The new pedal brings Steve Albini's favourite fuzz drive back from obscurity, now with a Bias control and FUZZ/DRIVE switch.
The Interfax Harmonic Percolator is one of those pedals most players only really encounter in gear forums and Steve Albini interviews. Now, Electro-Harmonix has built a version of it.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
EHX’s modern take on the incredibly rare Interfax Harmonic Percolator – an old-school fuzz drive famously used by Steve Albini on stage and in the studio –is the EHX Percolator. Based on the same even-order harmonic clipping circuit as the Interfax, it covers ground from overdriven crunch to heavier fuzz territory. HARMONICS sets the input gain, BALANCE sets output level, and the added Bias control adjusts the gain stage bias to dial in gated sounds and enhanced sub-octave content, none of which was available on the original.
The FUZZ/DRIVE switch is the other addition. FUZZ mode runs standard clipping for heavier fuzz tones; DRIVE lifts the diodes for a transistor-style drive character that’s rawer and more open. All four controls interact with each other, so the range of sounds available is wider than the control count suggests.
The footswitch doubles as latching and momentary. A quick click toggles it on or off as normal, and holding it down engages the effect only for as long as your foot is on the switch, dropping back to bypass the moment you lift it off – handy for a quick burst of fuzz mid-song.
See the pedal in action here:
The Percolator ships with a 9V battery and is available now. For local enquiries on EHX, head here.
