NPD: Thorpy Veteran Si

lukedlb

NPD: Thorpy Veteran Si

I play Hendrix 90% of the time so my fuzz requirements are based on using a controllable fuzz via the guitar volume from clean to dirt to wild. The fuzz has to allow me to go from Red house in all its glory to Manic depression without ever adjusting the pedal. This is a tall order. I've played real vintage fuzz faces that range from an incredible germanium drive to blistering silicon and there are very few modern fuzzes that compare. Until now, I've only trusted the Sonus pedals, especially the original 68 jimi mod fuzz. The veteran now sits confidently beside it on my pedalboard and if you have the courage (which frankly, I didn't), you should too.

When the silicon veteran first launched on reverb, I wrote to Thorpy lamenting the poor presentation on youtube. I'd heard such good things about the germanium version that I was very curious about the new model. Thorpy assured me that the video wasn't the best representation of the pedal and that it sounded like a germanium. I admit I chickened out. Months later, two veterans were available from a forum member and I quickly grabbed the silicon. I would like to share my experience of the pedal in hope that some practical feedback may encourage others to get a veteran too.

I tested the Veteran mainly on a 72 superlead amp, then a selmer T&B type amp, and finally a Redplate blackface.

The pedal is divided into two parts: a Range Master Treble Booster side with a volume and range control; a fuzz side with Smooth, Fuzz, Volume and Bias. Internally, there is a bias trimmer for each side which Thorpy sets and recommends you not to touch. Additionally, there is a grit for the boost which can be set to taste although Thorpy prefers you don't (I preferred mine set to the second notch of the four notch trimmer where the first is clean and the fourth is high). The pedal is run via a 9v battery or a 9 v centre negative isolated power supply. The knobs are protected from misfooting courtesy of the intelligent thorpy enclosure. All pot settings are o'clock settings. Trimmers have 4 notches and guitar volume pot is 0-10.

Range Master Treble Booster side:

The boost reaches unity gain at Vol 9, Range 11 for similar tone with the grit at the first notch. This is not a transparent boost however much you adjust the range. The eq tone selected on the range pot will be pushed. I found setting the range to 11 produced a full range tone. Do not expect a flat transparent boost.

For my taste I use: vol 10, range 9, Internal Trimmer has 0,1,2,3 settings. Grit on second notch. It's a punchier boost compared to a Klone type clean boost. It's my first experience of such a pedal whereas in the past I have relied on an EQ pedal, a Ryra klone, a Chase Tone secret pre amp and a Kingsley Bard (without the tremolo running). As such I will leave my review at that except to say it sounded good and I look forward to experimenting with it as an independent pedal.

Fuzz side:

My personal method for setting a fuzz face is by finding the best clean with the guitar volume set to 8. I adjust the volume to get the best out of the clean which invariably means setting it high although here I could get the volume down to 3. Then I bring in the fuzz and adjust the volume accordingly; in this case I set the fuzz at 2.

The veteran's additional pots allow for more precise fuzz tones. With the Smooth on fully clockwise, the fuzz works as a traditional fuzz face. The Bias is not a battery SAG bias but rather provides heat to the gain/fuzz circuit. By reducing the smooth, you can reduce the woolliness and continue to a more linear fuzz tone. As for the Bias, set to nine the bias takes effect and starts bubbling at 11; fully clockwise it's really cooking. The correct combination of these two pots help compensate each other. I found that reducing the smooth gave me the chance to restore its character by increasing the Bias without having to resort to all out wooly fuzziness, instead a solid cooking fuzz. I can not understate how important this is.

The fuzz pot has much more sweep an original fuzz face. It begins at 10 and kicks in at 11. At 12 it has a nice light warm fuzz. With the guitar volume on full and fuzz on 12, it's really easy to control the fuzz. As the fuzz increases above noon, you begin to enter full on Hendrix territory from foxy lady to manic depression. With the fuzz on 1, it begins to enter the good fuzz zone. At 2 it's still not quite foxy lady. A little over, a little more bias and the fuzz starts to feedback and scream.

My favourite settings were for voodoo child SR: guitar vol 9, vol9, smooth 3:30, fuzz 1, bias 10. Full guitar vol for thick explosions.

lukedlb

Range Master and Fuzz Combination

In combination with the Treble boost you can further sculpt the fuzz by making it glassier, middier or darker to taste. Guitar volume on 9 and it's got a great drive. It doesn't scream through the amp and overwhelm the frequencies. I can actually sit in front of the amp without going death. Setting the internal grit trimmer to the last two notches aggressively changed the fuzz tone so I preferred keeping it on the first two settings.

I also tried using the treble booster as a limiter. By setting treble boost to unity gain at just under nine, you can lower the volume. This could be helpful in taming the huge increase in fuzz with the guitar volume at 10. However, it does change the overall tone and makes it tinnier than woolier. Further experimentation might provide better results but I doubt working as a limiter was the intended result for Thorpy.

Other observations

I also experimented with the opposite to my usual setup with the volume down to 1 and fuzz up to 3, smooth on high, bias at 10:30 to produce a much more distorted tone. No matter how much you reduce smooth it still sounds like bees in a tin can. However, it never hits an excessive trumpet tone. Not my cup of tea but a useable tone nonetheless.

At the end of the day my preferred settings for a Hendrix ff are Smooth full on. Fuzz 1:30, volume 3:30. bias 12.

