the pedal that comes after it.
Placed after your dirt, you will get a straight-up volume boost. Again, experiment! It’s your rig and your tone.
I always recommend going to http://www.guitargeek.com/ to check out various players rigs. It is a fantastic website which shows many, many, rigs in detail. A lot of fun to check out! (Back to top)

What are the main tone differences between each Muff?

See our Muff comparison chart: HERE

My Tall Font Russian/Box of War volume seems lower than most pedals, is this normal?

Yes, this is totally normal for for the Box of War (and the Tall Font Russian). This is how the original civil war muffs were, and we recreated every detail we could, icluding the notoriously low output when compared to a modern day Muff.
Also, this contributes to the clarity the Sovtek's are known for. (Back to top)