Gary started with a simple request to create a compact version of the Gray Channel, now discontinued, a staple on Lee's pedalboard and a key part of his main overdrive tone. Everything sounded great, but Gary insisted we dig deeper and explore his darker side a bit more—Gary at dusk, Gary on Saturday nights. So we sat down and began the journey to finally decipher the old Gare-Bear. The result is a dynamic and destructive fuzz with pulse-width modulation, combined with a natural-sounding op-amp saturation. Gary’s right hemisphere features a dynamic and aggressive fuzz that is both dominant and interactive. It’s a ripping fuzz tone with variable pulse width controlled by the envelope and enough volume to blow everything up.

This small but nasty fuzz turns the signal into a square wave and allows you to dynamically adjust the duty cycle with your pick attack. Yes! It controls the envelope sensitivity. At minimum, you get a thick, powerful, pure square-wave fuzz that sustains for days and completely mutes when you stop playing. As you increase the Yes! control, the envelope becomes more interactive and the pulse width narrows the harder you play. As the pulse width tightens, the tone becomes more nasal and piercing until it narrows so much that Gary hides away in his dark place and disappears entirely. In other words, with higher sensitivity settings, the sound will vanish completely and then return to Gary’s powerful fuzz tone. With the right playing dynamics, this creates a cool effect that can sound like an amp exploding to life and then shutting off, driven by a phaser.

• Fuzz / Overdrive
• Developed with Lee Kiernan from the band IDLES
• Dynamic and destructive fuzz with pulse-width modulation, combined with natural-sounding op-amp overdrive
• Silent relay-based switching with Flexi-Switch technology
• True bypass
• Controls: GO, YES, THAT'S IT, OOSH
• 2 footswitches
• 2 status LEDs
• Metal enclosure
• Input and output: 6.3 mm mono jacks
• External control input: 6.3 mm stereo jack
• Powered by 9 V DC power adapter
• Current draw: 20 mA
• Dimensions (L x W x H): 125 x 67 x 57 mm
• Weight: 313 g
• Handmade in the USA

Controls:

Go: Gain control for the overdrive. Turn it up to increase the op-amp gain for a thick, full distortion, or turn it down and raise "That's It" to use it as a clean boost.

That's It: Master volume for the overdrive

Left footswitch: Overdrive

Yes!: Adjusts the envelope sensitivity controlling the pulse width of the square-wave fuzz. The envelope heavily depends on the incoming signal level, which can be affected by any gain pedals before Gary, pickup output, source instrument, etc.

Oosh: Master volume for the fuzz

Right footswitch: Fuzz

About EarthQuaker Devices

EarthQuaker Devices was founded in 2004 by musician Jamie Stillman, who began designing effect pedals after successfully repairing a broken overdrive pedal. Today, it is a company driven by a team deeply dedicated to music. They handcraft and test each pedal one by one in Ohio, USA.