The veteran works just as great with Selmer T&B type amp. It sounded fantastic with Redplate blackface although the 1x12 was pushed to the extreme. I found the treble boost was similar to the Boost on the amp. Because the amp has a little more compression, it does the foxy lady thing really easily.

My final test was probably the most significant: I played the veteran for a friend who is much more familiar with all things fuzz face, owning 5 vintage silicon fuzz faces and 3 germanium from the 60s and 70s. I go to him for all things vintage stratocaster, vintage Marshall and vintage pedals as well as everything Hendrix. His opinion was not too far from what Thorpy had suggested: this is a silicon fuzz that sounds more like a germanium without the excessive trumpeting of a silicon. Moreover, the combination of the range master alongside the fuzz without excessive noise is impressive indeed. The ability to further model the fuzz with heat, dirt, and shape raises the veteran above the ff vintage models. To be honest, as much as I love my mate's fuzz faces (one in particular), they're delicate, noisy, and huge. The veteran, although larger and heavier than other modern fuzzes, can be credited with improving the classic fuzz face circuit. If you're looking for Hendrix style fuzzes, then don't waste your time and money buying and trying and fiddling with pots on other pedals on the market, go straight to a veteran and then turn your attention to playing it. Better still, try a dunlop fuzz face and a veteran together and you'll get the idea of how much time and money you've saved.

One other thing: it performs the silicon trick well of turning the tone pot to zero for extra explosion, impossible on a germanium. I have never read about this trick and fell upon it accidentally

My final reaction:

If the silicon is this good, then maybe I want the germanium? I suspect the silicon will prove itself better than the germanium version for the very reason my friend attested to: it already sounds like a germanium without the uncertainties associated with germanium transistors and without the trumpeting insanity associated with silicon. I know you're all secretly coveting the germanium but I bet you the silicon is what you're after. Thorpy won't say it, but I will. Get the Veteran Si.

shaunm

So do you like it?

Slimbert

I just plugged mine in, turned the knobs till it sounded good then played my guitar for a bit.

All credit to you though!

hotpickups

Dare I ask if it's ok with s buffer in front of it ?

tone1

My take on the magnificent Thorpyfx Veterans...

SI is like a naughty Schoolboy and the GE is the Headmaster  

Flanging_Fred

hotpickups said:

Dare I ask if it's ok with s buffet in front of it ?

I haven't tried one myself but internet rumour is that all Thorpy's pedals love a buffet, especially if there are prawn vol-au-vents and pickled onion monster munch.

hotpickups

Flanging_Fred said:

hotpickups said:

Dare I ask if it's ok with s buffet in front of it ?

I haven't tried one myself but internet rumour is that all Thorpy's pedals love a buffet, especially if there are prawn vol-au-vents and pickled onion monster munch.

Ha ha corrected that little mis spelling now lol

Slimbert

hotpickups said:

Flanging_Fred said:

hotpickups said:

Dare I ask if it's ok with s buffet in front of it ?

I haven't tried one myself but internet rumour is that all Thorpy's pedals love a buffet, especially if there are prawn vol-au-vents and pickled onion monster munch.

Ha ha corrected that little mis spelling now lol

Too late...damage is done...reputation is in even more tatters!

lukedlb

shaunm said:

So do you like it?

Yep, in summary: I love it. Good on Thorpy for building an excellent fuzz. 

lukedlb

Any veteran owners have a better take on the range master side? How about different approaches to the fuzz settings and a description of the sound you were after/achieved?
The reason I described the veteran at length was to provide a clearer idea of the pedal. The videos didn’t really represent the pedal well nor do the effusive compliments. My expectations from a fuzz are supplied by the veteran. I wonder what other players expect. I’m sure the more we can describe its potential, the more players will feel confident in buying one. 

markr76

I have both versions of the pedal. Don't really have a favourite out of the two. Depends on my mood. Love them both equally!
I tend to use the rangemaster side of the pedal on the drive channel on my badcat hotcat. The amp has loads of low end so I use it to push the highs and upper mids. It just adds something special to the amp. So I tend to leave it switched on all the time. The badcat is basically a modified el34 based ac30. So I thought that the range master/treble booster type was the way to go.

hotpickups

I have the germanium version but it's off my board at the moment due to space. However I'm seriously thinking of putting it back on or make a smaller grab n go board with it on  

lukedlb

markr76 said:

I have both versions of the pedal. Don't really have a favourite out of the two. Depends on my mood. Love them both equally!
I tend to use the rangemaster side of the pedal on the drive channel on my badcat hotcat. The amp has loads of low end so I use it to push the highs and upper mids. It just adds something special to the amp. So I tend to leave it switched on all the time. The badcat is basically a modified el34 based ac30. So I thought that the range master/treble booster type was the way to go.

I'll give this a try tonight. Thanks.

JMP220478

any YT or other footage that does give the Si version a decent representation with a strat / tele  - the reverb demo is shockingly bad 

Sassafras

My favourite treble booster and fuzz face are both silicon transistored.
Always thought germanium was overrated and more trouble than it's worth.

fretmeister

JMP220478 said:

any YT or other footage that does give the Si version a decent representation with a strat / tele  - the reverb demo is shockingly bad 

I think Sam Vilo has done a couple.

fretmeister

and so has Mike Hermans