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 Deluxe 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 Dealuxe 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 AC125 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.
Added to all this are
A hand crafted 60's phenolic board.
Mullard OA71 Diode
Allen Bradley and Piher resistors.
Philips and WIMA capacitors.
Alpha pots.
Cliff or Neutrikjacks.
Carling Footswitch
Classic Blue Core shielded wire.
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.It is also available in Hammered grey paint, as well and Rain Forest Green and Hammered Grey Powdercoat.
Each Van Diemens pedal is hand built, point to point, one at a time using carefully selected vintage components. When turning our pedals, we set standard transistor voltages at the beginning, but then finalize the setup tuning by ear, looking for the perfect sweet spot and finalise the bias once that point has been reached.
IMPORTANT: All pedals use PNP Germanium transistors and as a result, are positive ground. Please be sure to check your power supply.
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