Following on from the release of my Savage Toecutter and Toecutter Deluxe comes the new Turbo edition Toecutter.
The Toecutter is my version of the mid 80's RAT and of course this circuit has not only gone through a few changes (all sound like RATs) but has many fans and copiers. The Toecutter Deluxe has switchable clipping diodes for silicon (original), double germanium (smoother) and LED which was the Turbo RAT.
The Turbo RAT was introduced in 1989 and was essentially the same circuit as the standard RAT with big red LEDs in the clipping section for more headroom and a little bit more aggression.
The LED clipping is a common "mod" on many distortion and fuzz pedals now and I first used it in my Tripletone pedal back in the late 90's/early 2000's.
LEDs "break" at a higher voltage and clip differently to silicon or germanium diodes which means they let more of the signal through before clipping. This gives an identical circuit more volume and the Turbo version of this circuit is considerably louder than the other clipping versions.
They also compress less and have a different frequency response so the LED version is great on bass with more bottom end and headroom. It's still got the classic RAT sound in many settings but the volume is much higher so the pedal can be used even more as a "clean boost preamp" with just a bit of dirt added to mix if you want.
I'm not sure if this will be a regular Tym effect (I'll see ow they go) as the Deluxe has this version built in and has been the most popular version I make by far. I do know people who only use the "Turbo" setting (and originals) so this may be an option if you don't want the options .... ?
This first batch will be out in the next few days and will be the same price as the standard Toecutter. Keep an eye on my social media for updates and contact us though the site if you have any questions. I don't do presales/preorders of holds on any hand made Tym products.