This circuit is an old favorite here at Tone Report Weekly headquarters , and we ’ ve written fairly extensively about it in the past . The InterFax HP-1 Harmonic Percolator is the grandaddy of crazy fuzz-stortion pedals , having been invented in the early ‘ 70s by the late Milwaukee eccentric and electronics repair wiz , Ed Geise . Its mythical reputation stems almost entirely from engineer and producer Steve Albini of Big Black , Rapeman , and Shellac , who acquired one early on and has frequently proselytized about its unique characteristics . Albini uses his Percolator strictly for those brief moments when he wants his guitar to sound like a bomb going off , and it ’ s quite good for that purpose , but in practice the Percolator is much more versatile . A good rendition will respond nicely to the guitar ’ s volume , so a great way to use it is to simply max the knobs and use the guitar to coax out various shades of dirt , from glistening grit to grandiose auditory destruction . Fine Harmonic Percolator-based pedals available commercially include Catalinbread ’ s Karma Suture , the Fredric Effects Harmonic Percolator , and the superaccurate HP recreation from Chuck Collins of Theremaniacs , who currently owns the Interfax name .
This circuit is an old favorite here at Tone Report Weekly headquarters , and we ’ ve written fairly extensively about it in the past . The InterFax HP-1 Harmonic Percolator is the grandaddy of crazy fuzz-stortion pedals , having been invented in the early ‘ 70s by the late Milwaukee eccentric and electronics repair wiz , Ed Geise . Its mythical reputation stems almost entirely from engineer and producer Steve Albini of Big Black , Rapeman , and Shellac , who acquired one early on and has frequently proselytized about its unique characteristics . Albini uses his Percolator strictly for those brief moments when he wants his guitar to sound like a bomb going off , and it ’ s quite good for that purpose , but in practice the Percolator is much more versatile . A good rendition will respond nicely to the guitar ’ s volume , so a great way to use it is to simply max the knobs and use the guitar to coax out various shades of dirt , from glistening grit to grandiose auditory destruction . Fine Harmonic Percolator-based pedals available commercially include Catalinbread ’ s Karma Suture , the Fredric Effects Harmonic Percolator , and the superaccurate HP recreation from Chuck Collins of Theremaniacs , who currently owns the Interfax name .